C&C

The Beauty of Experience - Chapter 22

Added 2022-05-31 00:44:19 +0000 UTC

It was a gesture of solidarity that brought tears to Nia’s eyes, which were already all bloodshot and puffy.

Nia let them all in and directed the food to the kitchen, and then broke down on Kara’s shoulder as she asked, “How are you holding up?”

“It’s like I’ve experienced a death,” Nia confessed, shamefaced and humiliated as everyone gathered around her to listen. “I mean I know I haven’t. She’s still out there, being a fabulous bitch, but up until yesterday, she was sweet and funny and now I know none of it was real.”

“It was real,” Lena interjected quietly and stepped in to take Nia’s hand. “Andrea is the biggest complicated hot mess of a person, and she could manipulate the devil himself, but that doesn’t change how you felt. That part was real, as hurtful as it may be right now. You had real feelings, and we’re all here to help you get through this.”

“The end of a relationship is kind of like a death,” Winn muttered and blinked sheepishly when everyone turned to stare at him. “Not to be morbid, but like, you’re grieving the love you had and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I don’t want to grieve her,” Nia spat out, her voice raw and pained as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “I don’t want to shed another damn tear and yet I can’t stop–”

“That’s a normal response to being heartbroken,” Kara stated gently, her empathy infusing her pheromones to try and soothe Nia’s distraught omega. “You can’t just switch off your emotions, and if you could, then you would probably turn into Siobhan and nobody wants that.”

Nia made a horrible choked sound of laughter and shoved Kara for being able to break her out of an oncoming sob. “She got fired, by the way. I filled Cat in on all of her dealings with Andrea and she terminated her in front of the whole office. One of my friends from work told me this morning. Just a heads up, Cat might call you later to see if she can interview you about this shit show involving Andrea.”

“Oh, no, I won’t be doing that.” Kara’s protective musk enveloped Lena and she shook her head like she was negotiating with Nia.

“She would pay you for the exclusive scoop on the drama,” Nia insisted, still always a journalist even when she was going through the worst time of her life.

Lena chose to stay silent to see what her mate would say. The publicity wasn’t something she personally wanted, but Andrea had played Kara as a fool and destroyed her chance to bring home a huge pay-out. She wouldn’t blame Kara if she wanted to smear her ex and get rewarded for it, though it might erode Lena’s image of Kara if she turned out to be the same kind of opportunistic alpha as her ex-wife.

Kara worked her jaw as she thought about it, but her defensive posturing was a clear sign that she wasn’t about to accept whatever proposition came her way. She crossed her arms and stood taller, resilient in the face of temptation. “It’s not about the money. I’m not dragging the kids through some sensationalized puff piece to tear Andrea a new one publicly. I can do that on my own without broadcasting it across the nation.”

It went without saying that Kara’s choice made her the bigger person. Lena tried to dampen the scents of her own happiness, the inappropriate and besotted fragrance of her omega. Kara caught the shift in her scent the fastest and slipped an arm around Lena’s shoulders to pull her into the strong musk of her protection. It cloaked the amorous notes of Lena’s omega and she tipped her head up to whisper, “Thank you.”

No one needed to know that her gratitude had nothing to do with Kara’s stance on keeping their business private.

They were both feeling relief from Andrea’s departure, and though it was a harrowing experience for Nia, it was a long time coming for them.

Lena’s earlier guilt refused to resurface, and she spent the next two hours coming to terms with the complicated emotions of being both devastated for Nia and elated for herself. She wasn’t a terrible person for the emotions she experienced, even if some latent part of her psyche was worried about that.

“I can’t believe you guys dropped everything to spend the morning with me,” Nia sniffled into a tissue and fought another round of sobs. She hiccupped instead and Kara poured her a fresh cup of coffee while Sam rubbed her back in soothing circles.

“That’s what families do.” Kara’s simple explanation had everyone else agreeing with her.

Nia reached out to clasp Kara’s hand like she understood the importance of found family. For a few seconds neither of them said anything as they took strength from that statement, and Lena averted her eyes as they blurred.

“Listen, before we arrived, we all discussed our schedules because the last thing we want is for you to be stuck in this apartment by yourself,” Kara confided and turned to her friends who stepped in to take the lead with their plans.

“James and I are gonna hang with you today, so you know that means pizza and game night.” Winn grinned, his empathic scent diffusing the sadness that hung over Nia.

“Tomorrow you’re coming with us for a spa day, because a little bit of pampering will do you the world of good.” Sam pointed between herself and Alex, and Nia’s chin wobbled as she stared up at them in surprise.

“And we’ll be stopping by with lunch in between setting everything up for Andy coming home.” Lena pulled Nia into a hug when it looked like she was too overwhelmed to speak.

It proved hard to part ways when Nia was in pain, but she was in good hands with Winn and James. Their playful banter had Nia laughing as everyone else left, and Kara cracked the windows in her truck to air out the thick scent of tension that had filled the vehicle on the way over.

“That went better than I hoped it would,” Kara sighed, backing her truck out of the parking lot. She steered down the street as her hand found Lena’s knee.

The reassuring touch brought a smile to Lena’s lips and she wove their fingers together. “Nia is lucky to have you all. Sam kept me going during all of my issues with Andrea. Looking back, I don’t think I would have made it without her.”

Kara frowned, her eyes darting to Lena’s face and then the road. “Hey, you’re part of this friend group, and you paid for the spa–”

Lena sucked on her teeth and tried not to scoff. “It’s the least I can do when my ex targeted your friend for her twisted scheme.”

“You’re not responsible for someone else’s actions,” Kara cut in fiercely, like she must have anticipated that Lena would try to take on some of the blame. “I don’t care how long you were with her.”

Despite having no involvement in the deceptive plot, Lena still went over the events in her head. It took several days to end that cycle and accept that her actions could never have influenced Andrea to act more civilly. She cleared her conscience after she saw a photo on her ex’s Instagram. It must have been taken in first class: a plane ticket rested on a pull-down tray next to a novel and a mimosa, and in the background were blue skies.

Though she knew Andrea was en route to visit her mother’s grave, it still infuriated Lena to see that she cared more about her self image than she did about anyone else.

There was no sense in bearing Andrea’s emotional burden, not when Lena deserved to enjoy her freedom.

After that glimpse into her ex’s life, Lena changed out of her relaxed attire with the idea of suggesting that she and Kara head out to lunch at one of her favorite places nearby. She swapped out her business slacks for a spring dress and shook her hair out of her bun to let it fall around her shoulders.

She looked good in the mirror, with her pale skin flushed from pregnancy hormones and her breasts full enough to fill the cups of the dress without a bra. She knew Kara would appreciate that the most, and ventured downstairs to search for her mate, who was suspiciously not in her own home office.

The sound of quiet grunting and metal clashing drew Lena down the hall to their home gym, and she paused just shy of entering to watch Kara for a moment. The alpha wore shorts that hugged her ass and a sports bra that showed off her abs and muscular back. Lena could see the tension of her jaw, and the steely determination in her mate’s eyes as Kara pushed down on a bar and stacks of weights lifted into the air in front of her.

“You’ve been in here a lot the past few days—not that I’m complaining,” Lena intoned as she walked in, careful not to disrupt Kara’s set of reps.

She let her pheromones reach Kara first and relaxed at the smile that formed on her mate’s face.

“Yeah, it’s been good for me. Keeps me out of my head,” Kara stated, meeting Lena’s eyes as she worked her triceps with practiced ease. She finished her reps and moved to the barbells, lifting two of the largest.

Lena’s mind emptied of all of her thoughts as Kara began working her biceps, and she drifted closer as a trickle of sweat slid down Kara’s neck. She was already thinking of licking it off when she remembered what they were discussing and snapped herself out of it before her omega interfered.

“It didn’t seem that way from where I was standing,” Lena tactfully insisted and stopped just shy of caressing Kara’s abs.

“I might still be a little frustrated and angry,” Kara finally conceded, raising the weights above her head, and pumping them towards the ceiling. “I didn’t want it to affect us, so I’ve been trying to work it out of my system.”

“How’s that going?” Lena asked, her tone light and her panties slick as she watched Kara go about her workout.

The casual display of her mate’s strength was making it difficult for Lena to focus and she took to biting her lip to keep from sighing.

“Not as effective as I’d hoped,” Kara admitted, sounding parched and breathless. It wasn’t because of her reps, and Lena knew it when she noticed the way her alpha was staring at her breasts.

Lena’s nipples pebbled against the thin fabric of her dress, and she breathed deeper to draw attention to them. That proved to be a useful tactic in getting Kara to open up. “They say a problem shared is a problem halved. Do you want to fill me in on what you’re thinking?”

“Oh, you know, awful stuff that I know isn’t really true but that I can’t shake,” Kara muttered, and looked at the floor as if flustered by the fact that she couldn’t resolve her own issues.

Lena wouldn’t let Kara close herself off and tucked her hair behind her ear to show off the claims on her skin. She made sure to caress them with her fingertips to keep Kara focused on her and batted her lashes innocently as she asked more questions. “Such as?”

“How I’m failing you as a partner by making a fraction of what you make in a year,” Kara uttered, taken aback by breathing life to such a horrible thought. She took out her emotions on the barbells, forcing them faster into the air to make her arms and shoulders burn.

“Being too dumb to realize the deal I was making would turn out to be a pipe dream.” She hissed through clenched teeth, her anger rising along with the weights that she lifted again and again.

“How I’ll never be the kind of role model the kids need. That I can’t provide for my own family,” Kara snarled in anguish, her anger exploding out of her as she turned to drop the weights before she accidentally launched them through a wall. She paced around like she couldn’t face Lena or even herself in any of the floor length mirrors.

The scent of disgust was heavy, and Lena gaped at her alpha as she tried to comprehend the demons Kara had been quietly keeping in her mind. It took Lena a long moment to reach her own conclusions, that all of the barbs and snide comments Andrea had made over months only slid off of Kara’s back because she thought her deal with Siobhan was real. It hadn’t mattered what Andrea thought of her because Kara was in the process of proving herself as an alpha and a worthy mate. Now that it was exposed as a sham, all Kara had was her pool cleaning business, and it must have felt inadequate because she dreamed of providing for their kids and their new pup.

Lena wasn’t ready to confront the idea that Kara’s desire for a pup was hinged on being a good provider, and she swallowed thickly as she moved closer to her mate. “Look at me, Kara. That voice in your head isn’t your own. It was planted there.”

“Lena–” Kara huffed and raised her chin to avoid the intensity in Lena’s eyes.

“No. Everything you said just now is complete bullshit and I’ll tell you why,” Lena snapped, and caught Kara by the chin the way she so often did with her pups when they were being stubborn. She frowned at the sadness and anger on Kara’s face and softened her own expression so that her voice wouldn’t be too harsh.

“What you make is irrelevant because what you bring to our home, to our lives, is so much more than anything you could possibly buy us. You’re the backbone of this family, Kara. The core strength that gets us through everything, and our girls adore you.” Lena smoothed her palms over Kara’s sweat slick shoulders to force them to relax. “You teach our kids what an alpha should be, Kara. It’s not your affluence that they admire. It’s your courage, your dedication to us, and all of your compassion. You’ve shown them, shown me, what true self-worth is, and that is priceless. I’m not saying you shouldn’t aspire to achieve more, because I will support any dream you have, but that is not the reason I love you. You’re not less of a partner because of what you have in your wallet. It’s what you have in your heart that makes you the kind of alpha I’m proud to introduce to everyone I meet.”

Kara sighed away some of the stiffness in her posture and hunched to Lena’s height. She pinched her forehead with her fingers and sniffled as tears sprang to her eyes. “I feel like I’ve failed you, even though I know you don’t see it like that. I can’t help thinking that I’ve let you and the girls down by wasting all that time pursuing a goal that went nowhere.”

“Then change your perception,” Lena stated so matter of fact that it forced Kara to listen. She stared up at her mate and changed her posture to that of a confident CEO and spoke to Kara like a new member of the board who was having a rough day. “You never wasted your time developing something you believed in. Sometimes investors fall through and deals crumble. It happens all of the time in business. It still happens to me, Kara, and that doesn’t make anyone a failure. It was a learning opportunity that you seized with both hands and now you know more about yourself and the whole process of striking a deal. You gained knowledge and confidence, and now you can apply that to anything.”

The pep talk seemed to work, because Kara’s defeated attitude shifted, and she straightened up with a look of determination. “You’re right. My contract with Siobhan was fake, but the work I put in wasn’t. I’ll have to run it by someone else to see if my idea has legs, but that’s where every project starts, right? With an idea. I’m not giving up.”

Lena threw her arms around her mate, content with the release of breath that came from Kara and the reciprocated embrace. She nuzzled into her mate to press her lips against the claim on her shoulder and murmured against her skin, “Good. I’m so proud of you, Kara. We’ll find the right market for your product. You already know I have plenty of resources at my disposal.”

Kara pulled back to posture, though not out of arrogance as she leveled with Lena. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that, but this is something I need to accomplish on my own. Your belief in me is all I need.”

With the fighting spirit rekindled inside of Kara, Lena’s mood lightened and she remembered how she wanted to spend the afternoon. She trailed her gaze down her mate’s toned and sweat slicked body and bit her lip flirtatiously, “Well, now that we’ve sorted that out, how do you feel about going out for lunch?”

“And here I thought you dressed up just for me,” Kara teased as she roamed Lena’s lithe figure with a smile. Even if she hadn’t said it, the scent of her pheromones gave away her attraction and Lena smirked at the way her mate casually flexed and puffed up.

“Oh, I did, and now you get to flaunt that I’m yours,” Lena supplied with a provocative flutter of her lashes. She stood with her hands clasped behind the small of her back to emphasize the curves of her breasts and grinned when Kara stared down at them.

“Give me ten minutes to shower and get ready,” Kara ordered as she lifted a towel to wipe herself down after her vigorous workout.

Lena considered all the ways she would like Kara to be vigorous with her and began to set a timer on her watch. “You have five. For every minute you’re late, I’ll put on another item of clothing.”

Kara gaped at her incredulously, her laughter more of a surprised scoff that died when Lena tapped her watch with a mischievous smirk. The implication was clear, and Kara ran off so fast that by the time Lena made it into the hall, Kara was halfway up the stairs, and taking them two at a time.

The incentive to get Lena out the door without a bra proved so powerful that by the time Lena poured herself a cup of decaf coffee, Kara was already running around getting dressed. She took a sip as the alpha bounded into the kitchen with a t-shirt stuck over her head and one leg in a pair of jeans. Lena was impressed to find Kara had made it in time and tried not to laugh as her mate struggled to fix her shirt.

“Three minutes and fifty-eight seconds,” Lena announced when Kara’s face popped through her collar with a grin.

“I’m a full minute early,” Kara bragged, and pulled on her jeans with a cocky smirk as she eyed Lena. “Does that mean you have to take something else off?”

Lena should have known her mate was devious enough to think of that, and with limited options, she knew what Kara wanted. She raised a solitary brow at Kara and inhaled the expectant aroma of her alpha before hiking her pretty spring dress up to show off the sexy lace of her panties, then slipped them down her thighs to hand them over to Kara.

“So, what did you have in mind for lunch?” Kara preened with the thong hanging from her fingertip and grinned at the translucent stripe of arousal on the fabric.

“Somewhere new for the both of us.” Lena gathered her purse and slyly observed the satisfaction on Kara’s face. “How would you like to play a little game?”

Kara placed her hand near her ear in clear receptivity to hearing her ideas. She took her keys from the hook beside the door and opened it for Lena to step through first.

Lena held off on chatting about her wager until she was seated in Kara’s truck and putting on lip gloss. She programmed the address of a local restaurant into the navigational system and smiled as she fastened her belt.

“So this game?” Kara prompted as she silenced her radio and rolled down the windows to let the warm breeze enter the truck. She side-eyed Lena as she backed out of the driveway and followed the road out of their neighborhood.

“You know the one called two truths and a lie?” Lena queried and waited for Kara nod before continuing, “I thought it might be fun to put a new spin on it. Instead of picking random things. everything has to be sexual.”

“What happens if we guess the lie correctly?” Kara asked with a thoughtful squint that she kept directed to the road.

“We get to act it out,” Lena intoned and slid her hand onto Kara’s thigh. She used her pheromones to influence her alpha and let the natural perfume of her sex permeate the air. “If it will bother you talking about things we’ve done in the past, we can play something else.”

Lena wasn’t certain if Kara would be put off by the thought of sharing prior sexual experiences. She read somewhere that discussing it was a way to spice up a long term relationship—not that they needed that. This was just a chance to find out what other things Kara might like, and Lena peered up at her mate to judge her reaction.

“I got two different betas off during the same college party,” Kara stated conversationally, her lips twitching as she fought to keep a straight face. “I’ve only slept with one omega. Once, a beta gave me a blow job with ice in her mouth.”

“I’m the omega, so I know that one’s true,” Lena uttered in curious shock as she attempted to picture Kara picking up girls in college.

She couldn’t imagine Kara putting the moves on two women, given how shy she was when they first hooked up. On the other hand, Kara had skills that came from practice, so she couldn’t count it out. The blow job seemed more plausible, but if that was the truth, how could they act out the lie about the party?

“The one about the blow job is the lie,” Lena deduced, her eyes widening as Kara laughed and confirmed, “Yup, it sure is.”

“So, you slept with two women in the same night? How the hell don’t I know this?” Lena gasped, impressed by Kara’s seduction skills, if not the tiniest bit jealous. She grinned at the adorable blush on her mate’s face and knew the innocence she often radiated must have been part of her charm.

“Oh, I didn’t sleep with them, but I did make out with them to the point it made them both horny. They let me you know.” Kara wiggled her fingers against the steering wheel and Lena laughed louder than she intended. “I felt like such a stud that night, but I never told anybody about it until now.”

“You are a stud,” Lena intoned and glanced at the map on the console that revealed they were getting closer to their destination. “We should grab some ice at the place we’re picking up lunch.”

Kara made several right turns while Lena pondered possible truths and lies. She mulled the options over in her head and slipped her hand onto Kara’s thigh as she delivered her three statements in the same low voice. “I once took part in an x-rated photo shoot. I’ve been nude from the waist down during a video conference while in heat, and I’ve used a strap-on with an alpha.”

Lena felt the tension stiffen Kara’s thigh and she wondered if it was excitement or some kind of negative reaction of her alpha responding. It was a needless worry, because Kara hummed in thought and tipped her head to the side. If Kara played it safe and picked an option other than the strap-on, Lena would know she was hesitant to explore it and she would drop it all together, but if she picked that, then it confirmed what she said at CatCo.

“There’s no way you’ve pegged an alpha,” Kara finally murmured and Lena stared up at her through heavy lashes and lilted, “Not yet.”

The musk of Kara’s arousal brought a smile to Lena’s lips and she tried not to smirk when her mate sputtered, “Okay, but can we talk about the others first? Like do I get to see these pictures, and what exactly were you doing during the conference call half naked?”

“Sitting on a cock and rubbing my clit whenever I was on mute,” Lena confided with a sly smile, like she might be amenable to doing it again if the opportunity ever arose. “I never climaxed but it helped take the edge off while everyone droned on about productivity. As for the pictures, I might let you see them one day.”

“Hey, you’re about to have your own print of me in the world’s smallest speedos, it’s only fair,” Kara teased, no doubt envisioning Lena in all sorts of sexually explicit poses. She kept her ideas to herself, in spite of the gradual tent forming in her pants that proved what was on her mind.

Before either of them became too distracted by the bulge, Lena whispered, “Your turn.”

“One of my dates gave me a hand job in a movie theater. I’ve blindfolded a partner and made her guess what I was using to get her off, and I’ve gone into a rut early because of a crush on someone.” The suspicious way Kara pressed her lips together immediately had Lena’s full attention.

They almost swerved into a tree as Lena blurted out, “Are you telling me you went into rut sooner than you should have when you showed up to service my pool?”

If their whole relationship hadn’t already boosted her ego, Lena would have been insufferable after learning that. She had always thought it was only omegas who could be so completely affected by a potential mate. It stunned her to find out alphas were just as susceptible to that sort of pull. Lena allowed her dress to inch up as she parted her knees, and she let Kara grasp at her inner thigh with a warm palm.

“Hey, I can’t control the way my alpha reacts. It was like the minute you stretched out on that sun lounge, my entire being shifted to get your attention.” Kara made no attempt to posture as she admitted how enamored she had been straight from the start. She slid her hand higher on Lena’s thigh, moving her fingertips against the smooth mound of Lena’s vulva where her silken heat left her inner lips slippery.

“You already had my attention the second you arrived at my door, and you’ve kept it ever since,” Lena promised, hoping that her mate would indulge her with intimate caresses as she pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. She almost regretted suggesting they grab lunch, since the place was crowded and granted them no privacy.

“So, what’s my lie?” Kara asked and parted Lena with a single finger to feel how wet she was from their game.

Lena tried not to whine as she raised her pelvis just for Kara to deviate further away from her clit. She chewed at the inside of her cheek as her mate pressed into her entrance, not to penetrate but to make Lena more aware of every flutter in her cunt.

“My bet is the blindfold. Getting jerked off while watching a movie is basically an alpha’s right of passage at this point,” Lena exhaled in exasperation, her pitiful undulations doing her no favors.

Kara laughed as she took her hand back, and Lena tried not to announce her need when her mate licked her finger and conceded, “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. Sit tight, and I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Don’t you want to eat here?” Lena asked in confusion and tried to unbuckle her seat belt.

Kara stopped her with a light hand on her wrist, and then tipped Lena’s chin up with a finger under her jaw.

“You expect me to share you with anyone else after this conversation? I’m going to place an order to go and we can find somewhere quiet to have a picnic,” Kara determined, confident in the way she used her claim pheromones to take charge of their outing.

Lena knew when to read between the lines, and the lust coming off her mate was a good indication that their picnic would lead to more than just having lunch. It would have been presumptuous if she hadn’t seen the glint of desire in her mate’s eyes, and Lena blushed at the way her omega perfumed the truck in obedience.

“More than anyone, you know what I like the most,” Lena whispered, and the grin that Kara gave her in return was radiant.

Kara hopped out of the vehicle and swaggered off with the scent of love trailing behind her. Anyone could figure out that she was in a serious relationship, and it flattered Lena to be so wanted.

It would take a minimum of twenty minutes for Kara to place their order and collect their food, and Lena started a video call before her mate even stepped foot inside.

“Put your phone on mute and make sure no one sees it,” Lena dictated in breathless excitement.

It must have confused Kara to receive those cryptic instructions, but she followed them as she moved through the door and spoke to a waitress.

Kara browsed a menu, selected their food, and stood in the lobby to wait. She snuck a peek at the phone screen after she was finished with talking.

Lena positioned her phone in between her knees and listened to Kara gasp at the close-up of her pussy. She massaged at the shy little hood between her labia. Her clit responded to her gentle caressing and she seduced Kara with the inside of her cunt.

Kara deserved credit for groaning just once and pretending that she was in the middle of watching a soccer game by coming up with a fake score. “5 to 1. Can’t possibly win this one.”

“It depends on what you consider winning,” Lena replied, engaging in one-sided conversation as she looped her swelling red clit with her fingertip. She moaned, content that Kara would witness her unbridled lust even if she couldn’t hear it.

“Please score a goal,” Kara rasped, talking in euphemisms that Lena could understand.

Lena propped the phone in a hands-free holder and adjusted the seat back to give herself more space. She pushed into her cunt with her manicured middle finger. As if accepting that this was all happening at Kara’s command, her walls contracted in snug spasms.

“Yes, take it straight down the field, go hard.” Kara hunched over her phone and smushed her lips together like she was fending off another groan.

“All the way,” Kara instructed, her lips parting in excitement as Lena pushed knuckle deep.

They were lucky everyone seemed to be inside the diner, or someone might have seen Lena with her feet propped on the dashboard to give Kara the best shot of her glossy cunt.

She pumped into herself a few more times before sliding out to ease two fingers into her blushing entrance.

“Yes, get in there,” Kara grunted, so intense about watching Lena fuck herself that she didn’t hear the person next to her ask who was playing.

Instead of covering herself up, Lena swirled a fingertip over the stiffened peak of her clit and went harder on it. The leather seat would smell of sex by the time Kara returned and she tried to flaunt the heated space she made by spreading her fingers inside her contracting walls.

Lena wasn’t coming, but the adrenaline rush of being so naughty put her on the precipice as Kara exhaled sharply and bit her lip.

“Hell of a game you must be watching,” The person stated, louder this time, like he had approached Kara. “I didn’t know one was on today.”

“Omega league. They really give it everything,” Kara blurted without hesitation and turned so the phone was angled more to her chest.

The shift showed off the bulge in her jeans, and Lena wasn’t sorry for getting her mate erect in public. She slowed her thrusts down until Kara lifted the screen back to her face and then Lena pulled out entirely to give her the intimate glimpse of her passage. It begged for penetration with soft clenches and Lena soothed herself by stroking the length of her slit.

When Kara strode out of the diner two minutes later, it was with a large bag clutched carefully at crotch level. Lena swore she breathed in her mate’s alpha before she reached the truck. She shivered as Kara opened the passenger door to set the food between Lena’s feet. It was an excuse to lift up her dress and see the shimmer of arousal that clung to Lena’s pussy.

Kara groaned like she wanted a taste, and Lena pressed her fingertips to her mate’s mouth and whimpered as Kara sucked them clean.

They would have caused a scandal in the parking lot, but another car pulled up. Kara kissed her and closed her in before anyone else was privy to the slick between her legs.

“I think I have a new favorite sport,” Kara sighed as she belted herself into the driver seat and hurried to back out of her space.

“In that case, you can tune into the same channel throughout the week for more games and instant re-plays.” Lena smirked at the obvious erection that was trapped in Kara’s pants, so stiff that it was caught along the length of her thigh.

The bulk of it would no longer fit in the center of her boxers, and it must have been throbbing because Lena could feel it twitch against her hand. She rubbed the outline of Kara’s cock, massaging it until they arrived at a tranquil spot near a lake. The expanse of water was lined on one side with a woodland area that was popular in the summer months for walking.

Other than a small deli and a tackle shop, there were no other stores in sight, and the middle of the week lull meant no one was around. Kara exited her truck first and gave Lena a hand as she stepped down. Lena scooped up the bag with their food and passed it off to Kara.

“Go find us a nice spot. I’m going to buy a bag of ice.” Lena blinked as she waited for her mate to remember that they planned to turn their lies into truths.

Before she even took a bite of their food, she intended to put her mouth on Kara. She hurried away to purchase what she needed and returned to the dusty paths outside. The bag of ice chilled her hand, already melting in the plastic.

From where she stood outside the shop, Lena couldn't tell where Kara set up their picnic. She walked to the lake, circled around the same location twice, and Kara still had to call out to her from where she stood by the tree line.

“Okay, so you chose a good location where we won’t be seen,” Lena declared as she rushed over to a wooden picnic table for public use.

She was out of breath from her search and the excitement of getting to fool around with her mate in a secluded place.

Kara spread a thick red blanket over the table and placed several foam containers on top of it. “Not many people know about this spot, but you get a perfect view of the lake from up here.”

“It’s not the lake I want to see,” Lena lilted and sat on the bench before Kara could claim that seat for herself. She kept her back to the table and tugged on her mate’s zipper while Kara kept her eye on the dirt path to make sure they were completely alone.

Satisfied with the serene sound of birds and not a single footstep, Lena popped the button on Kara’s jeans and shucked them down her thighs along with her boxers.

Kara’s heavy erection swayed as Lena freed it, and she grinned at the way her mate stepped closer with clear expectations.

“You’re so hard already I doubt I’ll get to play with you for long.”

“You know what’s great about ice? Our freezer has a ton of it at home,” Kara quipped, not the least bit ashamed of the sticky beads forming at her tip already.

Lena smeared the alpha’s arousal on her lips and puckered to kiss all over Kara’s glans, drawing it into her mouth to lavish exclusively with the flat of her tongue. She knew exactly how to tease her mate and used the silken heat of her cheeks to increase her sensitivity. The moment Kara threaded her fingers through her hair was the moment Lena opened the bag of ice.

“How did you find out about this technique?” Lena mischievously grilled Kara and popped an ice cube into her mouth while she stroked her mate with a nice, firm grip.

She sucked sensually on the ice, and let Kara see how it danced against her tongue as she waited for her mate to spill her secret. The obvious answer would be from looking at porn, and while Lena didn’t mind, she braced herself in case it inspired any jealousy.

“Ah, word of mouth. James said a girl he hooked up with a few weeks ago did this and I’ve been curious ever since,” Kara laughed, her smile dropping along with her jaw when Lena pressed her cool lips to the hot brim of her cock. The entire shaft jerked at the chilly sensation and Lena lifted a dark brow in intrigue.

“Do you ever swap stories about us?” Lena asked slyly and pushed the cube into her cheek so she could pop her mouth over Kara’s swollen helmet.

She swirled her tongue around the broad tip and grinned at how shaky Kara’s breath became.

“God no, what we do is our business and nobody else needs to know,” Kara moaned, her hips lifting to nudge her cock deeper into Lena’s mouth. She didn’t try to coax Lena down by the back of the head, but Lena could feel the restless greed of her alpha in the way she massaged at her scalp.

“You just earned the right to see those explicit photos of me in my mid-twenties,” Lena confided as she sat up to regard Kara’s flushed and pleased face.

The truth was, even if Kara had said something in passing, Lena wouldn’t have been mad. She trusted every word from Kara’s mouth and knew the alpha believed everything she said in turn. The honesty between them was what amplified their intimacy.

She sucked on the piece of ice, holding it between her teeth and working the cube over the hot veins that pumped vibrantly to the surface on Kara’s cock. Each pass with her lips was stimulating to the thick, purple girth, and she let the ice slip into her hand as she popped her mouth onto Kara’s tip. The ice melted to water on her tongue and dripped down Kara’s erection as she puckered.

“How does this feel? Are you going to come?” Lena massaged the head, stroking it as she put her lips on the knot-base.

Hard and partially expanded, the thickest part of Kara’s cock would soon be buried in her pussy. The contrast of temperatures made it that much hotter in her mouth. She moaned around the bulge and stared into Kara’s lidded blue eyes.

“Your lips are amazing. I can feel myself getting close, but I want to be inside you. I want my seed to fill your pussy.” Kara rumbled and it was less of a request and more of a command as her dominant alpha pheromones compelled Lena to stand up.

She barely managed to turn toward the table when Kara lifted the hem of her dress to expose her bare ass to the world. Lena shivered at the way her mate handled her between the thighs, petting into the slick lips of her pussy to part them expertly with two fingers.

Kara rubbed into her clit, manipulating the little pearl to poke out of its hood for direct stimulation, and then bent Lena over the picnic table like that was its intended use. She stroked into Lena’s opening with the tip of her thumb, and the contrast of her heat was all the more prominent as Kara slotted into her with her cock.

The slightest chill brought Lena’s knees together, or would have if Kara wasn’t standing between them. The cool tip of her erection warmed in Lena’s silken heat, and they both groaned as Kara slid all the way in to the base.

“If we’re fast, nobody will know you’ve been rutting me in public,” Lena intoned as she pushed into Kara’s pelvis to encourage her to thrust.

She whimpered when her mate tugged the front of her dress down to expose her tits and moaned at the firm caress of her nipples.

“And if I’m slow, you’ll get off on the risk of being caught giving me your beautiful pussy out here in the open where anyone might find us,” Kara stated, knowing damn well that Lena enjoyed the rush. She pressed her palms against the tablecloth to pin Lena under her weight, and took her with slow, full thrusts that had Lena writhing.

It went against every instinct in Lena’s omega that pleaded for a quick rut, and she moaned as Kara’s teeth nipped into her claim.

Her hair tickled her forearms as she hunched over the picnic table and Kara pounded into her at a speed that made her breasts swing. Being on her hands and knees meant that she could follow the motions and slide back on Kara’s longer strokes. She positioned her upper body low against the table, accentuating the curve of her hips. Kara rested both palms over her ass cheeks, cupping them on the lazier thrusts. She whimpered from the strikes of Kara’s knot base against her clit and hung her head forward.

“You just feel so good inside of me, it doesn’t matter where we are,” Lena groaned, surrendering to her mate’s cock and the downward lurches that pushed it into her cervix. “You love that I’m too desperate to wait—that I would let you pound me in a forest or field because I’m so worked up.”

Kara pushed her lower and pumped into her twice as hard in confirmation. The wet sounds of their rutting would have alerted anyone near the path of what they were doing and it turned them both on.

“I sometimes wonder what you would do if I worked you up more,” Kara huffed into Lena’s ear, the rasp of her voice low and sexy as she traced the pad of her thumb over the tight ring between Lena’s cheeks. “How you’d behave if I teased you the way you’ve teased me all day.”

“Oh, I’d be very promiscuous, Kara. If you kept me in a state of arousal for hours, I wouldn’t care where we are, I’d need to have you.”

Lena’s cunt spasmed around her mate’s girth, and she whined at the subtle caress to her forbidden area. The touch was a reminder of what else belonged to Kara, even though the alpha had yet to explore it.

“What if we were hosting a party for our friends, and I spent the majority of the afternoon rubbing your pussy but not getting you off?” Kara asked, too casual for it to be a passing thought. She worked her hips in faster lunges and nuzzled into Lena’s neck like she wanted to renew the claim there.

Kara’s hypothetical scenario brought a smirk to Lena’s lips and she glanced at her mate over her shoulder. “You’d have to lie and say I won’t be there because I’d be under the table blowing you for the whole meal.”

“God, you would really do it,” Kara exhaled in awe, and cupped at Lena’s cunt like she was proud of her answer.

The increased friction sent tendrils of pleasure through Lena’s core and she groaned as Kara massaged into her clit. The alpha’s hands roamed freely, caressing and squeezing every part of Lena that she could reach.

Lena had visions of them spending their summer finding new places to rut, with nothing off limits to their imagination. She undulated to prove how amenable she would be and whined when Kara’s knot-base began to spread her delicate inner lips.

Lena moaned and raised herself up on her hands to force herself into Kara’s thrusts. “It excites you that I’m adventurous when it comes to having sex—how I’d be up for almost anything just because it’s you.”

Kara’s broadening cock rubbed the erotic spot that rendered her speechless and shuddering. Lena whimpered as pleasure cascaded down her thighs, the slick gush coinciding with spasms through her pussy. She spread herself face down on the red blanket, her hips against the wooden end of the table, and Kara kept the momentum to ensure her orgasm lasted.

“You’re so sexually open and insatiable, Lena, it’s a wonder I’m not hard all day every day. Constantly.”

For a change, Lena was the one to slide Kara’s cock out of her pussy, and she sat up with a thirst to prove her insatiable nature. She brushed the tousled curls from her shoulders and pushed Kara down onto the bench.

Wrapping her legs around her Kara’s lap, Lena dropped onto her cock and bounced to drive it into her cervix. Her soft pussy lips slipped over the knot at the right slant to collide with her clit. She whined and tightened her thigh muscles, working herself up and down with a force that ached inside. Kara’s glans was hitting deep, and with Lena’s weight resting on it, she swore she could feel the thick head push into places it hadn’t entered before.

“Promise me we’ll always have this spontaneity. That ten years from now you’ll still be as eager to sneak off with me as you are now.” Lena wasn’t sure where the need for reassurance came from, but she swelled with hope as Kara’s pheromones enveloped her, ravenous as ever. She felt her mate buck upwards with all the energy of an alpha in rut, and Lena bore down on her with a moan.

“I’m going to want you in ten minutes after I’ve knotted you,” Kara intoned. “And there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll still be pulling over to pound you before we pick our pups up from their future after school activities.”

Lena took great pleasure in kissing the self-assured grin off Kara’s face. She rode Kara harder just to keep the pace with her heartbeat, and the love that poured out of her was in the form of a whimper.

They kissed like it was the first time they slept together, reverently and rough and still somehow tender. Kara’s tongue graced her lips between heated breaths and Lena gasped as her alpha clasped her waist to encourage the roll of her hips. The slippery spread of her cunt would be beaten to a shade of rouge with the force of her bounces, and Lena pushed Kara to recline just enough to give her the leverage to grind.

“You like it when I work my cunt for you?” Lena breathlessly asked, the bulge of Kara’s knot expanding between her labia. She slipped it out to tease her mate, showing off the shimmery cream of her arousal and the soft ripple of her walls that spread so perfectly to accommodate Kara’s size.

“Fuck, Lena, you know I do.” Kara grunted from the timing of the penetration, with Lena sliding down on the stiff glans and rising back off it. She could have just anchored Lena’s hips and took what she needed, but Lena rewarded her for resisting the temptation by clenching tightly on her shaft.

“My pussy is going to have to stretch for your knot. Your cock is so thick at the base, I don’t know how I’m going make it fit.” Lena exhaled ragged sounds as she edged Kara with the snug warmth of her cunt and settled onto Kara’s lap as the alpha pleaded with a growl for Lena to take it.

The widest part took longer to slide in and her pussy lips spread out around it. She scraped her teeth across her bottom lip as she sank down, and it took Kara gliding her thumb across her clit to let all of the knot inside of her. Their breathing hitched at the gradual surrender, and Kara kissed her face and neck at the final push.

The pressure as it lodged where it belonged brought with it the kind of pleasure that blurred Lena’s vision. She craned as bliss raced through her system, her head thrown back and thighs trembling as Kara held her and emptied into her with thick jets of seed. Kara sucked on one of her nipples, drawing out Lena’s orgasm with the added stimulation.

She finally sagged into Kara’s strong shoulders, dazed and whimpering as the knot continued to pulse within her cunt.

“If that didn’t work up an appetite, I don’t know what will.” Kara traced the underside of Lena’s jaw with her lips as she carefully opened a container to hand feed her fresh fruits drizzled in chocolate.

Lena licked at Kara’s fingers and the sweetness of the dessert mingled with the taste of her slick. They kissed and took bites of the sandwiches they lifted from other containers.

Once they finished tasting each of the options, Kara’s knot reduced and they rutted again, oblivious to the time that went by.

An hour lapsed into two, and Lena panicked that they would be late to pick Natty up when she checked the time on her phone.

“You know, we never did get the chance to visit an adult store last week,” Lena complained as they tidied up the picnic table and balled up the red blanket Kara stored in her truck.

“Alex can babysit for Natty on Friday night, and we can check out the one closest to our house,” Kara decided on a whim and whipped out her phone to text her sister.

“You seem awfully confident that she’s going to be free.” Lena frowned at the implication of that and worried Sam would be disappointed if Alex agreed.

“Oh, I worked out an arrangement with Alex. We’re going to swap babysitting.” Kara hesitated as she saw the skeptic arch of Lena’s eyebrows.

Lena slipped her hand into Kara’s as they strolled back down the path. “But Ruby is old enough to watch herself.”

The long silent pause from Kara was a giveaway that she had been chatting with Alex and they must have discussed pups—not just current ones, but future ones that Sam wasn’t even aware they would be having.

“What?” Kara asked in a particularly guilty tone when she caught the way Lena was blatantly staring at her. “It’s good to plan for the future–”

“Oh, I’ll bet, and how many pups will we be swapping?” Lena needled if only to see the faint sheen of sweat prickle across Kara’s forehead. She wasn’t about to spoil the fun of grilling her mate, even though her omega was very amenable to growing their family year after year.

“The number never came up,” Kara mumbled in avoidance, though her alpha postured just to spite her with a rich and dominant scent that alluded to many.

“Uh huh. I’m starting to think you Danvers sisters are trouble,” Lena mused, the pucker of her lips sexual as she dropped her gaze to Kara’s pants. It was gratifying to see the fabric tighten in response.

During the ride back to the city, Lena mercilessly teased her mate about being pup crazy the way most alphas branded omegas. It was the perfect way to segue into mentioning the kinds of things she was looking forward to experimenting with in the bedroom. If the semi-erect tent in Kara’s jeans was any proof, then it was safe to say that her alpha was just as excited about it.

They dialed back their flirtation when they were five minutes out from Natty’s pre-school. Using that time to cool down ensured Kara was able to greet their little one without having to remain in the truck.

“She’s been busy today,” Miss Winters mentioned with a smile as Natty rushed over to greet them.

The young omega teacher waved and hurried back to the line of children waiting for pick up.

Natty clutched several sheets of paper in her hand, with paint and crayon scribbled all over it in dramatic depictions of their family.

“Oh, what’s this?” Kara asked and bent down to scoop Natalia into her arms.

“I made them for Andy because she’s coming home!” Natty showed off the pictures while Kara strapped her into the car seat, and Lena admired the artwork in between soaking up her daughter’s energetic excitement as she chatted with Kara.

“Is she here yet?”

Lena chuckled and cupped her daughter’s cheek as she beamed up at them. “She’ll be home by Saturday. Only a few more days left. I’m sure she’s going to love the drawings you made for her.”

“Maybe we can have a party to welcome her home,” Kara considered out loud, knowing just how to keep their youngest child entertained.

For the rest of the evening, Kara sat with her legs cramped at Natty’s small table and colored party invitations and decorations to hang in every room. Their house would be much fuller soon with Andy’s return, and as Lena wandered through the hall to the kitchen, she had visions of more pups racing around and calling out to each other.

Later in the night, Kara turned out all the lights downstairs and carried Natty up to bed. As Kara read a book about a family of mice and acted out different voices for each of the characters, Lena reflected on the feeling of peace that came over her.

Andrea was gone, in another country no less, and Lena could feel her soul open like a shriveled thing that had been deprived the sun. She breathed easier as she curled into Natty’s bed next to Kara and leaned over to kiss her daughter goodnight as her eyes finally drifted shut.