“Boone?”
Sammy nodded.
“He has some pretty strong preferences.” And the stronger the inclination, the harder it was for him to resist, especially when he already had other things on his mind. “And I was worried, so—”
His breath caught when Dominic dipped his head, not for a kiss, but to skim his nose along the curve of Sammy’s jaw.
“You smell like him,” he growled.
He didn’t sound mad, though. He sounded…jealous.
Boone had spent the entire night shadowing him, leaving his side only when Sammy had retreated to his bedroom. Even then, he’d heard him pass outside his door a little too often to be coincidence.
Given their proximity for the past several hours, of course he smelled like the wolf. He doubted Dominic wanted to hear that, though.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted.
For what, he didn’t know, but it felt like the right thing to say.
Apparently, his mate disagreed.
Lifting his head, Dominic stared back at him, brow creased and lips turned down at the corners. “Why are you apologizing?”
Catching the tip of his tongue between his teeth, he looked away and shrugged.
“You can’t help it, right?” Dominic suggested, his voice soft and persuasive as his fingertips fluttered over Sammy’s cheek. “You can’t control it.”
Sammy snapped his head up, his eyes locking with his mate’s. “Not always, no,” he murmured, trying and failing to read him. “It’s harder if I’m distracted.”
Dominic bent close again, forcing him back until his shoulders pressed against the mirror. “Is it painful?”
His heart crashed inside his chest, and his lungs burned when his next breath stuck behind the lump in his throat. No one had ever asked him that before. Normally, people only cared what he could be for them, not what it cost him to become it.
“Not exactly,” he answered honestly. “It can be a little uncomfortable, though.”
Arching into him, Dominic brought their mouths together, slow and purposeful.
“What does it feel like?” He nipped at him again, his canines scraping over Sammy’s bottom lip. “Tell me.”
Sammy’s breath stuttered, and a flash of heat crept down his stomach to pool between his legs. His cock hardened, the length throbbing with his pounding pulse. Thoughts scattered and evaporated.
If the guy wanted a coherent answer, he really had to stop kissing him like that.
“Pressure.” The word burst free, high and breathy. “Pressure in my head. It kind of burns sometimes.”
“Mm hmm,” Dominic hummed. He rubbed their lips together, then dropped lower to nuzzle the side of Sammy’s neck. “What else?”
Quivering, slowly coming apart at the seams, Sammy squirmed, trying to get closer. “Pins and needles under my skin.”
“Anything else?” Dominic murmured, his lips whispering against the hollow behind Sammy’s ear.
He tilted his head back, giving his mate more access as his eyelids fluttered closed.
“I g-get a knot in my s-stomach,” he stammered.
“What about now?” Reversing, Dominic trailed kisses across his throat and over his jaw, making his way back to Sammy’s lips. “Do you feel like that now?”
He kissed him once, twice, the barest touch that made him shiver. Sammy whimpered, chasing Dominic’s lips when he pulled away, but his mate held him pinned to the mirror, waiting for his answer.