I cradle the nape of her neck, my fingers hot against the sensitive skin. I dip my head a bit. Not to kiss her, but to hold her gaze. “Your happiness is theonlything that matters. If that’s with someone else, then it’s with someone else.” I hold still, letting her look for whatever truth she needs to find.
“Alphas are too possessive,” she eventually says, to my relief, not pulling away.
“Take what you need from me, Juniper,” I whisper. “Live long enough to have what makes you happy, even if you can’t be happy with me. That isallI want.”
“You don’t mean it,” she whispers even as her eyes dart to my mouth.
“Kiss me. Touch me. Do whatever you want to me. I won’t put one hand on you if you don’t want me to. I failed you before. I willneverfail you again.”
Her eyes linger on my mouth, and she licks her lips. My stomach tightens in response.
“I don’t forgive you,” she whispers.
“Trust and forgiveness take time to grow.Thisis about making you well.”
She’s breathing faster. The sweet scent of her arousal tickles my nose, and I want to crush her against me, hold her there, but this isn’t about me.
None of this is about me anymore.
Just her.
Her eyes lift to mine, and the need I see there stops my heart. “Can I kiss you, Juniper? Is that something you might need?”
Two seconds stretch out for eternity.
“Yes.”
My fingers clench in the silken strands of her hair, and I groan as she touches her mouth to mine. Her lips are plush and so soft. Her breath smells of sweet mint, and her kiss is everything I have ever wanted and needed.
“This doesn’t mean anything,” she whispers so quietly I know she’s speaking to herself.
“It means everything to me.”
With my right arm loose around her back and my fingers caressing her hip, I take my time exploring her mouth with the tip of my tongue. I keep my eyes closed but my senses open, reading her body and what she might need from me next.
When she leans into me, pebbled nipples crushing against my chest, I know what she wants before she breaks the kiss to say, “I need you to kiss me harder. I need you to touch me.”
I crush her against me, angling my head to deepen the kiss, relishing the taste of her lips. With her breasts mashed against my chest, I swallow down every moan she lets out and groan in response.
She’s pulling me down on the bed before I realize her needs demand more. Her hands stroke up under my shirt, hot fingers digging into my back. It’s a fight to stay in control. A delicate balance of giving my omega what she needs, versus yanking all the clothes from our body, pinning her down and slamming myself to the hilt deep inside her.
My needs are taking over.
I shove them aside.
This is about June. My needs can come later or never.
We wrestle our clothes off faster than I wanted them gone. Her back arches, pressing silky, hot skin against skin, and my hands shake.
I have to slow this down or I’m going to knot her.
Stripped of my clothes and keeping a firm grip on my control, I kiss a path over her collarbone, linger to taste, suck and bite at her pert, pretty tits until she’s writhing under me. The scent of something sultry, rich and sweet makes my mouth water. I angle downward, nudging her thighs aside, laying the right, then the left, over the backs of my shoulder. My head dips, and her breath hitches as I treat my mate’s body like an altar.
I worship at it.
“Callum! Oh… oh…”
Her body writhes, then bucks. She thrashes. Her pussy ripples around my tongue as I slide it inside her, and her fingers threaten to yank every last strand of my hair from my head. She climaxes, her body goes taut, then relaxes as she slumps onto the mattress.
