My hand flies to my dick, stroking fast and rough. I'm so close. Can feel it building, the pressure coiling tight.
"That's it," he encourages, fucking into me harder. "Come for me, Toby. Let me see you."
I come with a sob, spilling over my fist and onto my stomach, clenching around him so tight. The extra pressure around his swollen base must send him over—he buries himself deep and comes, pulsing inside me, groaning against my neck.
His teeth find the bite mark on my shoulder, pressing down, reinforcing the claim as he empties himself into me. I cry out again, shaking through another aftershock.
For a long moment, neither of us moves. Just breathing. Hearts pounding. Still connected.
I can feel him still thick inside me, the swell slowly starting to subside. He eases out carefully—I wince a little, oversensitive—and collapses next to me, pulling me against his side.
"That swelling thing," I mumble against his chest. "That was..."
"Too much?" His chest tightens beneath my cheek.
"Incredible." I press a kiss to his collarbone. "Is it always like that?"
"It's stronger with a mate." He presses a kiss to my hair. "With you."
"Good to know." I sound sleepy, satisfied. "We should do that again. Frequently."
His chest rumbles with something like a purr.
We lie there in the dark, catching our breath. My head is on his chest, my fingers tracing idle patterns on his stomach. I've never felt so content in my life.
"Knox?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you. For waiting. For giving me time." I press a kiss to his chest. "For proving I could trust you."
"Always." He tightens his arm around me. "I meant what I said. I love you. And I'm not going anywhere."
"I know." I tilt my head up, kiss his jaw. "I love you too."
We should clean up. Should probably eat something.
But Knox is warm and solid beneath me, his breathing starting to even out, and none of that seems important right now.
"Stay," he murmurs against my hair.
"I'm not going anywhere." I snuggle closer, throw a leg over his. "You're stuck with me now."
"Good."
"Good," I echo.
We fall asleep like that, tangled together, exactly where we belong.
Chapter 20
Knox
I wake up to voices downstairs.
For a second I don't move—just lie there with Toby warm and solid against my chest, his hair tickling my chin, his breathing slow and even. My lion is purring, content in a way he hasn't been in weeks. Our mate. In our bed. Where he belongs.
Then I hear the voice again, and I recognize it.
