Being careful not to rip his mate’s skin, Connor disengaged his teeth and lapped the blood from the bite mark. Leyden held tight to Connor’s shoulders, his head thrown back, soft moans leaving his lips. When Leyden was clean, the man lifted his head, a soft smile on his face.
“That has to be the most intimate thing I have ever done,” Leyden whispered. “Thank you.”
“So it doesn’t have to be all sex and fireworks to feel good?” Connor said, enjoying the feeling of his mate in his arms.
“Hell no, honey. By the time we get around to having sex, I think it’ll probably kill me.”
Connor couldn’t help smiling as he climbed off Leyden’s lap and the two men headed toward a shower. Sticky jeans were not fun, after all. But with Leyden’s hand firmly in his, Connor felt the stirrings of the connection he had dreamed of all his life. He imagined that his libido would soon follow. And even if it didn’t, Connor knew that with Leyden in his life the two men could rewrite the ideas of what intimacy was all about.
He didn’t know if or when he and Leyden might have sex. Hell, he didn’t know if his mate was even going to be alpha the next day. But as Connor followed Leyden into the room they would now share, he found he really didn’t care. He’d been claimed, and he’d had the most perfect first kiss a guy could ask for. Anything else was just frosting.
Chapter Ten
His nerves hit him the moment they got into the bedroom. “I’ll shower in the guest bathroom,” Connor said, grabbing his bag from where he’d dropped it earlier. His jeans stuck to his skin in uncomfortable places, and his whole body felt over sensitized, like every nerve ending had woken up for the first time.
“You don’t have to.” Leyden pulled his shirt over his head, revealing all that tanned skin and muscle. “I won’t touch you.”
Connor’s gaze stuck on his mate’s chest, the claiming bite still visible on Leyden’s throat. His mark. The sight sent a flutter through his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger.
“I know you won’t. I just…” Connor shifted his weight, trying to find words that wouldn’t sound insulting. “I need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need.” Leyden smiled, that same patient expression he’d worn since Connor first met him. “Clean towels are in the linen closet at the end of the hall.”
Connor nodded and escaped before his mate could see the flush creeping up his neck. In the guest bathroom, he stripped and stood under scalding water, letting the heat wash away the sticky evidence of his first orgasm with another person. His fingers traced the claiming bite on his throat. The skin around it was tender, hypersensitive, and when he touched it a warm pulse traveled through his chest.
That’s the bond,he realized. He could feel Leyden on the other end of it - not thoughts exactly, but emotions. His mate was happy. Content. Aroused but not desperately so. The feeling was foreign but not unpleasant.
Connor dried off and pulled on sweatpants and an old T-shirt. When he made his way back to Leyden’s bedroom -theirbedroom now - his mate was already in bed, covers pulled up to his waist, reading something on his phone.
“Feel better?” Leyden set the phone on the nightstand.
“Yeah.” Connor hovered near the door, his bag clutched in one hand. The bed looked huge. King-sized at least. Plenty of room for two massive wolf shifters. But the idea of climbing into it made his skin prickle with anxiety.
Leyden watched him for a moment, then patted the mattress beside him. “Come here.”
Connor’s feet moved before his brain caught up. He set his bag down and perched on the edge of the bed, as far from Leyden as he could manage while still technically being on the mattress.
“Connor.” Leyden’s voice was gentle. “What are you comfortable with?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this is new for both of us. Different, anyway.” Leyden shifted so he was facing Connor more directly. “I’ve shared a bed with plenty of people, but not like this. Not with my mate. And I know you haven’t shared a bed with anyone at all.”
Connor’s shoulders tensed. “I’m not going to break.”
“I didn’t say you would.” Leyden reached out, fingers hovering near Connor’s hand. “But I also don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for. So tell me - what are you comfortable with?”
The question hung in the air between them. Connor stared at Leyden’s hand, so close to his own. A week ago, the thought of anyone touching him made his skin crawl. Even pack mates got a growl if they tried to clap him on the shoulder or pull him into a hug. But Leyden had held him earlier, and Connor hadn’t wanted to run. He’d wanted to stay exactly where he was.
“I don’t know,” Connor admitted. “I’ve never wanted to be touched before. But with you…” He broke off, frustrated by his inability to articulate what he felt.
“With me it’s different?”
“Yeah. I guess the mate bond makes it different.”
“Maybe.” Leyden closed the small distance between their hands, fingertips barely brushing Connor’s knuckles. “Or maybe you just need the right person.”
Connor watched their hands, the careful way Leyden touched him. No demands. No expectations. Just contact.
