Leon met his gaze, panting with how good this felt, how goodKarlfelt, deep inside him. “Think you could stop talking long enough to actually fuck me?”
Karl moved then—slow, deliberate thrusts, only the growing wildness in his eyes giving away how his control was fraying. Each stroke had Leon shaking, biting down on another sound that threatened to tear loose.
“Come on,” Karl gasped, voice rough. “Give me that sound again.”
Leon glared at him, but it was weak, already dissolving as Karl hit that spot again and again. He yowled before he could stop himself.
Karl growled, deep and visceral. “There you are.”
His pace stayed steady, maddening, every thrust winding Leon tighter. He was used to being in control, used to calling the shots, but now he was held open, filled,wrecked, and he didn’t want it to stop.
“Faster,” Leon begged, voice breaking. “Please—”
“Not yet,” Karl growled, eyes blazing. “Want to feel youcome apart first.”
And Leon did—shaking, gasping,shatteringunder Karl’s hands. The orgasm hit hard and bright, tearing through him as he cried out, his body clenching around Karl in rhythmic, helpless waves.
Karl cursed, faltered, then moved with sudden urgency and came deep inside him, a wrecked moan muffled against Leon’s shoulder.
They collapsed together, Karl’s weight warm and grounding on top of him, their hearts pounding in sync.
Leon let himself be held. Didn’t even think about slipping away.
After a while, Karl’s hand slid up his spine, then threaded gently through his hair, fingertips soft against his scalp.
“You okay?” he asked, voice low and rough.
Leon attempted a sexy smirk but was fairly sure it landed closer to dazed. “More than.”
Karl kissed him, slow and sweet this time. Then tucked them close, skin to skin, heart to heart. Leon sighed into it, letting the silence settle over them. Letting himself settle, too.
Trust a wolf to be good at holding on. He hadn’t thought he needed that. Turned out, maybe he did.
Chapter Thirty-eight
KARL
They lay tangled together in the fading light, sweat cooling between them, the scent of sex heavy in the air.
Karl couldn’t stop touching him. Not in a sexual way—though God knew he wanted him again that way soon enough—but grounding himself in the reality of Leon’s body beside him. His hand moved lazily across Leon’s chest, brushing the sheen of sweat there, ghosting over the smooth curve of his ribs, then up to trace the sharp line of his jaw.
He pressed a kiss against his shoulder. Because he could, because he wanted to.
But through the glow of being here with Leon like this, Karl could feel a tension start to build. His damn brain had forgotten how to relax for more than a few moments at a time, and it was gearing up, reminding him of all the things that were still unsettled. His life was about to change—hadalready changed.They needed a plan of action, and while no plan survived contact with the enemy, having one would enable them to measure progress.
He pressed another kiss to the smooth skin of Leon’s shoulder, and smiled to himself at the way Leon stretched under his attentions, satisfied and taking them as his due.
“We should probably talk,” Karl said.
His words caused an instant change in Leon. With a slight lift of his chin and the deliberate set of his mouth, a wall slotted into place, sleek and feline and unbreachable.
Karl watched it all happen and felt… not hurt, not exactly. Just a pang of sorrow for how hard it must have been to learn to do that so well.
“You’re doing the thing,” he said quietly.
Leon blinked at him. “What thing?”
“The disappearing act. Not physically, but the emotional one.” He tapped his fingers lightly over Leon’s heart. “You’re pulling back.”
