‘Hi,’he signed, looking nervous.
I sat up from the tangle of blankets and sheets I had found myself in, and had I been of sound mind, I probably would have covered myself up. But I was too far gone into my heat to care if he saw me naked.
‘What are you doing here?’I asked, my fingers moving sluggishly through the air. Deep down, though, I already knew his answer.
‘Bite me,’he said, pointing to his bare neck.‘So I can really tell you.’
Rolling to my knees, I crawled to the end of the bed.
If I did this, then there would be no going back for either of us. He knew it, and I knew it.
So I wanted to test his resolve first.
I rose up so that we were face to face and I saw him swallow hard and his nostrils flared, no doubt inhaling the thick haze of my scent that was floating around in the room.
Lifting my hands, I cupped his face and pulled it to mine, our lips colliding with a surprising amount of hunger.
Before this, I had wondered if kissing Ranieri would be weird. He had always been an outlier in the pack, not through any fault of his own.
There was nothing strange about this kiss though, and Ranieri surprised me when he wrapped his arms around my back and hauled me to him, deepening the kiss.
Finally,the inner-voices in my head chorused with relief.
The only missing piece in our pack was finally coming home to provide balance and reassurance.
Just the thought made my insides twist with impatience, reminding me that I had been interrupted so unceremoniously earlier.
Ranieri’s lips moved hungrily against mine, his teeth grazing my bottom lip as I felt him vibrate with what I dazedly realized was a growl.
I wanted to bite him, I just needed to figure out where first. Sliding my mouth away from his, I kissed down his neck, tasting the salt of his skin before I yanked his shirt over his head so that I could see his bare chest.
He was built more like a runner than the rest of the pack, wiry versus bulky.
Pretty,I realized with a pleased jolt.So pretty.
Everything about Ranieri Silvestri was pretty, from the deep green of his eyes to the ridiculously thick blonde eyelashes that fluttered on high cheek bones.
His chest rose and fell in quick breaths as he let me continue to examine him for the perfect spot for my mark.
The torso wasn’t quite right—or at least my instincts were telling me it wasn’t right—so I turned my attention to the waistband of the sweatpants he was wearing and tugged them down.
There it was. The perfect spot on the lower left side of his abdomen just above where the muscles of his stomach turned into a delicious looking V.
My teeth ached at the thought of putting my bite mark there and I looked up at him, hoping he would be okay with it.
Ranieri’s face was flushed as our eyes met, but he nodded, his hand sliding along the back of my head in order to guide my mouth to the spot.
In a flash, my teeth were buried in Ranieri’s flesh and the first part of our bond clicked into place.
He was feeling good, that much was clear, but also a bit anxious and overwhelmed as I lapped at the bond mark, sealing in the new introduction of my hormones with saliva.
Ranieri still needed to finish his end of the double-bond so we could really talk to each other and he wasted no time flipping me around so my back was to him.
His bite was fast and decisive, like he’d been thinking about it for a long time prior to this moment.
The spot he’d chosen was on the opposite shoulder from the side where Elio’s bite was. From behind, he was able to bite the top part where my shoulder rounded out and I gasped as our bond was sealed and my pack was complete.
‘Ranieri?’I tried softly after a few seconds.
