My eyes felt hot, and my throat was tight. That was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to me. Rafferty's eyes were pleading, and when I opened my magic the tiniest bit, I was almost bowled over by the yearning and desperation coming from him.
“Okay.” I sniffled and swiped the back of my hand across my face.
“Okay?” He sat up and twisted his body to face me with a hopeful expression. “Does that mean you'll bond with me?”
I smiled. “I will. But I do want to wait until after the surgery. Just in case. What if my scent changes and your wolf doesn’t like it?”
He sighed, but he was smiling. “I won’t change my mind, and neither will my wolf.” I heard the wolf yip in agreement.
“Probably not, but it'll make me feel less guilty.”
He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before his shoulder slumped. “Fine. I don't want to cause you any more stress. But, fair warning, as soon as we get you home from the hospital, I’ll be pestering you to form a mating connection.”
I gave a sodden chuckle. “Lennon will be staying with me, but it'd be nice to be able to touch you.” I rubbed my face. “The doctor said it'll be two to four weeks before I can attempt to have an orgasm, so we can't finalize the bond until then.”
His eyebrows scrunched down. “Bonding can be completed without sex.”
“I know. But I'd like to at least try.” He nodded. I held up a finger. “And my hormones will be all over the place until they figure out my testosterone dosage. I don't know how pleasant I’ll be to spend time with.”
He grinned. “You can't be any crabbier than a wolf shifter in her eighth month of pregnancy, and I've been dealing with those one after the other for the past few years.”
I couldn't stop myself from smiling back. I was still getting nothing but positive feelings from Rafferty. Maybe he was right. Maybe things would work out between us. I watched the play of muscles in his throat as he swallowed some of his beer. How soft was his beard? A flash of heat went through my body. I took a sip of my own beer, then set the bottle back down with a pronounced click. “Lennon’s driving in from Austin tomorrow afternoon, so tonight is really my last free night with a working testicle.”
Rafferty froze, his beer bottle inches from his lips. Slowly, he placed it on the coffee table. “How do you suggest we commemorate that?”
I looked at him from under my eyelashes, toying with the top button on my shirt. “Well, we obviously can't touch each other without creating a mate connection, but nothing says we can't touch ourselves.”
He groaned, leaning back and putting his hands over his face. “You want to show me your naked body, only a few feet away, and I can’t touch you? I don't know if I'm strong enough.”
I got up and moved to the much less comfortable armchair across from the couch. Now six feet of space and the coffee tablewere between me and Rafferty. “Is this better?” I popped the button on my shirt I’d been teasing him with, then the next one.
“I’ll deal with it.” His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were trained on my chest as I slowly revealed my skin.
I wasn’t the most fit guy in the world. I definitely didn’t go to the gym regularly. Rafferty, I found out after he whipped his long-sleeved t-shirt over his head, must work out a lot. I swallowed. “I'm looking forward to getting my hands on all of that.” He had a thick pelt of chest hair I just knew would feel soft beneath my fingers. Why were we waiting to touch each other again? I shook my head. Stick with the plan.
Tired of teasing him, I yanked the tails of my shirt out of my pants and pulled the whole thing over my head. Rafferty sucked in a breath. I stood up and unbuckled my belt while toeing off my shoes. Rafferty stood as well, his cock bulging under his jeans. He unbuttoned them and unzipped his fly, then before I could see what kind of underwear he was wearing, he bent over to unlace his work boots.
I'd been about to protest that he should turn around so I could admire his ass, but the muscles in his back flexed under his skin, and I lost the ability to speak. When he stood upright again, freezing me in place with his heated stare, I managed a small moan.
“See something you like?” After he kicked off his boots, he yanked the sides of his fly apart to display silky black boxers.
“Shit, yeah.” I jerked back into motion, unzipping my own fly and letting the weight of the belt take my pants to the floor. I stuck my thumbs in the waistband of my boxer briefs, then I paused. “Fuck. Don’t move! Lube!” Hopping out of the legs of mypants, I dashed into my bedroom and grabbed the bottle from its spot on the nightstand. I’d needed ready access to it last night after spending the evening with Rafferty.
When I got back to the living room, I was happy to see he’d obeyed my orders. I put the bottle of lube on the coffee table and waved a hand in his direction. “Okay, proceed.”
Chuckling, he pushed his jeans down to reveal boxers that were not long enough to contain his erection. His crown and a couple of inches of his shaft were visible from underneath the leg opening. Quickly he kicked off his jeans and removed his socks.
I hastily took my socks off as well, but it was difficult because I kept losing my balance from trying to get an eyeful of Rafferty while I leaned over. I stood back up at last and mirrored his position with my thumbs in the waistband of my underwear. “Together on three?”
Rafferty shook his head, grinning. “This is already the most entertaining jerk off session I've ever experienced. But, yes, on three.”
We counted down, and I shoved off my briefs, my gaze fixed on Rafferty’s cock as it was slowly revealed. He paused his stripping to give me an appreciative onceover, but I made a rolling gesture with my hand. “Come on. I'm waiting.”
At last he pushed his boxers down. His cock was mostly hard, with a tiny glisten of precum at the tip. He gave it a good stroke, and I noted how he swiped over his slit with his thumb, so one day I could pleasure him in the same way.
“You're gorgeous, Elton. I can't believe you're going to be mine.” His tone was reverent.
I scoffed. “I've got nothing on you, Mr. Muscles.”
