My teeth didn’t break the skin, but they did leave a mark. Drawing back to survey my handiwork, I smiled in satisfaction, unable to resist rubbing my thumb over it. A surge of possessive swept through me, taking me by surprise.
Is this how Talis feels when he does this to me?
Was it how he’d felt that first night when I’d heard him in my head? I’d been terrified to hear it then, but now I’d welcome it with open arms.
“Upstairs,” I murmured, kissing him again, reluctant to let him go even for the time it took for us to get to my bedroom. As much as I loved being caged in by all his shifter strength, I needed him horizontal, splayed out underneath me where I could explore every last inch of him. “Come on,” I tried again between kisses, and Talis laughed.
“I can’t move if you keep kissing me like that.”
“I can’t help it.” But my cock ached where it pressed against his belly, and I didn’t want to come, fully clothed, in my hallway. Any other time I wouldn’t give amalthek rhel,but not tonight. “Go,” I said, forcing myself to stop kissing him. When he didn’t move immediately, I tapped his arm. “Hurry.”
Another huff of laughter, but he stepped away from the wall. I expected him to put me down so I could walk up, but no. He carried me up the stairs with an ease that I found incredibly hot.
All that power wrapped up in a shifter so gentle made my pulse race and warmth bloom inside me. The only time I’d witnessed Talis let out his inner beast had been to defend me or his pack, and I loved the level of protectiveness he felt for those he cared about.
I lovedhimand he was mine.
The ink on our wrists was proof of that.
But soon it wouldn’t be the only mark confirming our relationship. I shivered at the thought of it.
Of course, Talis noticed.
He paused at the door to my bedroom. “You okay?” I had my head on his shoulder so when he whispered in my ear, warm breath tickled the side of my neck.
“Yeah.” The roughness of my voice took me by surprise, Talis too, judging by the way he held me that little bit tighter. “Bed. Now.”
Not bothering to turn on the light, the moon bright enough through my open curtains, Talis walked me over to my bed and laid me down on it.
By unspoken agreement, we undressed quickly, clothes discarded on the floor or wherever—neither of us cared enough to look where they landed.
Lying back on my elbows, I let my gaze run over him as he stood at the bottom of the bed. Bathed in moonlight, he was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. “I want to fuck you until I come,” I said, smirking at the way his eyes shot to mine. Even in the dim light, the fire in them was obvious. “Then I want you to fuck me.”
His growl echoed around the room, another shiver racing down my spine as he crawled up the bed, eyes never leaving mine as he felt his way up my body. Ankles, shins, thighs, his hands stroked over my skin, his touch setting my blood alight.
He avoided my cock, making me collapse back with a groan, so desperate for him to touch methere.Instead, he stroked his thumbs along the jut of my hips, back and forth in a slow tease that brought him closer to where I wanted him, where Ineededhim.
“Touch me.” I bit my lip as he looked up at me, green eyes dark with a hunger that I felt deep inside. “Please.”
He moved too fast for me to process, hand wrapping around my cock as he lay down beside me, stealing my sharp inhale with a kiss. I curled towards him, wanting to feel him everywhere, the warmth of his body, the raw power lurking under that gentle exterior.
Pressing against him, I gasped as he thrust his hips forward, hand now encompassing the both of us. I could come like this, so easily. All I’d have to do was close my eyes and give in to the feeling building inside me.
I have plans,I reminded myself, but it still took all my effort to clasp Talis’s hand and still his movements. “On your back,” I whispered, taking advantage of his surprise to reach over and grab the bottle of lube from my bedside table.
He lay back, drawing his knees up as I slicked my cock. I moved to touch him too, but he shook his head, dark green eyes focused on mine with an intensity that tightened my belly.
“Don’t need it.”
I took him at his word, positioning myself between his spread thighs. In my experience, a lot of shifters didn’t like being in this position—they hadn’t with me, anyway. Maybe it was the ink on our wrists joining us together, or the love we’d only confessed to feeing once before. Whatever it was, the trust in Talis’s expression caught my heart, squeezing it tight, and I’d never take for granted that I was lucky enough to be here with him.
After what I’d done, after everything we’d been through.
I pushed inside him. Watching my cock disappear into the clutch of his body remained one of the hottest sights I’d ever experienced. Hearing his breath hitch, feeling his magic weave with mine, was a close second.
I fucked him slow and easy, needing to pace myself, because this was far from over. I glanced up to meet his eyes, the love and awe in them making my grip tighten on his thighs as I struggled to ground myself.
My gaze caught on the ink covering his wrist, and I knew in that moment that my words from earlier were a lie. I wasn’t going to come like this, didn’t want to when the promise of Talis sinking his teeth into me, marking me forever as his, dangled in front of me. I wanted to fall over the edge as he broke the skin, wanted that sharp spike of pain to mix with the rush of orgasm, binding us together in a way that showed him I hadn’t been forced into completing our joining pact.
