His T-shirt hit me in the face, his laughter loud as he raced ahead of me. I grinned, loving how happy he sounded now, how light and carefree. So different to how he’d been the last few months.
My shirt joined his on the floor, my trousers already undone as I walked into Jake’s bedroom. He met me at the door, hands sliding around my waist as he pulled me inside.
“Hey,” he whispered, ducking his head and skimming his nose up the side of my neck. He shuddered as he inhaled. “I want you to smell like me.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Like us.”
“I want that too.”
With his head resting on my shoulder, warm breath hitting my skin with every shaky breath he took, Jake slid his hands lower and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my underwear. “It feels like we’ve been waiting to do this forever.”
“It does. But—” I sucked in a breath as he pushed my trousers and underwear down, fingers trailing oh so close to where I was desperate for him to touch me.
I carefully stepped out of my clothes, and he stroked low on my belly, getting closer and closer to my cock but stopping just shy.
“But?” He lifted his head, blue-grey eyes intense as they met mine.
I’d been thinking a lot about this over the last week. As agonising as it was to have Jake almost ripped away from me, to be denied the intimacy we’d craved, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. With my hands either side of his jaw, I kissed him. “But…” I said, stroking a thumb along the soft stubble on his cheek. “We were ready to jump straight into a physical relationship and maybe it would’ve worked out, but maybe we’d have rushed into it without taking care to protect what we already had. These last few months have been—”
“Tortuous?” Jake offered, eyebrow raised.
“They were,” I conceded, because he wasn’t wrong. “But I think it also gave us time to get to know each other aspartners. If that night had never happened, we’d have rushed into having sex, and maybe lost ourselves along the way.” He was frowning, and I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Fuck, I’m not sure this is coming out right.”
Jake’s expression softened. “You think we would’ve ruined our relationship if we’d gone straight from best friends to having sex?”
“Yes. Maybe?” I grimaced. “All I know is that I feel like our relationship has evolved from friends tomore, and I’m no longer worried that it’s all going to blow up in our faces.”
“And you were before?”
“I think so.” I pulled him close, resting our foreheads together. “But after everything we’ve been through.” I trailed a hand down the side of his neck, stopping at the base of his throat.
Where my mark would go.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that we belong together. That you’re it for me.”
He shivered under my touch.
“You’re it for me, too.”
My wolf stirred beneath my skin, anticipation rippling through my body. “Then let’s make it official.”
With a growl that set my body on fire, Jake grabbed my hand and walked backwards towards the bed, tugging me with him.
The sheets smelt like us. We’d slept here last night, but by some unspoken agreement, we’d cuddled together, but nothing more. With the issue of our packless status still hanging over our heads, neither of us had been in the right headspace for what came next.
But now that was decided.
And Jake lay spread out before me, all hard muscles and warm skin. My shaky inhale sounded loud in the quiet of his room, and Jake immediately reached for my hand.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I huffed out a laugh. “There’s so much I want to do with you, I’m not sure where to start.”
“Here.” He grinned and reached for me, and I let him manhandle me until I was settled between his spread thighs. “I know we’ve said this before and things went to shit, but now we really do have all the time in the world to explore each other.” He cupped my jaw, strong capable hands holding me steady as he met my gaze. “But for right now? I want you to fuck me. Mark me.” He ran his tongue over teeth that lengthened as I watched, one hand trailing down to skim the base of my throat. “And I need to see mine right here where it belongs.”
I sucked in another shaky breath, heart beating loud and furious as I nodded.
“Everything else can come after.”
Wrapping his legs around my waist, he tipped his head back, exposing his throat, and my wolf surged to the surface. Instinct took over as I rutted against him, the drag of his cock against mine drawing a growl from me.
