Rue frowned. “Sorry, I just assumed. Did you want to go to dinner?”
“I—” It felt like we were on two very different pages. Hell, different books entirely. “I thought you were going to drop me off at home. That you were—that we were…”
“That we were what?” he asked.
“Breaking up?” I whispered, struggling to push the words from my lips. But that wasn’t quite accurate, because whatever we were, I doubt it counted as dating. Just because he stuck his fingers in me and swallowed my cum, that was hardly a marriage proposal.
Rue’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What? No! Never! Wherever did you get that idea, love?”
I shrugged, shame warming my cheeks as I looked down at my lap. “I thought maybe… you were sticking by me because I might help you solve this case, and all I’ve done is make a mess of things. Getting hurt and letting her get away, and now I couldn’t track her—”
“Stop right there,” he commanded sharply, but when he reached across for me, the seatbelt stopped him dead, and he growled in frustration. “No, this just won’t do. Come on, inside.”
He pulled me inside by the hand and sat me down on the couch, taking my face in his hands more easily this time. “Uly, you are more important to me than any case. When I first came across you, I recognized the touch of fate that had caused our paths to cross. I knew you were important, but I was wrong in assuming it was because of the case. It never had anything to do with the case at all. It was just you! Because you’re mine, Uly, do you understand? All this time, thousands of years, I’ve been living each day to fulfill my purpose to the gods, to use my gift and earn their favor. I never thought I might have a life of my own, love, a future, maybe a family… amate.”
The words seemed too good to be true. I wanted so very much for them to be true. Since meeting Rue, I’d felt my poor frayed soul stitching itself slowly back together, shoring up all the places where it had worn thin. I’d tried so hard to stay strong against him, to keep my walls up to guard against heartbreak, but no matter what, he just kept getting through.
A tear slipped down my cheek. “But in the car… if you aren’t mad at me, then what has you all worked up?”
Rue leaned in and kissed my tears away. “What you said about retiring… living out your mortal life. Was I really so close to losing you?”
I shrugged as if the possibility hadn’t been very real. “I mean, theoretically, but I was doing a really bad job of retiring. Turns out it’s pretty boring. What the heck do I know about shuffleboard?”
“And now?” he asked, taking me by the waist and drawing me forward until I straddled his lap. “Still thinking about sticking around with me?”
“If you’ll have me,” I said shyly.
“I should be so lucky,” he said, beaming, before he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against him, face tucked into my neck. “No more doubting me, okay? I love you, and that’s never going to change.” We sat like that, entwined, as our bodies seemed to find a rhythm, our chests rising with our shared breath.
It was not just our breaths, however, that seemed to synchronize. Our cocks, too, seemed to have the same idea.
It didn’t take much for the heat to build between us, since it seemed to be at a constant simmer at all times. Pressure too, as my pants tightened. I allowed my lips a slow, lazy roll in Rue’s lap, and his breath caught.
“Not here,” he said. “You deserve more than a quick fuck on the couch. Come on then, sin-eater. Let me show you what you have in store, being mated to me for eternity.” He stood as though I weighed nothing, my legs still locked around his waist, and carried me down the hall to his bedroom. If we were mates, did that make thisourbedroom? It was too soon for that… wasn’t it?
He laid me out on the bed then stood above me, a look of intense worship in his eyes as he gazed down at me, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, seemingly ravenous. It felt like he saw me all the way down to my soul. Was that what being mates meant? That he would see what no one else saw, touched a part of me even I didn’t know existed?
When he still hadn’t made a move to touch me, I started undoing my own pants. I would start without him if I had to. “So help me gods, Rue, if you plan on holding back from me again…”
“No, love. I think you give my restraint too much credit.” He peeled his shirt up and off, giving me a full view of his gorgeous body. The light scattering of hair across his pecs, broken only by the scar he chose to keep to mark the end of his human life, leading in a treasure trail that disappeared under his waistband. “Clothes. Off,” he demanded.
Thankful I’d had a head start, I scrambled to get naked, all without looking away from him as he bared himself fully.At last, I thought with a blissful sigh, taking in his thick length and marveling at how his hair was red all over. He truly was a god, in every meaning of the word.
Right from the beginning, it was obvious things were different. He didn’t handle me like I was fragile, his fingers digging into the flesh of my thighs as he parted them and dove in. He took me into his mouth, but there was a new level of desperate need that had him bobbing fast, leaving me sloppy with spit. And this time when he stretched me with his fingers, he didn’t dawdle. The foreplay was rushed, clearly nothing more than a step to getting us both where we wanted to be.
“Hurry,” I panted, scrabbling at his shoulders and dragging him off my cock. “I need you inside me.”
“Anything for you, love,” he vowed as he lowered himself over me, anchoring me to the bed as he lined himself up.
He claimed my mouth at the same time as he thrust forward, swallowing my cry. The fit was a stretch, but the painful sting brought nothing but more pleasure. He stilled once he was seated inside me, his forehead on mine. “Fuck, love. You’re perfect.”
Contrary to what he’d claimed about his lack of restraint, I could feel him fighting the urge to fuck me into the mattress. He moved in long, slow glides, letting me get used to his size, all while kissing, licking, sucking down my neck and across my chest,leaving hickeys.
“You know,” I gasped as he sucked my nipple hard. “If you’re going to mark me as your mate, you’ll have to do better than that,” I said, goading him.
My words got the precise reaction I wanted from him. His hips snapped forward in a classic possessive, alpha move, burying himself deep, and he jerked his head back, staring down at me with shock, his eyes greener than I’d ever seen them. “Please don’t joke about that when my cock is inside you.”
“Who says I’m joking?” I bit my lower lip, fighting the urge to take it back, to protect myself in the only way I’d known how for 250 years—keeping my heart under lock and key. I’d been betrayed time and time again. Maybe it was fair to say that was the reason I’d believed for too long that I didn’t deserve to be loved, but didn’t I owe it to myself to try? And for the first time, I found myself leaning into this feeling that had been growing inside me since that first night he’d chased me down and forced himself straight into my life. “I love you too,” I whispered, picking up where he’d left off that night.
