Chapter 6
Almost on autopilot, I readied myself for bed. As I left the bathroom, James was pulling the blankets back. I grinned and sauntered over to the bed. “You going to use that mouth of yours to keep me relaxed?” I joked, easing onto the pillows.
James settled between my thighs, resting his chin on my stomach. “It’ll be difficult to carry on a conversation with my mouth full, don’t you think?”
“You can nod.”
“Ryder…” He attempted to scold me, but his admonishment trailed off into laughter.
“Okay, okay.” I combed through his hair and he all but purred. “So, Angel is a literal angel.”
“He is.”
“Did you know?”
“The moment I laid eyes on him. I’ve only seen an angel once before, but marks like his are very distinct.”
“You mean his tattoos?”
James nodded against my belly. “That’s how the marks manife st to humans. Adaptive camouflage—it helps him blend in.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. Questions flickered through my mind like pictures in a View-Master. I was dying to know more about Angel, but that wasn’t the most important thing at hand. I gulped, trying to focus on the strands of hair running through my fingers instead of the invisible weight on my chest.
“Do I have a choice?” As much as I tried to swallow my fear, the tremble in my voice betrayed me. James looked at me, and I could see he was every bit as scared as I was. I sighed in relief when he bobbed his head—even if his pretty eyes did turn sad.
“You do,” he said softly. “It’ll be painful for both of us, but you can reject the bond.”
“Painful how? Would it mean we can’t be together at all?”
“No, but…” He paused to think. “It’ll be like leaving the house knowing you have everything you need, yet you still feel like you’ve forgotten something—only you can’t go back to get it.”
“That sounds infuriating.”
James winced. “I’ve heard of some people going mad over a rejected bond.”
The corner of my lip twitched. “Well, we can’t have you going mad, can we?”
I had to give it to him: he could hide his emotions well. But a flicker of hope flashed across his eyes. “That was easier than I thought.”
“What if I do? Accept it, I mean. Is there a whole thing? Do we have to get married? Because?—”
He interrupted my spiraling by grabbing my hand and dusting a kiss across my knuckles. “Breathe, love. We don’t have to do anything more than what we’re doing right now. Accept ing the bond is as simple as acknowledging what fate has chosen for us.”
“That’s it?”
“Our connection will grow stronger. We’ll feel each other’s pain, each other’s emotions. You’ll be accepting that you’re the only one for me, and I’m the only one for you—forever.”
My brow furrowed. “This is more curiosity talking than anything, but there’s only ever one mate? For everyone?”
James shifted, crawling up the bed to sit next to me, his hand finding mine once more. “Multiples are possible—but I’ve only ever heard stories about them.”
I let James play with my fingers, his thumb brushing each nail before moving onto the next. “How did Luke know?”
“Kian’s brother? If he and Dani were half as competent as they claimed to be, they must have known about our marks. When you…” James trailed off, the memory of me and Luke being intimate together too much for him to bear.
“You don’t have to say it.”
“He likely saw your mark. It’s shaped too perfectly. Anyone in tune with the supernatural could identify it. That, coupled with the fact something likely felt… odd about it, probably tipped him off.”
“Are you saying I’m bad in bed?”
James laughed, that true laugh that brought out the swirl of red in his deep eyes. My stomach fluttered, but I tamped that down. Ryder Clark didn’t do butterflies .
“No, love. That’s not what I’m saying at all.” James rose onto one knee, slotting his leg between mine and leaning in until our lips brushed. He latched onto a thick handful of hair until he pulled a gasp out of me. “I’m sure you were more than satisfying. But this ,” he slipped his free hand under my shirt, feathering touches over my pebbling skin. I squirmed, pressure building betwee n my legs, “this breathtaking, electrifying feeling? That’s reserved just for us .”
James slanted his mouth against mine, swallowing any hope I had of responding. He dropped his jaw and I moaned as our tongues clashed together. With his t-shirt clenched in my fists, I poured everything I had into that kiss. The temperature rose; my breathing grew ragged. I tugged on his shirt, desperate to remove the pesky fabric between us.
Before I could lift it over his head, James broke the kiss, holding me in place by his tight grip on my hair. “Tell me all of your kisses leave you that breathless—I dare you.”
“That was not a kiss,” I panted. “That was tongue-fucking my mouth.”
“My point stands,” he said with a smug grin. “Name one person that’s kept you coming back for more.”
My answer was instant, my heart thumping louder in my chest. “You.”
“Ah, but I’m so much more than a person. I’m a supernatural being.”
“You’re a supernatural bastard,” I grumbled, not even bothering to adjust the erection straining my underwear.
James sobered and reached out for me again. Our fingers linked, our hands fitting together like a key in a lock. As if we were…
Made for each other.
Damn it, there was that fluttering feeling again.
“You’re still scared,” James stated, his thumb rubbing small circles over the back of my hand.
Those butterflies—scratch that, hornets— in my stomach prevented me from speaking. All I could do was nod. I was terrified, but it had nothing to do with the bond anymore. Even though it was bigger than both of us, and it scared the life out of me .
What scared me even more was that I wanted to say yes.
Instead of giving a verbal answer, I brought our mouths together. James opened for me, angling his head to deepen the kiss. When I shifted to lie down, he rolled on top of me. He caged me in with his arms, his weight pinning me down. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel trapped.
I felt safe.
I only broke the kiss to come up for air, and James worked his lips down my jaw. “You’re insatiable, you know that, right?”
“Please,” I said. “Let me have you.”
“Can you be quiet, love? We don’t want to wake up our guests.”
Choosing to ignore the fact that he was using words like “our” and “we,” I responded with a whimper. His mouth sealed over mine again, taking my breath away. I grabbed his hips and tugged, moaning into the kiss when our cocks ground together. James’s tongue found the crook of my neck.
“Bite me,” I begged. “Please.” My voice was too whiny for my liking, but I needed the high—I needed the courage.
“Are you sure?”
I snarled, snatching his hand and guiding it to the bulge behind my sweats. “If you ask me again, I’ll make you watch me take care of this myself.”
He chuckled, low and throaty, and goosebumps swept over my entire body. He pressed his lips to my pulse. I arched into the feeling, exposing myself to him—submitting to him. One more swipe of his tongue, then his fangs grazed my neck. My breath hitched when they broke through the skin. At the same time, he clenched his hand around my shaft, adding enough pressure to send me into a haze of euphoric bliss. I fell into the high while rutting against his palm.
One draw, and every worry in my body seemed to fade .
A second, coupled with another squeeze from his hand, almost worked the way I wanted.
Three, and… Fuck, yes . That was it. What had I been so worried about?
My body rolled, seeking contact with every point of him it could find. I mewled when his hand let go, only for nimble fingers to find my waistband. Fabric ripped as my boxer briefs were pulled from my body and tossed aside.
James sealed off his bite with a single pass from his tongue, then rose onto his knees so he could undress. He started with his shirt, and my hands moved of their own accord, tracing over the ridges of muscle in his stomach.
Through bleary eyes I watched him work his belt, then pop the button on his jeans. The zipper practically lowered on its own. Quick as a flash, the fabric was gone and he had his hand wrapped around his glorious erection.
“That’s mine,” I said, though my feeble strength and slurring voice were anything but commanding.
Still, James shuddered when I batted his hand aside and took over. His fingers closed over mine, moving in time with me. I swiped my thumb over his leaking tip and brought the sweet liquid to my mouth. I hummed in satisfaction and turned to James’s fingers, sucking each one. I moved to sit up, only to have him guide me back to the pillows.
He stretched out, blanketing me with his entire body. “Let me take care of you tonight, love.”
I wanted to protest. I truly did. I wanted to argue, to shove him onto his back and wrestle for dominance until one of us surrendered. I could blame the buzz, but that wasn’t what made me submit.
James rolled his hips, our hard lengths gliding together and crying for attention. He pulled back, lips seeking out every bit of exposed skin within reach. I arched into his touch as his fi ngers explored my chest and stomach. My cock wept, milking another drop of liquid onto my abdomen.
“Hands above your head,” he said.
In lieu of friction, my hips bucked into his hot breath. James only laughed at my impatience. “Hands up,” he repeated, voice a little sterner. “If they move, I stop.”
I obeyed, hooking my fingers into the mattress. James knocked my legs apart and knelt between my thighs. My breath hitched. “It’s okay,” he cooed, kissing my heated flesh. “Can you trust me?”
I shook my head against the pillow, then forced myself to look down and meet his eyes. Oh, how he didn’t realize how much weight that question truly held.
James grinned, eyes transforming in front of me. Breathtaking crimson swirled in a pool of melted chocolate. He was hypnotizing. My pulse raced, and his eyes flicked to my neck. But they snapped back to my face when I spoke.
“I accept.”