CHAPTER 7 THE SCENT BETWEEN THEM #2
Jace's hands came up to grip Eli's shoulders, his breath coming faster.
The sensation was overwhelming—not painful, not even particularly sexual, but deeply, profoundly intimate.
Like Eli was writing himself into Jace's skin, claiming him in a way that had nothing to do with force and everything to do with connection.
"My turn," Jace said when Eli finally pulled back.
He pushed Eli gently until the larger man was lying back against the smooth rocks, vulnerable and open. Then Jace began his own exploration—pressing his face to Eli's throat, his chest, his stomach. Breathing him in, memorizing every note of his scent, and leaving his own behind in return.
Eli's hands tangled in Jace's hair, not controlling, just holding. His breath was ragged, his body responding despite the lack of direct sexual contact.
"You smell like mine," Eli said roughly. "Like you belong with me."
"I do," Jace said, looking up at him. "Not because you claimed me. Because I chose you."
"Say it again," Eli demanded, his voice breaking.
"I chose you," Jace repeated, moving up Eli's body until they were face to face. "I choose you. Every day. Every moment. This is my choice, Eli."
Eli pulled him down into a kiss—deep and desperate and full of everything they couldn't say. When they broke apart, both were breathing hard, their bodies pressed together, their combined scent surrounding them like a physical presence.
"The water," Jace said. "I want to do this in the water."
They slid back into the pool together, the cool water a shock against their heated skin. Jace wrapped his legs around Eli's waist, and Eli held him easily, his strength more than enough to support both their weights.
The water washed away their individual scents, but within moments, they were creating new ones—the combination of their bodies, their arousal, their connection. It was intoxicating.
Jace reached between them, wrapping his hand around both their cocks, stroking slowly. Eli groaned, his head falling back, his hips rocking into the touch.
"I want you inside me," Jace said. "Here. Now. In this place that's ours."
"Are you sure?" Eli asked, even as his hands tightened on Jace's hips. "The water—"
"I'm sure," Jace said. He'd prepared himself before coming tonight, hoping for exactly this. "I want to feel you. I want our scents to blend completely."
Eli's eyes were nearly black with want. "Tell me if it's too much."
"It won't be," Jace promised.
He reached down, guiding Eli to his entrance. The water made everything slick and strange, but also somehow perfect. Eli pushed in slowly, carefully, watching Jace's face for any sign of discomfort.
There was none. Just pleasure, connection, the overwhelming sensation of being filled and completed.
"God," Jace breathed when Eli was fully seated inside him. "You feel—"
"I know," Eli said roughly. "You feel like home."
They moved in tandem slowly, the water supporting them, making everything feel weightless and dreamlike. Eli's hands gripped Jace's hips, guiding him up and down, while Jace's arms wrapped around Eli's neck, holding on.
It wasn't frantic or desperate. It was deliberate. Intentional. Every thrust, every movement, every breath was about connection—about creating something together that neither could create alone.
"I can smell us," Jace gasped. "Our scents—they're blending—"
"I know," Eli said. "I can feel it. Like we're becoming one person."
The sensation was overwhelming. Not just the physical pleasure—though that was intense—but the emotional and spiritual connection. Jace could feel Eli inside him, around him, part of him. Could feel their scents merging into something entirely new.
"I love you," Jace said, the words spilling out before he could stop them. "Eli."
Eli's rhythm faltered. He pulled Jace closer, burying his face in Jace's neck. "I love you too," he said roughly. "God, Jace, you terrify me."
They moved in tandem faster now, the water splashing around them, their combined scent growing stronger with every thrust. Jace could feel his orgasm building—not just in his body but in his soul, like every part of him was preparing to shatter and reform.
"Close," he gasped. "Eli, I'm so close—"
"Come for me," Eli said. "Let me feel you."
Jace's hand wrapped around his own cock, stroking in time with Eli's thrusts. The dual sensation—Eli inside him, his own hand on his cock—pushed him over the edge. He came with a cry that echoed off the rocks, his body clenching around Eli, his release spilling into the water between them.
The sensation of Jace's orgasm triggered Eli's. He thrust deep one final time, groaning Jace's name as he came, filling him, marking him from the inside out.
For several heartbeats, they stayed locked together, both trembling, both overwhelmed by what had just happened.
Then Jace started laughing—soft and breathless and full of joy.
"What?" Eli asked, smiling despite his confusion.
"We just had sex in a waterfall," Jace said. "Like something out of a romance novel."
Eli's smile widened. "Was it everything you dreamed?"
"Better," Jace said honestly. He kissed Eli softly. "So much better."
They made their way back to the rocks, both exhausted and exhilarated. Eli pulled Jace down beside him, and they lay together in the mist, their bodies still joined by their combined scent.
"That was different," Jace said after a while. "That felt like—"
"Magic," Eli finished. "Yeah."
Jace propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at Eli. "Do you think that's what the bond actually is? The magic, not just the attraction?"
Eli considered, his hand stroking absently up and down Jace's spine.
"I think the attraction is real. But the scent compatibility, the way our bodies fit, the way we feel when we're together.
.. maybe that's the magic. Maybe that's why cross-species bonds are so taboo—because they're too powerful.
Because they could rewrite territorial law just through existing. "
Jace traced patterns on Eli's chest, following old scars. "My mother will know eventually. The longer I keep coming back, the more risk there is of discovery."
"I know," Eli said.
"Then we have to make a choice." Jace met his eyes. "We can try to keep this secret, keep meeting in neutral territory, hoping it never comes out. Or we can decide that this bond is worth whatever consequences come."
Eli's hand came up to cup Jace's face. "What do you want?"
"I want you," Jace said simply. "I want this. I want to stop hiding. But I also understand if you need more time."
Eli shook his head. "I'm tired of hiding too. I'm tired of choosing what's safe over what I want. The bond is telling me something, Jace. It's telling me we're meant to be together."
"Then we'll figure out the rest," Jace said. "Together."
Eli pulled him down for another kiss—slower this time, tender and full of promise. When they broke apart, Jace settled against Eli's chest, listening to his heartbeat, breathing in their combined scent.
It was everywhere now—coating both their bodies, impossible to separate. Anyone who came near either of them would know immediately that they were bonded, that they belonged to each other.
And neither of them wanted to wash it away.
As the sun began to set, painting the waterfall in shades of gold and rose, they finally stirred. But neither wanted to leave. They dried off slowly, touching frequently, neither willing to break the connection they'd forged.
Before they headed back toward their respective territories, Eli pulled Jace close one more time.
"I need to tell you something," he said seriously. "Our scent compatibility... the bond is growing stronger. It's getting harder to separate our scents. When you leave tonight, you're going to carry my scent for days, and I'll carry yours. Your mother will notice."
Jace nodded, having already realized this. "I know. Which means we need to prepare for her finding out."
He touched Eli's face, memorizing the lines of it in the fading light. "But tonight, I don't want to think about that. Tonight I want to stay in this place where we exist outside of territorial law."
"Then stay," Eli said. "Stay the night. We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."
So they did.
They spent the night at the waterfall, wrapped together on the smooth rocks, watching the stars emerge one by one. They made love again under the moonlight—slower this time, reverent, both of them savoring every touch, every kiss, every moment of connection.
By morning, when they finally prepared to leave, both were thoroughly marked with the other's scent—a visible, olfactory declaration of their bond that anyone with a nose would recognize immediately.
Jace's mother would know the moment he returned. Eli's old pack allies would know if they came near. There would be no more hiding, no more pretending this was just a casual attraction.
They were bonded now. Truly, completely, irrevocably bonded.
Neither of them wanted to take it back.
As they stood at the edge of the waterfall one last time before leaving, Jace turned to Eli. "Whatever happens next," he said, "whatever consequences come from this—I want you to know I'd choose this again. I'd choose you again. Every time."
Eli pulled him close, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "So would I," he said. "You're worth every risk, Jace. You're worth everything."
They left the waterfall hand in hand, their combined scent announcing their bond to anyone who might be listening.
The secret was over.
Now came the hard part.