10. Clyde
CLYDE
My place is closer.
For a second, I stared at him, not because I didn’t want to immediately say yes and embrace him.
It took a second for my wolf to process what had just been offered—our mate invited us into his space.
To me, it was logistics. We couldn’t wait to mate together.
But for my wolf, it was a huge step to be invited into his den, almost as huge as the mating itself.
I felt so much better now that we’d gotten everything out in the open. And he had too. There was no denying that.
“Are you sure about this? About the package deal?”
He gave my hand a squeeze. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.” And then he brought his mouth to my ear. “I’ve been wanting to get my lips on you the entire night. Let’s go.”
We drove separately, and that sucked. It meant we were in separate cars instead of soaking in each other’s scent.
I buckled my seat belt and checked my messages quickly to make sure there was nothing from Miss Caitlin. I didn’t worry about Posy’s safety. She was next door with someone who loved us both dearly. She was with family.
I’d already talked to Miss Caitlin and let her know that Stephen was the one and that we were trying to figure out if I was his one, too. The first message I sent her was: I am!!!!!!!
And she responded with: Good. I better not see you till midday, with a winky face.
For an older woman, she had a very youthful memory of what finding your person was like.
I followed Stephen’s car through town. We were going slower than my wolf wanted. He didn’t care about traffic lights, pedestrians, none of that. He just wanted to get there and rip my mate’s clothes off.
“If we crash into a car, we won’t be able to do that,” I reminded him.
He didn’t care.
In the past, when I’d thought about what it might be like to have a potential mate, I’d always worry about the evil stepparent syndrome, the one that was so prevalent in books and stories.
I didn’t have to worry about any of that with Stephen.
He’d shown me who he was and how he’d protect her before we met.
He was standing outside his parked car when I pulled in beside him. He reached for my hand as I got out, and we walked together into his apartment building. It wasn’t a large apartment, but would definitely do for what we needed. I could smell the nerves on him beneath the heavy scent of his fox.
The apartment was nice enough, but I wasn’t here for a tour.
I didn’t need to see his plants or pictures or how comfy his sofa was.
I just needed to soak in his scent and then make him mine.
Later, I’d want to see his button collection and hear about how he got each one.
All of that. But for now, I just wanted him.
Now that we were in private, I could give more details without worrying about shifter secrets getting out. I wanted him to be clear about why I let him leave that day, that the wind had shifted before I scented him.
He’d told me he scented me too but had assumed I was mated. Our communication before now hadn’t been the best and understandably so. I was going to work on that.
“I’ve never had a mate. You are my first and my only.”
We touched on all of this at dinner, but it felt necessary to say it again.
“I love that we’re talking about important things,” he said. “But maybe not now.”
“Is there something we should be doing instead?” I asked.
He was already pulling off his shirt. “I can think of a few.” He dropped it to the floor and started working his pants.
I could too.
I copied him, and less than a minute later, we were both standing there naked. We hadn’t even had our first kiss yet. We were quite the pair.
The scent of his slick called to me.
“We probably should’ve started with a kiss.” He’d noticed, too. Stephen leaned in and rubbed his cheek against mine.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I slammed my lips to his, needing to taste him, to devour him.
“I want more,” he said between kisses.
We kissed each other, as if our lives depended on it.
No slow, lingering brushes. No teasing. No sweet gentleness.
We went for deep and hard. Our tongues exploring each other’s mouths.
Our hands wandering over each other’s bodies.
At some point, we started moving from our spot, and the next thing I knew, we were at his bed.
I’d grown up where alphas were the ones who took control. But tonight, there was no denying it. It was Stephen taking the lead, and I was here for it.
We continued to kiss, standing up, then on the bed, our bodies pressed together side by side. Our cocks hard and heavy between us. I wanted to worship his body, to let him know how special he was. But, also, I needed to be inside him. His leg hooked over my hips.
He was talking through our kisses, the words mumbled. I couldn’t focus on them, the touch, the feel of him too over all of my thoughts. I ran my fingers down his back, the planes of his strong muscles amping up my already intense need.
“More, alpha. More. I need you inside me.”
I needed it too, but not until he was ready.
I rolled him so he was on his back and started kissing my way down his neck, nibbling, licking, sucking, tracing his muscles with my tongue as my hand worked his slick entrance, circling him, teasing him until he was bucking into my hand, begging me to be inside.
And then I gave him what he wanted. I slid one finger in, pumping in and out of him.
“It’s not enough,” he moaned.
I added a second and then a third, showing him with my fingers what I was going to be doing with my cock. Then I pulled them out and kissed back up till I found his lips again.
“You left me empty.”
“No, sweet omega of mine. I didn’t.” I grabbed a pillow and helped settle it under his hips. “I don’t think I ever could. Are you sure you want this?”
I wasn’t talking about the sex. We both wanted that. But tonight was about more than that. It was about marking each other as ours.
“If you don’t mark me tonight, I’m not letting you leave.”
I chuckled and rested my forehead against his. “And what if I don’t want to leave?”
“Fine. It was a bad threat, but please mark me, alpha. Make me yours.”
I settled between his legs and lined myself up with his entrance, pushing his thighs back and sliding in slowly, so slowly, not wanting to give him pain and also wanting to savor every second of this. And when I bottomed out, I met his eyes and growled, “You’re mine.”
“All yours.”
“All yours.”
He bucked his hips up. He needed more.
We started to move in tandem, me setting the pace, sliding in and out, each thrust a little harder, a little faster, until we found the perfect rhythm.
His cock was hard. The pre-cum begging for my lips, but I dared not stop.
This felt too good, and the words coming from his mouth told me he loved this too.
That would have to wait until next time.
And there would be a next time, a lifetime of them.
It wasn’t long before my orgasm was too close to hold back. How could I? I was with the one person I was supposed to be with, the one that fate put on this planet just for me. It felt too good.
I grabbed his cock, circling it with my hand and giving it a jerk. My hand barely fit around him. He was so hard for me.
“Don’t stop!”
“Never.” Silly omega. I wasn’t going to stop something he loved, not as he was just about to shoot his cum between us. And when he did let go with a growl, he yanked me to him and marked me, his teeth sinking into my flesh and making me all his for always.
My orgasm slammed into me, my cum shooting into him and my knot growing, binding us together as my teeth sank into him.
He was my mate. I was his.
We were both out of breath. I let his legs down and hugged him close, rolling us onto our sides.
“You’re mine, Stephen.”
“All yours, Clyde. Always yours.”
I was already drifting off to sleep, but before I did I said, “We need to go at Posy’s pace.”
“She is our priority.” Stephen kissed my shoulder. “I’ll never ask for that to change.”
Best. Mate. Ever.