Chapter 16 Thorne
THORNE
I had the door open only seconds before the sky opened up.
“Perfect timing.” I bolted the door behind us. “I would have probably wanted to stay there with your wolf all night if Mother Nature hadn’t given us an unexpected curfew.”
I walked into his open arms, longing for his warmth. This wasn’t about the naughty things I’d been fantasizing about doing with him. It was about assurance, belonging, and a sense of home.
“I want to read the book to Rupert every night. Is that okay?” I loved how it fit in with our routine already and had a feeling this one would be one that he’d stay awake until the last page for.
“I think that’s a great idea.” He kissed the top of my head. It was such a tiny, yet intimate gesture. Who knew head kisses could be so powerful.
His life had been through so many changes in such a short period of time.
Jump scaring him with “You might be an animal” felt like too much.
But with this book, it should be a lot easier.
Kind of like it was for me with my rambling neighbor from all those years ago.
At least that was my current theory. I was very much in the figuring-this-guardianship-thing-out phase.
I put the book on the mantle, ready to leave all the hard discussions to the side for now.
We had a child-free night, and there were more pressing matters at hand. I waggled my eyebrows in a way that no one would ever consider sexy and placed my hands on his chest. “What do you think, alpha? Are you ready to make me yours?”
Nothing about my approach sounded a fraction as sexy as it did in my head, and I half expected him to laugh, not out of cruelty but thinking I was being silly. I got a very different reaction. He took it exactly how I meant it, his chest vibrating beneath my hand, a low growl filling the air.
“Wait a second. Did you just growl at me?” He had, and I freaking loved it.
“Trust me, omega mine, that was not a bad growl. And to answer your question with another question, are you ready to be mine?” Damn, he was sexy.
“I already am.” It was the truth. Wolves might’ve needed markings to make their claim. I didn’t, my heart already had. It wasn’t all at once, but instead slowly, piece by piece. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his for a quick kiss. “I already am.”
What started out as little, sweet kisses quickly deepened.
Gone was the sweetness. In its place, desire.
We’d been so good for so long, it was like we broke the seal with this one, and now there was no holding back.
I sank into his arms as his tongue explored my mouth.
We kissed, our hard lengths pressed together through our denim, until I could no longer stand, my knees weak in a way I’d thought only existed in movies.
“My room,” I mumbled against his lips, and he scooped me up like I weighed nothing and carried me into my room, setting me down near the edge of the bed. His lips were still moving with mine each step of the way. It was so much, yet not enough.
I was slick, uncomfortably so. My jeans were now clammy. I needed them off and out of the way, but as I reached for my buckle, he pushed my hands away.
“You don’t get to do my job,” he teased. Or was it teasing, his eyes intense, his tongue darting out and licking his lips.
Starting with my shirt, he slowly undressed me, peppering the skin he exposed with sweet kisses.
My body moved of its own accord, seeking more, seeking everything.
Then my shirt was on the floor, and his lips wrapped around my nipple, sucking and nibbling as his hands worked my belt free.
He opened my jeans and pushed them down, taking my boxer briefs with them.
He froze, inhaling deeply, and then released the breath. “I can scent how much you want this.”
Had anyone else told me they could smell my slick, I’d have wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. But with Raff, it felt like praise.
“I want you, alpha. I need you… so much.”
I looked down. He was looking back up at me, his eyes no longer human but yellowish, that of his wolf. It was so fucking hot.
I grabbed his shirt, and he put his hand on mine. “Take your clothes off.” I wasn’t willing to wait anymore.
“Patience, omega. Patience. We have time.”
I didn’t want patience and disagreed about the time. Now that I’d had a taste of him, we could have a week of no responsibilities and it wouldn’t be enough. I wanted to see his body again.
“Now.”
He must’ve heard the desperation in my voice, dropping his hands and letting me strip him completely.
“Wow,” I breathed. “I didn’t think it would be so… wow.” My eyes were on him, unashamedly taking in his size. In the clearing I saw it, but it wasn’t in its full glory like it was now. The man was packing. I’d never thought that mattered before. Now I did because, “Yum.”
“You know I can hear you, right?”
I hadn’t. How did that even happen? My ears were burning.
“That was an inside thought. Can you forget I said it?”
“Nope.” He tapped my nose. “I like that my mate is looking at me like a piece of meat. It’s hot.”
Before I could respond, he started kissing me again, lifting me up and placing me fully on the bed so our heads were on the pillows.
His hands explored my body as his mouth devoured mine.
He let his fingers walk lightly over my hard cock.
My hips bucked, seeking more pressure. The jerk didn’t give me any, continuing to tease me as he made his way lower and lower, until they reached my waiting entrance.
“So slick,” he mumbled against my mouth. “Is this all for me, omega?”
“Only you. Only you.”
He teased my entrance, and when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, he finally inserted a finger, slowly fucking me with it. Then he added a second and a third. I nearly came from his fingers alone, but I held back. When I came for the first time, I needed him to be inside me.
Our kisses were now sloppy, my hands clawing at him, both of us seeking more.
“Climb on board, omega.” I did, straddling him and sinking down onto him ever so slowly. At the time, I thought he preferred a power bottom, but later I saw this for what it was. He wanted me in control so that I could adjust to his size.
“So good. So full. So perfect.” I rode him up and down, harder and faster as I got used to his size.
And when I was bouncing with abandon, he decided it was time to take charge.
He flipped me over so my back was on the bed, my legs slung up and over his shoulders and slid back into me with our eyes locked together.
“Mine.” He thrust into me again and again. It was hard not to explode between us, and I would, but not when I could enjoy this for a few seconds longer.
And that was all I had, a few seconds, because it felt too good to hold back. My orgasm slammed into me, my cum shooting between us. I yanked him down to me, my teeth sinking into his flesh as his sank into mine.
When I first found out about mates, I thought it was sweet and wonderful and primal and hot, but also something that I couldn’t be a full part of. I wasn’t a shifter. How could I mark someone?
But as he came, his knot filling me, I looked up to see the spot where I had marked him. I very much could mark him, good and deep, and I wanted to do it over and over and over again, to cover him in my marks, to make people know he was mine.
His hand came up and cupped my cheek. “Tell me, omega, why are you looking so serious?”
“My mark is too small. I need everyone to know you’re mine.”
Where that came from, I didn’t know, but it was true. Raff was mine, and I wanted to shout it from the mountaintops.
“That can be arranged, omega mine.”