8. Leonardo #2
I lay there for a long time before my mind shut down enough, and I was able to finally doze off.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that when I woke, I was in my human form.
What was shocking was that Sandro was kissing my neck and moving down my chest. Not only that, but I was hard as a rock and felt like I was ready to come.
That was when I realized that I was gently rocking my hips back and forth, rubbing myself against my mate’s equally naked body!
I froze, my hips stopping their movement.
“Don’t stop,” Sandro said, then chuckled. “You were enjoying yourself very much, and I’m not one to tell you to stop.”
I gently pushed on his chest, and when he fell onto his back, I scrambled to the other side of the bed. “That shouldn’t be happening,” I said.
Sandro laughed. “What? Your body reacting to being near your mate? Or the fact that I wasn’t going to wake you to stop it?”
“Yes. All of it.” I tried to roll away but realized I was somehow tangled in the thin blanket that was on the bed.
With a bit of frustration, I managed to get it off my legs, and then I could roll away and stand on the far side of the sofa bed.
“That is not how it should be with mates for the first time,” I said before I started for the stairs.
My body ached, and I truly wanted nothing more than to get back in that horrible bed with Sandro and let him claim me, but there were things we needed to talk about before that happened.
I suddenly ran into a hard, somewhat hairy chest, and I bit my lower lip to keep from whimpering.
I loved hairy chests, and Sandro’s definitely didn’t disappoint.
What I couldn’t figure out was how he was now in front of me, blocking the bottom of the stairs.
“Don’t go,” Sandro said. “I do apologize. You are, of course, right.” I glared up at him.
He pulled me closer to him, his naked body hard in all places, and I moaned involuntarily when I felt his stiff cock against my stomach.
I broke eye contact and looked at Sandro’s chest instead.
This close, I saw all of him, and I raised my hand without thinking and ran my finger across a pink line on his chest. Then I noticed there were a few more.
Sandro flinched as I touched them, but he didn’t stop me.
I looked up at my mate, my heart breaking for him.
“You’re scarred.”
His jaw was clenched so tightly that it looked like it might break. “It happens when we are gravely wounded. I truly was more dead than alive. I had lost almost all of the blood in my body, and I had only minutes left, not hours.”
“Oh, Sandro.” I slid my hands around his chest and wrapped my arms around him tightly. I placed my head against his chest, and there was no way I would be able to stop the tears from falling. My heart broke in that moment for my mate. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“There is nothing for you to be sorry for,” he said. He kissed my hair and then laid his cheek on top of my head.
I moved, Sandro’s hold on me loosening, but he didn’t let me go. I didn’t mind even a little. I looked up at him, tears falling down my cheeks. “We need to talk, Sandro. About everything.”
He nodded slowly. “If you’re wondering, I do remember last night. I appreciate you coming to check on me,” he said. “But yes, I agree that we should talk. Did you want to get dressed first? Or just climb back into bed?”
I wrinkled my nose, then moved out of his embrace. I swiped at my face and shook my head. “That is not a bed. I think the sofa would have been more comfortable,” I told him.
Sandro shrugged. “I could stretch out, and it wasn’t that terrible.”
I sighed. “Come with me,” I told him. I took Sandro’s hand and started up the stairs.
He followed, and when we arrived in the loft, I led him over to the bed.
I dropped his hand before climbing in and then moved to the other side to give Sandro room.
“Join me. We can talk here because one, this bed is so much more comfortable, and two, we really do need to discuss what happened.”
Sandro sat on the side of the bed but didn’t lie down.
I got a good look at the scars on his back, and when I reached out for him, I touched his shoulder like I’d done a few hours ago.
“Come to bed if nothing else,” I told him.
“It’s still mostly dark outside.” The sun was rising, which meant it was midday back in Italy.
“If you don’t want to talk, we can get a bit more sleep. ”
Sandro sighed, then lay down. Immediately, I moved over to his side and slung my arm across his stomach like I’d done last night in my leopard form. Sandro moved his arm out, and I took the invitation and laid my head on his shoulder, moving even closer to my mate.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
Sandro was quiet for so long, I didn’t know if he was going to or not. Then all of a sudden, his voice filled the silence.
“I was back in that warehouse. I don’t even know their names, but I know some of them were from the Piscano family and others the Cattaneo family.
They took turns. It wasn’t even quick. They slid the knife in slowly.
The first few times, the wound healed on the outside, but it took longer for it to heal inside.
I could feel my body trying, but I was already weak because I’d gone too long without feeding. ”
I tried to lift my head to look at my mate, but he suddenly bent his arm, placing his hand on the back of my head. I understood that he didn’t want me looking at him, and that was okay. I was here in his arms, and I could feel his warm body.
“What can I do to help? I’ll sleep shifted if that’s needed, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll stay that way. As you saw just moments ago, I sometimes shift back in my sleep.”
“Not that I minded cuddling your leopard, because I didn’t.
I think I needed him in that moment. But I much prefer you in this form.
” Sandro reached over, and I suddenly found myself pulled up on top of my mate.
I let him place me exactly where he wanted, and despite everything, it didn’t go unnoticed to me that Sandro’s dick was right next to mine.
I was going to ignore everything about that because now was absolutely not the time to mention the fact that we were naked and both half-hard.
“Can I just say that I was pissed at you when I first heard you moaning? I thought you were down there stroking your cock. I was so upset, and then it suddenly became the complete opposite, and I didn’t know what to do. I tried to wake you, but…”
“I didn’t mean to attack you. I was fighting off whoever was stabbing me in my mind.” Sandro’s hands ran down my back, and I was a bit surprised when they grabbed my ass and he held it tightly. “And you will know when I’m stroking my dick because you’ll be watching.”
I felt his cock throb between us and moaned. “That is not fair, Sandro. Now absolutely is not the time for anything sexual.”
Sandro chuckled. “You are absolutely right. But I could give us both an orgasm with just a simple bite if you were open to that. At the rate I’m going, I’ll need to call Rio to bring me bagged blood before I’m able to convince you to let me claim you.
” His hands on my ass squeezed again, and I moaned once more.
I couldn’t help it. I was an omega who was naked, and I was on top of my mate, who, despite everything, I found incredibly sexy, and I desperately wanted to feel him sliding in and out of my body.
“Sandro, you don’t play fair,” I whispered. “There is no way I’m going to let you call Rio and ask for blood. How long can you go between feedings?”
“Normally, a couple of weeks, but my body, as you saw, is still healing. Some of the scars won’t ever fade, but others will with time.
Bagged blood isn’t ever as filling as it is directly from a person, and I’m told that blood from your beloved is even more potent.
” His fingers slid into my crack, and I let out a loud moan when they slid over my hole.
I was wet, and I knew it. I’d been close to coming, and I was with my mate, so my body had made certain that I was ready for him.
“Fuck,” I said when the tip of a finger slid in.
“Sandro, I…” I lifted my head. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I couldn’t.
I think we both needed this more than either of us could say out loud.
His finger slid farther in, and I moaned again.
I moved up his body just enough to put my neck next to his mouth.
“Please,” I begged. I wasn’t sure exactly what for, but I knew I needed to feel his bite, and if my blood was going to help heal him, I was going to give him as much as I could.
Sandro moaned loudly, and I felt a second finger push into my slick hole just seconds before there was a sharp prick on my neck.
The flash of pain was quickly replaced with an intense wave of sexual need that filled my entire body.
When I felt Sandro suck, I shouted into the room as I came between our bodies.