19. Rami
Rami
Ethan collapsed against my chest, still shaking after his orgasm. I was shaking too, but for very different reasons.
This man was my mate. He was happy right now because I’d made him so. I’d given myself completely over to my instincts, letting them guide me towards what Ethan wanted. What he needed.
When I thought about how sexually compatible we were…fuck.
We were going to have so much fun.
I was going to take Benji’s advice. Instead of looking for problems, I was going to trust the process. Ethan was my mate. Without Dave in the picture, I finally had hope that this would end happily for us.
Until then? I was going to enjoy the journey. Didn’t matter if it took Ethan ten years to want more with me—I’d wait. Whatever made him happy made me happy.
“Wow.” He leaned back and gave me a goofy grin. “And you barely even touched me.”
I nuzzled his nose with mine. “I’ve barely started.”
Ethan stiffened suddenly and reddened. “Oh, shit. My bad. You haven’t even come yet. Want me to—”
I batted his hand away where he was reaching for me. “That’s not what I meant, baby. I’m good.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“Oh, just planning on testing your theory on how many times you can come in one night.”
His pupils dilated. “Really?”
“Really.”
Ethan hesitated. “But I want you to enjoy yourself too.”
“Trust me, Eth, I’m enjoying every second of this.”
“You know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes. “I want to make you feel good as well. This isn’t just about me.”
“I know.” My voice dropped low as my gaze fell on his lips. “There is one thing I want. Something I don’t think I can wait another second for.”
Ethan stretched up, bringing his mouth within whispering distance of mine. “Then don’t.”
That was all the permission I needed.
My mouth crashed against his. I tried to go slow, I swear I did, but at the first caress of lips, I was lost.
I licked into him, desperate for more. Ethan gasped, giving me room to explore. I lifted him fully out of the water until there was no height difference between us. I didn’t know what was better—the weight of my mate in my arms, or how hungrily he was kissing me back.
This right here was what I’d been searching for without realising it. With every man I’d ever approached, every rejection I’d weathered. All of it had been leading me here.
To Ethan.
He whimpered as I tugged lightly on his hair, opening him deeper for me. His nails scratched along my back as he wound his legs tighter around my waist. Something brushed against my abdomen and I found myself grinning, then chuckling right into Ethan’s open mouth.
He pulled back, confused. “Are you laughing at me? Shit, am I that bad at kissing?”
“Not at all.” I soothed him, kissing him thoroughly so he knew how much I meant it. When I was starting to worry about Ethan’s oxygen levels, I reluctantly parted from him. “I was laughing because I’m already proving your theory wrong.”
“What theory?”
“This one.” I slid one hand between us and squeezed his semi. “Less than five minutes. That’s a refractory period I can get on board with.”
He smiled shyly. “I can’t help it. I mean, have you seen you?”
A ball of uncertainty lodged in my throat. “Is that what you like about me? How I look?”
I immediately wanted to kick myself. What a stupid fucking question to ask. So what if that was what Ethan found most appealing? I should be glad he found me attractive.
But Ethan’s eyes softened as he brought his hands up to link his fingers at the back of my neck.
“No, Rami. Yes, you’re obviously extremely hot, and I’m very attracted to you, but your looks aren’t all I’m attracted to.
It’s how you’ve gone out of your way to drive me to and from shoots.
How you insist on me sitting down to eat a meal you’ve prepared for us.
The way you never complain, despite how many different positions I put you in. ”
The ball in my throat grew. It wasn’t uncertainty now. No, there was nothing uncertain about my feelings.
I was falling hard and fast.
“Most of all,” Ethan continued, “I like how you helped me today. You didn’t push, just got into your car and started driving.”
“It’s what you asked for,” I said. “Why would I do anything else?”
He kissed my lips softly—a brief taste that hinted at deeper kisses to come. “That right there, Rami. The fact that you’re even asking that question is what attracts me to you. You’re selfless. Kind. Thoughtful. All things that mean a lot more to me than how you look.”
I was reeling from how he’d described me. Was that truly how he saw me?
There’s hope, Rami. Hold fucking tight to it.
“Although, I won’t deny the looks are an added bonus,” Ethan said cheekily, waggling his eyebrows to show me he wasn’t serious. “Are you actually holding all my weight with just one arm?”
“Um…” I glanced down at where I was still lightly fondling Ethan’s stiffening cock. “Yeah. Guess I am.”
Ethan shivered. “Okay, that’s pretty hot.”
“I don’t mind that you find me hot. I was just…having a vulnerable moment, I guess.”
“I like it,” Ethan whispered, his hands cupping my face. “You can be vulnerable with me, Rami. I certainly have with you.”
That was true. Ethan had opened up about so much tonight. It was only right that I did the same with him. “No one’s ever truly wanted me.”
He tilted his head, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve had hookups,” I admitted. “My fair share of them. But never a relationship.”
“Why not?”
I gave him a rueful smile. “Every man I’ve ever been interested in pursuing has been in a relationship with someone else. Not that I’ve ever known that before hitting on them. I guess my sixth sense must be broken. That, or fate really enjoys fucking with me.”
Or, as Benji suggested, it was trying to prepare me for meeting Ethan. Not just by keeping me single, but for learning that he too was in a relationship.
But he wasn’t anymore.
“Oh,” Ethan said softly. “I’m sorry. I can see how that might cause issues.”
“Even those I hooked up with who were single never wanted to stay for longer than a night. I was starting to worry that there was something wrong with my personality.”
“I can assure you that’s definitely not the case.” Ethan rested his forehead against mine. “A man as caring, funny, and smart as you? I’m amazed no one has snapped you up long before now.”
I smiled, because unlike Ethan, I finally understood why that hadn’t happened. “Want to know a secret?”
“Always.”
“I don’t care how often I’ve been hurt or rejected in the past if it means I end up with the right person.”
Ethan leaned back to study my face. “You really mean that.”
“I do. I’m happy to wait until it’s right. The right person and the right time.”
He cleared his throat and looked away. Shit, perhaps I’d made it too obvious. I meant it though—I’d wait as long as Ethan needed.
“I think the heating might’ve gone off for the water.”
Now that he’d mentioned it, I noticed it was a touch chilly. Didn’t bother me, but Ethan was human. “Shall we get warmed up?”
“Good idea.” He gave me another shy smile. “I’m down to keep messing around, but I’m kinda worried my balls might drop off if we stay in here any longer.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” I said solemnly. “I’ve barely introduced myself to them and I believe we’re going to become great friends.”
I didn’t need the hot tub to warm me, not when I had Ethan’s laughter.
“We best get out fast, lest we ruin such a promising friendship.”
Ethan shivered again and went to pull out of my arms. Instead of letting him, I tightened my grip. “Trust me?”
“Given I’m in the middle of the wilderness with you and no one knows where I am…I think you know the answer to that.”
I reached down to pick him up by the backs of his knees. “Then hold on, Eth.”
He shook his head good-naturedly but did as I said. “You can’t seriously think you can carry me—oh fuck.”
I smirked as I lifted him clean out of the hot tub and carried him into the cottage. “What were you saying?”
Ethan laughed, squeezing my biceps playfully. “Only that I guess these aren’t just for show.”
They weren’t. My strength didn’t come from my muscles alone, but from my powers. A pang hit my chest. I hated that I was hiding such a big part of myself from Ethan.
You have to. It’s not safe.
Fucking Gloria.
My mate was shivering in my arms. I held him closer, trying to lend him my body heat. “Your bathroom or mine?”
His tongue flicked over his bottom lip. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“On which one you’re going to be in.”
The blush on his cheeks was at odds with his bold words. He was so fucking adorable. I could eat him.
Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea…
“I’ll be in whichever one you’re in. I told you, Ethan, I have a bet to win. I’m not done with you yet.”
His shy grin had my heart galloping at a pace that couldn’t be healthy. For a human, that was. As an angel, I was well-equipped to handle all sorts of situations. Including carrying my blushing fated mate, who didn’t know who I was to him, into a shower.
And making him come so hard he forgot any other man existed.
A few minutes later, we were both under the hot spray of my shower.
It was roomier than Ethan’s and, more importantly, closer.
We’d parted only long enough to shuck our soaked underwear.
I almost swallowed my tongue at the sight of Ethan naked.
It wasn’t like the thin cotton had left much to the imagination, but seeing the reality still left me speechless.
I didn’t hesitate to take his lips with mine again, winding my arms around him.
I kissed him until he was gasping my name into my mouth.
Until his nails were scratching at my back again and his cock was throbbing against my leg.
Only then did I pull away. I didn’t go far, just to the shelf to grab some of the shower gel the estate provided. “May I?”
Some of the heat in Ethan’s eyes turned soft. “Sure.”
I took my time washing him, using it as an excuse to learn his body.
The fine dusting of hair on his narrow chest. The sharp lines of his collarbones.
The long, lean, muscles of his legs. His slightly crooked knees.
The faint dimples standing sentinel on either side of the base of his spine.
The rise of his peachy rear, the perfect handful for me.
“I don’t remember the last time someone washed me,” he murmured as I continued my exploration. “It’s nice.”
“I’ll have to make a habit of it.”
“Is that what friends with benefits do?”
I hummed as I gestured for him to step under the spray and rinse. “You know the beauty of our arrangement? We can decide exactly what it looks like. Us. No one else.”
“So, you won’t judge me for jumping from a relationship into…our arrangement?”
“No.” I’d told him this already, but if Ethan needed to hear it again to feel good about this? Then I’d tell him every day. “I will never judge you, Ethan. Especially not if you’re doing something that makes you happy.”
“You’re too perfect,” he said wistfully, reaching up to cup my jaw. “You can’t be real.”
“I’m definitely real. Better yet, my tongue in your hole is going to feel very real indeed.”