Chapter 23

"How do you want it?" He broke away to kiss down my neck, bite at my collarbone.

"I thought alphas—"

"Don't stereotype." He nipped me. "I'm willing to mix it up if you want."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked breathlessly as he latched onto one of my nipples.

"Mmhmm." He kept licking the nub.

Fuck, who knew a nipple could be so sensitive? Mine never had been. Apparently, that was past tense because with each suck, it was like he'd wrapped his lips around my dick. I speared a hand through his hair. I'd dreamed of the silkiness under my fingertips and on my skin. It had nothing on the real thing.

When he switched to the other nipple, I groaned before placing my feet flat on the mattress and rolling us so we reversed positions. He growled. The hottest thing ever. His big body stretched out under me was so sexy. His muscles strained as he fought the instinct to flip us back and pin me beneath him. I leaned over, capturing his lips. He tasted like fresh snow, mint, and . . . mine. I did my best to match his possessive growl.

His hands gripped my ass, the hint of claws only adding to the pleasure. He ground us together. I liked that I had the power to work him up like this. Wanted to be the only one who could do this. Mine.

My possessive instincts took me by surprise. I'd never felt this way toward a lover before. Now I accepted that true mates were a real thing and not just a fairy tale, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at these new feelings surfacing. Ravens might not be as rigidly instinct-driven as wolves, but we still had them.

I broke our kiss and nipped his jaw. He tilted his head in a way that suggested submission. I knew better. He was offering me a gift. His trust. His love. His strength. I didn't hesitate, sucking up a mark on his neck even though it would heal within minutes. For now, I wanted to see the proof he was mine.

When my questing lips kept moving down his body, he let go of my ass and sank his fingers into my comforter, his muscles going rigid and his Adam's apple bobbing. I ran my tongue along his freckles in a game of connect-the-dots, memorizing each one. His abs were so well-defined, truly a thing of beauty, and when I began tracing each muscle, his belly shook in silent laughter. Oh, yeah. Ticklish.

We locked eyes, and I couldn't help grinning. Good to know. He glared with no bite behind it. When I trailed lower, he sucked in a sharp breath.

"That's ill advised." He groaned. "Not certain I can control my instincts."

"Then don't." I leaned over and swiped over the tip of his dick. Currently an angry red, it needed some attention. I'd no sooner sucked his cockhead into my mouth, getting used to the weight on my tongue, when a warning growl tore from his throat. It only revved my motor higher. Fuck, so hot. I slowly sank onto his length. I enjoyed giving head, liked pleasing my partner, watching them fall apart. With Michael, this was definitely going to be an addiction, his eyes dark, the wolf close to the surface.

I pressed my tongue along the underside and tightened my suction. Before I could blink, I found myself face down on the bed, his weight pressing me into the mattress, his dick sliding between my cheeks. He wedged his thighs between mine and shoved them apart.

I arched back into him, loving his power, the desire thrumming between us.

"I told you not to play with fire," he said, then nipped my shoulder. Not hard, but enough it would leave a mark.

I moaned. Damn, I liked this side of him.

"Can I grip your hair?" he asked, and my stomach swooped. Loved that he'd asked. "It's so fucking beautiful. Like you."

"Knock yourself out." I pushed against him, needing him to unleash his wolf, to show me what he had. "I won't break."

"You're tempting me."

"No tempting, wolf. I'm telling you I want you to fuck me hard and fast."

"So bossy," he crooned, his hand tangling in my hair and yanking, until I had to rise to all fours beneath him. He pressed my shoulders down and used his knees to spread me even wider. I'd never had a partner put me in such a submissive position before, but I didn't mind. Made my dick throb.

"Need you like this for our mating." He kissed down my backbone, holding me in place by his grip on my locs. "Afterward, I'll flip you over and pleasure you all night until you don't know where you end and I begin."

"Well, damn, Michael, seems you found your words."

Felt his smile against my shoulder blade. "You'll hear a lot of them in the future. Now, where's your lube?"

I pointed to my bedside drawer. A moment later, cold liquid trickled down my crack, only to be warmed by his trailing fingers.

"Bards could write poems about your ass." He punctuated this statement by swirling two fingers around my entrance. I jerked, my hips automatically shoving back, trying to pull him inside. "Fuck, so greedy," he purred.

"Get on with it," I bit out, my balls already so heavy and full and my cock throbbing for release.

"You ever taken a wolf's knot?" Michael kept his voice neutral, though I heard the jealousy.

"Can't say I have." I pushed back again, welcoming him.

A noise resembling more of a purr than a growl rumbled in his chest. "Good. I like being your first . . . and only."

I chuckled. No reason to dwell on the past when it would only be the two of us going forward.

"That's why I plan to stretch you extra well. I only want you to feel pleasure."

"I'm not delicate," I huffed. Damn wolf. If his balls ached the way mine did, he wouldn't be so eager to go slow.

"No, but that doesn't mean I want to hurt you, either. A knot is a lot to take. Especially the first time." His fingers slipped inside, and I moaned. Didn't even pretend I wasn't hungry for him. He thrust a few times before adding the next and soon the next. Not a slow stretch, though one I could easily handle. He worked me open, letting my body adjust.

When I couldn't take it any longer, I bit out, "Your dick, now."

A sharp intake of breath, and his fingers withdrew. Then the head of his cock pressed against my entrance, and I pushed back, letting him in. The first slide inside almost sent me over the edge. He'd breached my ring, his dick not even buried an inch, and I had to tighten my stomach not to come on the spot. Damn, this was going to be short.

"Oh, fuck. I can feel you clench against me." He'd stilled and waited for me to relax, still clutching my hair, his other hand moving to my hip in a bruising grip. Loved it.

Once I'd relaxed, he slid in another inch. And then another, and then all the way, until I was pushing against his knot. I already felt so full—Michael was a big guy in every way—so I couldn't imagine adding that monster, too. Then again, I lived for a challenge. I bore down.

"No, stop, Abe!" His voice came out garbled. "Not yet. Trust me, baby. I'll take care of you."

And for once, I didn't argue. Just gave myself over to him as he thrust, each one deeper than the last. When he shifted his angle and pegged my prostate, I howled. Gods, was there anything better? My hands scrabbled for purchase on my comforter. His firm grip kept me from rising. Kept me at his mercy. The heat pooled in my balls and spread through my limbs. Each punch of his hips elicited another sound, another moan, as I took everything he offered.

When his pace sped up and his breathing turned ragged, I knew he was close. Hell, I was hanging on by a thread. His knot pushed against my entrance with each thrust. When Michael's knees suddenly spread mine even wider, it was the only warning I had before he shoved inside. For an endless second it burned, and my body stiffened from the shock and pain. Clenching only made everything tighter, and it should have continued to hurt like hell. Instead, a zing of pleasure so strong I bucked beneath him, hit me like a tsunami. I keened, a sound I'd never uttered before, and would be embarrassed about later. But fuck, his knot felt amazing adding pressure against my prostate.

Michael's hand shifted my locs aside before he lowered down onto my back, his mouth at the juncture of my neck and shoulder, and his fangs slid home.

And that was it. I exploded. Come shooting from my untouched dick, my ass clamping hard around his knot, the entire world going white and fuzzy. Michael came, heat flooding my insides. He howled as his jaws held me in place, pleasure spearing me from the bite, his venom sealing our bodies and souls together.

I shook uncontrollably as I drowned in the ecstasy, the new connection, my body's need. When he finally withdrew his fangs, I collapsed like a ragdoll, boneless.

He was still coming, both hands gripping my hips and grinding his pelvis against me. I moaned weakly, the stimulation both fantastic and too much. I didn't have the energy to move away, a lethargy stealing over my body, leaving me floaty. I think I came again, though I honestly couldn't tell. A laugh bubbled from my chest. So, this is what it felt like to be mated. Not bad, I had to say.

When Michael finally eased us down onto the mattress and turned us sideways, our bodies locked together, I had a million questions about his knot, our connection, and our future.

I fell asleep before I asked a single one.