Chapter Fifteen

I had no excuse for what happened next. Cicek showed up at my door in his striped cotton pajama pants, no shirt, feet bare, and sex appeal whirling around him. I invited him in and tried to make him comfortable. He'd been through so much lately, leaving a bad relationship and his whole life to move here and make a new one. What if he hadn't had Bloom to come to? He'd have been pregnant and living who knew where. I couldn't stand the thought.

But protectiveness did not need to cross the line; I could have sat down and listened, without winding up in my bed naked and kissing the omega I yearned for. Unlike next door, my unit was not a studio, so I'd had a living room we could have stayed in and talked. I'd always heard that once you met your mate, everything would be perfect. Sure, free will came into play, but why would someone not want their fated?

By definition, a fated or mate would be the perfect person, with every trait their mate could need or want to have an amazing life. There would be zero reason not to jump into a relationship with them with both feet and a beaming smile. And, maybe that was the case for some, but in real life, by the time a fated came along, both of the people involved would have a bunch of life behind them. They might have dabbled with other relationships and been hurt, had a rough childhood, or a hard time succeeding with work, could be just about anything that years on the planet brought out.

In my case, I'd had a pretty smooth road, going to college to study business, taking some classes in culinary arts, working for others in the food industry, and starting my business. Sure, there had been bumps in the road because of life. I'd dated but never considered anyone I'd met my mate, so it was never going to be more than casual. Some jobs were better than others, friends came and went… But the moment Cicek arrived to take over his late uncle's business, I knew he was my mate. I had a date that night, in fact, and canceled it right away.

My mate may or may not accept me, but now that we had connected, there would never be anyone else.

Cicek had a rough previous relationship who he referred to as a mate, and I wasn't sure I believed there could be two true mates for a person, but I never doubted that this omega was mine. And I'd held out, tried not to push things…kept them on a level where he was comfortable. Frankly, I'd rather be a friend to my mate and see him every day than have him disappear out of my life because I couldn't accept his preference not to have another alpha.

All these were the reasons not to climb into bed with him and kiss every inch of his body. Reasons not to allow him to slide down and take his cock in my mouth and lick and suck and nibble at it until he arched his hips and screamed my name. He fisted the covers, white-knuckled, but I didn't let up. Not now. He vibrated between my lips, his taste salty and sweet, a precursor to the cum I was going to swallow down.

Looking up his body, I saw that his belly wasn't quite flat; he was showing a bump that was even more of a turn-on. His head was thrown back, but I could see his lips moving in a repeat of "More, more. Don't stop."

Like I would.

Reaching down, I found his balls and cupped them, dandled them in my palm in a gentle massage. He tensed, released the covers, and fisted my hair instead. The sting of his tugging went right to my cock. And then went rigid. He was coming, filling my mouth and throat with thick silkiness. I kept swallowing until he relaxed under me, his muscles limp.

Rising, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and felt his hole with the other. Slickness greeted my touch. "So much slick, omega." Fitting the head of my cock to his hole, I thrust forward and shuddered as his body welcomed me. Tight, so hot, already trying to milk me dry.

But it wasn't going to happen that fast. I wanted this first time to last. I'd waited forever to get here, and I had no guarantee it would ever happen again. Which was why I ignored my bear's demand to mark him. That would come later, when he was in a mind space to make that decision. But what he was offering now was more than I ever expected, and when I was all the way in, I stopped. Waiting. Gathering myself. My self-control stretched thin.

"Please, alpha, I need…need…"

"Yes, omega, I know." I moved then, slowly at first, trying to hold back, but soon that was not a possibility. Letting my body take over, I drove in and pulled back, feeling every inch of his tightness on every inch of me. All too fast, my balls pulled tight and I poured into his body, the milking real now. And then my knot swelled, binding us together for a time. The moment for marking, and my bear was inside fighting for it, but no. That would be a taking of control, everything he did not want. So I just pulled him tight against me and rolled to the side, kissing his throat instead of biting.

When my knot shrank, we stayed together and never rolled apart the whole night.

It was enough for now.

And more than I had any right to expect.