Chapter Four

Kirk

Inside the small hospital bathroom, I discovered Chasten had more tattoos than I thought he would. For all his grumpiness at waking up in the hospital, Chasten wasn't shy. He stripped off his shirt over his head while I fiddled with the knobs on the shower. It was small and open, meant for one person. By regulation they were required to fit the average size alpha dragon, though. So, we'd fit okay. It'd be close, but I didn't mind. Soon, we'd upgrade the temperature gauges to digital too as the other hospitals on the Mountain had not long ago.

I turned around to find Chasten shirtless. The first tattoo I spotted was a three-scoop ice cream cone on his left collarbone. I'd already seen the line of chasing wolves on a mountain back drop on his left arm and a tiny coconut with huge eyes on his other. I'd been careful as I could to keep the IVs away from them. I didn't think a little IV would injure the ink but who knew what it would do. Plus, a lot of tats around the Mountain held some sort of magic and no one wanted an IV to explode or catch on fire or something equally crazy.

"The coconut was for my grandpa," he said. "He got one with his unit back when there was a war between shifters and humans. So, I got it too. Sure, they're not around anymore – grandpa, the unit, or the non-shifters but it's nice to keep the memory alive.

"I like it," I shrugged. "It's always interesting to see what tattoos patients whip out."

"You're mine now. Tattoos are all they better whip out," Chasten teased, kicking off his shoes.

Inside the small bathroom, a lot of the anxiety he carried around since I met him fled his shoulders. The steam and humidity of the shower already stole some of the pheromone blocker from my skin, lifting it from my pores. He buried his face in the crook of my neck again. Then he licked me. My body hair rose to stand up and my dick hardened again. I pulled him in close with one arm and cupped his chin. Our gazes met as his soft, kissable lips drifted open and I couldn't hold back anymore. I kissed him hard and fast sweeping my tongue around his sweet mouth.

He murmured into the kiss and ran his hands up under my shirt. I pulled him closer, trapping his hand between us because I needed to touch more of him. We stripped each other naked, kissing between each item of clothing before finally stepping under the hot water together. Fur brushed against my stomach. His wolf stirred and I kissed him harder. He was hard and the slick smell of his arousal filled the room. My hands slid down to his ass and when he didn't tell me to stop or pull away, I kneaded his wet flesh with my fingers. He moaned against my lips and I smiled, unable to help it.

"How much can we do without you getting fired?"

"Technically nothing's allowed. If I were on the clock there could be big trouble, but right now if someone said something, I think HR's question would be why were they watching mates in the shower? Lar knows you're cleaning up. He wouldn't rat us out anyway. So, as much as you can handle."

"Was that a challenge?" his eyebrow arched high on his forehead.

"No, that was my way of reminding you, that you've had a really hard day and that I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you're not. I'll lock you in the bathroom with me," he laughed but a growl laced his words.

"Someone is starting to fully wake up from sedation, huh?" I asked, squeezing his ass hard.

"He's trying to. It's hard for him to stay asleep when you're so close."

"I like having you this close," I said, stealing another kiss.

We kissed for a long time, standing skin to skin under the rain of hot water steaming up the bathroom. I lost myself to his soft, hungry mouth and the wet drag of his fingers across my skin. Under different circumstances, I'd have carried him out to the bed and given in to the tug between us. Everything about the true-mate response was crafted to bring us together. It pulled and tugged at us until it was impossible to ignore. At least it was supposed to be impossible to ignore but Chasten wasn't back to one hundred percent yet. He smelled tired, confused, and a little worried about his wolf who still dozed on and off as we kissed. His tail thumped in his sleep but that wasn't enough to get him out of the hospital.

"Do you want to cum?" I whispered in Chasten's ear.

"You don't even have to ask," he whispered back.

Yes, I did have to ask. He was tired and maybe weak, and I couldn't read his thoughts yet. That wouldn't come until later after we exchanged our claiming vows.

"But yes, I do," Chasten said a second later after we shared a few more kisses.

"Do you want me to help you?" I growled in his ear.

He nodded hard and fast.

"Let me hear you say it."

"Make me cum," he whispered the words as if someone had their ear pressed to the other side of the bathroom door.