Chapter 19

Rhett

"This is so not how I wanted our shifter-wedding night to go," Levi said with a pout on his deliciously full lips and his voice dipped low, the words drawn out in a teasing lilt.

My cock jerked in my jeans, even though I knew his teasing was half-hearted at best. The utter and complete exhaustion I felt in my limbs wasn't my own. Nope. I might not be at a hundred percent, but I wasn't drained and dead on my feet.

That was my mate.

Our mate , my wolf insisted. Take care .

Yeah, that's what I'm about to do, I told my wolf while searching for my keys. They weren't in their usual spot—my right jeans pocket—and not on the left side either.

Irritation sparked inside of me as I patted myself down.

Levi giggled. "You know, if you want to be patted down, you just have to ask. I could even strip search you." Fuck, he was so out of it, he sounded drunk. Or maybe Jasper had given him something for the pain? I should know, but Jasper had ordered Gray to drag me out of the room after I'd growled at Jasper. Which, yeah, in hindsight wasn't a nice thing to do to the doctor who was patching up your mate, but Levi had been in so much pain that I'd been reacting out of instinct.

There!

Why were my keys inside the pocket of my coat? I hadn't even been wearing it in the car.

As I slid the key into the lock, I turned my head to my mate and found him swaying on his feet, head tilted back so he was looking up into the night sky, a dopey smile on his face.

"Did Jasper give you something?"

"Huh?" Levi blinked slowly and lowered his head until his eyes found mine. "No, why would he? It's not my birthday or anything. By the way, my birthday is in June and I'm perfectly fine if your present is for us to fuck in the woods."

What the…

"Levi, did Jasper give you any pain medication?"

He was blinking at me again, his eyebrows raising in confusion. Fuck. His owlish blinking looked almost comical.

I tried listening into my body and found a soft cloud of… something. It definitely felt like Levi was high. There should be pain—the cut in his hand was deep; as in possibly nerve-damage deep—but the only thing I felt was this soft, cotton-y cloud and low heat pooling in my gut.

Great.

My mate was high and horny.

"Ohh," Levi breathed softly and his smile widened even further. "Yes." He nodded, then broke out into giggles. "He said he was giving me the good stuff. I think he likes me."

A growl slipped out of my throat before I could swallow it down. This was not the moment to get jealous. My mate didn't know what he was saying.

Turning the key inside the lock, I opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief as the warm air hit me like a wall. The scent of homemade tomato sauce and garlic bread still hung in the air, the aromas of thyme, rosemary, and basil a heavenly combination that made my mouth water.

My stomach growled loudly, and Levi giggled again. "Your stomach growl is almost louder than your wolf growl." He walked past me, swaying from side to side as if he were on a ship during high tide. In a sudden movement, he whirled around and without my shifter reflexes, he would've crashed into the wall. Instead, I had him safe in my arms and breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned into me. "You don't have to be jealous, Wolfie," he said, melting against me. "Jasper might like me, but I only like him for the good stuff. But I like you for everything . You're my mate. My Wolfie . You were by my side during the worst days of my life. You were my knight—no, my wolf—in shining armour. My saviour. And you were so patient with me. And cute. And thoughtful. I loved your gifts, even if they made me think about you."

He furrowed his brows. Leaning back, he levelled me with a confused look. "Everything made me think about you. It was weird. Like really weird. It was like my mind was obsessed with thinking about you. Anyway… where was I? Oh right. I wanted to tell you all the reasons I love you and not Jasper."

My world froze. One moment I was staring at him with wide eyes, the next moment, I was coughing my lungs out to get the spit that'd gone down the wrong pipe back out.

"You… you love me?" I croaked.

My wolf was preening inside me. He puffed his chest and was legit prancing.

Our mate loves us!

"Of course." Levi sounded confused. He knitted his eyebrows and cocked his head. "We're mates, right? Fated mates? As in, fated to love each other?"

I could only nod. My tongue had developed a will of its own, and it refused to cooperate and talk. I should definitely talk. I should tell him we'd talk about this tomorrow.

He was high as a kite, for fuck's sake. He shouldn't be standing here, looking so incredibly delectable and cute and amazing and beautiful and telling me he loves me.

That was a conversation best had sober.

Still, part of me wanted to reciprocate. Fuck, I wanted to tell him all about the feelings I'd been harboring for him since the second I'd caught his scent, but I refused to do it while he was intoxicated.

Please , my wolf whined, but I stood my ground.

Instead of saying something he might not remember tomorrow, I hugged him tighter against me, closed my eyes, and just inhaled his scent.

Apples, petrichor, home.

He was right where he belonged—in my house, in my arms. I'd never let him go. And as soon as he was sober, I wouldn't waste even a second to tell him how I felt about him.

Because he wasn't the only one in love.

I loved him. From the bottom of my heart. I think a part of me loved him ever since I'd heard him scream, ‘ This fucking ASSHOLE! '

Levi's heartbeat got slower, and slower, his breathing evening out. After a minute or two, he put more weight on me, leaning against me with no tension in his muscles whatsoever, and another minute later, he went completely lax in my arms.

Chuckling, I lifted my sleeping mate up. Placing one hand under his ass while using the other one to press him against my torso, I carried him to my room and carefully placed him on my bed before gently stripping him down to his underwear.

There was nothing inherently sexual about it, yet it still made pleasure pump through my veins. Pleasure because I was taking care of my mate. Providing for him.

Carefully, I pulled the anthracite blanket out from under him before tucking him in. He sniffled a little, then rolled to his side and buried his nose in my pillow. He inhaled deeply, and a smile curled his lips upwards.

A smile tugged on my lips upon seeing him like this. His ghostly white skin and the dark circles under his eyes were evidence of the strenuous day he'd had, but his face was relaxed, and his smile as he breathed in my scent made my heart warm.

Feeling around inside me, I felt warmth pulsing in my chest with every heartbeat of mine. Warmth, contentment, happiness.

With a sigh, I stripped down myself, quietly apologized to my plans for skipping my watering routine, then climbed into bed, too.

It took Levi all of two seconds to roll over and attach himself to my side like a monkey.

Smiling down at him, I kissed his hair, and let exhaustion take over.

The last thing that went through my mind as the world started fading to black was how I always wanted to fall asleep like this. Always. Every single day of the rest of my life.

A warm, wet heat engulfed my cock.

My eyes rolled back beneath my eyelids and I thrust up, chasing the sensation.

Warm, wet heat, suction, a tongue expertly teasing my slit.

I groaned, bucking up.

More. I wanted more.

The heat surrounding my erection tightened for a moment, then slowly receded.

I whined, pushing my hips further up, chasing the sensation, but the only thing I felt was cold air hitting my wet shaft. Only my tip was still engulfed in heat. So tight, so warm, so good.

I moaned.

Precum beaded at my tip, but a tongue was there to lap it up, to savour every single drop.

The contrast between the cold air on my length and the heat surrounding my crown was driving me wild.

I wanted more. No, I needed more.

A moan bubbled up from deep within my chest as the tight heat descended on me once again, not stopping until a nose hit my pubes. A throat constricted around my cock, and a deliciously needy whine rang in my ears.

"Levi," I moaned as my hands found their way into his soft strands of hair. Holding on for dear life, I felt him swallow again and again, choking himself on my cock while massaging me with his throat.

It was absolute bliss.

My cock was rock hard, my balls aching something fierce as he pulled his head back for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths before bobbing his head down again.

I thrust up again, but this time, there were hands on my hips, firmly holding me in place.

I groaned in frustration as I tried thrusting up again, even though I didn't put all my strength into it. For some reason, I held back.

"Levi," I moaned again, his name a plea on my lips.

My cock was throbbing, balls pulsing with every beat of my heart.

The tip of my cock hit Levi's throat, and he spluttered for a second. Then he relaxed and let me all the way in again. He swallowed around me then sucked, as if he wanted me even deeper, as if burying his nose in my pubes wasn't enough as if…

I shouted as heat exploded inside my groin. My balls drew up, my body tightened, and then I was coming, shooting spurts of hot cum directly down Levi's throat, keeping his head pressed against my groin to make sure he swallowed every last drop.

As the aftershocks slowly faded away, awareness settled in.

I heard coughing coming from the foot of the bed, and as I opened my eyes, I saw my mate kneeling on the mattress, looking absolutely debauched.

His hair was a dishevelled, tangled mess, his eyes wet and glazed over, while tears were streaming down his cheeks. And his lips… god. They were red, puffy and glistening as if… yeah… as if he'd just given someone the best blowjob of their life.

"Holy fucking shit," I mumbled as I realized that this had not, in fact, been some kind of wet dream. It'd really happened.

Levi smirked at me, his eyes gleaming with mischief. Biting his lip, he slowly crawled up to me. "It was time to wake up, sleepyhead," he whispered before laying down next to me, cuddling against my side.

"That was one hell of a wake-up call," I muttered, fighting my own smile as I turned my head and pressed my lips to his in a lazy kiss. Fuck. He still tasted like me. Salty, a little bitter… damn… I groaned, cupping my softening cock that twitched in my hand. Tasting myself on Levi's tongue shouldn't be so fucking sexy, but it was. My mate was. He could recite the phone book to me for all I cared, and I'd still think he was sexy, but this…

"I didn't know you had it in you," I whispered, my voice hoarse from shouting.

"Well, I'm full of surprises," he said as he reached for the covers. He pulled them over us and sighed happily. "Sorry, I'm freezing."

My blood was still rushing through my body at max speed, so I was rather hot at this moment, but I wouldn't deny my mate comfort. Ever.

"You certainly are." I thought back to last night. Us, returning from Mave's Inn after Alistair had taken him and another guest of Mave's hostage. Levi being high off his ass from some kind of painkillers. Him declaring his everlasting love for me.

Holy shit.

My heart rate kicked up a notch, and I smiled into my mate's hair.

He'd proclaimed his love for me!

My wolf did a happy-dance inside my chest and I wanted to wiggle happily.

He'd said it first.

My human mate had been the one to tell me I love you first.

A quiet sigh gusted over my chest. "You're happy," Levi whispered in a reverent tone. "I can feel it, crystal clear." I didn't need to look at him; I could feel him smile. Against my chest, and inside of me. "Why are you so happy?"

I took my time answering, letting my eyes wander through the room for a couple of seconds. Ultimately, my sitting area on the other side of the room caught my attention.

I could see us sitting there, enjoying the first coffee of the day. I could also see Levi using the area for filming, ring lights, and filters, tripods surrounding the chairs and coffee table, him talking to his viewers or doing whatever he usually did while I lounged on the bed, watching him without being seen by anyone.

Wherever I looked, I saw thousands of possibilities of our lives fitting together. Making room for his clothes in the walk-in closet, mine and his hanging side-by-side. Us, standing in there, him contemplating what he wanted to wear while I'd simply grab the first season-appropriate thing I found. I could see his laptop sitting on his nightstand, him sitting in bed, editing videos while I read a book or watched the latest gardening hacks.

I could see him bringing me a fresh, steaming cup of coffee in the morning and me bringing him freshly cut fruit for a breakfast in bed.

"I love you," I blurted. My chest felt too full; the feelings inside of me were too big to be kept inside. "I love you, Levi. I have for a while now. Maybe ever since I've heard you cursing out your manager. Definitely ever since you fearlessly hugged my wolf back on the beach."

He laughed a bright, happy laugh. "God, I love you, Rhett. You're perfect. Patient and sweet and so inherently good, I don't have words for it."

His lips found mine and I let myself feel for a while. His soft and plush lips sliding over mine, the corners of his mouth tilting into a smile. His breath fanning over my face. His teeth gently pulling at my bottom lip, his tongue coming out to play.

When the kiss ended, I sighed and rested my forehead against his.

"I can't wait to start the rest of my life with you."

"Back at you, Wolfie. Back at you."

We spent some time just being, reveling in the moment, watching the bright morning sun filtering through the curtains, safe and secure in each other's arms.

I didn't know exactly what our future would look like, but I knew I had Levi by my side and his belongings in the bed of my truck, waiting to be unloaded, so I imagined it'd be great.

Fate had truly chosen well.