Chapter 13

Eli

There was no denying it now. The words were out in the open.

The pull that I'd felt toward Aldryn my entire life made sense. He wasn't just my friend, he was my mate. The one fated just for me. He was my alpha.

All these years I'd spent in love with him but scared to take that leap made sense.

I didn't regret that we'd waited this long to figure it out. Yet I was still afraid that it was going to be taken from me at any moment. Like I'd wake up and this would all be just a dream. I would still be in my aunt's basement with a hungry stomach and no money.

With Aldryn standing in front of me, his eyes locked on mine, there was no way a dream could be this real. The level of desire I felt in his gaze was not something I could conjure in my imagination.

We might have been in the forest, where anyone could come upon us, but that wasn't going to stop Aldryn.

He kissed me with such desire, I was sure the forest would begin shaking from it. His mouth moved over mine, unlocking the lust I'd felt for him for so many years. The longing had built up so big I was sure I would burst with it. Last night had only been a taste. With the words out there—mates—this was going to be different.

We made quick work of removing our clothes, then our mouths were back onto one another. Aldryn placed his hand on my chest, over my heart, as if he needed to feel it beating. His palm was warm against my skin.

"I crave you, mate. Like nothing I've ever experienced before. I am so glad you are mine."

"It is the same for me," I said against his lips. "You are the only alpha I want. The only one I've had."

His eyes widened. "I'm honored, Eli. You are a treasure."

"Show me." I grinned. "Please."

He growled. "I love when you beg me."

Like he had done the night before, Aldryn lifted me, then gently laid me down. This time it was on the ground rather than a bed, but I didn't complain. Our shifter blood kept us warm, and I wanted him. We would not wait for the long walk back to the car, nor the drive to the nearest hotel. I needed him now.

He didn't bother with kisses this time. Instead, his mouth closed over my cock while his fingers swirled around my entrance. My cock head hit the back of his throat.

My hips bucked in surprise, and I let out a groan. My fingers threaded through his hair while he bobbed up and down on my hard cock.

"Fuck, Aldryn. That feels so fucking good."

He hummed, and I thought I might explode right then, but he stopped. "As much as I want you to come down my throat, I want you to finish when I'm inside you so I can feel you clamp down around my knot. I need your body to beg for me."

"I want that. My body does beg for you. Slick has pooled at my entrance, Aldryn. So much that I am drenched with it. I need you."

"You know how to get what you want," he said.

My eyes met his. His sparkled with mischief. There was a playfulness to him that I'd never seen before. I knew it was just for me. This was a side of him no others would witness. "Please, alpha, give me your knot. Fill me up with your cum. Please. I need it."

He moved so quick I could barely see him. Then his body covered mine and his cock was at my entrance. I opened for him because my body knew his. He was my mate. The one made only for me. Our bond surpassed that of normal couples.

He filled me slowly, letting my body adjust.

I let instinct overtake me. I wanted him so much, I wanted to feel him. I wanted to ride him.

I rolled us over so that I was on top. The movement was a bit awkward, but we managed. It was something we'd have to practice. Aldryn's eyes widened in surprise, but then they darkened with desire.

"You want to run the show, my mate? Is that it?"

I rocked, riding my dragon and drawing my pleasure from his body. My hips moved, and he let me control the speed, the intensity, all of it. I threw my head back and let my body take over.

Aldryn gripped my hips, his fingertips biting into my skin. His green eyes flashed. His dragon was close.

He used his hand and wrapped it around my cock, stroking to the rhythm that I rocked.

With the forest around us, I let out a howl that sounded too much like my wolf to have come from my human mouth, but somehow, it did. The world around us stilled as if we were the only ones that existed. In that moment, it was just us.

Then I was climaxing, my release splashing between us in ropey white spurts. Aldryn followed soon after, and his knot began to expand inside me. The walls of my channel hummed against the pressure.

His one hand continued to hold my hips, and I arched back as my channel was filled to an impossible fullness. The pressure was almost too much. I felt as if I would come undone. My cock remained hard, and Aldryn was lazily stroking it.

"I think I could get you to come again, my omega. You know how to ask."

I went to move, but he held me still. Even with one hand on my cock, he was able to hold me still.

"Say the words, omega."

"Please," I whispered. "Please let me come again. I need it."

His hips jerked, pushing his knot deeper, and then his hand was stroking. It didn't take long for me to come again, shouting his name into the forest air.

"Aldryn!"

"That's it, my omega. Come for me."

I did. Again. Shouting loudly into the open air. Anyone who was around would hear us and know what was happening. I didn't care.

This man that I had loved for longer than I could remember recognized me as his mate, and I was going to lay claim to him. He would carry my scent, and I would carry his. There would be no denying what we were to one another.

With the force of my orgasm still rippling through me, a level of confidence I hadn't experienced before allowed me to say the words I'd practiced over and over.

"I love you, Aldryn. I've always loved you."

He stilled. His eyes locked on mine. "I love you, too, Eli. I'm sorry it took me so long to see what was right in front of me. But now that I have you, I will never let you go. I will never let you down again. I vow to you that you will want for nothing as long as you are mine."

"I vow the same. I am honored to call you mine, and I will cherish you always."