Page 144 of Alpha Mates

Aiden

“Come on, Aiden!” Julian shouts from wherever he is. The abyss, maybe.

I groan as I pull the covers further over my head. He’s been telling me to get out of bed for the past hour, and I’ve been ignoring him the same way I’ve been ignoring the sunlight blazing through the curtains.

It’s not often we get to sleep in, and I’d be an idiot not to take advantage.

“I’m serious, Aiden,” he nags, closer now.

“Let me sleep,” I beg when the mattress dips beside me.

“I made plans for us. Come on.” He tugs at the covers. I hold on tight.

“Fine,” he says, giving up far too easily. But Julian Heil never gives up.

A pillow slams into my head. Not hard—just enough to jolt my eyes open. I shoot up, too stunned to see the next one coming, or the one after that.

“Julian!” I curse as he hits me again and again with the stupid pillow, only allowing me a few fleeting glimpses of light and his wide smiles.

Ducking low, I dodge his next swing and grab him by the waist, hauling him against my chest and snatching the weaponry from his hands. It’s easy with the way he laughs in my arms, easier to keep him to me as I throw the pillow somewhere across the room.

Weapon forfeited, I fix my attention on a giggling Julian. He’s squirming, trying to get out of my hold, but with the way he’s laughing, it’s an impossible task, and when I start tickling him, he’s completely at my mercy.

I know his weak spots and find the ones that make him jerk and squeal. The skin under his chin, above his hips and over his thighs. I target them all while he wiggles against me like a worm.

“Stop!” he exclaims as he tries to break free. “Aiden!” he screams on top of his mounting laughter.

When he starts gasping, almost out of air, I ease my fingers away, letting him catch his breath. Julian throws his head back on my shoulder as he sucks in a desperate lungful, but despite his slight exhaustion, there’s still a smile plastered across his face.

Each breath calms him, slowing his heaving chest that strains beneath his shirt. I follow its rhythm, the way my eyes follow his arched frame. Strong. Handsome.

I rest my hands on his hips, staring quietly at him as he calms. My body heats beneath his, tingling in every place his skin brushes mine. By the time his bright eyes drift to mine, I’m nearly as breathless as he’d been.

We hold each other there for a long moment, just breathing, enjoying the other’s scent and the sweet thing it becomes when they’re mixed together. It’s coaxing, like the thrum of our hearts beating as one, and I don’t know how to resist the tune.

Julian leans in first, sealing his lips to mine and humming in satisfaction as he turns slightly, giving himself better access. I let him, opening myself to his claim. I groan when his tongue flicks my bottom lip teasingly, sparking a ripple of need beneath my veins. He smiles proudly against my lips as I open up, allowing him to have his way.

The bond sparks to life, flooding us with pleasure that ricochets back and forth until all I can do isfeel.

As it builds, my hand slides from his hip, moving down over flesh until it slides between his legs and over the erection tenting his shorts. I squeeze him, and Julian moans softly into my mouth.

“Aiden,” he whispers as his eyes flutter open to meet mine. “We can’t.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here?” I murmur against his lips.

“Yes, but …” He doesn’t finish as he bites his lip, hips thrusting into my touch.

“Why won’t you let me touch you?” I whisper as I slip my free hand up his shirt, gliding my fingers up his sides and then over his nipples.

Julian sucks in a breath and I steal one more kiss before he can take another. “Last night, you said we couldn’t. Now, you’re saying we can’t again.”

I flick a finger over his nipple, and he hisses before a shudder passes through him. “I thought the point of this trip was for us to let go”—I pinch until he whimpers for me—“to get closer.”

“It is,” he groans as his hands find my wrists, holding tight but not pulling them away. “But I made plans …” His words taper as I palm his erection. “With times, Aiden.”

“How long do we have?” I ask, pressing kisses up his neck, moving higher and claiming more skin with my tongue until he drops his head on my shoulder.

It might as well be an offering.