Page 278 of Alpha Mates

I press my lips to his, longer this time, slower. Sparks shoot down my spine, electrifying my soul as it finds itself reacquainted with its other half. Julian twists in my arms until he’s draped over me.

His lithe body presses against mine, warming every inch of skin he touches. I sink into the pleasure, letting myself feel him—really feel him—as our mouths move together. The kiss is slow and deep.

Julian breaks away first, but only to start a path down the length of my neck with his mouth.

“If you keep that up, I’m gonna get my hopes up,” I say with a chuckle that quickly turns into a groan when his tongue brushes the edge of my mark.

“Maybe you should,” he murmurs with a smile I feel against my skin.

My heart hiccups in my chest as my groin tightens.

It’s been over a week since I told Julian about my past. So it’s also been almost a month since we’ve done anything remotely close tothis. His insistence that I take time to deal with what I’d relived had felt like a punishment at first, but I knew that it never was.

As much as I tried to deny it, the last time I tried to take things further, Julian knew that I didn’t want it—not really. I wasn’t even hard, and he had been kind enough not to point it out. He just asked me to do the one thing no one ever had before. Make sure I was okay first.

I’d been trained to bury things, pretend that nothing ever happened. I thought that’s what we’d do, too. But Julian … he showed me how different things could be, when someone whoreallyloves you sees all of you, and stays anyway.

“You’re distracted,” he whispers against my ear, his hands sliding down my sides.

“Yes, I am,” I groan, trying to think past the coaxing grind of his erection against my stomach. “I amverydistracted and excited.”

He huffs a laugh as his fingers slide into my hair.

“I just don’t know … if … if we should be gettingdistractedup here,” I manage. I’m all for fucking wherever, whenever, but the last thing I need is to finally get a piece of my mate, only for someone to walk in on us.

“We can be quick,” Julian whispers as he rocks against me. “We’ve done it before, and I’m already close.”

“Fuck, Jewels.” I tighten my grip on his hips and thrust up. We share a groan at the blessed friction. “We’re outside.”

“And?” he pants, before teeth clamp down on my ear.

My cock jerks. I moan, and Julian laughs as he pushes me back onto the couch.

“Goddess be fucking merciful,” I beg as I take in the vision of the fallen angel seducing me.

He climbs up to straddle me properly, pushing his hair from his face in one swoop before he tugs his shirt over his head—leaving nothing but skin and temptation in its place. He’s filled back in over the past few weeks, looking more like my alpha than ever.

“Come on,” he purrs, leaning down for another kiss.

But I slap a hand to his chest.

“…Aiden.”

“We need to … we … need to go downstairs. To, um—” I stammer, watching as he palms himself through his briefs. “The bed,” I mumble, but thenhe grabs my wrist and presses my hand over him, replacing his with mine as his cheeks flare. “Dinner? E-eat. We need to eat!”

“Eat?” Julian echoes, as he leans into the hand between us. His eyes glow as they flick down to my mouth. He drops his voice. “Eat me.”

I tried.

I drop the hand on his chest, sit up with Julian still in my lap, and slide him down onto his back so he’s laid out under me. Julian sucks in a breath as my hand slips past his waistband to take hold of his slick cock.

He moans, gripping my shoulders, trying to deepen the kiss I’m already breaking so I can taste the heat of his skin. His body unfurls for me, warm and sweet beneath my searching lips while I stroke him slowly.

“I’m not stopping,” I warn, my voice a growl, and the sound alone makes him jerk in my grasp. I smile against his nipple. “Not until I’m satisfied.”

I suck the nub between my lips and drag a wrecked moan from Julian’s throat. He arches beneath me, and I worship every inch of him I can while my hand works his already leaking cock.

“I can’t believe we’re still working,” I mutter as my hand trails down his side, tracing the dip of his waist. His brows meet as he struggles to breathe, caught between arousal and confusion. “Aren’t we about to cover every base?”