Page 34 of Alpha Mates

My lips lay claim to his skin, leaving behind marks for all to see while I make my way up his neck to his ear. I trace the shell with my tongue.

“Ahh,” he moans, louder this time, while his grip on me turns to steal.

Note to self: go for the ears.

“Y-yes,” he whines as I suck the lobe between my lips and revel in the twist in his scent. “There,” he groans, trembling.

Julian is a mess. He’s putty in my hands with all his previous resistance drowned in blind lust. I soak it in, greedily chasing every sound he gives me. It’s proof I’m pleasing him, that he feelsgoodwith me, and that gives me something greater than joy or pleasure. It’s a rush I want to chase forever, and I will. I’ll map every inch of his body with my tongue until I turn him into a panting, wrecked beast who only knows how to unfurl for me, and—

“What the fuck.”

The world slams back into focus around me, and it does so with a vengeance.

The lust parts like a cloud revealing a red-faced Julian waiting on the other side. I freeze as if I’d been shot with a silver bullet, and so does he. Panting, we stare at each other, each too afraid to make a move, but when his gaze flicks up, I reluctantly look over my shoulder.

Emitt stands in the doorway to my apartment, his expression something beyond shocked. Behind him, Julian’s friends look just as frozen. The terror on their faces is a bucket of ice.

Slowly, I set Julian down, but I don’t let go. I should, but I don’t want to. Not with others here to witness him unravelling like this.

I glance back at him, and he’s still flushed pink. Fuck.

He doesn’t move away either. Instead, his grip on me tightens, and that’s all the confirmation I need.

“It’s the mating bond,” he says into the quiet as the colour fades from his cheeks. I frown as I watch it go, tucked away behind his usual stone-cold mask as he fixes it back into place.

I want to bite his neck again, just to watch that colour flood back. But there are other people here now, watching us, reminding me of who we’re supposed to be.

“Yeah,” I mumble. “We can’t control it.”

Julian nods, and I stifle a laugh.

What a load of bullshit.

Chapter 7

Julian

We’re going with a confident approach. If we act as if it isn’t weird that we were just doing … what we were just doing, then it’s like we hadn’t done anything weird at all.

Exactly,Alex agrees with a mental nod.Nothing even happened.

Nothing even happened,I confirm.

That lasts for about three seconds before I’m mentally banging my head against a wall.

What in all the realms had I just allowed Aiden to do to me?!

I hadn’t even put up a fight! I’d just let it happen, let him touch me like that! And that isn’t even the worst part. The true horror is knowing that if he touched me like that again, even with eyes on us, I wouldn’t try to stop him.

It didn’t happen!Alex sobs, but no amount of wailing can make that true.

While terror reigns within. On the outside, I’m unbothered. I’m as cool as a cucumber, even with Aiden seated right next to me. I’m also, in no shape or form, extremely hyperaware of his knee brushing against mine.

Nope. It’s not even there.I’mbarely here.

I stare blankly at the three sitting opposite us while they gawk at Aiden and me as if we’re aliens. They blink at us, over and over like mismatched triplets.

After Aiden and I found the sense to separate from each other, I wasted no time shepherding our wide-eyed friends into the living room, where we now all sit.