Page 105 of Blood Fist
Parting his legs, Brune slipped between Ridan’s lethal thighs. So enamored with kissing his omega, he hadn’t realized just how hot his own desire burned. Brune was so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if he popped a knot right there. His cock ached and he sought relief, brushing his hips against Ridan’s only to gasp in surprise when he found him equally hard.
Parting with a soft gasp, he dropped his forehead to Ridan’s so he could catch his breath. This close, hisevery inhalation was filled with nothing but Ridan’s scent. Within it, he could smell arousal, and to his surprise, slick. Lifting his head in shock, he stared down at the man below him with something like wonder.
A savage grin slipped across kiss swollen lips as Ridan rolled his hips, teasing Brune in ways that shouldn’t be possible. He growled, lips dropping to skin that tasted like campfires and sweat. Had he the patience, Brune could spend days mapping Ridan’s skin with his lips, but he was driven to those forbidden glands on his neck.
Touching another person’s neck scent glands was nearly sacred. It transcended pack laws and was reserved, almost exclusively, for mates. It was a vulnerability. A trust. One Brune couldn’t break, no matter how badly he wanted to.
His hot breath ghosted across Ridan’s neck as he pulled himself back, entire body trembling. Blinking away the haze of arousal, he let his fingers dig into the soft dirt beside Ridan’s head to ground him.
The blonde was staring up at him with a look he didn’t have the mindfulness to decipher. In a strange way, it was reminiscent of their first meeting—only this time, it was Brune looking down at Ridan. And they were sweaty for an entirely different reason.
Just like then, Ridan looked sure. With a crackle of leaves under his head, he lifted his chin and turned his head.
Exposing his neck to Brune.
His eyes were brimming with confidence as he met Brune’s. Scarcely breathing, Brune’s eyes dropped to that slender column of unmarred neck presented to him. Not out of a sense of obligation, or in the haze of a heat. Not under the influence of drink, either. No, presentedto Brunelike a gift wrapped in trust. Full ofsomething that ran deeper than casual kisses in the dark.
Short of Ridan himself, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Brune,” he whined, lips barely parting as he called to him.
His lips found the pulse racing in his neck. It was a dangerous place to be. Thethump thumpof Ridan’s heart like a siren call. He could do it. Hewantedto do it. With nothing but the moon to witness their claiming, he could have everything he didn’t dare acknowledge he wanted.
Brune paused, his lips brushing against the slick oil of Ridan’s gland. The taste was even more divine than the smell. He shuddered, biting down on his cheek to clear his head.
“Alpha?” Ridan asked, his voice husky.
“I…I can’t,” he breathed softly, pressing his nose to Ridan’s cheek to keep him close. To feel the warmth of his skin for as long as possible.
The smell of rejection curdled around him, and he jerked back, looking down into wet eyes. Ridan’s lips were pressed together, and his hands dropped off Brune’s shoulders.
“No, no,” he whispered fervently, nuzzling under his jaw with a soft rumble. “I want you, Ridan. I’ve wanted you from the moment I first saw you.”
Ridan swallowed, his eyes narrowing.
“I want you, my omega,” Brune said softly, pressing his nose to his temple. “But I haven’t proven myself to you.”
His upturned nose scrunched up indignantly. “You caught me!”
“But I haven’t earned you.”
Ridan glared up at him, his eyes no longer wateryand his scent softening. He bared his small fangs at Brune in defiance. “You chased me. You caught me. It’s enough.”
Shaking his head, Brune moved to stroke his fingers along Ridan’s cheek. “No, love, when it comes to you, nothing will ever be enough.”
Ridan didn’t look happy. In fact, for the first time in his life, he looked his age. Brune couldn’t help but smile at the small pout that landed on his lips or the way he shyly looked up at him through lowered lashes.
“Ridan, my omega,” Brune crooned, laying a quick kiss against his pouty lips. “You have no idea, do you? Just how special you are to me.” He huffed softly, his breath ruffling Ridan’s messy blonde hair. “When I first saw you on that battlefield, I didn’t see an omega. I saw a leader. A man standing against an army, with nothing but a sword he couldn’t lift and the conviction that he was right.”
“I called it divine intervention, but really, I think it was closer to awe. I was in awe of you, Ridan, then and now. Your strength, your intelligence, it all…I wish you could see it. See yourself through my eyes because then you’d know.”
Ridan’s lips wobbled. “Know what?”
“Know that you are as beautiful and unknowable as the night sky. An enduring mystery I want to spend my life getting to solve. That you are wild and free. Your inner strength could crack granite, yet your hands are soft enough to hold the reins of a pony you raised.” Brune’s heart beat in his chest so hard that he feared it would drown out his words. “If saving you was divine intervention, then loving you was as a falling star cast from the sky, so powerful and bright it had to fall.” He shifted so he could grab Ridan’s hand, placing it on his chest. “It followed the wishes I castand found its way here, beating in my chest. Can you feel it, Ridan?”
Slender fingers dug into his chest like Ridan was trying to grasp the very thing Brune had asked him to feel. Take it from his chest to look at it, hold it, feel how every beat was to a rhythm he chose.
“Let me court you properly. Officially. Come to you in front of your clan like you deserve. Allow me the chance to earn you, my omega. To be worthy of you.”