Page 6 of Confused AF (At First #2)

six

~ Vaden ~

I hadn’t meant to kiss him.

Oh, I’d wanted to. I had imagined it dozens of times since we’d met. Just not like this. Not by accident, and certainly not in a room filled with hundreds of strangers.

The moment Otto’s mouth had touched mine, though, there had been no turning back.

The thought of pretending it didn’t mean anything hadn’t even crossed my mind.

If anything, it had only reinforced what I had already known deep down, what that buried, primal part of myself had been trying to tell me all along.

Otto Stillwater was mine .

When he sighed and leaned into me, his lips parting in invitation, it required every ounce of my self-control not to take the kiss deeper. It would be so easy to get swept up in the moment, but I didn’t want to embarrass him, and I worried about what would happen afterward.

With so many people filming and snapping pictures, it wasn’t hard to imagine our private moment ending up splashed across the internet by dinnertime.

His eyes widened when I pulled away, the light in those golden irises flaring briefly before fading completely. Then he looked away, his cheeks pink with the embarrassment I had been trying so hard to prevent.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to sidestep, to put distance between us.

I caught him by the wrist and pulled him back to me.

“Not here,” I said, unable to keep the growl from my voice. Looking over his shoulder, I searched for somewhere—anywhere—we could be alone, if only for a moment. “Come with me.”

Without waiting for a response, I started walking, practically dragging Otto behind me as we weaved through the crowd. As we approached the front of the cavernous room, I took a sharp turn, following a wide corridor to the conference rooms tucked into the back of the building.

Most of them were currently occupied with the day’s panels, filled with attendees and industry experts.

A door stood open at the end of the hallway, the light from the room spilling out in a wide triangle across the carpet.

It looked to have been recently vacated, meaning it likely wouldn’t be used again until the custodial team came to clean it.

Pulling Otto into the room, I slammed the door closed and slapped my hand against the wall switch, extinguishing the fluorescent lights and cloaking us in shadows. Then I captured his face between my hands and slanted our mouths together with a quiet groan, desperate to finally taste him.

His answering gasp echoed throughout the room, the sound unusually loud in the empty space.

He arched against me, his body swaying into mine as he parted his lips.

Curling my tail around his waist to steady him, I held him against my chest and walked him backward until his shoulders pressed against the wall.

“Mine,” I growled, my voice muffled against his mouth. It was a promise as much as a claim of ownership, a vow wrapped into a single word. “You are mine, Otto. Do you understand?”

He lifted his gaze to meet mine in the dim light, his lips curving into a gentle smile. “Yes.”

“Say it.”

The words rang between us, more of a command than a request, but I needed to know he felt what I did. I needed him to acknowledge that this thing between us, this connection, went deeper than mere attraction.

I couldn’t do temporary, not with him, and one night would never be enough. Hell, that had stopped being an option from the moment he’d taken my hand on the plane.

“I’m yours,” he said, his voice strong and steady. “Your mate.” He arched into me again to brush our lips together. “And you are mine, Vaden.”

My head spun, and my heart crashed against my ribs as I attacked his mouth again, plunging my tongue between his lips to explore the hidden depths within. Fuck, he tasted like candy—sweet, decadent—and I couldn’t get enough.

Something wild and primitive flared inside me, burning away my control as ancient instincts rushed to the surface. Growling, I anchored him against the wall with my hips as I forced his head back to take the kiss deeper.

My canines elongated, the tips scraping over his bottom lip, and a purr of satisfaction rumbled in my chest when he responded with a quiet moan.

Blood roared in my ears, and my lungs burned, but breathing didn’t seem important right then. Not when it felt like I might come apart piece by piece if I stopped kissing him.

Fuck, I was starved for him. I didn’t want to just claim him. I wanted to consume him, to feast on him. I wanted to brand him from the inside out and imprint myself on his soul.

He had awoken feelings within me I didn’t recognize, and the intensity of those emotions both thrilled and terrified me. With every stroke of his tongue against mine, I felt myself falling, sinking deeper into the bond that flickered between us.

The world narrowed to the slip and slide of our mouths, to the scrape of teeth and the heat where our bodies pressed tightly together. The world faded, and time itself seemed to fracture, splintering into a thousand tiny shards that held us suspended in this one perfect fragment.

Otto clung to my shoulders, his nails biting through the fabric, grounding me even as my mind hurtled off the edge of reason. When he jerked his mouth away to pant for air, his warm breath coming in harsh gasps against my jaw, I didn’t let him go far.

Desperate to keep him close, to make the moment stretch into eternity, I tangled my fingers in his hair, giving him only a moment to recover before claiming his mouth again.

There was nothing gentle in the way I kissed him now.

Only hunger, need, and the understanding that nothing else in the world mattered except him.

Otto gave back in equal measure, matching my passion as he arched into every touch, every caress. As he writhed against me, I felt my control unraveling, the threads snapping one by one until only raw instinct and primal hunger remained.

Lost in his taste, in the warmth of his body, when he shoved at my chest, I didn’t immediately understand what he wanted. I didn’t think he intended to push me away, but I took a step back anyway.

Even now, half-crazed and clinging to sanity, his comfort and happiness came first.

The interruption, however, brought with it a moment of clarity. Gods, I wanted him, craved him, but not like this. Not hurried and fumbling in a dark conference room where anyone could walk in on us.

So, when he fisted the front of my blazer and tried to reverse our positions, I captured his wrists and flexed my tail to pull him flush against my chest.

“Not here,” I said, echoing my words from earlier. “Not now.”

Eyes dazed, lips swollen, he stared up at me like a debauched angel, making it difficult to hold on to my convictions. This wasn’t just about location, though, but about timing.

In hindsight, I could see the signs, the little indications that we had always been heading in this direction.

For Otto, however, going from light flirting to fully mated had happened almost instantly.

It had to be overwhelming, confusing, and I didn’t want him to decide something now that he would end up regretting later.

“I’m not saying no, and I’m sure as hell not saying I don’t want you.” I tucked a knuckle under his chin, tilting his head up to rub our lips together in reassurance. “I’m saying let’s slow down.”

“I thought…” He trailed away, and his eyes darted around the room before coming to land on mine again. “I don’t understand.”

“I know.” Sighing, I hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him into my arms, wrapping him in comfort and security. “And that’s kind of my point. Everything feels urgent right now, like you can’t even think straight. Am I right?”

He hesitated only briefly before bobbing his head, his cheek rubbing against my shoulder. “I kind of feel like I’m going to die.”

Dramatic, but a fairly apt description. “I want you to be sure because there’s no going back. I don’t want just one night with you, Otto.” I licked my lips and took a steadying breath. “I want forever.”

Lifting his head, he leaned back, his gaze searching mine in the darkness. “That’s what—”

I silenced him with another kiss. “Don’t say anything right now. Just think about it.”

He stared at me for a long time, his expression a mixture of confusion and defiance, before finally dipping his head. “Okay. I’ll think about it, but I can’t go back to the way things were.”

“No,” I agreed, sliding my hand along his jaw to cradle his face. “I don’t want that either.”

“Good.” He exhaled in relief and tilted his head, nuzzling against my palm. “And once I decide—”

“I’ll be right here waiting.”