Page 25 of Destined Mate (Cross Creek Pack of San DeLain)

Chapter Fifteen

Jerome

JEROME’S EYES rolled back as he surrendered to the overwhelming sensations coursing through his body. He ceased resisting his natural impulses and simply allowed himself to be swept away.

On the third upstroke, a surge of energy raced up his spine, culminating in an explosive climax that struck him like a bolt of lightning to the back of his head.

He clamped his eyes shut, blocking out the world. Vivid bursts of light danced behind his closed lids, and his chest constricted with an intense, almost breathless euphoria.

“Beautiful,” Wesley whispered.

Wesley continued stroking as Jerome reached his climax. When it got to be too much and he gasped, his alpha released his spent cock. Jerome lay sprawled on the bed, completely at ease. That might be one of the best orgasms he’d ever had.

With half-closed eyes, he watched as Wesley moved across the room, searching through a night table. He wondered if he’d leave the bed tonight, or ever again. He certainly didn’t want to, not with Wesley right there, within arm’s reach.

“I was hoping to find—here we go.”

Jerome’s pulse spiked when Wesley held up the lube, grinning. He wanted this, even though apprehension licked along his spine. Wesley was well hung and what experimenting Jerome had done was before he’d mated Li Li.

He was aware that it would be painful at first, but he had faith in Wesley to prepare him.

Wesley moved between Jerome’s legs, then lapped at the come on his stomach. “You taste good.”

“Oh, fuck. That’s hot!” Jerome panted.

With a final kiss to Jerome’s cock, Wesley sat up, then covered his fingers with lube. Breathless, Jerome pulled his legs up to his chest, giving Wesley access.

He tensed as Wesley’s finger teased his hole, but the barely there touch didn’t hurt. Instead, it left him wanting more. “Please…”

“I’ll get you there. I want you to be good and loose for me.”

That made Jerome’s cock stiffen right up. Wesley played at Jerome’s entrance, and just when he was on the verge of losing his mind, Wesley’s finger glided in with a practiced, fluid motion.

A brief, tingling burn accompanied Wesley’s entry, a sensation that swiftly dissolved into waves of pleasure cascading through Jerome.

“I… Ho-ly crap!” Jerome yelped as Wesley expertly twisted his finger, hitting that elusive spot that would ignite Jerome’s senses.

“There we go.”

Jerome’s toes curled as Wesley finger-fucked him, ruthlessly attacking Jerome’s hot spot.

Wesley withdrew his finger, applied more lube, and then inserted two, spreading them apart in a scissoring motion. “It’s so hot watching you give in to the pleasure. You’re so tight. I’m going to make you scream.”

Jerome’s member throbbed insistently, a hard and demanding presence, yet he resisted the temptation to touch it. Despite already coming, he sensed it wouldn’t take much to bring him to the brink once more.

The tension was palpable, like a taut wire stretched to its limit, leaving him teetering on the damn edge of desperation. Wesley added another finger, and the sensation of stretching and burning consumed Jerome’s attention.

Oh, he enjoyed that, relished the feeling of being widened… and if this kept up, he’d come again before Wesley even had the chance to enter him.

“Do it,” Jerome begged. “Just get in me, please.”

“Are you sure you’re ready?”

“I have never been surer about anything in my life!”

Wesley wasted no time. One moment his fingers were there, and the next they were gone. Wesley positioned himself, and Jerome tried to relax as Wesley entered him.

He fought against the stretch as Wesley pushed in. Jerome bit his lip, realizing he might not have been as ready as he thought. Shit. Maybe this wasn’t going to work after all.

The pleasure from earlier was leaving. He whimpered. People did this all the time! He knew that, but… but he was still seconds away from telling Wesley to stop.

Wesley wrapped his hand around Jerome’s cock and stroked him. “Concentrate on this instead.”

Jerome’s eyes crossed. What the hell was Wesley doing with his wrist? He’d never felt anything like that . But it did the trick and got his mind off the cock in his ass.

Wesley leaned over and rested his forehead against Jerome’s. “I’m in. Just… just—fuck, you’re so hot inside—going to wait for the tightness to ease.”

“You just had to be hung like a horse, didn’t you?” Jerome griped.

Wesley snorted.

“You’re thick too.” Jerome panted as he locked his legs around Wesley’s hips.

“By Fenrir, be still or this’ll be over before it begins.” Wesley, resting on his hands above Jerome, kissed the tip of Jerome’s nose.

It was Jerome’s turn to snort.

“There you go, I can feel you loosening, thank all the gods. Ready for me to move?”

“Need you to do something. I feel like I’m going to explode, and I, ah…” Jerome wiggled, experimenting to see if the pain was truly gone.

“Jerome, fuck, stop!”

Huh. He peered up at Wesley. His mate was sweating as he clenched his teeth. The cords in his neck stood out. Someone was hanging on by the skin of his teeth.

Jerome kind of liked that. “Move. I need you to move.”

“Thank fuck.” Wesley pulled out, then drove in again.

Jerome moaned, but it wasn’t from pain. There was none now, only fullness. He groaned loudly when Wesley plunged his tongue into his mouth.

He wanted more, dammit, so he tightened his legs around Wesley. His mate finally caught on and pounded into him. The kiss ended, and they stared at each other.

He watched the expressions that crossed Wesley’s face while his alpha pleasured him. Wesley moved slightly, and Jerome howled. The new angle had Wesley hitting Jerome’s prostate every single time.

The friction of having his cock trapped between their bodies drove Jerome closer to the edge.

Wesley slammed in and out of his ass. He gave one final hard push, and then, growling, he froze suddenly. A wild look entered Wesley’s eyes, turning them golden, and his canines dropped.

“Jerome.” Wesley moaned. “Going to come. You ready…?”

Jerome turned his head, exposing his neck. “Do it.”

Wesley tensed and pushed himself fully into Jerome, releasing deeply within him. The warmth filling Jerome brought him to climax, and as he came between them, Wesley bit down, his teeth breaking the skin at the base of Jerome’s neck and shoulder.

“Fuck!” Jerome yelled.

“Mine!” Wesley growled into his skin.

Jerome’s heart soared at that word. He was well beyond speech, but if he could’ve spoken, it would have been to say yes over and over again as darkness edged into his vision.

WHEN THE world rematerialized around him, he was still panting beneath Wesley, sticky and sated.

Somewhere just below the rush of his pulse that still hadn’t slowed completely, the bond he’d been noticing pulsed brighter and stronger than ever before, and it had an answering call now: one that was rich with affection and absolute devotion.

Jerome touched the bite. It wasn’t a few gentle tooth marks like Li Li’s had been; this one was ragged around the edges from teeth tearing flesh in eager insistence—a mark meant to last forever.

He stroked a finger along its edge, and oh wow. It zinged all the way down to his toes. Never had it been like that before—and now? Now it would be every day for eternity.

He’d never realized what kind of shoddy secondhand life he’d been living until this moment.

“Well?” came a breathless voice just above his ear. “Too good to be true?”

Jerome burst into laughter, an elated, exhilarated sound that bubbled up from somewhere deep inside him. He wriggled beneath Wesley, twisting his body until they were face-to-face and their noses were nearly touching. He knew the grin on his face was impossibly wide.

He couldn’t believe how intensely their lives had intertwined so quickly, or that this kind of unbelievable happiness was real.

Closing the remaining gap between them, he caught Wesley’s lips with his own, capturing them in a fierce, fervent kiss.

He poured everything into that kiss—his joy, his disbelief, the spark of something that was more than lust or affection, the unexpected completeness that reached down to his very bones.

When he finally released Wesley’s lips, he was breathless and completely unwilling to let his mate move even an inch away from him. Wesley’s breath ghosted over his flushed cheek.

But drying come was not fun.

He relaxed his grip on Wesley and let his mate get up. Wesley retrieved a damp cloth, its coolness contrasting with the warmth of the room, and gently wiped the remnants of their passion from Jerome’s skin. The tender care spoke volumes. It told Jerome he mattered.

Once Jerome was clean, they nestled under the soft covers, the night wrapping around them like a comforting embrace. He drifted into a peaceful sleep, the rhythm of their breaths gradually syncing in the quiet room.

JEROME WOKE Wednesday morning with Wesley spooned against his back, a solid, comforting weight. When he tried to get up, Wesley’s arm tightened, pulling him even more snugly against his chest.

Jerome’s stomach did that weird little somersault thing it’d been doing since last night. Wesley didn’t want to let Jerome go—not only did he feel the tightness in Wesley’s arm, but he also sensed Wesley didn’t want to let him go through the bond.

There was no doubt now; they were mated.

He heard something like a soft sigh just above his head and then felt the puff of a breath against his hair. Wesley nuzzled into the back of Jerome’s neck, apparently unwilling to let go in sleep.

The twinge of anxiety that had accompanied Jerome all week vanished, replaced by an entirely different sort of nervous energy—one that made him want to whoop and yell and embrace every damn person he ran into today.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Mmmm.”

There was sleepy amusement in the sound. Jerome tried to turn so he could see Wesley’s eyes, but Wesley didn’t seem inclined to let him move even that much.

“Good morning,” Wesley finally managed.

“Morning.”

Wesley said nothing else but hugged Jerome closer. They stayed like that for several long minutes until neither could pretend they didn’t need food—or coffee.

“We’ve got a lot to do today,” Jerome reminded Wesley. “And I’m hungry.”