Page 8 of Ghosted AF (At First #4)

eight

~ Caius ~

M ake me yours.

Maybe he didn’t know it yet, but he always had been. From the moment he had scaled my back to wave a spatula at a ghost, I had been completely lost.

Capturing his face between my hands, I pulled him up on his toes, walking him backward as I slanted our mouths together in a hard, possessive kiss. All this time, I had been so careful with him, so worried that I might do or say something to spook him.

Now that he had given me permission to let go of that restraint, I couldn’t hold back any longer. I wouldn’t. I could talk until the sun came up, and while words might be nice, I needed to show him how I felt, to erase any lingering doubt in his mind.

Fisting the front of my shirt, Rylee moaned against my lips, his tongue darting out to meet mine, sliding and twining as he arched against me. My hold on his face tightened, and I delved deeper, licking into the darkest recesses as I mapped every inch of his mouth.

Gods, I wanted him with a ferocity that frightened me a little—his body, but also his heart. I wanted to tattoo my name across his soul, a warning to anyone who dared to covet what was mine.

My shoulders ricocheted off the doorframe as we stumbled into the bedroom, but I barely noticed. Hands roamed and groped, pulling and pushing, every touch filled with need and longing.

We kicked our shoes off and discarded clothes between fevered kisses, leaving a trail of torn and wrinkled material on the floor. Looping an arm around Rylee’s narrow waist, I dragged him against me, a growl bursting from my lips at the feel of his naked body pressed against mine.

I lifted him from the floor and pinned him to the wall beside the bathroom door, attacking his mouth as I pushed between his parted legs. His quiet whimper echoed through the room, and he wound his arms around my neck, bowing away from the wall as he rocked against me.

My heart thundered, pounding against my sternum like a battle cry. A flash burn spread across my skin, and a current looped down my spine as goosebumps erupted across my skin.

I tried to slow down, to show even a measure of self-control, but I couldn’t stop. My cock throbbed, swollen and aching between my thighs, and every touch, every kiss, dragged me deeper beneath the swell of the mating heat.

Desire seared my veins, my need building with each passing moment. I had never experienced anything like it before. Only Rylee could pull this kind of reaction from me. Only my mate could elicit the kind of burn I felt.

With our mouths still fused together, I jerked him away from the wall and carried him over to the bed, lowering him to the mattress with as much gentleness as I could. Then I followed him down, blanketing his smaller body with my own as I fell into the cradle of his hips.

He welcomed me with a strangled moan, arching up to meet me, our heated skin sliding together in an erotic dance.

“Caius,” he panted. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel like I’m burning alive.”

“I feel it, too.”

Not every couple experienced the mating heat, and I didn’t know exactly what triggered it, but I’d heard stories. I had just never expected it to be so intense.

“Do something,” he demanded, writhing against the comforter beneath me, his legs sawing back and forth against my sides. “Hurry.”

“I can make it go away,” I told him, my voice tight, strained. “But you have to be sure because once it’s done, there’s no going back.”

He stilled and looked up at me, his cheeks pink and his brow beaded with perspiration. “I’m sure. I want this. I want you .” His eyes softened, and his lower lip trembled. “I want forever.”

That was all I needed to hear.

Reaching across him for the nightstand, I dug into the top drawer, hoping he kept a bottle of lube there like every other male on the planet. He did. After a bit of fumbling, I found the plastic container, small and half-empty, tucked into the back corner.

“Hurry,” he repeated, squirming beneath me as desire, magic, and the siren call of fate pulsed between us.

I flipped open the bottle cap with my thumb and upended the contents into my palm. Reaching between us, I slicked my shaft, growling when even that light touch almost sent me over the edge.

Then I dipped my hand between his legs, smearing the excess around his tight hole and pushing in with two fingers. Rylee threw his head back, a loud moan tearing from his throat to reverberate throughout the room as the guarding ring clamped down on my digits.

“Breathe,” I told him. “Relax. I don’t want to hurt you.”

I pumped my hand carefully, coaxing the muscles to relax as I stretched him open. Once I had three fingers gliding into his heated channel, I eased free and pushed his knees back, spreading his legs wider and poising the crown of my heavy cock at his entrance.

Flexing my hips, I pushed into him, groaning when his inner walls contracted around me. Fuck, he was tight. So hot. So soft. I wanted to bury myself inside him and rut like a wild animal, but I forced myself to move slowly, sinking into him inch by torturous inch.

When I finally bottomed out, I paused, pressing my forehead to his and hovering on the brink of madness while I tried to give him a moment to adjust to the invasion.

“I’m okay,” he panted, his eyes half-lidded and his hands fluttering around my shoulders. “Move.”

Taking him at his word, I started slowly, every movement controlled and measured. When that didn’t seem to cause him pain, I increased the tempo, rocking into him with more force.

“Gods, you are so fucking perfect,” I bit out, my teeth clenched against an onslaught of pleasure that bordered on pain. “I want to watch you come undone. Can you do that for me?”

I punctuated my words with deep, hard plunges, reveling in the moans and whimpers that spilled from his swollen lips.

“Don’t hold back,” I told him. “Give me everything, Rylee.”

My words seemed to spur him on, and his head whipped back and forth against the comforter, his eyelids fluttering closed as he met me thrust for thrust. The litany of erotic sounds grew in volume as the pace quickened, every snap of my hips driving us both closer to the edge.

“Oh, my god,” he cried. “I can’t. I don’t…I’m almost…” Then his thoughts scattered, his words dissolving into incoherent babble.

“Rylee,” I growled, driving into him, my balls aching with my own impending orgasm. “Look at me.”

His eyes widened, his gaze locking with mine. Though no words were spoken, an entire conversation passed between us in that one look. Whether guided by instinct or something more intrinsic, he turned, baring his throat in beautiful, willing surrender.

Leaning over him, I skimmed my nose across the fragrant skin, breathing in the scent of lavender and sage that poured off him.

“Yes,” I breathed. “Mine.”

“Yours,” he answered, palming the back of my head to pull me closer. “Always yours.”

Then I closed my mouth over the side of his neck and bit, my elongated canines sliding easily through the flesh. The rush of copper over my tongue made my head spin and my muscles clench, but it was Rylee’s unabashed cry of pleasure that finally pushed me over the edge.

Lifting my head, I scored the side of my tongue then thrust between his parted lips, sharing the tiny droplets of blood needed to solidify our bond.

Rylee tensed, his narrow shoulders rising up from the mattress as he shouted my name and painted the space between us with endless ropes of warm, slick cream.

Pistoning my hips, I pumped hard and fast, watching the emotions play over his angelic face as I followed after him. With a bellowing roar that shook the walls and rattled the windows, I shattered, shaking through the intensity as I filled his clenching depths with my release.

I held myself aloft on trembling arms, careful not to crush him beneath my weight. When the world finally swam back into focus, I shook my head to clear the remaining haze and gently eased out of his twitching hole.

Collapsing onto the bed beside him, I gathered him into my arms, sliding him across the mattress to hold him against my chest. My heart still raced, slamming against my ribs, but a sense of calm swept over me, a contentment I hadn’t known before driving away any lingering doubts.

The fire that raged between us settled into something softer, quieter, more sustainable, but it didn’t extinguish completely. Instead, it smoldered, the embers still glowing, just waiting for the next spark to set them alight.

“What the—” Rylee blurted long moments later, hissing in a sharp breath through his teeth. Rolling away from me, he held his hand up to stare down at his palm.

I felt it as well—the faint sting. Not painful exactly, but a bit uncomfortable.

I brought my hand up beside his, watching his eyes light up with understanding as the shimmering lines of fate etched themselves into intricate, matching designs on our skin.

“Oh…wow. This is real.” He jerked his head up to look at me. “Right? You can’t fake this.”

“Yes, Rylee, it’s real.” I pinched his chin gently and leaned closer to brush our lips together. “You’re mine. Forever. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” He dipped his head firmly. “You can’t take it back. Even if I get on your nerves.”

“The thought never even crossed my mind.”

“Promise me,” he demanded.

Taking his hand, I pressed our new mating marks together and tugged, rolling him against me so I could claim his lips again. Gods, he was a mess, but I was so fucking gone for him.

No matter how many times he needed to hear the words, I’d repeat them until he believed me.

“Promise.”