Page 12 of Kept (Mating Run #4)

The first push inside stole every thought from Eli's mind.

The stretch burned—Kade's cock so much thicker than his fingers had been.

His body clenched instinctively, trying to keep him out even as every nerve ending screamed for more.

Each inch pressing forward, hot and hard, splitting him open in ways he'd only imagined during those guilty late-night fantasies.

Kade made a guttural sound and rolled his hips. The movement dragged directly over that sweet spot inside of him again. Eli's vision whited out, hands flying to Kade's back, nails digging in. He needed something solid while his world tilted off its axis.

The slide got easier, his body opening up, accepting what it had always wanted. When Kade finally bottomed out, pelvis pressed tight against his ass, they both went still.

Eli felt claimed. Possessed. Like Kade had carved out a space inside him that would never belong to anyone else. The stretch around the base bordered on too much. He could feel Kade's balls pressed against him, heavy and full, ready to empty inside him soon.

Kade pulled back slowly. Eli felt every ridge, every vein, the drag sending sparks through oversensitive nerves. When just the head remained, Eli clenched, trying to keep him there, already missing the fullness.

Then Kade pushed back in, one long smooth stroke, and breathing became optional.

The pace started measured, but Eli could feel the control fracturing. Kade's muscles coiled tighter with each thrust, breathing going ragged, hands trembling where they gripped Eli's hips. Any second now, that careful restraint would snap. Any second now, Kade would fuck him like he meant it.

Eli deliberately clenched on the next thrust. Watched Kade's eyes roll back. Felt his hips stutter.

"Fuck," Kade snarled.

There. Right there. The moment control died.

Outside, wolves were howling, wild and triumphant. The sounds called to something primal in the room. Eli saw Kade's eyes go dark and feral.

The next thrust was harder. Deeper. Less human.

Finally.

Eli's world narrowed to Kade inside him, the wet sounds of their coupling, skin slapping against skin. Each thrust drove him up the bed—would have sent him into the headboard if not for Kade's bruising grip hauling him back down onto his cock.

This was what he'd craved without knowing it. Being fucked by someone who knew exactly how to take him apart. The earlier fingering had been preparation, but this was claiming .

The rhythm went wild. The bed protested, headboard beating against the wall. Eli's legs shook around Kade's waist, muscles giving out, but he couldn't let go. Wouldn't let go. Some instinct deeper than thought kept him locked in place, taking everything Kade gave.

"Mine," Kade growled.

Yes. Yours. Had been from the moment you touched me.

The rhythm turned punishing. Each thrust pushed him further up the bed only to be hauled back. The relentless pounding against that spot had stars exploding behind his eyelids. His body couldn't decide if it was too much or not enough. Both. Neither. Everything.

Through the haze, something changed. A swelling at the base of Kade's cock, growing with each thrust. Catching on his rim. Stretching him further.

Eli's eyes flew wide. The knot. He'd read about it, wondered about it, touched himself thinking about it a couple of times. Knots were for mating. For bonding. For keeping mates locked together while being bred.

The swelling grew. Pressure built. His body was already stretched to its limits, and now this—this thing that would lock them together, make it so Kade couldn't pull out even if he wanted to.

Above him, Kade went rigid. Hips stuttering to a stop. Cock buried deep but knot held just outside, pressing insistently.

"I won't," Kade gritted out, jaw clenched. "Won't—fuck—knot you if you don't want it?—"

But the pain in his voice was obvious. His wolf needed this, and denying it was agony. Eli could feel Kade trembling with the effort of holding back, could feel the knot pulsing against his entrance, demanding to be let in.

The choice was his. Take the knot or don't. Become Kade's mate or just another body in his bed.

It was no choice at all.

Eli locked his legs around Kade's hips and arched up, pushing back onto that swollen base. Taking what he wanted. What they both needed.

"Eli, what are you?—"

Eli clenched deliberately, used his legs to pull Kade deeper. The werewolf's control shattered completely.

Their bodies slapped together frantically. The knot battered at his rim with each thrust, demanding entry. The pressure built beyond what seemed survivable. His body was going to break. Was going to?—

With a final snap of hips, the knot pushed past the ring of muscle and locked inside.

Eli's back bowed off the bed. A wail tore from his throat. The stretch was impossible, filling him beyond capacity. The knot pulsed inside him, swelling larger still, locking them together. Kade's cock trapped deep where it pressed relentlessly against that spot.

"Mine," Kade snarled. "Mated. Mine."

The knot changed everything. No more pulling back. No more space between them. Each tiny movement sent the swollen base grinding against his prostate. Constant. Inescapable. Perfect torture.

Kade's hips made aborted little thrusts. The knot kept him from pulling out more than an inch, but that inch was devastating. Each shallow drive pushed against nerves already screaming from overstimulation.

Eli's hands scrabbled at Kade's back, leaving marks. His body couldn't decide whether to chase the sensation or escape it. Kade was buried to the hilt, knot stretching him wide, locked together like they'd never be separate again.

This was mating. Raw and primal. Exactly what the darkest parts of him had always craved.

"Mine, mine, fucking mine," Kade chanted with each grinding roll of his hips.

Eli felt it building—a third orgasm, impossible but inevitable. This one started deeper, at the base of his spine, spreading outward like wildfire. His body was done, had nothing left , but the knot didn't care. The knot would milk him dry anyway.

His legs shook uncontrollably, muscles cramping, but instinct kept them locked around Kade. Some ancient programming that said: take the knot, take the breeding, take everything .

"That's it," Kade panted against his neck. "Going to come on my knot. Just from being filled?—"

Heat spiraled through Eli’s core. His cock twitched against his stomach, aching and empty but trying anyway. His body wound tighter with each grinding thrust, each press of the knot against that spot that made him see stars.

"Please," he sobbed, not knowing what he was begging for. Release. Mercy. More .

"You can," Kade commanded, hand wrapping around his throat. Not choking, just holding. Owning. "You will. For me."

The possessive grip was the final straw. Everything crashed over Eli at once—the fullness, the pressure, the complete surrender of control?—

His orgasm hit like being struck by lightning.

Back bowing nearly in half, raw scream tearing free.

His cock jerked, managing pitiful spurts.

But the real orgasm was deeper, his body clenching rhythmically around Kade's knot, trying to milk him, trying to pull him deeper even though deeper was impossible.

"Beautiful," Kade gasped above him. "Perfect. Mine."

The words barely registered through the white-hot pleasure. Eli’s body kept clenching, the knot ensuring every pulse translated to pressure against his prostate. The feedback loop stretched his orgasm beyond what seemed survivable.

Above him, Kade was falling apart. All control abandoned. Pure animal.

"Can't—watching you—fuck?—!"

One final slam forward, grinding deep, and Kade was coming.

The first pulse of heat made Eli's eyes fly wide. But it didn't stop. Kept coming, flooding into him. He could feel it painting his insides, claiming him from within, and still it kept coming.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Kade snarled with each pulse.

The knot ensured nothing escaped. Eli felt himself filling up, stomach beginning to round. Should have been alarming. Instead it sent aftershocks through him. He was being bred. Marked. Claimed so thoroughly it felt like he'd never be empty of Kade again.

When it finally stopped, they were both destroyed. Kade collapsed forward, barely catching himself. Harsh pants against Eli's neck. Aftershock groans.

"Never came that hard," Kade muttered, voice wrecked.

Eli could only make weak sounds. Every part of him was claimed—stretched around Kade's knot, filled with his come, marked inside and out. His body thrummed with oversensitivity, every heartbeat making the knot pulse inside him.

Twenty minutes at least. That's how long they'd be locked together. Twenty minutes of this overwhelming fullness, overwhelming tenderness. The thought should have terrified him. Instead, it made him clench again, drawing a groan from Kade.

Kade's hand cupped his face with impossible care. The contrast—that gentle touch while his knot kept them locked in the most primal way—made Eli's chest tight with emotion he wasn't ready to name.

"Look at me, baby," Kade murmured.

Eli's eyes fluttered open. The expression on Kade's face stole his breath. Wonder. Possessiveness. And underneath, something that looked dangerously close to forever.

Their lips met soft and slow. Nothing like before. This was Kade's tongue sliding against his with devastating care, tasting their combined wildness but offering something more. A promise.

The knot pulsed between them. Every shift sent aftershocks through Eli's system. Kade swallowed each moan like they were precious, like he'd never get enough.

Outside, wolves howled their triumph. The wild night continued rolling on.

But here, locked together in the most intimate way possible, Eli had found exactly where he belonged.