Page 9 of Kept (Mating Run #4)

Eli's body trembled with aftershocks, skin hypersensitive and flushed. Two orgasms should have left him done, wrung out, ready to pass out. But lying there panting, chest heaving, that desperate ache for more just kept building.

It made no sense. His body had nothing left to give. But looking up at Kade—at the possessive gleam in those dark eyes, the controlled power in every line of his body—that hunger sharpened into something almost painful.

More. God help me, I need more.

Eli’s fingers twitched against the sheets.

Reach for Kade or brace for impact? Both.

Neither. Every breath Kade took seemed to echo through Eli's own chest. Every shift of muscle beneath that tank top—fuck, those arms, corded with strength, the way his shoulders stretched the fabric—made his mouth go dry.

Then Kade moved.

He was fast, decisive, pinning Eli before he could even process it. The solid weight pressed him into the mattress, one forearm braced beside Eli's head, the other hand gripping his hip. The heat between them was suffocating, intoxicating.

And then—fuck—Kade's cock pressed against him through those gym shorts, hard and insistent.

Eli gasped, whole body jolting. His hands flew to Kade's shoulders without thought, needing something solid while his brain short-circuited. Kade had been hard this whole time. Just from touching him.

From taking him apart.

"Stay still," Kade murmured against his skin, breath hot against Eli's throat.

Eli nodded frantically, but his body wouldn't listen, every muscle coiled tight, fighting not to arch up and beg for more friction, more contact, more everything . He wanted to be good, wanted to obey, but fuck , the need was eating him alive.

Kade's lips found his neck, teeth scraping over sensitive skin. Not gentle—claiming, possessive, each press of teeth pulling whimpers from Eli's throat despite his best efforts.

He's going to mark me. Leave bruises. Evidence.

The thought should have scared him. Instead his spent cock twitched weakly, trying to respond despite having nothing left.

Kade's mouth crushed against his. This kiss was overwhelming—deep and demanding, Kade's tongue claiming every inch while Eli just held on and let himself drown.

This was possession. Domination.

And God help him, Eli wanted to submit to every second.

Kade rocked his hips down harder. Eli gasped into the kiss, hands sliding down that broad back—god, the muscles there, shifting and flexing under his palms—to grip at fabric. He needed—fuck, he didn't even know what he needed, just that the ache was becoming unbearable.

When Kade pulled back, breath ragged, Eli could barely focus.

Lips swollen, chest heaving, and those dark eyes pinning him more effectively than any physical hold.

The scrape of stubble along Kade's jaw, the way his chest rose and fell with barely controlled restraint…

everything about him screamed predator holding back.

"Take it out," Kade ordered, voice rough with command.

Eli's breath caught. Uncertainty flashed through him. He'd touched himself plenty, but another man? One like Kade?

But the need won. With shaking fingers, Eli obeyed, working Kade's shorts down just enough.

Oh fuck. He's huge.

The weight in his hand made his mouth water. Thick and hot, already slick with precome. He wrapped his fingers around it tentatively, afraid of doing it wrong.

What would it even feel like…

"You like that, don't you?" Kade's voice was knowing. "Feeling my cock in your hand. Imagining what it would feel like inside you."

Heat flooded Eli's face, but he couldn't deny it. The thought of Kade pushing inside, stretching him open, sinking into him completely?—

His whole body clenched with want. His hand tightened unconsciously, drawing a groan from Kade that sent pride shooting through his chest.

"That's it. Nice and slow."

Eli adjusted his grip, experimenting. Kade's body tensed, those abs contracting, thighs flexing where they bracketed Eli's body.

When that low groan rumbled through his chest, something new surged through Eli.

Power. Not dominance—that wasn't his thing—but the intoxicating power of being the source of Kade's need.

His eyes flicked up, searching for approval.

"Good boy," Kade whispered.

Those two words hit like lightning. Eli's breath stuttered, heat flooding through him so intense it made him dizzy. He'd never wanted anything more than to be good for this man, to earn that dark approval.

Kade saw. His hand gripped Eli's jaw, forcing eye contact. "You want this. You've always wanted this, haven't you?"

The words pulled something deep from Eli's chest. All those years of hiding, pushing down desires he couldn't name, feeling wrong and broken and alone.

All those nights imagining someone who would see through his masks, who would take control and make him stop thinking, stop hiding, stop pretending.

"I have," he admitted, voice breaking. The confession ripped something open inside.

Kade inhaled sharply, something darker and more possessive shifting in his expression. "Then why the hell have you been hiding it?"

Eli flinched—not from fear, but from the truth. Memories flooded back. His stepfather's disgust. The careful distance he'd maintained ever since. The constant fear of being found out, cast out, left alone. "I had to.”

Kade's grip tightened, other hand threading into Eli's hair, pulling just enough to make him gasp. "Not anymore." Voice low, dangerous. "You hear me? You don't hide from me. You don't hold back anymore."

Something shattered inside Eli at those words. Years of careful control, measured responses, never letting anyone see too much—it all crumbled under Kade's certainty.

He sees me. All of me. And he still wants me.

Kade thrust into his hand, growling something about making Eli his, about protecting him. Tears pricked at Eli's eyes—not sadness, but overwhelming relief. Being claimed. Belonging to someone who wouldn't make him hide.

The bite to his throat made him cry out softly, hand moving faster, desperate to please. Tomorrow there'd be a mark. Proof this was real. That someone wanted him enough to claim him.

"That's it," Kade murmured against his ear. "Stroke me. Feel how hard you make me. This is what you do to me."

Eli's face burned but he couldn't stop the whimper that escaped. The weight of Kade's cock throbbing in his hand, knowing he caused this need—intoxicating.

Then Kade moved. He straddled Eli’s chest, watching with that dark, knowing gaze, pure hunger on his face. The weight pressed down on Eli's ribs, solid and inescapable. Kade's thighs bracketed his shoulders, thick with muscle, coarse hair brushing against bare skin with every shift.

Eli swallowed, staring up at the sheer physical presence dominating his vision.

From this angle, Kade looked even more imposing—broad shoulders and defined chest, the tank top clinging to every ridge of muscle.

Breathing controlled but tension visible in his jaw, in the way his fingers flexed against his thighs.

And then there was his cock.

Eli couldn't look away. It was thick and heavy, jutting out with aggressive insistence. The shaft flushed dark, veins standing out along its considerable length. The head broad, already glistening with precome. Bigger than anything from his furtive fantasies—intimidatingly so.

His fingers twitched against the sheets. He knew what he wanted to do.

"Look at you." Fingers stroked along Eli's jaw. "I can see it in your eyes. You want my cock in your mouth, don't you?"

Eli swallowed hard, lips parting as he stared up. The heat of it so close made his mouth water. How many times had he imagined this? Being on his knees, on his back, wherever someone wanted him. Serving. Submitting. Finding his own pleasure in that surrender…

"Bet you've imagined it before," Kade continued, thumb tracing Eli's bottom lip. "Bet you've thought about it late at night. Thought about someone like me feeding it to you, making you take it."

Eli's breath shuddered out. He couldn't answer, couldn't form words past the need clogging his throat.

"Come on, baby. Use your words."

The endearment made him shiver. He closed his eyes briefly, gathering courage from somewhere deep. When he opened them, Kade watched with predatory patience.

"I did," Eli whispered. "I thought about it. About men like you."

The growl that rumbled through Kade's chest made Eli's whole body clench. When Kade pressed the head of his cock against Eli's lips, teasing, letting him feel the weight and heat of it, Eli thought he might actually die from anticipation.

"Then open up," Kade commanded. "And show me how much you want it."