Page 85 of Overeager

Noah had claimed him.

Tears escaped Eli’s closed lids as his inner muscles clenched and fluttered around Noah’s knot, and Noah released the hold of his teeth on Eli’s neck to swipe at them with his tongue, letting out a concerned huff. Eli stroked his hair, trying to let him know wordlessly that they weren’t tears of pain.

Eli was just so fucking happy.

They lay there for a long time, Noah switching between licking at the tears and the wound as Eli pet him, but Noah’s knot was still fully inflated when he finally rose onto his elbows, meeting Eli’s gaze with new awareness in his eyes.

There he is.

“Are you okay?” Noah asked, his voice hoarse.

“I’m perfect,” Eli reassured him, rubbing his hands along Noah’s spine now. He grinned giddily at him. “I didn’t know if you were going to do it right away.”

“I couldn’t help myself,” Noah told him, with a small smile of his own. His eyes searched Eli’s face. “Is that … okay?”

“Of course.” Eli pressed a kiss to his concerned mouth, grinning again. “Of course it is.”

They’d discussed it all ahead of time, had planned for this rut to end in a claiming bite. Noah was officially no longer an undergraduate student, and Eli was in no way, shape, or form his professor. Maybe there was a world in which Eli made them wait longer. One in which he let Noah grow a little older, one in which he made absolutely certain that Noah knew what he wanted before they took this step.

But it wasn’t this world.

Eli trusted Noah to know his own mind. He’d learned enough to know that trust was just as important as any certain knowledge.

And they’d waited enough already, hadn’t they? They’d waited to be outed. Waited to be official. Waited to be public. They’d even waited for Noah to graduate before moving him fully into Eli’s house, right before Eli’s last heat. Eli had wanted Noah to keep that last bit of the college experience, his apartment with his beloved roommates—he’d held firm on that.

But now they were ready to start the rest of their lives together. There would be no more waiting. No more hesitation.

They both knew who they were, and they both knew what they wanted. Each other. A mate bond. Marriage, at some point.

“How areyoufeeling?” Eli asked. He didn’t know yet whether the bond would solidify in a way where they could sense each other’s emotions, as some couples claimed. He suspected it might come with time, as they learned more of the nuances of each other’s pheromones. For now, he could feel a certain … awareness. As if the place in his heart where he carried his love for Noah had expanded and filled. Like Noah was actually there, inside Eli’s chest, loving and being loved by him.

“I feel like this is the best day of my life,” Noah said solemnly.

He’d said the same thing about their first night together. He’d said it the day he’d moved in. He’d probably say the same words on their wedding day, whenever that would be.

Eli laughed, squirming as Noah licked again at the newly tender spot on his neck—Noah would need to keep tending to Eli’s bite throughout the rut, his saliva part of the healing process, as well as part of the pheromone magic that made the bite scar permanent, despite it not being too deep. Eli knew Noah wouldn’t forget, no matter how far gone he was when the next wave hit. That was just who Noah was as a person. Caring. Considerate. Loving.

They would each grow, as the years passed, and they would definitely each change in different ways over time, but those core aspects of who they were … those weren’t going anywhere.

And whatever came their way—whatever changes they might go through—they’d talk it out together. They’d compromise. That was just who they were as people. As a couple.

As mates.

“Hey, Noah?”

Noah lifted his head from Eli’s neck, his gaze warm and filled with so much love. “Yeah, baby?”

“This is the best day of my life too.”

The end.