Page 26

26

Jax

M y cheekbone ached from pressing against Dakota’s shoulder, but it was nice to have him so close. Sure, I still wanted to mark and claim him, but the only thing that could soothe that need to make him my mate was having him close.

It was an excuse. I knew it; I just didn’t care.

Having him there felt too good to push him away. If I was playing with fire, so be it, as long as I could hold him a little while longer.

Too soon, Dakota started moving around. Did he want me to let him go? Why was that so hard?

Biting back a whine, I loosened my grip on him, but he only turned enough to brush his lips across my cheek.

“Hm?”

“You’re torturing yourself,” Dakota said, gripping my hair hard enough that he could pull my head up.

All I could do was sigh.

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered, dragging his thumb across my cheekbone when he touched my face.

“That my instinct is to kill you?”

He huffed. “That your instinct is to keep me.” His lips twitched toward a smile. His palm was so warm against my skin. “You’re going to have to be bigger, badder, and scarier than that if you want me to think you’re some kind of monster.”

While he held my face, he leaned in slow. I could feel how deep he took each breath as his chest rose and pressed against mine. When he kissed me, it was like a steady wave, warm and giving.

Dakota twisted in my lap. I’d meant to let him go, but now, my arm around his waist was too tight for him to move far, and it was an awkward press and shimmy for him to turn around. He straddled me in my office chair and as he kissed me, his hips started to move.

The man was sex incarnate—wild, given that he’d only just started having it. But the way he moved, the needy little sounds he made, wiped every other thought from my mind.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was gripping his hips and dragging him against me, my cock straining the front of my pants while he fought with my zipper.

Even seconds were too long before I felt his skin on mine, the steel heat of his cock rigid against my own. He gripped us both and moved, and right then, I’d have given him anything he wanted. Anything. Everything.

Just let me keep you .

I pressed my mouth against his shoulder, and just the pressure against my bared teeth made the buzzing desperation in my head blow apart. He was ours, ours, ours.

Even if I couldn’t mark him, in that moment, riding on my thighs, he was mine.

He shivered. Was he afraid?

Fuck, of course he was. I’d just told him?—

“I won’t,” I hissed against his skin. “I won’t hurt you.”

“I know,” he whispered. His voice was rough, like his throat was closed. His fist tightened in my hair, and I bucked against him as a tingle shot down my spine and I spent in a sticky mess that covered his fingers.

Perfect.

How was he so fucking perfect?

His breathing got more ragged. His hand was tight around us both, moving faster and faster.

His expression as he came, his mouth hanging slack and his pupils blown wide, was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I threw my head back against my office chair so I could stare. He took up my full field of vision. His lips were swollen and pink, a faint shine of sweat made his golden skin sparkle in the city lights peeking through the window.

How was I ever going to go without this?

It was impossible. My wolf already knew that.

We were doomed, and losing him was going to break me.

Only it couldn’t. I had my pack to think about. Crescent, too.

Fuck .

I slipped my arm around his waist and pulled him tight against me. His breath caught, the sound sharp in my ear. His arms twined around my neck, his fingers sliding through my hair in the most delicious drag.

I whined and nuzzled against his chest hard enough to flatten my nose. I wanted to open my jaw and eat him whole, the beast inside demanding as much of him as I could get.

His chest shook with his ragged inhale. When I pressed my chin against it, he leaned back, so I caught his eye.

“Do you want to come home with me?” I asked.

Dakota bit his lip.

“Or I can take you to your place,” I rushed to offer.

No matter what my wolf wanted, we couldn’t keep Dakota with us every hour of every day. He wasn’t our mate. He wasn’t ours , even if he responded to the idea of a bite that could take everything from him by fisting my cock fast enough to make stars sparkle in my vision.

His expression softened. The sweetest affection shone in his eyes.

If I’d had a tail right then, it would’ve been thumping.

His fingers combed through my hair. “I was just thinking about whether or not I’m ready to talk to Donnie.”

“I don’t mind taking you there, really.” As long as I saw him to the door of his apartment, I could convince myself that he was safe, even if I didn’t particularly like Donnie.

I’d just caught him at a bad time. He’d put Dakota on edge and I was being overly protective.

I couldn’t help the thrill of victory when Dakota shook his head anyway. “I’ll just text him that I’m staying with you. I don’t want to deal with it tonight.”

He wrinkled his nose, and it was just about the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

I grinned up at him. “Perfect. I’ll make breakfast.”

As long as Dakota wanted to carve out a spot in my life, it was his.

At least while I could keep stamping down the instinct to make him mine.