Page 40

40

Jax

I ’d never been so far from pack before, but I trusted my people. Jillian, Seth, Maia, even Prudence, little as she was a werewolf herself, would keep everything on track until we returned.

It wasn’t like I could stand sending my mate to the other side of the world. Not for any length of time. Not alone .

Strange enough to be so far from my pack, the subtle awareness of them dimmed by distance. Oh, they were still in my head, as ever, but without being able to see their faces? Take in their scents? No, traveling wouldn’t ever be my favorite thing to do, but I couldn’t deny that Japan was beautiful, Igarashi’s property even more so.

Minori had more employees in her home than I could count, and they all moved effortlessly, providing for every need without drawing attention to themselves.

I wasn’t used to this kind of luxury.

Sure, I had money.

Now.

But this was old money, and as much as they were trying to thrust it upon him, Dakota had no interest in it, because he had us.

Nothing had ever made me feel like such a successful alpha as that.

I still wasn’t above enjoying the private bath off the room Dakota and I were sharing. I sat down first, and he lowered himself in front of me, allowing me to draw him back into the cradle of my legs.

With a content sigh, he leaned into me and shut his eyes, and for a long time, we soaked in the warm water. I rubbed his shoulders, drawing circles over the ridge at the base of his skull until he moaned.

When he smiled up at me, it was lazy and sleepy, and he turned. The water splashed against my chest gently, and he stretched up for an easy kiss.

“I think I’ll miss this part,” he said.

“I’ll get you an outdoor bath.”

He hummed. “And the food.”

“We can come back anytime you like.”

He snorted, but his smile was real, and all I wanted to do was wag my tail and give him anything he desired.

Right then, that was another kiss.

This one lingered, both of us falling into something more as tongues parted lips and my hand slid down the small of his back. I gripped his ass, and he rocked against me, his dick grinding against my thigh.

“Should we get out?”

He nodded, reaching for a towel as he rose, but he was none too fast in wrapping it around his hips, and I groaned at the sight of him on display for me.

He half turned back around, a smirk on his lips.

“Coming, Alpha?”

I growled, following his damp footsteps into our private suite.

As soon as he was near the bed, I pounced, knocking him over and pressing him down. The towel fell open, and the whole world was his warm skin against mine, the way he moved against me, his needy little sounds as I coaxed a slow burning flame across his skin.

There were some nice things about Dakota’s human family. They were magic, but they wouldn’t know each and every time we had sex just by the change in our scents or the sounds drifting from our bedroom.

I’d never before known what real privacy felt like, and maybe it wasn’t something I needed every day, but right then, damn was it nice to lose myself alone with Dakota for a little while.

I skimmed my hands up his narrow chest, and it jumped with nerves. I dragged them down, trailing over his belly button and lower, and he spread his legs and wiggled under me, pressing up into the touch while he whined and bit his pretty bottom lip.

“Can I fuck you?” My voice came out low and rough, and Dakota’s eyes had gone pure black. His hips rocked when I traced my fingers up, then down his hips, stretching out just one thumb to drag down the bottom side of his cock, hard and straining against his belly.

His dick jerked, and I grinned, even before he scowled at me.

“I’ll be annoyed if you don’t.”

That was all the permission I needed to suck my finger into my mouth, slip my hand beneath him, and trace around his hole with my slick fingertip. Dakota’s breath hitched, his eyes fluttered shut, and he dug his heels into the bed to offer himself up to me.

I could stay like this all day, sinking my finger into his tight heat while he clenched around the intrusion. Could watch his small, aborted thrusts as he urged me faster with his body.

Fuck, he was perfect, and he was all mine .

But I couldn’t just tease him. Not when his eyes fluttered open, his brow puckered, and he let out a petulant little, “ Ja-ax .”

I poured lube on my fingers, loosening him up, making him plenty slick to take me. Then, I slid my palm over my flushed, heavy cock and held it, the tip pressing against him.

His teeth pressed his lip, and he nodded, hooking his heel around my hip.

I sank into him, and I swear, I could feel his moan vibrate inside me too. Breathless and grinning, I let my weight fall on him, pressing him down into the soft white sheets.

He groaned, but I didn’t think it was the pressure. Not in a bad way, at least, because he wrapped his arms around me and then his mouth was right there. I nibbled his swollen lip and let my tongue learn the shape of him while he adjusted to my cock.

I hardly moved, just flexing my hips little by little, sinking as deep into him as his body would allow. I needed every goddamn inch of him, and from the way he arched beneath me, the feeling was mutual.

When he finally whined, rolling his hips, I pulled back. Thrust deep inside.

Dakota let out a sharp exhale and rocked with me, his body’s movements meeting mine like he could predict them, the rhythm between us fast and flawless and?—

Fuck, the way his pleasure zipped up my spine like lightning, dancing across our mating bond—it was the best thing in the world.

I ground down on him, letting my skin drag across his trapped cock.

He was my mate. I’d marked him and claimed him, but it’d been in a moment of terror.

It was supposed to be like this—fucking euphoric. Need took me over. I wanted to bite him again. Claim him again and again until the whole world knew he was mine.

“I know I’ve already marked you, but... could I?” I skimmed my teeth over the curve between his neck and shoulder, and Dakota stretched out beneath me, turning his head in open offering.

Grinning, I bit him.

His moan was loud and rough and his whole body went rigid under me. He was close, his lips parted, beautiful and round.

Then he grabbed me, yanking me down with a hard grip on the back of my neck. The sudden movement startled me, and I barely kept myself from crashing down onto him as he used the leverage to pull himself up.

And—

“ Fuck !” I shouted.

His teeth sank into the same spot on my neck, possessive and territorial and needy, and my mind went blank and white as my cock pulsed inside of him.

I was trapped there, and I worried I’d never stop coming. Not buried this deep inside him, with his sharp fangs in my skin and the satisfaction that radiated through him.

He claimed me.

And I? Well, I was there to take his mark, his time, his body, every promise he wanted to give me. Whatever he wanted, I’d give him in turn.

My perfect, beautiful miracle of a mate.

With a satisfied rumble, I kissed his temple. He eased his teeth from my skin slowly, cheeks flushed, a nervous smile tilting his lips.

There was a sticky white mess between his, his come smeared across us both, and if I had my way, I’d be cleaning him up with my tongue and having him again.

First though?—

“I love you.”

In response, his flush deepened. He gave a sweet little shimmy and tightened his legs around my hips. “Love you too.”

A trail of blood trickled down my shoulder, but the mark was already healing. I hoped it left a little scar, so the world knew I was his too.

Because more than the world, that was what mattered; that we belonged to each other.