Mate (Bride, #2) (106)

He is . . . large. Perfect. Already leaking through his clothes.

I want to touch him. I want to do everything with him. Anything he asks for, he can have.

“Is this what worries you?” he asks. “That you’re too wet?”

I nod. Cannot bring myself to say anything.

“You really have no idea, do you?”

A moment later, his face is in my cunt. His eyes drift shut as he laps, sucks, presses kisses against it. I can’t tell whether he’s doing this for me or for himself, but I arch in a surge of pleasure and tremble, gasp, beg for more. He pulls at my clit, strokes every fold with his tongue, and bites my inner thigh. The noises he makes are fearsome. Animal. They should make me flinch, but . . .

“Please,” I keen. Fist my hands in his hair. Grind his face against my mouth. But my ass is in his hands and he controls my every movement.

“Please.”

“Wanted to wash this off, huh?” he growls against me.

“I— Yes.”

“Good. Just helping you out, killer.”

I nod, breathless, and fist the sheets as he eats me— wolflike, with teeth, feral, the rough flat of his tongue scraping against me over and over, teasing the fluttering rim of my hole until I’m puffy and pink and taut, a violin string begging to be snapped. I chase the end of it, press my heels into the meat of his shoulders, feel the pressure balloon inside me, building up and up and . . . “Why can’t I— ” I writhe, desperate, frustrated. He is ruining me. I feel the slide of his thumb through my slit, the broad first joint slowly pressing into my entrance.

“Tight,” he mutters. But he pushes it deeper, then hooks it just a little, and the pleasure crests so high, I know I’m there. I should be there.

Why can’t I? “Koen,” I whimper.

“I know. I know.” He drinks more of me. I’m trembling, right on a cliff.

“You can’t come from this, killer. Not when you are so close to Heat.”

“Then why are you— Please, I need you to— ”

One last bite, strong enough to quiet me down. A warning. Be obedient.

“You just want to be fucked, don’t you?”

Yes. Please.

“We’ll see about that.” His tone is ominous, but I exhale in relief as he pushes down his pants. He lowers himself on top of me, and his scent is breathtaking. But when I look down at the space between us, I see him nudging my opening with the blunt head of his cock, and . . .

My breath hitches.

“This is why,” he says, stroking himself.

He’s faintly terrifying. He pushes against me, but instead of slipping inside, he goes nowhere. I cant my hips to help, but nothing happens. A mewling sound rolls out of me. “Is it— ” Normal? Am I fucking this up?

“It’s not you,” he reassures, leaning on his side, along my body. “Never been easy.” He braces himself on his forearm. “I hoped it would help, that you’re almost in Heat, but . . .” His hand spreads against my belly and slides down. He sinks a single finger inside me, and it’s so much bigger than one of mine. When his progress stops, he gently works me open. Licks

my gland, a broad swipe on my neck, and maybe half an inch gives. A single step on the staircase to Machu Picchu.

“It hurts,” I sigh.

“Does it?” He kisses my cheek. “Are you too full? Or too empty?”

“I want more.” I try to take it, too, thrusting my pelvis upward. Koen stops me so easily, it’s embarrassing.

“Hey,” he says, soothing. “I want to fuck you really, really bad. You know that, right?”

I nod.

“Good. I can’t rush this, killer, because if you become sore or hurt or God fucking forbid, torn, you’re not going to get a couple of days to recover. Once your Heat starts in earnest, you’re going to want me inside you, whether it’s painful or not. So I’m going to move slowly. And I need you to do what I say. Okay?”

Another, more subdued nod. A “My good girl” brushed against my jaw helps his finger sink deep enough that he can slowly, relentlessly work another one inside, tucked next to the first. I clench around him hard enough to make him grunt. The stretch burns so nicely, I cannot help but squirm. My fingernails dig into his arm, his wrist, searching for purchase, a counterpoint. My hips won’t stay still, my entire body twitches, I still need more, but I’m being good. I’m doing what he says.

“Yeah, you are.” His laugh is rough and shaky. Another loving, soft kiss, this time on the corner of my mouth. “You were born for this. A little more, huh?” Reality fuzzes over. Sweat drips from his body onto mine. I shake head to toe, contracting around fingers that are too thick and not thick enough. I’m on the edge, and the finish line keeps moving farther and farther, and—

“Can’t come like this, either, sweetheart? It’s okay, almost there. Take them a little deeper, and we can try again.” A few low encouragements—

yes, good, look at you, just a little more— and then he’s on top of me again, biting my lower lip as he eases inside. This time, the first couple of inches slip right in.

“Yes,” I say, drawing up the knee he’s not pinning to the mattress. “Yes, yes, yes.”

He winces and smiles at the same time, and there is something youthful about it, something that looks fresh on Koen’s face. “See, we’re getting