Leif stared up at me for so long that I began to get uncomfortable. His blue eyes watched my face, and I wondered what he was thinking. I had the distinct impression that I’d angered him.
And that made me unhappy and nervous. “What?” I snapped. “I’m just trying to give you options, here. I—“
His hand went to the back of my neck, and I fell silent mid-thought. Leif said nothing more, just rested that hand on the back of my neck. I flexed and tensed, waiting for him to do something.
It came a moment later. He surged off of the bed, likely intending to roll me onto my back. However, the cot was so creaky and the bed so narrow that we ended up tipping it over, and both of us rolled to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and blankets. I winced as Leif’s weight thumped on top of me.
I expected him to apologize again for startling me, but he didn’t. Instead, he crawled over me, his heavier weight pinning me to the cold wooden floor. His blue eyes were intense as they watched me. His head dipped low to my neck, and I felt his mouth press against my skin, hot and delicious.
I moaned, desire flaring through my body. “Leif—“
His hand tightened on the back of my neck. Before I could question what he was doing, I felt his teeth sink into my skin, and he nipped me at my neck.
Hard.
I gasped in shock as the bite deepened. He had the blunt teeth of any human, but for some reason, I felt the scoring of his teeth on my skin like a brand. A moment later, I realized what this was — a mate mark.
Leif had just claimed me as his.
Startled, I clung to him for a moment longer as he continued to bite me, cementing his claim. The mark would show, livid as a bruise, for a few days, and then would fade into a faint scarring that only a shifter could sense. But after this, no male shifter would ever think to touch me again, because Leif had declared me as his property.
To say that I was stunned by this was an understatement. “Leif,” I said softly, stroking his now-short hair as he licked at my neck, over and over on the place that he’d left the bite. “You don’t have to—“
He moved up, then, kissing my jawline in a tender caress that left me aching with need. I forgot my protests as his mouth moved up and covered my own, and my tongue greedily accepted the return of his as he kissed me.
“Foreplay now?” Leif asked, his voice low and husky when his mouth pulled from mine.
I blinked at him, startled. “Huh?”
He took my hand and guided it back to his groin. His cock was as hard as a rock, and I could practically feel it throb in my grasp. Leif leaned in and kissed me again, and when his tongue thrust back into my mouth, I felt him thrust against my hand. It sent a spiral of excitement through my body in response, and I whimpered a protest when he pulled his lips away from mine once more. “Foreplay now?” he asked again.
I nodded.
“You’ll tell me if it gets to be too much for you?”
Again, I nodded, not trusting my own voice to be more than a series of breathless mewling sounds. I watched him as his big body propped on his side, and he kicked the blankets - my poor, torn up sleeping bag - aside so he could stare at my body. My breasts were decent but nothing spectacular, the nipples small and so pale a pink that they almost blended in with the rest of my pale skin. But Leif studied them with great intensity, and after a long moment of consideration, he brushed his thumb over the tip of one.
A zing of pleasure hummed through my body, and I couldn’t resist the moan that escaped my throat. His fingers on my nipples felt…incredible. Why had I skipped foreplay before? I was clearly out of my mind.
Pleased by my response, Leif cupped my breast and his thumb began to circle the tip in a gentle motion that both aroused and tormented. The tease of his rough fingertips against my soft skin was an incredibly erotic sensation, and before long, I was panting and arching, pushing my breast against those teasing fingers. But Leif ignored my silent begging, and his hand moved to my other breast to give it the same ministrations.
I could feel my sex throbbing in response, the slickness between my legs returning along with the mating scent. I was aching again, but I didn’t want to tell Leif and ruin the exquisite sensations he was bestowing upon my body. I loved his touch.
Once both of my nipples were teased into twin aching peaks, he leaned in and lightly tongued one nipple with his mouth.
I cried out, my body clenching in need. My hips flexed, but there was nothing between them to ride, and my cry turned into a needy moan. My hands dug into his hair and I pressed his mouth against my breast, wanting more.
“Sweet ‘Lina,” he murmured, and I felt the fan of his hot breath against my skin. Felt the tickle of his lips on the curve of my breast as they moved. “I love your body.”
I made a sound of pleasure in my throat, letting him know how much his touch - and his words - delighted me.
His mouth descended on my nipple again, and as his tongue swirled patterns onto the peak, his hand slid over my belly, exploring me the way I’d explored him. I felt his thumb graze my belly button and then traveled lower, and I whimpered again, parting my legs in anticipation.
Please, I begged silently. I wanted him to touch me where I ached the most.
He made that same, possessive growl in his throat that made me so wet, and his big palm cupped my mound.
I gasped at the sensation.
“This is mine,” he told me, pressing down with his hand. “I’ve claimed you.”
“Yes,” I breathed, stunned by his words. Was this my easygoing, artistic Leif? This possessive, dominating man who was claiming me for his own? It was everything I’d ever wanted - but had scarce hoped to dream for.
“My mate,” he rumbled, the feral edge returning to his voice, and his fingers parted my wet folds, gliding through them and exploring my flesh.
I cried out at the touch, only to be silenced into a gasp by the bite of his teeth on my nipple. The feel of his mouth on my skin was shockingly decadent. I wanted it everywhere.
His fingertips slid up and down my pussy, exploring it, seeing which touches I liked the most. Then, he dipped those fingertips deep into my core, and I arched in response, trying to bear down against his fingers.
“So impatient,” Leif murmured, watching my body try to sink onto his fingers. “I love the way you demand your release.” He sank a finger deep inside me, but just as quickly pulled it out again.
I moaned a protest. I needed more than just that teasing touch.
He raised his hand to his mouth, and gazed up at me. “Your smell has been driving me wild for weeks. You know that, right? That I’ve woken up with the scent of you thick in my nostrils every morning, my cock hard? That I wondered what it’d be like to bury my face at your center and taste you for myself? And now that I’m with you, I get that chance.” He raised his fingers - wet and gleaming with my juices - to his mouth and began to slowly, sensuously lick them before my wondering gaze. His blue eyes closed and a look of bliss crossed his face. “You’re the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“Oh,” I breathed, unable to process the raw carnality of that move. I stared at him, wide-eyed, as he dipped a finger into my pussy again, and then licked it once more.
Then, that intense blue gaze moved back to my face. “Can I taste all of you?”
I trembled at that. Nodded.
He shifted and slid down my naked body, moving lower. His face moved between my thighs, and I heard him suck in a deep breath. “You smell like both of us. I like that.”