Peter’s eyes were wide as he listened to Ward’s reply. “You don’t mean that.”
“I’m happy now, Peter,” Ward answered softly. “I’ve already told you so on the phone. Leave me be and do your best with what you have. You’re going to have a child. Focus on that.”
“But... I love you.”
Mathias had the impulse to throttle Peter again, but he held back and let Ward handle it. “No, you really don’t,” his mate said sadly. “I think the only one you love is yourself.”
He turned toward his sister and her friend, but he didn’t actually say anything to them. Mathias felt his sadness, and he wished there was something he could say that could comfort his mate, mend this wound that might never truly heal.
Ward nodded toward Vera and Teresa, then turned and retreated into the house. Mathias wanted to snap at the group to never come back here, but he didn’t. He simply followed and closed the door behind himself. He should have felt better about the fact that Ward had told them off, but hurt like that couldn’t just disappear.
He found Ward seated on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. When Mathias dropped down next to his mate, Ward immediately leaned against his shoulder. Mathias threaded his fingers through Ward’s, simply holding on, providing silent comfort.
He didn’t mean for it to progress into sex. In fact, he didn’t mean for it to progress at all. He just wanted to make his mate feel better, to soothe the wound others had caused. When Ward crawled into his lap and buried his face in Mathias’s shoulder, there wasn’t really anything sexual about it. If anything, it was reminiscent of the time he and Ward had done exactly the same thing, but with Mathias as a wolf.
But of course, things were different now. Their relationship had progressed and the bond vibrated with a need Mathias desperately ached to fulfill.
He held his mate close and caressed his hair, but it wasn’t enough for either of them. Mathias realized with no small measure of dismay that it was, at least to some extent, his fault. The presence of Ward’s ex had stirred the most visceral part of him, his werewolf instincts, and in his focus on Ward, he hadn’t quite managed to exorcise the anger and possessiveness.
Even so, it was Ward who eventually took that first step toward what they both needed. He pressed his lips to Mathias’s, melting into Mathias’s embrace with a choked sob.
The kiss tasted like Ward, tears and need, and Mathias welcomed it, welcomed the way it soothed his wolf. He slid his tongue into Ward’s mouth, exploring Ward’s wet cavern. It would have been easy for them to fall into the same lustful pattern as before, but they didn’t. The desperate arousal bubbled somewhere underneath the surface, but for the moment, it was muted, sedate. They just kissed, taking their time with one another, reveling in the simple intimacy of this moment.
Naturally, Mathias’s dick went rock hard, but he felt no pressing urge to deal with it. He only broke the lip-lock to allow both of them to breathe, and took advantage of the moment to suck and lick over Ward’s neck. He had the urge to bite down, to claim Ward again, but he didn’t. Instead, he swirled his tongue in the hollow of Ward’s throat, enjoying the gasps the action drew out of his mate. He swallowed the sweet sound within another kiss, allowing the gentleness to seduce both him and his mate.
He didn’t know how much time they stayed there, on the couch, just making out. It was almost weird, because Mathias hadn’t spent so much time with simple necking since forever. Somehow, though, it felt right, because it reassured Mathias—both as a wolf and as a man—that he had his mate by his side, that nothing could separate them.
When they finally broke away, Ward met his gaze and smiled shyly. As his mate slid out of his lap, Mathias smiled back. They got up at the same time and reached for each other’s hands as if their minds were in complete synch.
Fingers still entwined, they headed up the stairs and into the bedroom. It should have been strange or perhaps anticlimactic. Both of them knew what was going to happen, but Mathias had no desire to manhandle his mate onto the bed or rush things along. For once, he was perfectly happy with taking things one step at a time.
His patience had been tested again and again throughout his relationship with Ward, and he’d allowed it, giving his mate space as Ward got accustomed to everything he’d learned about the supernatural. His need for Ward hadn’t faded now that he didn’t have to hold it back, but he just felt it differently.
When they crawled together on the bed, they lay down on their sides, legs entwined, bodies so close they were practically sharing a breath. Between soft and lazy kisses, they managed to take their clothes off—easier since they weren’t wearing as much as they had the day before. By now, their cocks were rock hard, and slid against one another as their lips met over and over.
Mathias allowed his hands to roam over Ward’s body. He didn’t hold back or try to keep his caresses above the waist. He just let things progress naturally, letting go and losing himself in their gentle, yet untamed passion.
Following that flow, he kissed down Ward’s neck, wondering if he’d ever found collarbones so sexy. He pressed worshipful kisses to his mate’s skin, then continued his journey down Ward’s body. Every inch of Ward drew him in like a moth to the flame. He swirled his tongue over Ward’s nipples in lazy circles, drawing soft, quiet gasps from his mate. He trailed the lines of his stomach and delved into his navel, treasuring every second he spent on this quiet exploration.
He couldn’t have said how it happened exactly, but the world seemed to blur in a whirl of caresses and rightness. He was so taken by Ward, by the need, that the flow of the moment sabotaged his thought processes. Before he knew it, he was sucking the head of his mate’s dick, while Ward did the same for him.
Exchanging blow jobs should have been a purely carnal experience, but with Ward, it was different. That didn’t come as a surprise—everything was different when it came to his mate. The pleasure they shared echoed within their mate bond, feeding on itself, creating a circle of perpetual togetherness.
In all the centuries Mathias had lived, he hadn’t felt anything quite like this. The wet heat of Ward’s mouth, the taste of his precum and the weight of his dick on Mathias’s tongue—those were things he’d anticipated, looked forward to and embraced. What he did not anticipate was the simple contentment, the fact that he would have been perfectly happy to do this for hours and hours on end.
Ward’s energy buzzed over him, as if the human had magic of his own. Mathias knew that wasn’t the case, not really, but then again, the way Ward saw the world, the beauty he brought into it—that was magic in itself. He closed his eyes and let the threads of his own energy connect to Ward’s, shutting down the part of him that dared to over-think this, to rationalize something that just was.
There were no more thoughts after that, just feelings and sensations. Mathias sucked and licked at his mate’s shaft, but Ward gave as good as he got. His muffled whimpers made pleasurable vibrations rush through Mathias, and his sinful mouth stoked that fire inside Mathias that never really extinguished.
All things considered, he shouldn’t have been surprised when he felt his orgasm approach. It sort of sneaked up on him, flowing over him like the tide, and when he came, the rush of ecstasy bloomed in every cell of his body with an intensity that belied the rhythm of their lovemaking.
An instant later, Ward followed him over the edge, his dick pulsing in Mathias’s mouth. Mathias swallowed every precious drop of his mate’s seed, the echoes of Ward’s orgasm combining with his own climax, prolonging it and maybe even preventing it from settling into afterglow.
When he pulled away and changed positions, his immediate impulse was to lean into Ward’s embrace again. He saw no reason to hold back and pressed their mouths together. Their lip-lock tasted like their spent pleasure, and if Mathias hadn’t still been aroused, that would have definitely stirred his libido.
For the first time since Ward had sought comfort in his embrace, Ward finally said something. The silence between them had carried weight—a reverential feeling that acknowledged the importance of their bond—which was why Ward’s following plea hit Mathias so hard. “Mathias, please show me.”
He didn’t have to elaborate on what he wanted Mathias to show, because Mathias understood anyway. Ward craved the claiming, that unique moment when he and Mathias became one. After what they’d shared the night before, Mathias could see it all clearly, and he felt the same way.