For once, I don’t feel scared at the idea of being his mate. It feels like an honor. Like something joyful. I feel warmth in my chest, nothing but reassurance. “Yes. I’m your mate and so you take care of me. Very good care of me. But it goes the other way, too. You’re my mate. I’ll take care of you. I can hold my own, and I will fucking cutanyonewho tries to hurt you again.”
Raven looks shocked.
“Is that okay?” I ask, my righteous, protective rage suddenly replaced by nerves. Maybe Raven feels uncomfortable with me promising that. Who knows?
He offers up a tentative smile. “It’s just that nobody has ever said that to me before. I know Cain and North care about me and will protect me. But nobody has ever said it in that way.”
“Well, before you three, nobody wanted to devote themselves to me,” I point out. “It’s a little overwhelming.”
He raises a questioning eyebrow. “In a good way?”
“In a good way.” I take a deep breath and drop my hands to his shoulders. “I know I’ve been unsure about this whole thing. But I’m a fucking fighter. And nobody hurts you on my watch. Got it?”
He looks at me for a moment while he considers my words. Something shifts behind his eyes, as if heavy clouds have moved away from the sun, no longer blocking its light. Then he surges toward me, pulling me to him and kissing me fiercely.
My body stiffens from the suddenness of his action, and I reach up to clutch at his arms as he frames my face with his large hands.
Even though his kiss took me by surprise, it’s as if part of me was waiting for it all this time. I cling to him fiercely as we both rise up onto our knees on the mattress, kissing with such wild abandon that I can feel my lips tingling already.
All those feelings of protectiveness I was just talking about are still filling up my heart, making it beat harder and faster as Raven holds me in his arms.
I meant everything I said.
If anyone tried to hurt this man, they’d have to deal with me. Not because I owe him. Because Icareabout him.
“You taste—so sweet,” Raven gasps out, barely breaking the contact of our lips enough to speak.
His cock hardens against me in the space of just a few heartbeats, and I whimper when I feel the hot bulge against my belly. I press myself closer to him, rubbing against him like a cat as I basically hump his body.
“Raven,” I gasp. “I want you so much. Just you this time. Just me and you.”
A rough sound pours from his lips in response. He grips the sides of my head harder, breaking our kiss to rest his forehead against mine. There’s something so vulnerable and tender about the gesture, as he if needs a moment to gather himself before he takes this any further.
“I mean it,” I whisper, still clinging to his muscled forearms. Our faces are so close that his eyes are hardly more than gray blurs in my vision, but I feel like I’m falling into their depths anyway. “This is… you mean so much to me.”
I’m too much of a coward to start throwing around the L word. I’m not sure I’m ready to say something like that out loud, especially not to Raven. Not because I care about him less than the other two men, but because I’m still learning how to open up and trust, and I don’t want to risk hurting him. If I ever did that, then I’d have to kick myownass.
“You mean more to me than anything,” he murmurs back. “I didn’t know I was waiting for you, but the moment you appeared in our lives I knew. Everything just… made sense.”
I can’t help but kiss him after that. He’s still got a firm hold on my head, but I crane my neck a little, tilting my chin up so I can find his lips with mine. His distinctive taste and scent fill my senses, and I slide my hands up his arms and over his shoulders to thread them into his blue-black hair.
Raven’s hold on me tightens a little a second before he lifts me off the mattress. He lays me down on my back, draping his body over mine, and even in my aroused state, I don’t miss the way he braces himself on his hands, careful not to put too much of his weight on me.
He drops his head to nuzzle my neck, his hips settling between mine as we continue to grind against each other.
We didn’t bother taking off our clothes before we lay down, and I regret that now. I wish there was nothing between us, so that every roll of Raven’s hips would have his cock sliding inside me.
As it is, the hard bulge of his erection presses against my clit with every movement, and the friction is enough to have me panting.
After a few moments, Raven pulls away and begins working his way down my body, discarding articles of clothing methodically as he goes.
My shirt comes off first, tugged gently over my head and then tossed to the floor. He takes his time with my bra, massaging my breasts through the soft fabric first, then tugging the cups down to drag his tongue over my nipples before finally reaching around to unhook the clasp at the back.
He drops my bra, pants, and panties to the floor somewhere near my shirt as his mouth moves from one breast to the other again. This time, instead of just teasing my nipple, he draws my breast into his mouth, sucking on it until I gasp at the sharp sensation.
Raven starts to draw back immediately, as if he’s afraid he went too far and hurt me—but I grab his head and hold him in place, arching up toward his face to let him see just how much I’m enjoying this.
“Fuck, that feels good,” I moan, closing my eyes as he gives in to my urging and sucks harder.