Page 67 of Luca

Which was what I was missing.

It wasn’t even about the act itself, but more so the intimacy, the togetherness. Thelove. I needed to be one with my mate, to go back to how we were before and feel the chemistry that used to be so easy for us. I needed to feel wanted by him in every way, to feel the proof that we were as unbreakable as I believed we were, but he wouldn’t take that leap. It was hard to ignore.

I’d wondered if the temporary snap in our bond had shaken our foundations, stripped everything bare, and naturally, created a slight drift. Or was it deeper than that? Had Cair finally come to the realization that being my mate was too much of an inconvenience? That I was too much of a liability, too dependent? It would explain his reluctance, the emotional avoidance, and his faraway stare whenever he looked at me now, but… no. No, he’d never think that, and I had to stop wandering down those dark, never-ending paths.

He loved and adored me more than anything, he cherished the ground I walked on, and I could still feel it even without the physical proof.

Couldn’t I?

“What’s troubling you, sweetheart?” Cair asked, concern creasing his brow. “Is the water too cold?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to deny everything. To shake my head and smile like I wasn’t gagging to tear his shirt off and ride him until that bridge between us was mended, until I knew for sure that I wasn’t the problem. But what came out was a small and desperate “Kiss me.”

There was a brief flicker of hesitation on Cair’s face, but it disappeared as fast as it had come. He wrung out the sponge he’d used to wash me and set it aside before reaching out. I sat up, tangling my fingers in the hair at his nape, and surged to meet his mouth before he even had the chance to get halfway. He made a startled sound in his throat, but recovered quickly, one of his hands coming to rest on my cheek as the other found my hip, squeezing gently.

I groaned against him, licking over the seam of his closed lips until they parted for my exploration. It was gratifying to hear Cair’s snarl at the first taste of me. Heat gathered in my belly as his fingers flexed against my hip and his tongue thrust forward, hot and seeking, like it was too intoxicating not to.

Growing bold, I trailed a hand from the back of his neck down to the deep vee in his shirt, my fingers dipping inside to brush bare skin. Cair drew back, breathing heavily, his jaw flexing in warning. “Luca…”

An involuntary shiver ran through me, the sound of him growling my name going straight to my cock. “I want you inside me,” I gasped against his lips, taking his hand in mine and slipping it under the water, pressing the heel of his palm to my hardness. “Do you feel how badly I need you? I’m aching, and so empty, I can’t stand it.”

Cair made a sound as if pained, shaking his head in weak protest. “It’s too soon.”

“No, no, it’s not. I promise it’s not.” I spread my legs and guided two of his fingers toward my hole, all while peppering desperate kisses along the tense line of his jaw. “I need it, Cair…”Kiss.“Please don’t push me away anymore…”Kiss.“I need?—”

“Shhh, I know.” He nudged the tip of my nose with his, a sympathetic look on his face, my pleas seemingly resonating. “I’ve got you.”

Contrary to his words, he slid his hand out from under mine, ignoring the broken little whine that escaped my throat. He shifted to the head of the tub before hooking an arm around my waist and urging me to lean back against his chest. His large frame bracketed me, his shadow looming in the water. My belly tightened. “Touch yourself.”

“What?”

His breath fanned my ear, and in a low, commanding voice, he whispered, “Take your pretty cock into your hand and stroke yourself for me.”

I swallowed thickly, biting my lip as I tentatively curled my fingers around my shaft, the embarrassment tinging my skin a deeper shade of pink. There was no finesse to my movements, not when his gaze was boring into me, making my heart pick up speed and my brain blank out.How the fuck did I used to touch myself?I rarely needed to anymore, not when I had a mate who was always ready and eager to give me earth-shattering orgasms—a program he was apparently abandoning tonight—so I just did what seemed natural. I fisted my dick with the goal of getting off, quick and sloppy, heedless of the water sloshing against the walls of the tub and splashing my chest.

I straightened my legs out, my toes curling, hoping the tautness of my muscles would spur on the usual coil of heat. There was a dull hum of arousal building, and I clung to it, but it wouldn’t rise any higher. It felt good, but not the same kind of good that would leave me boneless and sated. Not the kind of good Cair could give me. It was scratching an itch at best, a release for the sake of it, instead of for pure pleasure. It wasn’t what I needed, and I didn’t know how to?—

“Slower,” my mate encouraged after a moment. With a relieved sigh, I obeyed, relaxing into a more leisurely pace, my grip loosening. “That’s it, sweetheart. Swipe your thumb over the ridge under the tip. I like how it makes you shudder.”

I blindly followed his instruction, and before I could even process the faint zing of sensation, my nerves were acting of their own accord.

He chuckled darkly.

“There is no part of you that I am not familiar with, sweet boy. I’ve memorized every single reaction. I know exactly where to touch and caress to make your body sing for me. For instance, there’s a spot behind your ear that draws out such a delicious little keen when I flick it with my tongue.” He demonstrated, proving himself correct when my lips parted and a near-silent shrill tumbled into the humid air. “Or if I graze my fingers over the apex of your thigh, your cock twitches and drips.”

It was feather-light, the way he brushed the crease at the top of my leg. And it was instantly obvious how my length swelled obediently in my hand, a dribble of precum trickling from the slit.

“Your breath will hitch as I trace the cords in your neck with my fangs.” Those sharp points swept along my sensitive flesh, and on cue, my next exhale caught in my lungs. “And if I draw slow circles around your nipple, your back arches, chasing more of that ticklish sensation.”

It was as if my body was no longer my own. It was allhis, an instrument that only played its tune for a master musician. I had no control over myself as he plucked at my strings, and no choice but to ride out each note and surrender myself to the melody.

I was completely and utterly at his mercy.

“You’re so responsive,” he praised me, giving my chest a gentle squeeze, eliciting another stunted gasp. “And I’ve never known anything so beautiful.”

The sultry purr of his voice had fire surging in my veins and goose bumps prickling my skin. He wasn’t even touching my cock, but with the way his words stirred the very air around me, I could imagine a phantom grip slotting over mine. It was a tease, but not for sport. He was realigning my senses, anchoring my attention to one spot at a time and heightening the pleasure, making mefeel. He was lighting me up from the inside out, reminding me that I was alive, and everything I’d felt before hadn’t changed.

Exactlywhat I needed.

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