Page 48 of The Silent Mate

You’re the first thing that has ever truly been mine, Aria,he whispered into our bond, and my heart ached at the palpabletrepidation in his voice.I’m terrified of losing you. I’m terrified that someone—something—will take you from me.

“Oh, Malik,” I murmured against his chest, tightening my hold around his toned waistline. My fingers curled into fists, combating an overbearing urge to punish the world and every occupant who ever made my mate feel this way.

His hands stroked up and down my bare back, fingers spread wide as if desperate to touch more of me.

The thought of letting you out of my sight makes me physically sick. Every instinct is screaming at me to keep you here. Right here.His arms tightened around me, stressing the point.The only time I can breathe is when I’m touching you. When I can hear your heart and feel your warmth and smell my come inside of you?—

My thighs clamped together at the reminder.

It will get better,he solemnly vowed.I don’t know if it will ever go away, but I’ll learn to manage it. Just awhile longer, please stay with me.

I peered up at him, wishing I could somehow mold our bodies into one being, if only to ease the stress and fear churning in his mind. I felt it through our bond, a relentless battle between need and reason. A battle that I didn’t want him to have to wage. Not when I wanted to stay by his side as much as he desired me to.

Tipping onto my toes, I brushed a kiss to his collarbone, just beneath the mark I’d left on his neck.Then I’ll stay at the training grounds with you.My teeth nipped the mark, and he shuddered.Maybe I’ll ask Estelle for a basket of supplies to treat small injuries on the sidelines.

The tension fell away from his shoulders.Thank you, little dove. This won’t be forever. I just need a bit more time to learn to control?—

“You don’t need to controlanything,”I purred, cupping his cheek and drawing his lips to mine.

He kissed me, slow and practiced, ripping a small moan from my throat when his tongue traced the seam of my lips. I could still taste my own arousal on his lips from our last coupling, musky and earthy and not altogether unpleasant.

Malik had spent countless hours over the last two days worshiping me with his mouth and tongue. It had become a ritual of sorts. He’d bury his face between my thighs, lapping and teasing and consuming me until I shattered and shattered again. Only then would he climb on top of me and seek his own pleasure.

But, in all of our mating,Ihad yet to do the same forhim.And I wanted to.Goddess,I wanted to.

Tearing my lips away from Malik’s, a smile pulled on my lips as I slowly slid down his body. My front brushed his abdomen and groin as I dropped to my knees in front of him.

His eye flared wild, even as little lines formed on his brow.Aria?

With a Cheshire grin, I hooked my fingers on the hem of his boxer briefs, but he gripped both of my wrists, stopping me in my tracks.You don’t have to?—

I know, but I want to do this,I interrupted.Letme do this. I want the entire pack to know that I took you in my mouth this morning.

The filthy words felt unnatural and clumsy from my mouth. Until two days ago, such a sinful thought had never even crossed my mind. Still, I leaned into the newfound carnal knowledge that Malik and I were exploring together.

Malik’s gaze darkened, his grip on my wrists loosening, and the cotton of his boxer briefs stretched as blood pumped to his cock anew. I rode out the swell of confidence and tugged the fabric down his thighs.

His massive length bobbed as the fabric released it, then it settled. A silk-covered rod that nearly reached his navel. Itpulsed as he adjusted his stance, thighs rippling with power. It still awed me that something so big could fit so seamlessly inside of my body. That something so hard and unyielding could offer me such pleasure.

My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and I focused all my attention on the job ahead of me. I wanted to do this right. Wanted to give him even a fraction of the ecstasy his mouth gave me.

With confident hands, I grasped him at the root. My thumb and index finger didn’t quite touch at this widest point, though my hands were admittedly small. I slid the un-finished circle higher on his shaft, then dragged it back down again, noting the way his breathing quickened above me.

Continuing like that with one hand, I allowed my other to investigate the heavy sack hanging below his cock. The twin orbs were hard and tight in my palm, covered by silky skin. I cupped them, then allowed their weight to drop down again, jerking on the flesh.

Malik’s cock pulsed, and I giggled. Emboldened, I sat up on my knees and leaned forward, pressing a featherlight kiss to one ball, then the other.

A ragged sigh ripped from his chest, and a sudden eagerness to wrap my mouth around the bulbous head at his tip gripped me. Unfortunately, now that I sat on my knees, I realized that his height would make it difficult. The top of my head barely reached the base of his manhood.

“Bed,” I directed, nudging him toward the furniture.

He obliged without objection, boxers still clinging to his thighs. The mattress sank beneath his weight as he perched on the edge.

I crawled after him, widening his legs so the long, powerful limbs stretched on either side of me. I took up position betweenhis thighs, my hands rubbing the slabs of muscle lining the hairy inner parts of his legs.

You’re beautiful,I told him, the honest words slipping into our bond before I could stop them. My eyes trailed up the length of his body. His heaving chest. Broad shoulders. Arms that held him in a sitting position, slightly leaned back so he had a better view of me on the floor.

I didn’t give him the chance to respond.

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