Page 28 of Roman
When my lips finally touched Beau’s, I felt a tingle on my lips that slowly moved through me. I had never felt anything like it before and had to wonder if it was Beau or my imagination. Either way, I kept the kiss soft and short, not wanting to push too much too fast. When I applied just a bit of pressure, Beaugasped, and I slowly reached out with my tongue and touched his upper lip. At that, he moaned and seemed to melt into me. I moved my hands from his face to his shoulders and then around his back to hold him to me. But that was where both my hands and the kiss stopped. I pulled back, smiling when Beau’s face reached for mine.
“Now that you’ve had your first kiss, I hope it wasn’t a disappointment. I do plan on doing much more soon and often.”
Beau blinked at me and then smiled. His eyes had darkened, and his cheeks were flushed, and he looked absolutely delectable. “Yes,” he said, his words barely a whisper. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes. I want more. All of it.” His words were surer and louder this time.
“I have no issue with that. But you need to understand what it means.”
Beau nodded. “It means that I get to live here with you in this beautiful house and that we’re going to have a baby, and I’m not sure what will happen about that with my job, but we can figure it out later. I want all of that, Roman. I didn’t come here to find my mate, but I’m happy I have.”
“And what of your brother? If he has issues with us, with what fate decides to gift us, where will you be?”
Beau tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand what Evan has to do with us.”
“You were crying at someone named Lukan’s last night because you were arguing with your brother because of me. I’m not sure if that is because you found your mate or if it’s because of another reason. Either way, I don’t want any issues with you and your brother because of me. I was overly harsh with my brothers and their mates when they first scented them. It was difficult for me to let go and realize I wasn’t the only one that would be protecting them from then on out.”
Beau shook his head. “I’m good with Evan. He and I had a talk. He apologized, and although I haven’t fully forgiven him yet, I have accepted his apology, and he’s happy for me. For us. There will be no issues with Evan. He’s going to do his thing, and I’m going to do mine.”
I wanted nothing more than to sweep him up into my arms and take him to what would be our bedroom and break the bed in properly. I argued with myself as to why I shouldn’t and realized that there was no reason to. Beau had said he wanted that—us. He was willing to be claimed here and now, so why was I arguing with myself? I shook my head before I did exactly what I, no,weboth wanted. I bent down and easily swept Beau up into my arms. He made an adorable squeak, and I chuckled.
“I promise I won’t drop you,” I told him as he wrapped his arms around my neck and held on tightly.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m taking you to our bedroom. You said you wanted me to claim you, and I don’t plan on doing it in the den. The couch is comfortable, but we have a brand-new bed that was gifted to us and I can think of no other way to break in.” I smiled down at Beau.
“Really? You’re going to claim me?”
“You stated that was what you wanted, and I see no reason to wait. My tiger is pushing me hard to not let you out of our sight until I at least claim you. I’m not teaching for the summer, so I have time to spend with you. Do you have any objections?”
Beau’s eyes widened impossibly big before he shook his head. I’d reached the top of the stairs and nodded at him with a smile before I hurried down the hallway. Once at our bedroom door, I turned sideways and carefully maneuvered through before I walked toward the bed. Once there, I carefully set Beau down on it and took a step back.
I reached for my shirt and quickly pulled it off over my head. That and my shoes were as far as I was planning on going until I had Beau naked and I’d spent some time exploring his body and showing him just how much pleasure I could bring him. Well, that was the plan. It seemed like Beau had other ideas because by the time I had my shirt off, he was tossing his to the foot of the bed. I took a step back before I wagged a finger at him while shaking my head.
“Not that I’m upset you are as eager as you seem to be, but I very much wanted to be the person to undress you.” I made sure I looked up and down Beau’s slim torso, and he noticed that I did. When I made it to the waistband of his pants, I couldn’t help but see that the front of them seemed to be fuller than they were earlier. Definitely eager, and I wanted a taste. I growled as I moved closer, and Beau made another squeak as I gently pushed him onto his back.
“You aren’t…it won’t hurt, will it?”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“Umm…you just growled, and, well, it didn’t sound like you. Your tiger won’t hurt me, right?”
I shook my head. “My tiger would die for you, Beau,” I told him. “I’ve heard that the initial piercing when being bitten can sting and sometimes hurt. But that quickly changes, and it becomes the complete opposite, and it will bring immense pleasure.” I held myself steady as I waited for his next comments.
“I’m sorry,” he said, surprising me.
“What for?”
“I’ve never done any of this before. And I know sex can hurt too, but when you growled, I guess my mind kind of blanked out, and I was only thinking about your tiger biting me.”
I sat up until I was kneeling on the bed beside my mate. “Would you feel better if you met him first? He very much wantsto meet you, and I know he’s going to rub on you and mark you in his own way, but he doesn’t want to hurt you, nor does he want to bite you. It’s just me, but still him.” I furrowed my brow a bit. “I’m not really explaining that all that well.”
“No, you are. I get it. But I want to wait, I think. I want to meet him, but I also want to be able to talk to you while you’re in your other form. We will be able to do that, right?”
I smiled down at my mate as I leaned back down to where I was hovering over him once more. “We absolutely will.” There were some couples that struggled to form that connection, but I had no doubts that Beau and I would be able to figure it out.
“Can we try again?” Beau asked as he held his arms up toward me.
In response, I smiled as I moved to where I was lying beside him. “We absolutely can,” I said as I trailed a finger down the center of his chest. I leaned in and kissed his shoulder. “If I do anything that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable, speak up. The absolute last thing I want is for you to not enjoy some aspect of our claiming one another.”
