His eyes opened, and he smiled at me. “As are you.”
 
 “Kiss me?” I asked, not wanting to stop playing with his ass.
 
 He took my face in one hand and kissed me, gently at first, but quickly becoming more heated.
 
 The kisses stopped, however, as I pushed my finger a bit deeper. Eashai dropped his head to my shoulder and panted against me.
 
 “You ok?” I asked.
 
 “It has been many years,” he admitted. “I had forgotten how intense it can be.”
 
 “The mating rush?”
 
 He shook his head into my shoulder. “Being with another person.”
 
 I froze, then shifted my hand from his asscheek to the small of his back, where I tightened my hold on him. “Oh, E, I’m so sorry.”
 
 He pushed up enough to gaze down at me. “We are together now. That is all that matters.”
 
 He leaned in to kiss me again, sweet and full of longing.
 
 I savored the way he explored my mouth with his tongue; the tiny whimpers as I moved my finger just right inside him. He was right. He was mine, I was his, and that was all that mattered.
 
 One finger became two as he loosened around me. Soon his movements against my hand became erratic as he chased the pleasure, and I knew he was ready. I pulled my fingers from him and managed not to make a complete fool of myself as I successfully flipped us, with him on the mattress and me kneeling over him.
 
 I was reminded that it was still the middle of the afternoon as sunlight streamed through the window and danced across his skin. The flush of pleasure I’d so wanted to see had tinted his face and shoulders a bit more to the purple end of the blue spectrum. His nipples were taut, his cock hard and resting against his stomach, and a smear of precum had left a shining trail across his torso.
 
 He was stunning.
 
 “Do you need more stretching?” I asked as I settled between his parted legs.
 
 “I believe I am ready,” he replied, lifting his hips to give me access.
 
 I gave my cock a few strokes with the hand that had been inside him, using some of his natural wetness to coat it. I slid it between his asscheeks for a bit more coverage. Then I lined myself up and started to push in.
 
 My mate’s tight wet heat was already perfection, but it was somehow made better by the sounds he made. He moaned my name like it was the only word he knew, and the scratching of fingernails against the sheets was a testament to the amount of pleasure coursing through him.
 
 I took my time, rocking into him a bit deeper each thrust, giving his body time to adjust to having a partner again. Finally, I was fully sheathed in him, and I lowered myself to be chest-to-chest, kissing him until he was ready.
 
 Eashai wrapped his arms around my neck and rolled his hips. It was the sign I’d been waiting for.
 
 I pulled almost all the way out, then pushed back in slowly. My handsome mate shuddered beneath me, and his fingers tightened against my back.
 
 Some previously unknown part of me awoke, demanding I fuck him hard and fast—mark him with my cum.
 
 I tamped it down. That wasn’t who we were as a couple. Hard and fast was ok—and likely in our near future. Me being a possessive shit, was not.
 
 “Gene…” he moaned as I set a steady pace.
 
 I explored his perfection with every thrust and sought out discoveries of what brought him extra pleasure.
 
 My mate deserved to feel cherished every time we made love.
 
 We kissed, and—when Eashai’s moans and gasps were too frequent—I explored his skin with my mouth. I nipped his jaw and sucked on his Adam’s apple. His stubble scraped my face, and the little scratches served to make my nerves more sensitive to every bit of pleasure.
 
 His heels dug into my ass, spurring me on. His fingernails left trails on my back, and soon enough, all he seemed to be able to say was my name and an assortment of curses in his language.
 
 It wasn’t as if I was far behind. My thrusts had sped up and turned erratic. The only thing that kept me from chasing my orgasm was wanting him to come first.