Page 13 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

Because I can’t tell him in any other way, I lean in close and kiss the line between his brow.

He stills against me, as he always does when I touch him.

Slowly, I pull my head back and take in the heat filling his eyes.

His finger brushes against the back of my nape, ruffling the tiny sensitive hairs and making me shiver. “I thought it would be me,” he murmurs.

I raise my eyebrow as I try to ignore the familiar hardness pressed flush against my lower belly. He’s naked, just as I am, which means I notice his arousal more than usual. Especially because of the dreams.

“Kissing you.” His eyes dip to my mouth. “At least for the first time.”

So did I.

He focuses his attention on my lips for so long that I know he’s thinking about doing it now. I can feel the need growing in him—and me—so I lick my lips. The hand around my nape tightens and a slow burn ignites in my belly.

“But first…” he murmurs as he releases my nape and slides the one hand down my back to join the other around my hips.

I lift my gaze from his mouth.

Shay winks at me.

First what?

I’m suddenly airborne as he launches me high in the air. Laughter bubbles up my throat and pours out of my mouth as he catches me, and then dunks me.

Spluttering and laughing, we plunge into the water as his fingers find all those hidden spots that make me shriek with laughter. It’s a miracle I don’t drown.

No, it’s down to Shay pulling me out of the water long enough to catch my breath. I’m far too busy laughing to think about breathing. That and tickling him back. Since he’s not as ticklish as I am, I take longer to find those secret places between his rips and his sides that have him laughing as he backs away.

But Idofind them.

I don’t have to save him from drowning since, unlike me, he remembers to come up for air.

When he does, I splash him. I use my palm to send waves of water into his face until he dives at me and then we’re deep in the water again, tickling each other mercilessly.

Minutes pass this way.

It could go on forever and I don’t think I’d mind it, but between one rib tickle and another, Shay kisses me.

I freeze.

His firm lips press against mine as his arms draw me against him, one hand cradling the back of my head to hold me against him. The slow throbbing pulse in my belly flares to life as my eyes flutter shut.

My hair floats around us. It brushes against my shoulders and tickles my cheeks, but it’s a distant sort of awareness. All my focus is on the firm pressure of Shay’s lips on mine.

When his tongue touches the seam of my mouth, I gasp in surprise, and he slips inside.

I tighten my grip around his shoulders as he strokes the tip of my tongue with his. Moaning, I move closer because it feels good. Better than good. I never want it to stop, so I stretch out my tongue so I can do the same to him. Catching his low growl in my mouth, I swallow the hungry sound.

We sink to the bottom of the lake, and my back bumps against the pebbled ground. The taste of him fills my mouth. A mix of the coffee, bacon, and eggs we had for breakfast together. But there’s something else. Something unidentifiable that I crave more of.

It’s him.

Shay is the thing I crave.

He deepens the kiss.

Just when I’m running out of air, Shay’s hands tighten around me, and he propels us up until we burst through the surface of the water. I can breathe again. Gulping air into empty lungs, all I can do is hold on to Shay as he clings to me.

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