Everett

It took all my willpower to hide my shaking.

How could Felix be so calm right now, discussing how we would mate as though it were any other conversation?

Then again, I'd never had a conversation with someone while they touched me intimately, so maybe this wasn't so casual. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. I needed a minute – just a minute, I promised myself.

Felix seemed to understand that I was thinking too hard, that I needed him to put me back in the right headspace. He kissed me passionately before reaching down and stroking me again while his mouth worked its way down my neck, paying special attention to the spot he would be marking soon. Every nip or sweep of his tongue sent jolts of pleasure through my whole body until I was gripping at him and bucking my hips upward, desperate with lust.

"More," I gasped as I raked my nails down his back, causing him to arch and shiver above me. Felix kept working my neck while he stroked me. I reached down between us and gripped Felix's length for the first time. He pulled back from my neck, his eyes shutting as he threw his head back and moaned.

"Everett." That was all he said, just my name, but it had me in a frenzy. I was affecting him. I massaged down his hard length before gripping it firmly. I worked him with an irregular pace, one that soon had him writhing against me. I had never felt so powerful, so exhilarated. Felix, who was so confident and strong, was completely under my power.

That is, until he pulled away from me and opened the tub of lube. I froze, helpless to do anything but watch him as he scooped some out and warmed it between his hands. Felix's eyes met mine and he smiled reassuringly. "Any time you want to stop, tell me. I swear I won't be upset or take it personally. This is entirely up to you."

I melted at his words. I had gotten so lucky, being paired with Felix. How did he know exactly what to say? His words gave me back my power, the one that faded when my nerves took hold. His compassion and understanding made it impossible not to trust him. This would be uncomfortable, physically and mentally, but I would be okay because it was Felix. I clung to that certainty and smiled back. "Keep going," I said.

Felix kissed me, providing a welcome distraction as his fingers reached down and rubbed at my hole, coating it in lube. He slowly slid in the tip of a finger and I almost bucked him off me. Felix waited for me to adjust, kissing me leisurely until I relaxed again. Then he slid his finger in a little deeper. Once he was all the way in, I was able to relax. It wasn't so bad, if I didn't think too hard about what was happening right now.

Then Felix withdrew and when he slid back in, it was two fingers instead of the one. He went faster this time, plunging them into me as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. I gasped against his lips and Felix dipped his hips down to grind our erections together. I thrust against him instinctively and when I fell back against the bed, I inadvertently pushed his fingers deeper inside myself. I shuddered. It felt weird, but good.

Felix's fingers started scissoring, stretching me out and bringing in a whole new kind of discomfort. I bit my lip and wrapped my legs around his hips, pressing us together again. Felix jerked against me and said, "If you keep that up, I'm going to run out of patience," he warned.

His words had me leaking, I was so turned on, and suddenly all I wanted was for Felix to run out of patience. "Take me, Felix," I said. "Make me yours."

The tether on Felix's control snapped, I could see it. His fingers left my body and I felt strangely empty. Felix coated himself in lube and lifted my hips so he could line himself up with me.

"Last chance to back out," Felix warned.

"Stop stalling," I said. That was all he needed.

Felix pressed himself into me. I thought after all the work he did to prep me, this part would be easy. It stung, though. Felix was bigger than I realized, and I was so tight. Once his head was in, he paused to let me adjust, kissing down my neck. It gave me something good to focus on until my hips started moving on their own, nudging him deeper inside.

Felix pressed his lips to my forehead tenderly. "I'm not in a hurry, Everett."

"I might be," I admitted, grabbing his hips and pulling him deeper into myself. It was uncomfortable, but I knew from my research that once we got through this part, things would get much better. I didn't see the point in dragging this out more than we had to.

Finally, Felix was buried inside me. He shuddered as he held himself up over me, his eyes fixed on mine. Felix's eyes were dark anyway, but now his pupils swallowed up the deep brown color of his irises. I tunneled my fingers through his hair, fascinated as always by the waves that sprung back after I stretched them taut. Felix leaned into my touch as he pulled back out of me and slowly thrust back in.

"Is this okay?" he asked in a strained voice.

I nodded. "Keep going."

Felix was careful with me, though – too careful. On his next thrust, I used my legs to pull him into myself harder and deeper than ever before. Felix gasped and moaned. I froze, seeing stars as pleasure reverberated through my entire being.

Felix's sharp eyes caught my reaction and he growled in pleasure. "Like that?" he asked.

I could only whimper in response. Felix gripped my hips and pounded into me, keeping the same angle so that he drove into my prostate on each thrust. Sounds came out of me I hadn't known I was capable of making and I lost all conscious control of my body. I could only take Felix in as my hands traced over every inch of his skin they could reach.

Felix slowed down and I almost lost it. The anticipation as he inched into me had me clenching around him, desperately seeking the pleasure I knew only he could deliver. After several slow, torturous thrusts, I was panting with need. "Felix," I moaned. "More."

That was all he was needed. Felix drove into me in long, powerful strokes. I could feel my release building and I squeezed myself tighter and tighter around him. "Everett," Felix gasped. My name on his lips was like a trigger.

I erupted in the strongest orgasm of my life. Felix roared over me and leaned down to sink his elongated canines into the soft tissue at the base of my neck. His strokes became purposeful as he finished with me, and now that his own neck was in my reach, I bit down on him, hard. The connection forging between us felt so good it hurt, and when we were finally spent, we sagged against each other, drained in every way.

"Holy fuck." The words ran through my head as clearly as if they'd been spoken, but I wasn't the one thinking that. Sealing our bond gave us the ability to exchange thoughts telepathically. I wondered if Felix realized he was doing it.

I pulled my teeth out of Felix's neck and licked the blood off of them. When I ran a hand over my mouth, it came back smeared red. I looked down at Felix, who was collapsed on my chest. His chin was covered in my blood. It shouldn't have made me smile, but it did. I pulled a corner of sheet up from the bed and used it to wipe at his mouth, then at his neck. Felix just smiled, his eyes still shut and his body lax.

I was a wet mess – we both were – but for once, I didn't mind. I wrapped my arms around my mate and squeezed, blissfully happy. Felix was as completely mine as he could be – nothing could break our new bond, not even death. A very real part of me would always be his, and his scent was permanently soaked into me.

Some of my happiness stemmed from the simple fact that I'd had sex with my mate. It was a huge accomplishment, something that had been weighing on me ever since I realized I was mated with a man. This had been a hurdle and not only had we jumped it, but it had been amazing.

Felix shifted a little so he could look up at me, his eyes shining with happiness. "You smell like me now," he said.

I lifted Felix's wrist and brought it to my nose. He smelled like me, too – and it was more than just on the surface. Our mating had bound our scents together. Anyone who came near us would know what we were to each other. They would know that Felix was mine and that I was his. I pressed a kiss to Felix's wrist and gently set his arm back down. "Thank you," I said.

Felix chuckled. "No, thank you."

"I mean it, Felix. Thank you for being so patient these past weeks."

He propped himself up and looked down at me tenderly. "No need to thank me, Everett." He kissed me and stood, finally sliding out of me. "Now, let's eat."

I looked down at myself. I could see blood trailing down my neck. My stomach was coated in my own seed and Felix's was currently dripping from my butt. No way was I leaving the bedroom like this. "Can I have a shower first?"

He studied me, looking like he was taking the question seriously. He looked way too pleased with himself. "I prefer you like this," he said.

I fought back a smile. "You can join me," I offered.

Felix took my hand and tugged me eagerly toward the en suite bathroom, making me laugh. Felix laughed along with me, though I didn't know what he found so funny.

Felix got the water running and set the temperature when I heard the front door open. He groaned and said, "That'll be Mel. They don't know you're back, so they've given up on knocking and they've been taking turns keeping me company. She must not have noticed your car."

Felix grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. I took his arm to keep him from leaving the room. "You can't go out there like this," I told him. Anyone who saw him would know in an instant what we had just done, and that was without accounting for a werewolf's keen sense of smell.

Felix lifted a brow and said, "You do realize we could wash ourselves in bleach and everyone would still know we had sex. There's no hiding this, Everett. And there's no taking it back."

Felix looked hurt, and I really couldn't blame him for drawing the conclusion he had. I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. Why did things always have to be so complicated? "I'm not trying to hide our relationship, I swear, but people knowing about our mating is completely different from seeing it first-hand."

Felix looked me up and down and sighed. "Yeah, you're right." He leaned out the bathroom door and yelled, "We'll be out in a few minutes."

Mel gasped loudly enough that I could hear it even with the shower running. "We?" she yelled.

Felix just rolled his eyes and guided me into the shower. "A few minutes of suspense won't kill her. I do wish we could have taken more time in our first shower together, though."

I looked around and found that he had exactly one bottle in the shower: a three-in-one gel that claimed to work as soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I snorted when I saw it. "I should have known," I said, filling my palm with the stuff.

I turned and faced Felix. His eyes had been fixed on my body and his pupils were huge again with arousal. I glanced down and saw that he was ready for another round. "Not with your sister here," I said.

"She can leave," Felix said breathily, planting a hot kiss over my mark.

I shivered, but no way was I giving in on this. "I don't think we should get into the habit of kicking your siblings out of the house so we can have sex," I said. Truth told, I could use a break, anyway, and I really was hungry. "If you behave, I'll wash you."

Felix froze, considering this. After a few comical seconds, he let out a pained whine and nodded. "Deal."

I lathered the soap in my hand and took his arm, carefully washing each inch of skin. Felix's eyes were half-lidded with pleasure as he watched me touch him. I moved along his whole body methodically from the collarbone down before I got more soap and washed his hair for him. I saved his neck for last, feeling oddly reluctant to clean up the blood from my mark.

The water had washed away most of the blood at this point, so I carefully ran my hands over it, wiping away the rest. Thanks to our heightened healing, the mark was already healed over, though it was still pink on the edges. I traced my finger over the raised bumps where each of my teeth had broken his flesh, forming a crescent shape. Felix trembled under my touch and whispered, "Sensitive."

I grinned and traced it again with my tongue. Felix clutched at my hips and said, "You're making it hard to stick to our deal."

I was a second away from tossing our deal out the window – waiting for round two suddenly seemed like the worst idea I'd ever had – but Felix stepped back from the stream of water and gently nudged me underneath it. "My turn to wash you," he said.

Of course, each brush of his fingers over my skin only made me want him more. By the time he reached my waist, I was achingly hard for him and Felix smirked. "Later," he said.

"Promise?" I gasped as he wrapped a soapy hand around me.

"I promise." He moved his hand away to wash down my legs and I had to bite my lip to keep from whimpering.

"I was an idiot to think I could resist you," I muttered as Felix lathered my hair. His fingers massaged as they went and it felt amazing.

"Bear that in mind in the future," Felix said.

I could only agree.