Page 85 of Found Objects

The kiss started off slow, but soon his tongue was there, pushing for entrance, and when I parted my lips for him, opening, there was a rumbling sound in the back of his throat that made my breath catch. Very quickly, the kiss turned hot and devouring, and his hands moved from my face, one slipping to the middle of my back so he could hold me still and press me forward at the same time. The other hand gentled on my hair, still tangled, but not tight.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he must have liked the whine that came up out of me, because that quickly, the kiss became a mauling. It felt like he wanted to eat me, and I had no issue with that at all.

When he finally broke the kiss, his breathing was ragged.

“Listen,” he rasped, pressing his forehead to mine so we were sharing breath. “The first time—it has to be me, you understand? If I don’t… I have to mark you as mine.”

“Yes.” I barely got the word out.

“But after, later, if you need to have me, or you want to have⁠—”

He was so perfect for me. In the midst of the heat flaring between us, he was letting me know that what I wanted, or needed, he would provide. “You’re the alpha.”

“I am. So my instinct says to claim what’s mine. But I’m also a man who knows I’m not the only one who… I mean, I want you to have everything so one day this will be more than a mating.”

It struck me then, what my mate truly desired. “You want me to love you.”

“Yes,” he whispered, staring down into my eyes. “That’s what I want. This could be what my parents had if I play my cards right.”

“What did they have?”

“They breathed together, you know? In sync, all the time. One heart.”

I took a deep breath. “I don’t ever want to disappoint you.”

“No.” He smiled at me. “You couldn’t. How you are with me, with my brother, your concern for others, your kindness and warmth… C’mon, Mere, I won the lottery here.”

The tears were instant. “You don’t know all the things I’ve done and⁠—”

He wiped them away as fast as they formed. “You’re mine. That’s what you are.”

“I’ve never had a mate, and it’s overwhelming that you’re here with me, which is why it’s taken me all night to come in here. I mean, I can barely breathe.”

“It’s perfect that we’re both scared to screw up and worried about the other person.” He tipped my head sideways so he could kiss the side of my neck. “That’s amazing. Don’t you think that’s amazing?”

“Amazing,” I agreed, leaning into his hot mouth as he kissed along my jaw before returning to my lips, his mouth devouring, his tongue tangling with mine.

When I shoved him back, I saw the blown pupils, flushed skin, and how bruised his lips looked, like I’d chewed on them.

I moved up the bed, tossing piles of folded clothes in every direction, and he crawled after me. When I started stripping out of my clothes, he sat back on his haunches to watch.

“What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly.

“In all the time you’ve been alive, has no one ever told you that you are a beautiful man, Merritt Baker?”

I glanced away, unable to hold his gaze.

“No,” he commanded. “Look at me.”

Instantly, without even thinking about it, I was staring into the deep, storm-washed gray of his eyes.

“First time I saw you, I thought, please God, don’t let that man be married.”

I felt my face heat. “Could you please take off your clothes too?”

“Wait, wait, it was just getting to the good part. Lemme help you with the pants.”

“No, thank you.” I sat up and unbuttoned and unzipped my pants before sliding them over my ass along with my briefs. “I can do—Cole!”