Page 77 of Bonds of Fate

Jamie thinks he’s not alone in this feeling—that his entire pack is aware of the same simmering urgency, along with the subsequent strength he exerts in holding back his enigma frompicking Nix up and biting him in every place a wolf can receive a claiming bite and then some.

He tries to let his Nixie be—he really does—but now that the idea has settled in and he’s acknowledged thatthis is it, an eagerness simmers beneath his skin.

He can’t resist reaching out, running a lone finger over Nix’s shoulder, down the plane of his back, detouring over freckles here and there before tracing the curve of his ass. He follows the edge of the sheet, then drifts back up along a new path. His mate glows, a light seeming to shine from every pore.

His omega sighs and shifts his hips forward, pressing them down and into the bed. Jamie stops until Nix settles into sleep again, but this time with pinker cheeks and the musky, sexy scent of aroused vanilla.

The next touch is over his tiny nose. He’s so still, and Jamie is reminded of a time not so long ago when he allowed himself similar touches to a face virtually unchanged by time, unsure if—or when—he might wake.

The flash of Nix’s hospital time in a coma makes Jamie hesitate—but no, he’s not going to let those memories in here—they have no place in this bed. With a heavy breath in, he lets those sweetly pink cheeks distract him with their constellations of honey-brown freckles sprinkled like stardust, but it’s the heart-shaped one high on his cheek that catches his eye in particular.

Jamie moves on to the full, slightly parted mouth. Nix’s full lips always seem such a deep shade of pink that it’s almost red. It’s distracting, and he knows he’s not the only one in the house who gazes at that mouth, still or in motion—making him think of kissing and sucking, wondering what it tastes like or what it might feel like wrapped around his cock.

The brief flash of just that scenario has the member in question hard against his thigh, pine-scented forest burgeoning in the morning sun.

When he rubs along Nixie’s full lower lip, it’s so soft Jamie can’t almost feel it, but then he pulls the lip down to get at the wet insides. He’s met with a sudden gentlebitefrom sharp white teeth, a flash of smiling gray eyes, and a quiet giggle.

The tiny hand gripping his wrist pulls his fingers back up for a kiss. “Morning, Jamie.”

“Morning, Nix.” He responds in kind, just to see his love grin. He leans in for a proper kiss, sucking that smiling lower lip in and then nibbling, letting his enigma rumble deep in his chest.

“Oh, I see. That’s how it is.” Nix flips over onto his back, legs sticking up and arms out wide. “I’m ready.” He’s laughing, and he is oh-so-beautiful that Jamie’s heart clenches.

Jamie sputters, “What? No. That’s not…uh.”

“No, I’m serious, Jamie. I mean it. I’m ready. Do it. We’ve waited long enough. Dooooo itttttttt.” He’s waving his arms up and down like he’s making a snow angel, pumping his legs up and down, feet kicking maniacally.

Nix is so happy that Jamie wants to eat him alive. “Oh, really? You’re ready? Okay.”

He pounces. His fingers dig into lean muscles as he rolls over onto his still-wiggling, now giggling and shrieking love.

“No. No!! Oh my god. Stop. Argh!”

Jamie stops, so his mate flops back from his jackknifed position, breathing heavily.

“I win!” Jamie revels in how ridiculous he must look, arms up high, kneeling naked on his bed, cock hard. “Woot, Woot! I’m the winner! You’re the loser!”

“Oh, you’re in for it now.”

Jamie should have expected it from his tree-climbing, door-smashing mate, but he is still surprised when he’s flat on hisback, his omega on his chest, with an audibleoofforced from his diaphragm.

The resulting wet ass parked on his belly and the hands holding his wrists down on the bed bring Nix’s face almost as close to his as he could dream.

“I’m in for what, exactly?” Jamie manages to growl out from his chest.

There’s that sex-in-a-bakery smell, and Nix wiggles his ass. It feels like he’s being marked when his mate slides his slick butt backward until he can feel the head of Jamie’s dick ride up between his cheeks.

“Nix. Slow. Down.” Jamie has to wrangle his enigma so hard in that moment that he is surprised he can get the words out.

“No, Jamie. No moresloworlaterorsoon.Don’t you think we’ve waited too long already? We should be married already, with a dog and two kids—and six mates.” Another rolling of his hips has him riding along Jamie’s shaft in a slow, slippery slide.

Jamie groans at the mention of the children he’d always imagined they’d been adopting in those fantasies, not the new, incendiary thought of making them themselves. Fuck.

“Baby, you can’t just climb on; you need prep, and I haven’t even really kissed you. Please. I can’t be the one to hurt you.”

It’s his biggest fear.

Nix tilts his chin down so he can look him dead in the eye. “You would never.”

---