Page 31 of Tangled in Red

But instead of being terrified, he’d only wanted to comfort the man.

“Deeply,” he confessed. “I care very deeply for you, pajarito.” I’ve fallen in love with you.

Diablo raised an eyebrow. “You just called me a little bird.”

“Is that what it means?” He was certain Diablo wasn’t trying to offend him but couldn’t help seeing the nickname as something weak or tiny.

He tapped Brett’s nose. “It’s not an insult.”

“You can read minds too?” Brett hugged his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. “Why do you see me as a small bird?”

Diablo slid strands of Brett’s disheveled hair between his fingers. a slight smile tugging at his lips. Not smugly, more like he was remembering something nice. “You call me every morning, just as the sun’s rising and birds are singing.” He shrugged and looked away, maybe a bit embarrassed. “Your voice is just as bright, and it calms my beasts.”

Brett was going to melt into the damn bed. He’d never been someone’s comfort before. “I like hearing your voice before I even get up,” he admitted. “It’s a deep, smoky vibe that wraps around me and makes me feel…” He paused, taking a breath. “It makes me feel like everything’s gonna be okay, even if it’s not.”

Diablo pulled Brett flush against his body, bare skin pressed into denim. Neither said a word. Brett just soaked in the man’s warmth, wishing they could stay like that forever.

“You smell incredible,” Brett murmured. “All dark and mysterious.”

“I smell mysterious?” Diablo quietly chuckled.

“I’m not very good at flirting. Be glad I didn’t say you smelled like you’ve been rolling in dirt.”

That only made Diablo laugh even more. “Are you saying I stink?”

Brett slapped the man’s shoulder then pressed his nose against Diablo’s neck, inhaling deeply. “Like good soil.”

“You’re smelling my beasts. The forest they ran through…when they were free.” Diablo’s voice trailed off.

Brett couldn’t imagine something like that happening to him. He was trippin’ about shifters existing, but to have a huge part of yourself lose its freedom? It had to be torture for Diablo and his animals.

“So, what were you getting at?” It was so easy to cuddle with him. He was like a big teddy bear Brett wanted to Velcro himself to.

* * * *

Brett’s blush intensified. He held up a finger and cleared his throat. “Quiero follar, papi! Quiero que me folles fuerte!” His eyes sparkled with eagerness as he looked at Diablo. “Did I get it right?”

Holy. Hell. Diablo was going to claim the shit out of him. “What were you trying to say?”

If Brett blushed any harder, Diablo would have to grab the fire extinguisher. “I want to make love. You don’t have to be gentle.”

“Close enough, elegido,” he growled with a wicked grin, slipping off the bed and quickly shedding the rest of his clothes. He was so aroused his goddamn hands were trembling. Maybe afterward, he’d let Brett know what he’d really said. Maybe.

His elegido stared wide-eyed at Diablo’s throbbing erection jutting from his groin. “Muy bueno, hermoso.”

Diablo laughed, climbing back onto the bed, slowly prowling toward his mate. “Todo mio.”

“Todo mio,” Brett whispered, leaning back slightly as Diablo moved over him.

“Goddamn right I’m all yours.” His elegido’s hands traveled up Diablo’s thick arms, tracing the firm ridges of muscle. The contrast between them was breathtaking—his mate’s pale, freckled skin against Diablo’s bronze tone, Brett’s slender frame beneath Diablo’s powerful bulk.

The heat between them built as he claimed Brett’s mouth, swallowing the soft moan that escaped. Their tongues played a little dance, Brett’s hands threading through his hair, pulling him closer. Diablo shifted his weight to one arm, sliding the other beneath Brett to cradle the back of his neck. Fuck me. He wanted to be balls-deep inside the male. He could taste the need in his gut like a live wire.

“Gonna make you mine,” he said against Brett’s mouth, kissing him slowly, deeply. Diablo pressed forward slightly, just enough for his cockhead to kiss Brett’s rim. He held there, feeling his body respond, his precum pulsing out in thick spurts. He kissed his mate’s cheeks, his forehead, his chin, his neck, his hands filled with Brett’s ass.

“What the—”

“Nature’s little gift,” Diablo explained, his voice strained with the effort of holding back. “Natural lube.”

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