Page 23 of Kept
He was exactly where he wanted to be.
10
Kade stareddown at the boy sprawled beneath him, chest heaving with the effort of keeping himself under control. Eli looked thoroughly debauched—lips swollen pink from being stretched around his cock, flushed cheeks, a faint sheen of come still glistening on his lower lip where he'd missed a drop.
Mine.
The word pounded through his blood with every heartbeat, primal and undeniable. Tonight of all nights, with the mating run singing through his veins, the urge to claim was nearly overwhelming. His cock hadn't softened even slightly after coming down Eli's throat—if anything, he was harder now, his body recognizing what his mind was still trying to process.
This wasn't just some pretty toy for the night. This was more. So much more.
Eli's chest was a mess, streaked with his own come from the two orgasms Kade had wrung from him, white stark against flushed skin. Nipples hard little peaks, begging to be bitten. Stomachquivering with each breath, muscles jumping under the skin. And the way he looked up at Kade...
Fuck. Those rich brown eyes were hazy with endorphins and submission, but underneath—complete trust. After everything—being thrown out, hiding who he was, walking through a dangerous night straight into Kade's arms—he still trusted. Still opened himself up like he believed Kade would take care of him.
And Kade would. Better than anyone ever had.
He shifted to nudge Eli's thighs apart. They fell open immediately, pliant and eager despite exhaustion. When Kade settled between them, cock brushing against inner thigh, the boy actually wrapped his legs around Kade's hips, trying to pull him closer.
The needy gesture made something in Kade's chest go tight. "Easy," he murmured, hand sliding down to grip Eli's hip, holding him still. "I'm not going anywhere."
Eli made a soft sound—not quite whimper, not quite sigh—and let his legs relax slightly, though he kept them wrapped loose around Kade's waist. Like he couldn't bear to not be touching.
Kade understood. His own hands couldn't stop moving over Eli's skin, mapping every inch, learning the places that made him gasp and shiver. The boy was so responsive, so fucking perfect in his reactions. Every touch drew out another sound, another arch of that slender body.
"Look at you," Kade growled, unable to keep the words inside. "Covered in your own come, lips still swollen from sucking me. You have any idea what you look like?"
Eli's cheeks flushed darker but he didn't look away. That was new—earlier he'd been shy, dropping his gaze, turning into the pillow. Now he held Kade's stare, something defiant and hungry in those eyes.
"Tell me," Eli whispered, voice rough from having Kade down his throat.
The sound went straight to Kade's already aching balls. "You look claimed," he said, letting his weight settle more fully, letting Eli feel every inch of hard muscle and barely-controlled strength. "Marked up and mine. Like you were made to be under me."
Eli's breath hitched, spent cock giving a valiant twitch against Kade's stomach. "Maybe I was.”
The quiet admission nearly shattered Kade’s control. His wolf prowled restlessly under his skin, demanding he bite, claim, breed. The mating run hormones made everything sharper, more intense. Every instinct screamed to mount this perfect boy and knot him until he couldn't remember any name but Kade's.
Instead, he forced himself to move slow, deliberate. His hand slid between their bodies, finding Eli's hole, still slick and slightly open from his fingers earlier. The boy jerked at the touch, oversensitive but pushing back into it anyway.
"Still ready for me," Kade observed, circling the rim with one finger, feeling how it fluttered. "Still hungry for it."
"Please," Eli breathed.
That single word nearly ended him.
He shifted his hips, letting his cock drag along Eli's crack, the head catching on his rim. The boy was furnace-hot, holeclenching reflexively at the contact. Kade's cock leaked steadily, adding to the slickness, making everything gloriously wet.
With a growl more wolf than man, he notched the head against Eli's entrance, feeling the muscle flutter against him, eager to let him in. His whole body thrummed with the need to thrust home, to claim what was his.
But he held there, right on the edge, letting Eli feel how thick he was, how much he was going to stretch him. Letting anticipation build until they were both shaking.
Eli canted his hips up, trying to take him inside. "Please. I need—I need you to?—"
The words cut off as a wolf's howl split the night air outside, long and triumphant. Another answered, then another, until the darkness was alive with the sounds of the pack claiming their mates. The wild chorus sent something primal racing down Kade's spine, his control fracturing.
He'd held himself apart from the mating runs for years. Too many mornings waking alone, only coldness next to him where a warm body should have been. Too many partners treating the night like disposable fun, disappearing before dawn, like what they'd shared meant nothing.
He'd stopped believing in the old wolf tales about true mates, about connections that went deeper than just the run's hormones.
