Page 33 of Sanctuary
On impulse, Ori bent down and kissed it. “Maybe that will make it better.”
Patton snorted. “I’m not a pup anymore.”
Ori cocked his head to the side. “You don’t want me to kiss you?”
“I totally want you to kiss me,” Patton said on a laugh and crouched down to Ori’s kneeling level. “Are you trying to tease me to death?”
“Do you think I’m teasing?” Ori asked, taken aback.
“No, I know you aren’t. But I’m dying here.”
Ori glanced down at the cloth in his hand. "Let me rinse the soap off you, then I'll make up for the unintentional tease." He pressed his mouth to Patton's and kissed him with all his uncertain skill. Patton's mouth followed him when he tried to break the kiss and Ori had to fend him off to reach for the pot of water. "Just let me do this," he whispered against Patton's lips, but he couldn't resist the lure of his mate's attentions, and he quickly discovered that the washer easily ended up as wet as the washee when trying to finish up the process without putting an end to their kissing.
Patton helped as much as he could without letting go of Ori, and when the pot was empty of water he tossed it carefully to one side and pulled Ori to him by the hem of his t-shirt. “So, no teasing?” he murmured, his gaze warm on Ori’s face.
“No teasing,” Ori assured him, and reached down to pluck the cloth from Patton’s fingers. He pulled the shirt up over his head, turning it inside out in the process, and sent it in the direction the pot had taken. By the time it landed, he’d already undone the button of his jeans and with Patton’s dubious help, was naked almost immediately after. His skin shivered with need and he threw himself at his mate, nearly knocking the two of them off their feet in his enthusiasm.
Patton fielded his excitement and dragged their mouths together as they staggered about their den, his kiss like food after a long fast, so desperately needed. One arm went around Ori’s waist, pinning him tightly against his chest, his skin only slightly cool against Ori’s.
Oh. Ori’d never entirely understood the attraction of those parts of the racy novels the omegas passed between each other. He’d never wanted a mate who would take over his life. But here, now, with Patton’s arms tight around him, he understood it all. The feeling of safety, the thrum of restrained power in Patton’s arms. The promise of what that muscle would be used for—he moaned just thinking about it and his hips thrust forward, determined to have what Patton offered.
Patton huffed something that sounded more gasp than laugh and stroked the length of Ori’s back to grab his ass. Ori whined and bit Patton’s shoulder, then let go to lick his ear and squirm against him. His body knew what it wanted, but the emotions were so overpowering he couldn’t find the words to ask for it. He tried wrapping one leg around Patton’s hip and nearly knocked them over. Patton staggered a step then caught both his and Ori’s balance and lowered them onto the blanket.
Ori wrapped his arms around Patton's shoulders and kissed him back enthusiastically. The play of muscle under his palms was still wonderful, a feeling like nothing he'd ever experienced. He'd expected it to grow slightly stale, for the excitement to wane as time passed, but it hadn't. If anything, now that he knew what he had to look forward to, it added to the experience. Patton’s weight upon him raised the ghost of another encounter to feather over his skin, and the memory of the way Patton had held him that other night made him moan in anticipation. It pleased him, too, that Patton's breath shook when he heard the moan, and his teeth brushed over the point of Ori's chin on the way to ravaging his neck, raising goosebumps of shivery excitement on Ori's skin.
Patton licked a line down the long muscle in Ori's neck and then pushed gently against the side, exposing him in a way that should have made him feel more naked, but instead made him feel more loved and desired. Ori swallowed hard and closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to maintain some semblance of self-control, just for a little longer. Patton sucked on the skin at the base of his neck, a strange sensation that made Ori’s stomach clench and his legs tremble. He wrapped his arms tighter around Patton’s shoulders and arched into the sweet torment of his mate’s mouth, until Patton sucked in a sudden breath and his hand moved to Ori’s waist, pulling Ori's hips tight against his.
"Lysoon, you're gorgeous," Patton whispered. "I want you so badly."
"Take me," Ori whispered back and marveled at how right that phrase felt, when it would have made his skin crawl with Hagen. Had, truly, when he'd first been told and he tried to picture their mating night. No. Tonight was not a night to think about that, to ruin what he and Patton had. Never again--he was Patton's and Patton was his, and he didn't care what the pack said. If they had to, they'd go to Canada and live among the polar bears with the shifters up there.
"You okay?" Patton asked, propping himself on his elbow to watch Ori anxiously in the dim light of the fire. "You went all tense for a second. Did I hurt you?"
Ori sighed. "No. Just...old memories." He slid his hands down along Patton's ribs and up his chest to cup his cheeks. "Just let myself get distracted, thinking of how different it could all have been if I hadn't had you." He raised his mouth to Patton's and kissed him as a thank you that went down to the bottom of his soul. "This is much better," he whispered against his mate's lips, and spread his thighs to bring Patton closer.
Patton drew in a shaking breath and buried his face in the side of Ori's neck. He reached for Ori's hip, his hand warm in the cooling night air, a flame that ran straight to the center of Ori's need. “Are…are you ready?” he asked, his voice gone deep with desire.
“Yes,” Ori whispered back. “Come here, my love.” Ori pulled him close and kissed him again, then rocked his hips in encouragement. “Besides, it’s not like I’m going to get pregnant tonight.”
Patton snorted with laughter, his forehead resting in the hollow of Ori’s shoulder. “You nut. I’m never going to get to take anything seriously, am I?”
“Some things.” Ori drew his fingers down the back of Patton’s neck, letting the backs of his nails trail lightly over the skin as he stretched to cover as much of Patton’s back as he could reach. “I like that you take me seriously.” He tightened his arms around Patton’s torso. “Come here, Pat.” He pressed his fingertips into the solid muscle on either side of Patton’s spine and pulled up, coaxing Patton’s body to inch closer until all it would take was one good thrust to bury Patton’s cock deep inside him. “What are you waiting for?”
Patton nipped at the lobe of Ori’s ear. “You,” he murmured, and reached between them.
It never failed to make Ori gasp, or close his eyes in emotion. Like a seed planted and growing between them, this first connection between their bodies grew to take over Ori’s world. He pressed his forehead against Patton’s and panted for air, his mouth stretched wide in a delighted grin that only grew wider when he heard Patton chuckle above him.
“I’m so glad you enjoy this,” Patton said and buried himself deep inside Ori.
When the stars behind his lids faded, Ori puzzled over Patton’s words. “Why wouldn’t I?” he finally decided to say.
Patton rocked his hips a couple more times, short and quick, until they were both breathless. “I just didn’t think the rumors could be true,” he gasped. “This was the only one that was.”
“Later,” Ori told him. He took Patton’s face between his hands. “Tell me later.”
Patton nodded and pressed his cheek to Ori’s and Ori felt his mate’s weight shift as instinct took over. Ori braced himself, spreading his legs wide and wrapping his arms around Patton’s shoulders in delighted anticipation. Whatever else he was, in this, Patton the beta was all alpha, and Ori almost felt the lack of other omegas to crow his triumph to. Almost—he certainly didn’t want to share. No, this was his. Patton was his, and as the tight pleasure began to build in his groin, he dug his fingers into Patton’s shoulders and let go of all civilized behavior, crying out as Patton took his own pleasure and doubled Ori’s in return.
Ori moaned and thrust himself upward as well as he could, trapped beneath the delicious weight of his mate’s heated body. Patton made a noise, halfway between a whine of protest and a growl of joy, and took Ori’s mouth in fierce possession. Ori kissed him back with everything he had, careless of the sounds of pleasure escaping him as Patton took him closer and closer to the edge and then finally pushed him over it.
