Page 18 of Sanctuary
Ori rocked against him, moaning gently. "Don't wait," he whispered and threaded his fingers through Patton's hair. "I want you."
Patton gulped and let Ori guide him in for another kiss. Then, with wordless prayers winging their way to the gods, he took himself in hand and pushed inside.
Ori gasped and his heels dig into Patton's back, hard, like they were struggling for supremacy. "Am I hurting you?" Patton forced himself to ask over the screaming demands of his body.
"Yes. No. No, not hurt." Ori groaned and pulled Patton closer. "Yes, that's it. That's what's missing." His nails dug into Patton's back, small pinpricks of pain that made everything seem brighter. "Oh, don't stop."
Shaking with his need, Patton pushed inside Ori's body, the tight heat of it making his head spin. The world seemed far away and yet perilously sharp-edged. He could feel every inch of skin where Ori's body touched his, as if those were the only parts that were alive, or as if just the act of touching Ori made those places even more alive than others. He wanted to be in him, to own him, to make Ori cry out in pleasure the same way he heard other shifters on full moon night. He wanted it to be perfect.
Ori undulated beneath him, shifting their bodies until they were as close as two people could get, until Patton's hips were tight against the backs of Ori's thighs, his entire length buried in Ori's body. He reached along Patton's body, stroking the skin over Patton's spine, his ribs, the backs of his shoulders. "Please don't stop," he said. "I want to know you've taken your pleasure, I want to feel it. Make me feel it." Then he did something, some motion of body that overwhelmed all Patton's good sense.
Patton put a hand on Ori's hip to hold him still and began to rock his own, letting instinct drive his movements. He wasn't certain he was doing any of this right, but it felt amazing, and when he raised his eyes to Ori's, he knew for absolute sure that whatever he was doing--right, wrong, sideways--was what Ori was demanding of him. He took a kiss from Ori's willing lips and stroked the smooth flesh of Ori's thigh where it curled around his body, and said a prayer of thanks to the Lady Lysoonka, keeper of family and guardian of young lovers, that he could have this moment. As they rocked together, he felt the building heaviness of his orgasm, and an answering response from Ori. There was wonder in Ori's eyes and he laughed as he kissed Patton, over and over, and whispered things, crazy things, like, "I love you," and "Never leave me," until all Patton could do was laugh in his own turn and say them back to him. It helped that they were true, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore a solemn vow to do anything necessary to keep Ori by his side forever.
The laughter soon faded, overwhelmed by these new sensations, and Patton lost himself in Ori's eyes and his arms, his body racing to respond to the call of Ori's own. He pressed his lips to Ori's and let his lover swallow the cries he made as he came, muscles cracking with the strain as instinct took over and he claimed his omega.
Ori cried out moments after, chasing Patton's mouth as he held him so tight Patton couldn't have moved if he wanted to. Then slowly, his arms loosened around Patton and he drew him down to rest his head on Ori's shoulder. The beam of sun had moved, creeping up the wall opposite the window. It would soon be dark enough that they could travel again. Unless--the old rumors about omegas and their unending appetites made him uneasy. Would Ori expect all that from him again right away? Not that he'd complain, but he worried it might kill him. Maybe he'd better check?
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm wonderful," Ori replied, sounding completely relaxed. "You?"
"Wow."
Ori laughed. "Oh, that was worth waiting for. Yeah, wow's a good word for it." He kissed Patton's forehead. "No regrets?"
"No regrets." It occurred to Patton that, as the beta in the relationship, it should be his shoulder that Ori was resting his head on, but he was terribly comfortable, and Ori's hands wandering softly over his arm and his upper back were strangely soothing. He could stay like this all night.
All night.
Oh. "We should get something to eat and get ready to go."
The gentle movement of Ori's hands stilled. "Right away?"
Patton lifted his head and checked out the sunlight through the window. It was still gold, no hint of pink in it. He didn't want to be on the road before dark anyway. "Maybe another hour."
Ori's hands began to move again, though this time, Patton thought there was more purpose to the stroking. "However shall we past the time?"
C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N
P atton led Ori out of the abandoned house as soon as the sun went fully down. Awkwardly, cautiously, he reached to take Ori's hand, only to have Ori wrap himself around Patton's arm.
"I like being alone with you," Ori said, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It's kind of like when we were kids." His lips curled up in a mischievous smile and his eyes lit up with amusement. "Only better. Much better."
Patton smiled at him, but he was more concerned with watching the road and watching the trees around them. Yes, he'd done his best to lay a false trail, but for sure someone in the pack would eventually realize that they hadn't gone up or down the creek. He hoped that everyone would be behind walls soon, obeying the curfew that locked all shifters inside their enclaves after ten at night. But he couldn’t help thinking that, if he and Ori were out running around past curfew and not wearing the bright yellow tabs that proclaimed them shifters, then why wouldn't their former packmates be doing the same thing?
Still, curfew meant that moving after dark was the safest choice for them both.
"You okay?" Ori asked, the thinnest hint of doubt in his voice.
Patton glanced over at him. "Of course. Just worried. I don't want to get caught."
Ori let out a breath. "I was afraid for a moment you were regretting this afternoon."
"Never," Patton declared. "But it can't be any later than half-past eight. Maybe we should have stayed hidden in the house until curfew."
"Ah." Ori walked beside him in silence for a few moments. "I'd rather be moving, if it's all the same to you. If we can get to a town, maybe we can take a bus."
"I don't have any human money."
