I playfully growled at my beloved and picked him up. He squealed, then giggled as I carried him to the bathroom. I might be “out of practice,” but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still perform and give him an amazing claiming.
Chapter 6
Abel
Okay, teasing Marcello might not have been the smartest thing I had ever done. But it had been a rough night, and despite the fact that he was a mobster, he was still my mate. And, well, I was horny. His room smelled heavily of him, and his bed even more so. And I’d woken up in it, completely enveloped in his scent and hard as a rock and leaking.
When he playfully growled at me just before grabbing me, I squealed at the unexpectedness of it, but that quickly turned to laughter when he picked me up. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist, and his hands went under my ass. I was nose-to-nose with him in this position, and the temptation to lean in and kiss him was immense, but I wasn’t going to make that move. What if he didn’t like kissing?
I was placed on the bathroom counter in between the two sinks and grinned up at my mate. That was, until he leaned in and caged me with his arms on either side of my thighs. He was so close I could feel his breath on my skin.
“I want you,” he said simply. “I wanted you in Montana.”
“Why didn’t you say something, then?”
“I wasn’t allowed to. I probably could have pushed the issue, but I already knew that Master Ambrosius didn’t care for any of us, and I was only there because the council needed our help. There was no way Master Ambrosius was going to allow Vincent near the mountain, so I was sent. I think it was fate that I was, but sadly, I couldn’t claim you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. They aren’t allowed to interfere with fated mates. No matter who you are, everyone knows this.” I reached out and placed my hands on Marcello’s shoulders. He was incredibly warm through his wrinkled shirt, and I thought how different it looked now that he’d slept in it. “If you had said I was your beloved, there was nothing they could have done. Not even then.”
Marcello chuckled. “Are you saying you would have happily left with me? You knew who I was when I introduced myself. It was written all over your face that you wanted nothing to do with me.”
He wasn’t wrong. It was certainly a shock when he told me his name. I regretted how I acted, and I would never be able to take that back. “I’ve heard a lot of things about your coven,” I said quietly.
“I’m sure all of its true,” Marcello told me. “I’m still willing to let you go if that’s what you want.”
I looked up at my mate, wondering if I would ever mean anything to him because it had to be that he didn’t care for me or even having a beloved that he would so easily let me go.
“If you truly don’t want me here, I’ll leave. I never want to be somewhere that I’m a burden.”
Marcello growled, and this time, it wasn’t playful. I looked up into angry, red-tinted eyes. “I want you, and you will never be a burden to me. But despite the fact that I want you more than anything and would love nothing more than to claim you right this very moment, even I have my limits when it comes to mybeloved. If you are never going to be able to look past the fact that this is who I am, that this is your family and coven now, then I would rather live a life without you.”
“I simply wanted to tell you to not let Marcello boss you around too much. Be open to things with your mate and trust him with your life. He will do anything to keep you safe,”Thomas had told me not long ago. I shook my head as I met Marcello’s eyes. “No,” I told him. “I’m not leaving.” I gave his shoulders a gentle push to get him to back up and give me room. “I’m not going to let you make all of the decisions in our relationship,” I added. I realized once I was standing on the floor, I should have stayed up there because I had to look way up to meet his gaze from here. A slow smile crept onto Marcello’s face.
“Good,” he said. Marcello turned and left, going directly to the shower and turning it on. It was much fancier than anything I’d ever seen, and I wasn’t sure I would have been able to figure out which knobs to turn because there were several. Marcello came back toward me and stopped in the middle of the bathroom. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and, without a thought, pulled it open and out of his slacks.
I felt the breath leave my body. Holy abs. I stood there and watched as he undid the belt, the fastener on the slacks, and then the zipper. Once he had them pushed past his hips, they simply fell to the floor. Marcello used a foot to push them to the side, and then he bent and removed his socks. Without a thought, he pushed his briefs down, and my eyes widened.
“I would ask if you like what you see, but I don’t need to.” Marcello slowly closed the distance between us. “But you are incredibly overdressed for our shower.” I squeaked, unable to form words. He was gorgeous. All that skin was on display, and fates alive, he was sexy as sin.
“Do you need help undressing?”
I tried to say no, but again, words simply wouldn’t come out. I slowly reached out and touched his upper stomach, just below his chest. It was hard, just like every inch of him. I didn’t realize vampires could be so…ripped.
“If you keep touching me, I’d prefer you slide that hand of yours downward and wrap it around my aching cock.
I felt the air leave my lungs. Could I actually do such a thing? I wanted to. Dare I though?
“Don’t think, just do.”
I gasped when Marcello’s hand covered mine on his chest. He pressed mine fully against his chest before he slid his fingers in between mine. My eyes widened again as he used his hand on mine to move it downward. Breathing became even more difficult the farther down my hand moved. I felt the trimmed hair that surrounded his cock, and then I whimpered when I was suddenly touching something entirely different.
Marcello’s eyes closed, and he let his head fall back when he wrapped our joined hands around his cock. It was smooth and hot and a whole lot thicker and longer than mine. Marcello moaned, and his dick flexed when our hands slid toward the head. “Yesss,” Marcello hissed out. “Fuck.” His hand tightened around mine near the head, and when he opened his eyes, they were redder than I’d ever seen. Marcello took a deep breath. “You. Get naked before I rip your clothes off.”
I squeaked before I started tugging on my shirt. It was no good though. I wasn’t getting it off without both of my hands. I tugged on my hand that Marcello held on his dick, and he scowled. “I can’t get undressed without both hands. Or at least without you letting me get my arm out of my sleeve.”
It took Marcello a moment to release my hand. When he did, I quickly grabbed the bottom of my shirt, lifted it off over my head, and dropped it to the floor. I blindly found the button ofmy jeans and yanked. When it didn’t work, Marcello chuckled. “I can help, but I’m afraid I might rip them.”
I looked up with rounded eyes. “No. I don’t have anything else to wear. Please don’t.” I had no idea how I was going to get my things, but I really wasn’t worrying about that right now. I finally got my pants off and pushed them down, then kicked them off to the side. Marcello had already seen me naked, and I stood there in front of him, waiting. His eyes slowly moved from my face downward, and the smile on his face grew.
