"...I want you."
"You want me for what?"
"I want you to—"
I can’t make the words come.
His other hand finds my hip. Fingers slipping under the hem of my t-shirt to graze the skin above my waistband. His thumb on my neck finds the bond mark and presses.
"You came up here dirty from the garden and didn't even wash your face. Don’t be shy now, baby. Want me to what?”
"...Zero."
"Mm?"
"...don't make me say it."
He grins. "Sweetheart. I am absolutely going to make you say it." The hand at my hip tightens. "Out loud. With your words. Tell me what you want from me."
"I want you to—" my throat closes, opens—"I want you to fuck me."
"Sore?"
"...yes."
"While you're still feeling him."
"...yes."
He makes that sound again. The low pleased rumble I felt against the back of my neck on the patio. He leans in. Presses his forehead against mine. His eyes are dark.
"Christ, baby. You're gonna ruin me."
"Zero—"
"I’ve been hard since I saw you bent over those weeds. Do you know how much self control it took not to pin you down in the dirt and fuck you like the slutty little omega you are?"
"I—"
"You'reminefor the next hour."
I bite my bottom lip as my cock twitches, aching in my pants.
"Strip."
I strip.
The t-shirt drops to his floor. My shorts and briefs go in one motion. I step out of them. Stand in the middle of hisbedroom, naked, sweat-cooled, the bond mark at my throat livid and the ache between my hips a small steady metronome under everything else.
Zero exhales through his nose then pushes off the doorframe. He tips my face up, capturing my lips before I have time to breathe.
He kisses mefilthy.
Open. Wet. His tongue in my mouthtasting, tasting whatever I am, whatever I’ve been carrying around all morning—garden dirt, sweat, the iced tea, the cheese from Margot's plate. He hums against my mouth like he's settled into a meal. Pulls back. Drags his tongue, slow, up the side of my throat from collarbone to ear. Tastes the sweat there. Closes his teeth, gentle, over the bond mark Atlas put on me and breathes me in.
"Fuck."
"...Zero—"
