Page 44 of Claimed

All my nerves and self-doubt immediately melt away. I squeeze her breast, both of us groaning in delight. This perfect woman, my mate, my omega, wants me.

“Is that what you need, little omega?” I ask, rolling a little so I’m leaning over her. “You need your alpha to kiss those pouty little lips?”

She nods her head eagerly, her eyes sparking with heat as I grin down at her. I lean close, her lips so close I can feel her breath. “Tell me,” I whisper. When she doesn’t speak, I move my lips around to suck on her earlobe, making her moan before I whisper, “Tell me what you need.”

“You,” she whispers, her fingers digging into my shirt and trying to pull me closer. “I need you, Gage.”

I move my head back over hers and smile down at her. “Good girl,” I say, taking a page from Maddox’s book, right before I seal my lips to hers. I smell her arousal and it makes me grow hard. But this is just meant to be our first kiss, so I focus my attention on her mouth, lifting my hand to tilt her chin just the way I want her.

I’ve never kissed anyone before, but I’m not about to admit my lack of experience to my mate. I want her to believe me to be confident and capable. When I suck on her lower lip, she gasps, and I use that opportunity to thrust my tongue forward, finding hers and caressing it, showing her I can take care of her and make her feel good. That just because I’m not the leader of our pack, or the strongest, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to bring her pleasure.

Textbooks aren’t the only thing I read, after all.

I take my time worshipping her mouth. She tries to speed it up several times, but I control it, keeping it slow and languid. And when my dick feels so hard I fear I’m close to rutting her with my knot and biting her to secure the bond, I start to slow my movements, knowing I need to stop before I do something stupid.

When I finally pull us to a stop, I move my hand to her waist, not trusting myself to keep holding her breast as I take the opportunity to study her face.

“You shifted,” I say quietly. “For me?”

She shrugs. “It’s happened three times today.” My eyebrows raise in surprise.

“It has? And I missed it?” A small knot of discomfort grows in my belly. I was so consumed in my books that I missed something important.

“Well, the first time was when I woke up with the twins. And then again with Maddox, in the bathroom.”

Her cheeks grow pink, telling me she’s leaving something important out. “Do you know why you shifted those times?” I ask, and she bites her lip.

“No.” I narrow my eyes, knowing she’s lying to me.

“Okay, I’ll just ask them,” I tell her before speaking into the bond. “What happened when Cherry shifted earlier?”

“No!” She shrieks, her hands coming up to cover my ears as if that will stop me from talking to them. I laugh at her attempt as Hunter answers.

“Don’t worry, Chase and I took care of her.”

I try to grab her flailing hands as Chase adds, “And in case you’re wondering, she looks fucking spectacular when she comes.”

My eyes widen as I stare down at her. “They took care of you, huh?” I ask in amusement as I watch her cheeks turn bright red.

“Agreed,” Maddox asks, making me grin.

“Maddox, too?” I ask as she squeals and covers her face.

I start to peel her fingers away as I tell her, calmer now, “I’m just teasing you, darling.” I kiss her fingertips and smile softly at her. “I’m glad they took care of you. And you know what this means?” She shakes her head. “You shifted three times today! Three times by choice.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say it was at will,” she says as the red in her cheeks slowly fades to pink.

“Tell me?” I ask, grabbing the blanket on the back of the couch and pulling it over her naked body to make her feel more comfortable as I roll to my back, pulling her close to my side.

“Each time, I wasn’t thinking directly about shifting. I was thinking about what I wanted to do. Like with Maddox, I wanted to thank him for taking care of me, and with you⁠—”

“With me?” I prod, desperate to hear the end of that sentence.

“You asked me if I felt safe, and I wanted to tell you I did.”

I lean down and give her a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling back, not wanting to take it too far.

“How did you end up shifting back to your wolf after?”