Page 78 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

And when Felix shifted again, maybe realising what was happening beneath him through the whisper-thin material of his joggers, it only made matters infinitely worse.

He gasped, his lips and tongue going still against mine, his entire body freezing.

“Fuck,” I breathed against his mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Felix said quickly, but his voice pitched higher, nervous and shy, and he ducked his head.

I gently guided him off my lap. “Let me get dressed real quick.”

A beautiful flush painted his entire face pink, his cheeks red from my beard scraping against them. The sight of him marked by me, even in such a small way, sent an awfully possessive thrill through me.

Felix averted his eyes as I rushed to collect my clothes from where I’d left them in the trees. My hands shook as I pulled them on, my mind reeling.

I couldn’t believe it had happened. Couldn’t believe Felix had kissed me, had let me hold him, had responded like that. But the fear was already creeping in—surely this was just mere curiosity? An experiment? I couldn’t allow myself to get my hopes up.

I froze, vest half on, and forced myself to breathe.

No, it didn’t matter even if this was a singular occurrence. This wasn’t torture.

It was a gift.

When I returned, Felix hadn’t moved an inch. Still sitting in the exact spot where I’d left him, knees drawn up to his chest, staring at the ground with an intensity that suggested he was trying to memorise every blade of grass.

He tried to smile when he saw me approaching, but couldn’t quite manage to maintain eye contact. His gaze kept skittering away, landing on my chest, my hands, anywhere but my face.

I settled beside him, trying to mimic our position from earlier, before my world had changed forever.

The first thing out of Felix’s mouth again was, “Sorry.”

“For what?”

He gestured vaguely in the direction of my cock, teeth worrying deep into his lip. “I should have…” His voice trailed off as his eyes flickered down to where my cargo pants didn’t quite hide the fact that I was still semi-erect.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh! That was my fault. And Jesus, I’d never expect you to jump into doing that. Of course not.”

“Okay,” he said quietly, but he was still avoiding my eyes.

I studied his profile, trying to read his face for clues. I swallowed before bravely asking, “Have you ever… been with a guy before?”

Felix shook his head.

“Only women,” he said softly. “A grand total of two of them.” He forced a laugh and looked away, biting into his lip again. “Two girls at uni.”

At that, my wolf practically leapt with joy. Felix hadn’t been with anyone since he’d started working at Killigrew Street. Since the day we met. The possessive satisfaction that flooded through me was probably unhealthy, but I couldn’t bring myself to fight it.

He gazed at the sky, looking thoughtful. “I thought maybe with Wren, once I’d got to know him… but it just didn’t happen. It rarely does for me, actually.”

“So you and Wren…” I started, trying to keep my voice casual.

“Just kissed,” Felix said quickly. “Once.”

Something dark and territorial roared to life at the image of Wren’s hands in Felix’s hair—the same silky soft hair I’d just run my fingers through endlessly. Of Wren touching him, kissing up the column of his throat, tasting him.

The growl that rumbled up from my chest was completely involuntary.

“Kit?” Felix’s voice cut through the red haze. “Are you okay?”

I forced myself to inhale deeply, to push down the violent surge of possessiveness that had my hands clenching into fists. This was exactly the kind of behaviour that had terrified Felix in the first place.