Chapter Twenty-Three
Max led him by the hand, down the stairs, and into the guest wing. Michael could scent the alpha’s rut and knew Max couldn’t have missed the scent of heat pouring off him in turn.
He felt nervous and excited all at once, watching as Max drew the blinds, darkening the room a little before returning to stand in front of him.
“You are so beautiful,” the alpha told him, the words sending a thrill of happiness through him. “I can’t believe I found you.”
He cupped Michael’s cheek, running his thumb along his cheekbone. Michael pressed into his touch, his eyes closing, his breathing deepening.
The alpha’s hands moved, settling on his shoulders, before trailing slowly downward to his waist. Those same hands slipped under his T-shirt, fingers brushing lightly across bare skin. Michael’s eyes flew open, meeting Max’s gaze as the alpha guided his hands up across the plains of Michael’s stomach to his chest before sliding down to rest against his hips. The alpha’s hands fell away, leaving Michael shaking with need. He grasped his T-shirt and pulled it off, letting it fall forgotten to the floor before peeling off his jeans and kicking them away. It wasn’t enough. He needed more.
Already, he could feel the heat radiating from his body, little beads of sweat decorating his skin. He moved toward the alpha but Max side-stepped and slipped around behind him.
“I love looking at you,” the alpha told him. “Just drinking in all this perfection.”
Michael almost hugged himself at that. He felt far from perfect.
“I’ve dreamed about this,” the alpha continued. “Having you here, in my arms, in my bed, with nothing between us.”
The alpha’s shirt hit the floor in front of them, drawing Michael’s eyes down.
“Caressing every inch of your skin,” Max murmured, moving closer but still not touching.
“Please,” he said, his voice strangled.
The alpha’s lips pressed just above his shoulder blade, kissing the skin softly. Michael sighed and swallowed a moan.
“I’m going to worship every inch of you,” Max promised. “By the time you lay down on that bed, there’ll be nothing but you and me.”
Another kiss, just below his other shoulder blade.
The next kiss was lower, in the center of his spine, the alpha’s breath hot on his skin. He licked a trail down Michael’s spine, coming to a stop at the small of his back, his hands ghosting across the skin before his fingers trailed lower. They teased over the mounds of his ass, tentative, testing.
“You’ve been touched here before,” the alpha said, his voice low.
Michael, too distracted by how much he was enjoying the alpha’s touch, managed only a quiet sound of agreement, not letting himself think.
“But never with love,” the alpha contended before his thumbs gently parted Michael’s cheeks and his tongue licked a slow path between them.
Moaning, Michael rocked his hips forward and back, feeling the wet heat of Max’s tongue pressing over his aching center. The alpha did it again and again before his tongue dipped gently into Michael’s hole. Shuddering, Michael almost came from that simple touch alone.
“Max, Max, I can’t…”
The alpha pulled back a little, pressing a kiss to one cheek.
“You’re mine, all of you,” the alpha said, his voice rough and low. “Every fear, every unwanted touch, I’m going to chase them all away. There’ll be nothing between us when you lie down on that bed, nothing except love.”
Max’s thumbs pressed in again, his tongue licking a slow path across the cleft, and Michael understood. Sighing, his breath catching with unabashed pleasure, he gave into it, letting his hips shift back and forth as the alpha gently fucked him with his tongue. He was already hard, already being driven slowly mad at the growing pressure. When it peaked, he let it overwhelm him, hips thrusting hard as he came, the alpha sucking against him as he rode out the aftershocks. Max pulled back, resting his cheek against the small of Michael’s back.
He stayed there as his hands ran up and down Michael’s legs, from hip to knee, exploring every inch of the skin. He found the ticklish spots at the back of his knees, found a little hollow next to his hip bones that seemed made for the alpha’s thumbs to sit in, pressing little teasing circles across the skin. His hands drifted steadily inward until each brush upward teased along Michael’s inner thigh, Max’s hands just brushing his balls and his cock. But he paid them no attention, his focus completely on the soft, sensitive skin of Michael’s inner thighs. His touch made Michael wriggle and shift, moving toward and then away as if he couldn’t quite make up his mind.
The alpha rested his hands on Michael’s hips before turning him around. Max was still kneeling, his head at waist height as he gently wrapped one hand around Michael’s leg and urged the omega to bend his knee and rest his foot on Max’s shoulder.
It left Michael in an oddly vulnerable position, balanced on one leg, his other stretched in a way that exposed his groin and his thigh. He understood why a moment later when Max started pressing a trail of kisses from his knee upward. By the time he reached the inner thigh, Michael was panting with anticipation, knowing just how good the alpha’s mouth could feel. He wasn’t disappointed as his kisses made him moan and shudder, every inch of sensitive skin getting personal attention. His other thigh was next, his foot pressed to Max’s shoulder as he struggled to hold still.
After that, the alpha gently took him to his knees, his fingers and thumbs massaging his feet until Michael was boneless and relaxed. His chest and stomach were next, the alpha working his way upward until he was cupping Michael’s face in his hands.
“Three more places to kiss,” the alpha told him. “And then I’m taking you to bed.”
The first kiss was to his forehead, both temples. And then butterfly kisses pressed over his eyes.
“Keep them closed,” Max whispered.
His cheeks and chin were next, the ticklish touch making him smile. And then those lips were pressed against his. He sighed into the touch, the sigh becoming a deep moan when the alpha’s fingers kneaded the nape of his neck. The alpha broke the kiss, stepping around behind him and guiding Michael back to his feet. He urged Michael’s arms up to cross his chest, each hand grabbing the opposite shoulder and then he guided Michael’s chin to his chest, leaving his neck vulnerable and exposed.
It was almost too much, and he tensed.
“Shh,” Max said, his hands immediately coming to rest on Michael’s shoulders. “I’m right here. Just me and you. If you need a break…”
“No,” Michael croaked out. “I need you.”
He did, the scent of the alpha’s rut calling to him.
“Close your eyes,” Max urged.
Michael did, breathing in and out slowly as the alpha’s thumbs pressed firmly into his skin, grounding him again.
The kiss, when it came, had Michael crying out with pleasure. The alpha’s lips were locked around the skin of the nape of his neck, sucking on it, sending sparks of white through Michael’s vision and heat snaking through his body, filling every part of him with a wonderful warmth.
Max pulled away slowly, and he keened from the loss, never wanting to be parted from him. But the alpha’s hands were on his hips moments later, and Michael glanced down to see Max on his knees in front of him, his dark eyes looking up at the omega.
“One last kiss,” the alpha teased darkly before pushing forward, his nose nuzzling the base of Michael’s shaft.
He held his breath in anticipation, holding back his pleas as the alpha’s mouth drifted lower. When the wet heat of Max’s mouth surrounded the head of his cock, he groaned lowly and held himself still. Max took him deeper, the alpha’s tongue teasing across the underside of his shaft, sending shudders through Michael as he gulped in a breath. The last kiss and he knew just how it would end.
It was only the alpha’s hand on his hips that held him steady, his whole body alive with pulsing pleasure as the anticipation built. Max pulled back a little and started sucking softly at the head, scattering Michael’s thoughts as the pleasure blotted out everything in its path.
“Max, I—I’m close—”
He barely got the warning out and the alpha was taking him deeper, swallowing around him as he came, his hips jerking in little rhythmic movements. He was distantly aware of Max releasing him, of the alpha pressing a gentle kiss to his soft shaft before standing and pulling Michael into an embrace.
His whole body was thrumming with energy, with pleasure, and showed no signs of stopping or slowing. He could feel the sheen of sweat on his skin, the scent sweet and heavy from his heat.
Max picked him up, lifting him into the air and carrying him across the room to the bed. He laid Michael down on his back in the center, staring down at him.
Michael reached his arms toward the alpha. His every thought, his every sense, had narrowed until Max, and only Max, was the center of his world. He called and the alpha came.