Jaded [The Moonlight Breed 9] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Gabrielle Evans (the read aloud family TXT) 📖

He appreciated the concern, but the flames scalding his insides were still manageable. “Isn’t that my line?”

His joke fell flat, however, and Zuriel simply frowned at him. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

“Zuri, I’m not going to use you like that.”

“You can’t use me if I want it.” The button on his jeans finally popped open, and he slid the zipper down with a quiet rasp before pushing the snug denim down his thighs, exposing his swollen cock. “C’mon, sweetheart, you know you want me.”

He did. He wanted his lover with a desperation that scared him. As his temperature increased and his pulse accelerated, it was growing harder to maintain his self-control. If he slipped, even for just a minute, he didn’t know if he could be gentle with his much smaller mate. Probably, he should have thought this through a little better, but in his defense, he hadn’t realized the heat would be so all consuming.

“I do want you. I always want you. That’s not the point.”

“Well, then you’ve lost me somewhere,” Zuriel argued. “Please explain what the problem is.”

“Not ten minutes ago, I swore to never hurt you. That hasn’t changed, and I won’t risk your safety because I can’t control myself.” It wasn’t Zuriel’s fault, and he felt like a heel for snapping at his mate, but he was already fraying at the edges. One touch was all it would take to break the tenuous leash on his desire.

“Let me get this straight.” The smile on Zuriel’s lips was downright wicked as he slinked across the carpet, creeping closer like a predator stalking his prey. “The problem is that you want me too much?”

“Lirimaer, that’s close enough.” He even held his hands up as though that would stop the determined shifter. “Stop.” Though his head was spinning and his vision was growing blurry, every other sense was heightened.

Zuriel’s unique scent seemed to saturate the entire room, and he could practically taste it on his tongue with each inhalation. Even from a distance, he could hear the steady cadence of his lover’s heartbeat, and the silk robes that adorned his body were suddenly too heavy against his overheated skin. Gods, even the brush of his balls against his thighs was enough to make him moan.

The beast within him roared and gnashed his teeth, throwing himself against his cage in a bid for freedom. His lion recognized Zuriel as their mate, and unlike Spiro, the cat had no qualms about taking what belonged to them.

“You can fight it all you want, but you know I’m right.” Continuing forward, Zuriel didn’t stop until Spiro was pressed up against the door with no room to escape.

If he wasn’t going out of his mind with need, he would have found the situation hysterical. Between the two of them, he was definitely the bigger and stronger. Yet, there he was, cowering against the gleaming wood of the door and clutching at the door handle because he was afraid of what he might do if he let go.

“Spiro, I can see that you’re hurting,” Zuriel continued. “It’s not going to get better or just magically go away. Let me help you.”

Before he could make a move to combat him, Zuriel reached out, parted the fabric of his robes, and curled his long fingers around Spiro’s aching cock. Two quick strokes was all it took to send him to his knees, groaning loudly as ropes of semen jetted from the head of his cock.

“That’s better,” Zuriel whispered as he crouched down in front of him.

It wasn’t better, though. It hadn’t taken the edge off at all, but only made his lust surge higher. “Zuri, go.” The words were barely intelligible through his gritted teeth. “I want you to leave right now. Please.”

“No. I can help. I’m the only one who can help.” Very slowly, he pushed to his feet and began striding backward. “Come and get me.”

When he fisted his own engorged erection and began stroking in seductive, languid motions, Spiro’s control finally snapped. With a primal growl, he sprang up from the floor and lunged for his mate. “I can’t stop it,” he warned. Or maybe it was an apology. Nothing made sense anymore.

Zuriel wrapped both arms and legs around him, kissing and licking at his neck while Spiro carried them to the bedroom. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

Chapter Eight

The hours passed—nights turning to days, days into nights—and the wildfire that raged within his mate didn’t wane but grew into a firestorm of raw, animalistic need. By the rise of the sun on the third morning, Zuriel had been taken in numerous positions in a variety of ways, and he awoke with a silly, well-fucked smile on his lips.

It hadn’t been all fun, though. The night of the full moon had been awful. Without the Inhibitors, they’d both been forced to shift, postponing any relief for Spiro until morning. He’d spent the entire night running in an effort to lessen the driving lust, and Zuriel had been left to roam the unfamiliar forests with his friends.

“Good morning, lirimaer.” Spiro purred against the shell of his ear while his hands roamed Zuriel’s naked torso. “Did you sleep well?” One hand caressed his hip, dipping lower to fondle his morning erection. “Mmm, is this for me?”

“Again?” It was really a rhetorical question, because he knew the mating heat wouldn’t cease until the moon rose that night, but he enjoyed teasing his lover.

“Are you too sore?”

That was Spiro—ever worrying about him. There was no need for his concern, however. Thanks to a few tiny drops of his mate’s blood, he was feeling right as rain without even a hint of soreness.

There was no biting involved, though, and Spiro refused to claim him during the heat. Since Zuriel didn’t think he was completely ready for that important step in their relationship, he accepted it