An intense emotion shook me. I could feel our mate bond, usually a sluggish passive thing, start to pulse in a rhythm that matched my pounding heart.

I completely and utterly froze, terrified that no matter what I did next, it would push her away. She pulled back to view my face, clearly puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

A shaky breath escaped my lips. Before I could stop myself and act more like an alpha, I did the most omega thing ever and talked about my insecurities. “I’m scared shitless I’m going to mess this up. There’s nothing in this damn world I want more than you, but nothing I’ve done so far has proven my worth to you as your mate.” The silence stretched between us and the word vomitorium wouldn’t stop. “I lost my shit seeing you on Alpha Austin’s porch, arms crossed over your chest and looking at me like I was dirt. Every one there celebrating the kidnapping of Raff’s mate. A total Grey wolf thing to do, by the way. I was like, shit, well, if it worked for him, why the fuck not? And then you’re here and my brain is telling me, wow, that shit worked. Yet my heart is telling me not to hope. So instead, I’m begging for scraps and wondering if that makes me a weak alpha, like my father. I just…”

My rambling was cut off by Akela jumping on me. Her mouth latched onto mine and she sucked on my bottom lip almost to the point of pain. Her hands tunneled under my shirt, nails marking my back. She grinded against me, making these devilish little moans that had my balls tightening.

The word mush circling my mind went blissfully silent. These signals I understood clearly. My mate wanted me. Yet, the last time we were together, I’d thrown down an ultimatum. I had to stick to it. I pinned her down on the bed by laying my body on top of hers. She took the movement as encouragement and sucked on my tongue with renewed vigor. It took all the strength I had to break away from her kiss and rest my weight on my forearms. She nibbled on her bottom lip while her eyes searched mine. The heat radiating from her core made my dick twitch in anticipation. Her hips rose off the bed while her greedy clit sought out the friction of my cock trapped in my jeans. It was close to my undoing.

“Say it,” I demanded.

I was grateful she didn’t act confused or tighten her lips stubbornly. A tilted smile graced her mouth and a guilty little chuckle accompanied it. It was like she’d hoped I wouldn’t have asked, but knew that expectation was futile.

“It’s real,” she whispered.

“Nope.” I shook my head, our faces so close that our noses rubbed. “The whole thing.”

“Why do you want it so badly? You know the truth.” Her stubborn side was showing.

“Because you’ve rejected me enough. This has meaning.”

“All right, Miles, I understand.” She took in a deep breath and looked at me solemnly. “You are my true mate. What we have between us is real.”

I couldn’t think of a single dirty thing ever spoken to me that was sexier than that. My hand slid inside her stretchy leggings, cupping her sex, and using the heel of my palm to grind her clit while my fingers explored how incredibly wet her little thong was.