~ Chapter Forty-Nine ~

**Erika Keller**

Panting, shaking and grasping was how I spent that afternoon. I held onto Dimitri’s torso as I lay across him in our bed; my arm across his stomach, my head on his chest and our legs tangled somewhere under the covers. I was completely at peace, the feeling of being so much closer to my mate filling me with warmth I just didn’t want to let go of.

When I looked up at Dimitri, his eyes were shut and his lips twisted up at the corner, displaying a tiny smile he was trying to contain to himself. I reached up to barely pull down at his bottom lip, only for my wrist to be seized and the alpha’s eyes to snap open.

But he didn’t meet my gaze, nor did he look down at what I was doing, he put all his attention below my jaw. He raised his hand to brush the stray strands of my hair behind my ear, grazing his fingers over the skin of my neck until he reached the spot that still felt a little tender for me. He ran his thumb along the shape of my new mark, sending shivers down my spine that drew his eyes up to my face instead. This time, he did not hold back his smile, which was a brilliant grin lighting up the entire room.

I expected him to say something, to suggest we go eat or return to training if it was still going on, but instead he surged up. I naturally retreated as he raised to his elbows and flopped over me, so I was now on my back with him hovering above me. His leg slotted itself perfectly between mine and his elbows pressed into the mattress either side of my head.

Wordless still, he kissed my cheek, lingering with every touch of his lips, then drifted down to my mark. I made some sort of noise I didn’t recognise coming out of my throat before a moan slipped by me. His human teeth closed around the tender skin of my mark and he sucked at the spot for a moment. I couldn’t stop my arms from curling around his head, fingers tangling in his hair.

“Dima,” I murmured, catching my bottom lip between my teeth. He glanced up and abandoned what he was doing, slamming his mouth to mine. I immediately let go of my lip to kiss him properly, lifting one leg that wanted to wrap around his waist.

He slid his tongue into my mouth as he followed my lead, shifting between both of my legs and holding one by the knee up by his hips. It allowed our bodies to line up perfectly, and suddenly all thought of doing anything else but staying in bed was thrown out the window.

I let my hands trail down his chest as his slid down my thigh slowly. I could feel his leftover excitement from round one rubbing against me just barely, so I swept lower than his abdomen and took a hold of him, just barely squeezing to elicit a grunt. His lips became harsher, more forceful, and I responded in turn by pumping my hand. He groaned as he lifted onto his knees without breaking our kiss and put a stop to my movements by pressing himself to me. I bit onto his lip by accident, lost in the overwhelming sensation of having a mate like this.

“You’re gonna make me lose my mind,” he uttered in a gruff, needy voice that rattled my bones. I pulled back from our kiss to meet his eyes, two brown circles staring daggers into me; filled with need, want, even love, somewhere deep inside.

I smiled. “You already knew that, though.”

“Mhm,” he replied, half-assed. He was sweeping his gaze over my body instead, the dying light from outside not enough to remind us that other things were going on in the world besides our little reconciliation.

But I accepted the way he distracted me by rubbing against me.

I glanced down at his neck. “Dima?” He hummed in response, moving his hips slowly to mine so I could feel his excitement. “What about me?”

He frowned and looked up, though nothing could stop him from grinding on me now. I gently took his face on my hands, running my thumb over his cheekbones.

“Can I mark you?”

He looked surprised but I felt a wave of pleasure wash over me - pleasure that wasn’t mine. A little shocked by the intensity of it, I tilted my head to the side to wait for Dimitri’s outward response. His hand had tightened on my thigh; his lips had pressed to one another; it seemed a difficult question to answer, despite his body knowing exactly what it wanted.

“Dima?” I continued, brushing my nose to his then pulling his forehead to mine and closing my eyes. I felt him sigh slightly at the loss of contact, allowing him to think a little clearer.

Suddenly having him inside of me, though, did not help things.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, the noise becoming a loud moan. Dimitri had buried himself between my legs, his hips snapping to mine as he grasped at my thigh and the pillow under my head. I looked up at him in surprise, a mixture of pleasure taking over my entire body.

“I didn’t think you’d ever want to mark me,” he explained, forcing my head to the side so he could pepper kisses under my jaw. “You are welcome to claim me as yours whenever you fucking want, Erika.” He slammed inside a little too hard, but the pain only added to my pleasure somehow.

I securely wrapped one leg around his waist and used the other to push. It took all of my strength in that moment to flip him onto his back with me on top, our hips connected, however the moment I knew for sure that I had the power right then, I immediately lifted to slam back down on him again.

It seemed something about this position was better than the last - for both of us. Dimitri’s eyes had immediately shut and his hands were forming bruises on my hips from how tightly he held them to follow my movements. I felt his body trying to meet me from the bed, but I leaned forward to hold down his chest and stop him.

Rolling my hips, he moaned quietly to himself and I smirked, running my fingertips down his chest. It was the first time I noticed how flushed his skin had become, the redness momentarily turning white under my touch. He glanced up at me and returned the favour, sliding his hands up my waist then taking one breast into his palm. He squeezed it with an unreadable look on his face, before meeting my eyes.

“You have no idea how hot you look right now.”

I raised a brow and rolled my hips again, wiping the smirk right off of his face to be replaced by pleasure.

“Fuck, Erika.”

Deciding to take it up a notch, I started to bounce more aggressively on him, feeling the weight of my chest moving up and down with me. His hands placed themselves once more on my bruising hips and I raked my nails down his stomach. I bent forward to begin kissing at his neck, to mark my territory before I let my canines out. As soon as I was hovering over him, though, he began to pound into me, letting his body guide him. All thoughts became incoherent; breathing and moving became optional.

I was struggling to hold myself up when I felt him barely twitch inside me and he nudged my face with his nose to tell me he was close. If I was going to mark him, it had to be soon.

My canines were already out by the time I ran my lips across his skin.

“N-Now, Erika,” Dimitri moaned, as he slammed his hips to mine one last time.

I latched onto his neck so I didn’t miss my chance, and I felt his muscles rippling beneath me like he was about to shift. He made an inhuman noise of pleasure, holding onto me so tight I had no choice but to stay perfectly still for a second. I pulled my teeth out of him and licked the wound, and he shuddered.

“Are you okay?” I found myself asking in a whisper. He seemed to snort as he pulled out and wrapped his arms completely around my torso, dragging me down to lie on his chest. I snuggled my face in his neck appreciatively.

“I’m more than okay,” he replied quietly. “But there’s something that’s bothering me.”

I looked up at his face. “What?”

“You didn’t finish.”