Page 63 of Something Worth Keeping
“Here?” Cillian pressed the shadow inside carefully, watching Julian’s face for any sign of discomfort.
“Yes.” Julian’s fingers clawed at the sheets, searching for purchase as the shadows held him open. “Cillian, please…”
Cillian added another tendril, stretching Julian carefully while his other shadows stroked and teased everywhere else. Julian was making sounds now - desperate, needy sounds that erased every anxious thought Cillian had been spiraling through for the past week.
This. This was his mate. Safe. Whole.Here.
“I need to be inside you,” Cillian said roughly. “Need to feel you.”
“Then stop preparing me like I’m delicate and do it.” Julian’s eyes opened, focusing on Cillian with that sharp intensity that always gutted him. “I want to feel you tomorrow. I need to feel that reminder that I’m yours.”
Cillian withdrew the shadows and positioned himself at Julian’s entrance, pressing in slowly despite Julian’s impatient sounds. The tight heat of Julian’s body made his visionblur at the edges, shadows spilling across the bed involuntarily.
“Perfect,” Julian breathed. “You feel…this is…”
Words dissolved as Cillian seated himself fully. He held still, letting Julian adjust, but his shadows had no such patience. They wound around Julian’s cock, stroking in rhythm with Cillian’s pulse.
“Move,” Julian ordered. “Cillian,move!”
Cillian pulled out and thrust back in, finding a rhythm that had Julian gasping. The shadows tightened around Julian’s wrists and ankles, holding him open and exposed. Every thrust drove Cillian deeper, and the mate bond flared between them - electric and overwhelming.
Julian’s analytical mind had completely shut down. He was just sensation now, arching into everytouch, making sounds that Cillian had never heard from him before. The shadows were quick to pick up on every response, learning what made Julian gasp, moan, or curse.
“Close,” Julian managed. “I’m…Cillian…”
“Let me feel it.” Cillian angled his hips, hitting the spot that made Julian’s eyes roll back. “Come for me, Julian. Show me you’re here. You’re safe. You’remine.”
The shadows tightened around Julian’s cock, and the mate bond pulsed between them like a living thing. Julian shattered, his release coating both their stomachs while his body clenched around Cillian. The sensation dragged Cillian over the edge immediately, his own climax hitting like a shockwave.
His shadows exploded across the room, marking every surface astheirsbefore settling back aroundJulian protectively. Cillian collapsed forward, careful to keep his weight off Julian’s shoulder, and buried his face in Julian’s neck.
“Better?” Julian’s voice was wrecked, satisfied.
“You’re never getting shot again,” Cillian said against his skin.
“That’s not a promise I can make given the statistical probability of future conflict.” Julian’s fingers threaded through Cillian’s hair. “But I can promise I’ll always come back to you.”
Cillian pulled back just enough to kiss him, slower this time, although just as thorough. When they separated, Julian was smiling.
“Your shadows are purring.”
“They are not.” But Cillian could feel the satisfied rumble in the darkness around them. “That’s...structurally impossible.”
“They’re definitely purring. It’s actually quite soothing.” Julian yawned, the adrenaline finally wearing off. “I should document this. Do you think Silas would have data on post-coital shadow behavior in mated pairs?”
“You’re not asking Silas about our sex life.”
“It’s scientific inquiry.”
“It’s our private business.” Cillian pulled Julian closer, shadows wrapping around them both like a blanket. “Go to sleep, Julian.”
“In a minute. First, I need to” - Julian yawned again - “verify the correlation between intimate contact and bond stabilization through controlled observation...”
He was asleep before finishing the sentence, his body finally relaxing completely against Cillian’s. The shadows settled around himprotectively, and for the first time in a week, Cillian felt the fractured anxiety in his chest finally smooth out.
Julian was here. Safe. Whole.His.
Chapter Twenty-Three
