Page 144 of The Hyena’s Guardian

He made his way back up Matt’s body until Matt caught his shoulders and pulled him closer.

“Theron.” His voice was wrecked. Beautiful. “Please.”

Theron lifted his head to meet Matt’s eyes. “Tell me what you need.”

Matt trembled beneath him, but his gaze never wavered. “I need you to take me. Choose me.”

The words struck somewhere deep inside Theron. He pressed his forehead to Matt’s and breathed through the sudden tightness in his throat, letting the weight of that trust settle into him.

“I choose you,” he said. “Always.”

Matt smiled, and Theron kissed him again, pouring everything he could not say into it. For the first time in years, he allowed himself to believe he might not have to leave. He might be permitted to stay.

When the kiss ended, Theron remained close, his forehead resting against Matt’s as their breath mingled between them. Then he opened his eyes and truly looked at the man beneath him, the way someone might look upon the horizon after believing he would never see the sky again.

Matt’s palm rested over his heart. Theron covered it with his own, holding it there as the steady beat pressed against their joined hands.

“I have waited lifetimes for you.”

The confession emerged rough and unguarded.

“I spent every cold night and empty morning telling myself I needed no one.” His voice tightened. “I was wrong. I was waiting for you.”

Emotion sharpened Matt’s expression. His fingers brushed Theron’s cheek with a tenderness that made something ache inside him.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Matt whispered. “But I’m not going to question it.”

Theron leaned into his touch before lowering his mouth to Matt’s again. This kiss carried no desperation or urgency. It was a claim freely offered and a promise Theron intended to keep. Matt opened beneath him without hesitation.

Theron’s hand moved down Matt’s side, following the warmth of his skin until his fingers reached the sheet gathered around them. He pulled it aside, leaving nothing between them but heat.

Matt arched into him with a soft sound, his legs parting as Theron settled between them. Theron held himself there for a moment, surrounded by Matt’s warmth and the certainty that neither of them was alone anymore.

“Is this okay?” Theron asked, his mouth against Matt's throat.

“Yes.” Matt's voice was breathless. “God, yes.”

Theron kissed his way down: jaw, throat, collarbone, chest. Each kiss a question. Each touch an offering. He took his time, learning the landscape of Matt's body with his lips and tongue and the rough scrape of his stubble.

Matt's hands found his hair, fingers threading through the damp strands, holding on like Theron was the only thing keeping him tethered. His breath came in short, sharp gasps, his chest rising and falling beneath Theron's mouth.

“You're so beautiful,” Theron murmured against his skin. “I want to memorize every inch of you.”

Matt let out a sound, half laugh, half sob, and tugged gently at Theron's hair, pulling him back up. Their eyes met, and Matt's were bright, full of something that looked almost like wonder.

“You're real,” Matt said. It wasn't a question.

Theron's throat tightened. “I'm real.”

“Good.” Matt's hand slid to the back of his neck, pulling him down into another kiss. “Because I'm not letting you go.”

Theron kissed him back, deeper now, his hips pressing forward, the hardness between them a quiet confession of want. Matt's breath hitched, his body arching into the contact, and Theron felt the answering heat of him, the way Matt's cock pressed against his own through the thin barrier of skin.

“I want to feel you,” Matt whispered against his mouth. “All of you.”

Theron pulled back just enough to look at him. “Slow, remember?”

Matt's smile was soft, almost shy. “I remember. But I also remember you said you'd take me. And I'm ready.”