Page 73 of Bloom in Darkness

I reach for the drawer in the side table where we keep lube because Caelan is Caelan and keeps supplies in every room where sex has happened more than once.

Caelan glances over his shoulder when the cap clicks open. “You’re laughing at me.”

“A little.”

“Keep it up and I’ll make you sleep in the guest room.”

I bend over him and kiss between his shoulder blades. “You won’t.”

He smiles into the cushion while I reach for the lube again.

I coat two fingers with lube and press one slowly inside him. Caelan exhales through his teeth, hips shifting back into my hand while I work him open. I don't rush even when he tells me to. He needs the preparation, and I know his body well enough to hear the difference between impatience and pain.

“More,” he says when I add the second finger.

“You’re getting more.” I keep the pace slow until his body relaxes around me, ignoring the glare he throws over his shoulder.

“Faster.”

“No.”

“I hate when you get responsible during sex.”

I kiss the back of his shoulder and work a third finger in. “Liar.”

His laugh breaks into a moan when I curl my fingers and find the spot that makes his knees shift wider. By the time I pull my hand away, his breathing is uneven and his cock is leaking against the cushion beneath him.

I coat my cock with lube and press in slowly. Caelan swears, reaching back until his hand finds my thigh. I stop when he tightens around me and wait with both hands spread over his hips.

When he relaxes again, I ease deeper. Caelan’s hand tightens on my thigh. “Don’t stop.”

I keep one hand spread over his hip while he pushes back for another inch. “Breathe.”

Caelan laughs breathlessly. “I am.”

“Not well.”

He pushes back enough to take another inch. I follow until I'm buried inside him and stay there while his body adjusts around me.

Once I start moving, Caelan pushes back into every thrust. He keeps one hand wrapped around my thigh like he needs something solid to hold onto, and every time I slow down he tells me not to.

I lean over him and kiss the side of his neck directly above the place he offered me. “Still want it?”

Caelan turns his head enough to meet my eyes. “Bite me. Make me yours.”

My teeth lengthen against his skin. I bite at the junction of his neck and shoulder while I'm still inside him.

Caelan cries out and clamps around me. Blood touches my tongue, warm and metallic, and the bond opens between us before I can brace for it.

The bond hits hard enough that I stop breathing. For one second I can’t tell which fear belongs to me and which belongs to him, and then everything else comes with it. He loves me. He's relieved. He's horny enough to be annoyed that I stopped moving.

And then Caelan makes a broken sound that turns into laughter. "Oh, fuck."

I lift my mouth from the mark. "What?"

He twists enough to look back at me, blinking hard. “My Valla bonded me.”

I stare at him. “I can feel you.”