with my bite wasn't too bad, thinking about it.
Lucian
After a pleasant family meal with Matt, Eli, and their delightful boys, Charlie and I finally found ourselves alone in a nicely appointed guest room. A guest room, interestingly enough, on the opposite side of the wing from their family. Actually, I was alone at the moment. Charlie was in the bathroom.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I puffed out a breath and tried to decide my next move. Charlie would be thrilled if I turned on the TV, I was pretty sure. Hell, teaching him to work the remote would probably fill our evening once he got the hang of channel surfing. My wolf wanted to claim what was ours, but I was on the fence.
I mean, I definitely wanted to take my adorable mate to bed. But for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure what to do with the man in my bedroom. Did he need time, or was I overthinking this? And while this was a horrible thing to consider, I had to remember Charlie wouldn't be truly safe until he'd been claimed. If I waited, I would have to constantly be on guard against any alphas who might try to steal him, like Matt's uncle had done with Eli—a repugnant fact of shifter culture, but it happened every day.
If we did it tonight, I wouldn't have to worry about having backup for the ride back home tomorrow. Another plus? We had privacy here. While large, my one-story sprawling manor had thinner walls and a pack I still didn't completely know. I'd met everyone, but I definitely hadn't had a chance to interact enough with everyone in the pack. With a little over a hundred members, I'd figured getting acquainted would happen with time.
So yeah, showing up with my mate fully bonded to me would be for the best. I hadn't been intent on claiming Charlie so soon, but if it happened? Well… we were far enough away from the family I wouldn't have to worry about damaging any young ears. Not that I was rushing, because I wasn't. Charlie had been through enough, and even though Isaac had given him a clean bill of health this afternoon, I couldn't forget the way he'd looked last night.
I might have done some questionable things in my day, and I definitely had a reputation for never going to bed alone. But not only was Charlie unquestionably a virgin, he'd nearly died less than twenty-four hours before.
Shit. The shower shut off. I was running out of time to make up my damn mind. It wasn't like me to be so wishy-washy. I'd always gone with the flow and followed my gut when I made decisive choices. So far, it had never led me wrong.
Why, then, was I so torn up about this one? I knew I was overthinking it, but I wanted to protect Charlie as badly as I wanted to lick every inch of his body before claiming him as mine. Smiling to myself, I rubbed my chest when my wolf howled his approval at my last thought. Down boy. This was one for the human to decide. Through my inner eye, I watched my wolf turn his back to me. He was clearly disappointed.
I didn’t blame him. I was honestly a little disappointed in myself. Claiming thoughts aside, I hadn't even taken my shoes off. Charlie had been in the bathroom and taken a complete shower, while all I'd accomplished was wearing down the carpet through my pacing. Problem was, I wasn't sure whether to strip down and slide between the sheets or undress and kick back over the blankets with the remote in hand.
Fuck me. Overthinking was an exhausting task.
The bathroom door swung open and thankfully distracted me. Thinking wasn't even a possibility. Charlie peeked around the corner with a shy smile. When he caught my eye, he giggled and darted out of the steamy room buck-naked and obviously ready to play. When he ran at me full-tilt, I had no choice but to catch him by the waist and spin in a circle before lowering him for a kiss.
As soon as our lips touched, my entire body broke out in goosebumps. What Charlie lacked in finesse, he more than made up for in sheer passion. Wrapping his legs around my waist like a spider monkey, his hands clutched at my hair as he turned my head the way he wanted it and deepened our kiss,