Part 81

(POV - Marcus)

The next morning, Marcus woke to something shifting in Aria's scent.

It was still undoubtedly hers, but there was something else beneath it, something both familiar and unfamiliar. He fixated on it for a long while, feeling his body slowly wake up, more attuned to hers.

"Baby," he murmured, nosing at her throat sleepily. ""Baby"."

She hummed, her arms draped lazily around his shoulders. She was still fast asleep, and he was getting impatient, handsy.

"You smell good," he groaned, rolling over on top of her, his hips kicking into hers. "What is that?"

She yawned and stretched a little, her hands reaching high above her head. He nuzzled close, placing open-mouthed kisses down her neck and across her collarbones, his cock hardening quickly.

"Marc?" she mumbled, brows scrunching in her sleep-dazed confusion. His hands slipped beneath her and pulled her up, seating her in his lap, her warmth inches away from his cock.

"Yeah," he moaned, growing more and more desperate the longer he drowned in her scent. "I need you, baby, shit, I need to- ah-"

His words scattered, laying in jumbled heaps on the bed around them. She got the message, however, and settled down on top of him, draping her body over his. She knew what he needed when he got this way, when he awoke feeling vulnerable and a little surreal, needing her to ground him, to remind him that everything was real.

And he'd especially needed it just then, when her scent that was hers and yet also not hers drifted around him.

"It's okay, my love," she cooed softly, kissing his eyelids and cupping his face lovingly. "I'm here, you can relax. I'm yours."

He growled, his wolf slipping free for a beat, seeking to claim her again, prove to the world that she was his and no one else's.

He knotted a fist in her hair, the other snaking down and under one of her thighs, lifting her and spreading her pussy wide for him. He could scent the arousal on her skin, though it was lazy and laced with exhaustion; he didn't care. He only cared that she wanted this as much as he needed it, and by the fresh set of red lines clawed into his back, he had his answer.

"How do you smell so good?" he groaned into her neck, her shoulder, her collarbone, any part of her that he could reach. He needed all of her.

"Hmm, must be your scent mixed with mine," she mused with a slow giggle, her fingers curling into his hair and gently tugging.

Yes.

No.

Both?

It was certainly their scents mingling, but in a completely different way. It was new to him, something he hadn't encountered before. He adjusted her position, sitting her further down and he felt her slick smear across his lower abdomen.

"Baby, please," he groaned, pulling a giggle from her. She kissed his temple and climbed off his lap, shushing him when he began to protest.

"Lay back," she instructed, her eyes dark with desire. He did as she asked, turning to lay back against the velvet headboard. She stripped the top sheet from the bed, casting it on the floor and gathering her hair in her hands.

Oh.

Oh, 'fuck'.

With no small amount of skill, she secured her hair into a bun and locked eyes with him for a moment. smirking mischievously.

"Ready, baby?" she teased, all soft curves and glowing skin. He nodded helplessly, fisting the sheets to keep his hands from grabbing at her.

She lay on her stomach, getting comfortable between his thighs and placing a single, teasing kiss to the sensitive skin on the underside of his cock.

He hissed, his knees twitching before he caught a hold of himself. She hummed a little laugh and opened her mouth, her tongue flat across her bottom lip. Before he could brace himself, he felt the scorch of her tongue along his shaft and he couldn't help the moan he barked out.

She licked a long stripe up the underside of his cock, her tongue swirling around his head and he swore he could pass out, before she sank down on his length, taking him into her throat to the hilt.

He breathed out a pathetic, shaky, "Fuuuuuuck'."

She was too good at this. At teasing him and playing his body like it was an instrument she'd studied for years.

His cock head hit the back of her throat and stars burst behind his eyes, his senses muffled by the exquisite pleasure of her mouth. She came back up, her tongue laving over the veins and ridges, taunting him with what her pussy would feel like once he was finally buried inside her.

It was hot and messy, her tongue slurping up and around his cock, small, muffled chokes echoing in his head when she took him all the way in, and once she was comfortable, she lifted her eyes to his and almost sent him crashing down.

He secured a hand in her hair, undoing her bun and sending her hair tumbling over her shoulders again. She hummed at the gentle sting of her scalp and he groaned at the subtle vibration her hum sent down his cock.

He knew she'd felt his cock twitch in her mouth, knew it from the way her eyes gleamed with mischief, and the way she shifted so that she could fist the base of his cock. He didn't even know if he was moaning or what kind of sounds he was making, but he knew his jaw hurt from clenching and opening, the fingers wrapped around his cock sticky and wet with her saliva. It was so lewd, so much, so overwhelming that he was going to-

"Wait!" he gasped, his fingers tugging her off his cock, his free hand squeezing the base to stave off his orgasm. He breathed heavily through his teeth, eyes closed in concentration.

Once the high receded, he peeled his eyes open to find Aria climbing back onto his lap.

"Baby," he croaked, his voice broken already. He sounded so fucked out, so hopelessly gone. She wiggled her hips until the head of his cock nestled between her folds and he whimpered.

"More," he grunted, the head of his cock gliding over her wet entrance. "Need more."

"Then take it, my love," she encouraged him, soft kisses on his cheek and temple telling him it was okay, that she was okay and he would be too. He was already out of breath, the heat catching in his throat and making him dizzy with it. He was surely leaving bruises on her thigh, but she only smiled down at him, so at ease, even splayed out in his arms like this.

Her trust waved some of the haze from his mind and he kissed her fully, lips and tongues tasting, eager, desperate, and slowly sank her down on his cock.

She bit down on his lip, drawing blood and making him hiss, but it was a fleeting bit of pain, because in his daze, he'd released her leg, and she'd moved to her knees so that she could ride him.

He almost blacked out from the pleasure, her wet heat so inviting, intoxicating him and holding him prisoner, his limbs too limp to do anything but hold onto her grinding hips for dead life.

She went slow at first, building up speed, her pace consistent and, fuck, he didn't care if she was erratic and unpredictable, he just loved being inside her. He loved the way her walls clenched around his length, how she took and took and took until he was utterly spent. His little knock out.

It wasn't long until he felt the telltale burn in his groin, the electric tingle that sent his thoughts tripping over one another in his haste to get there. He was sweaty; they both were. Heat rolled off their joined bodies in waves, crashing into one another and growing until he felt sweat drip down his back, until he watched beads of it slip between the valley of her breasts.

He couldn't handle it anymore, the heat, her scent, the way she clenched around him and how fucking exquisite she felt.

"Shit, baby, I'm gonna-," he slurred, words jumbled by pleasure but she nodded her whines growing louder and louder until her walls gripped him tight, pulling him over the edge along with her.

He locked his arms around her waist, pinning her body to his and burying his frantic groans in the dip of her breasts until he was left shaking and electric.

He breathed her in, deep and desperate, kissing every inch of her that he could reach. He felt her hands comb through his hair and he realized he was likely crushing her and let go with a huff.

Her gasp told him all he needed to know and he quickly kissed her, dragging him down to the bed with him and cradling her in his arms.

"You okay?" she yawned, her heart beating wildly against his side. He nodded, his mouth dry.

"I don't know how you do it," he chuckled tiredly. "But you always know exactly what I need."

"Part of being a mate," she said offhandedly. She sounded tired but he could sense there was something bothering her.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked, pressing soft kisses to the top of her head. They'd have to get up to get cleaned up, and he'd have to strip the bed 'again', but all of that could wait until he made sure that Aria was okay.

"I'm just worried about April, I guess."

He locked up and prayed she hadn't noticed.

"She hasn't contacted me since that last phone call and I'm scared something has happened."

"I'm sure she's okay," he lied, closing his eyes in a failed attempt to calm himself down. "She'll call you when she can."

She must have sensed his deceit because she pushed away and glared at him.

"You're lying to me again," she accused, her hair a tangled, sweaty mess on her shoulders. "Tell me the truth, Marcus."

He sighed and shook his head. He supposed this was as good a time as any to get up and get ready for the day.

She impressed him with her backbone, because no other wolf would have dared challenge him like that. And as happy as it made him to see how much she'd grown, he couldn't have her digging around for April. He hated to do it, but he let his eyes flicker to silver, asserting dominance as her Alpha despite the acid it left on his tongue.

"Leave it alone, Aria," he growled. She jumped, her eyes going wide, letting out a whimper that hurt him deeply.

With a wobbly bottom lip, she crawled off the bed and threw on one of his oversized T Shirts before walking out. He heard the main door slam shut and fell back against the bed, the sheet draped over his thighs.

Within ten seconds, he heard the door swing open with a crash and suddenly Inara was in his room, looking absolutely murderous.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. "How can you treat your mate that way? We all felt you assert dominance on her, are you crazy?"

He felt the irritation creep up his throat and slip through his teeth as a low growl.

"Remember your place, Inara," he snarled, the venom on his tongue enough to get her to back down. "Stay out of other wolves' business if you know what's good for you."

She scoffed and turned her back on him, stalking back out.

Before she left, she looked back over her shoulder and spat," You'd better apologize to her, Marcus. I'm not kidding."

And then she left.

He threw the sheet off of his body and marched into the bathroom, turning the shower on scalding to rid himself of the gnawing guilt.