Page 12 of Gladiator's Bite
“Have you ever thought about what you really want?” he asked, his hands resting on my shoulders. “Not what others expect of you but what you actually want? I ask because you think like that a lot. Then there’s what your friend said when he threatened to rip Selt limb from limb. That he didn’t have to worry about his image the way you did.”
“It comes with the territory of being born into my family,” I shrugged.
“I’d say your family isn’t here, but I don’t think that’s the answer you’re looking for. So, I’ll say it this way. Your family isn’t in this relationship. They don’t get to decide what we do. You get a say, and you can hand that over to their expectations or you can decide for yourself.”
“Mate?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t want to kiss you if you didn’t want me to. That’s consent.”
Laken laughed and the melody wrapped around me until I grinned like a fool. He leaned in close, his proximity killing the laughter, as our lips met. We kissed slowly, walking towards the door until my back found it. He reached down and locked the door without breaking from the kiss. I slid my tongue into his warm, welcoming mouth and he sighed. He leaned against me, trapping me between the door and the wall of muscle that was his chest and abs. I ran my hands up and down his sides and over his hips. He ground against me, letting me know he was as hard as I was. My dick throbbed as he ground forward again and my hands found the round muscular globes of his ass. I squeezed and kneaded his flesh between my fingers.
“We really should shower,” he pulled away to say. “I don’t think arena grit and friction should mix.”
“I don’t want to let go of you,” I said and squeezed his ass for emphasis.
Our lips collided again. Kissing Laken was easier than thinking about all the choices and pathways piling up in our future. I kissed him hard, using my handfuls of his ass to keep him pressed against me. Our tongues danced between our mouths, and he sighed into the kiss. His hands slid between my back and the door, sliding all over my flesh before finally settling on my ass and giving me the same treatment. Everything inside me coiled up tight and I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth and nibbled on it.
“Shower,” he said when I finally gave it back to him. “We need to shower.”
“Okay!” I said, raising my hands like he intended to rob me, and he did.
With my hands up and out of the way, my mate took advantage of the moment and undid my pants and slid them down. I kicked them out of the way and watched him finish undressing. He stopped to scoop up the cups and toss them into the sink.
“I’m always losing those fuckers. You’d think I went around dropping my pants everywhere,” he said, stepping toward the shower.
“Do you?”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Clothing is optional here. Who knows. If I didn’t before, I might start now to keep you on your toes if nothing else. Towels are in there,” he pointed at a long vertical cabinet.
I grabbed a couple out and laid them on the sink counter. The water came on inside the shower and for a moment I couldn’t breathe. This was it. This was real. I met my mate.My true-fucking-mate. He stood right here in front of me. Everything else was still as up in the air as it ever was but this was real. He was real.
“Don’t start that,” Laken laughed, stepping under the rain of hot, steamy water. “It’ll spread and then I’ll be lost too. One of us have to keep our brains about us.”
“Do we, though?” I laughed, as he reached out for me.
I took his hand and let him tug me into the shower with him and shut the glass door behind me. If the bathroom was snug, the shower was made to fit exactly one Laken. It was impossible to breathe without touching each other.
“Not so bad. You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” Laken double checked.
“Couldn’t have been and survived all those years on the ship,” I shook my head.
“Makes sense,” he nodded, reaching behind him for the body wash.
The size of the shower meant we were only getting clean by working together. Another of Laken’s plans if you asked me. The fight. The shower. Not that I minded either. Every time one of us moved, a hard dick brushed against flesh. Given the space, I might’ve dropped down and tasted him but there wasn’t room to kneel inside the shower.
“They meant the small, private showers to deter sex between competitors. Not all the time just in the showers. Too many of them probably got broken back in the day. We’re not prudes over here, exactly. Maybe a bit more frugal than 1 on some things.”
I lost track of what he was saying because I couldn’t look away from his lips. Surrounded by his five o’clock shadow they looked extra soft and kissable. I leaned forward and he took advantage of the space to start washing my back. I kissed up and down his neck and sucked on his earlobe. Arena grit probablywasn’t the worst thing my skin ever experienced if some escaped the shower with me.
“You might not feel the same tomorrow. Turn around so I can finish and then you can wash me.”
I blushed and Laken grinned.
“Or I can get out and leave you to it,” he offered.
I turned around. I didn’t want more space. I wanted him near me. The glass walls of the shower kept us pressed together more or less. He scrubbed soapy circles across my shoulder blades and I willed myself to relax. It was a shower. I showered with a whole rugby team before. It wasn’t like I was born shy or grew up that modest. Still, goosebumps rose up on my flesh. Reaching behind him, Laken turned up the hot water thinking I was cold. I didn’t bother to tell him it was nerves because I didn’t know where they came from.