I groaned, twisting my wrist on the next upstroke, my grip firmer. “I need more.”

“I don’t think you do, sweetheart,” he rumbled. “I think you’re going to be good for me, and fall just like that.”

I whined in frustration, the head of my cock starting to feel raw and too sensitive. I readjusted before rocking my hips upward, picking up the pace again, but Cair’s hand splayed over my lower stomach, pinning me to him. The strength in his arm made it impossible for me to move even an inch.

He nipped at my throat.

“Slow. Down.”

My gut clenched at his demanding tone as I tried to settle back into the steady pace. My arm ached with the repetition and my breath came in quicker, sharper pants, filtering between the needy noises climbing up the back of my throat. My legs squirmed restlessly, my skin was too hot, and tears pricked at my eyes.

The pleasure was right there, but I just couldn’t seize it.

“You’re doing so well,” he cooed. “That’s it, keep your hips steady and slide your hand up and down. You don’t have to do anything else, just let go.”

“Can’t you put your fingers inside me?” I asked, pleaded more like, but even that wouldn’t make him budge.

He shook his head before kissing my cheek, his tongue darting out to catch the tear rolling down my face. “As soon as you’re better, I’ll take you until you cannot speak,” he promised. “I’ll fuck you anywhere you wish, as fast and as hard you wish, but not tonight. Tonight I want to admire you, my heart. I want to see you make yourself come.”

“I can’t,” I snarled. “It’s not enough. I can’t, I can’t⁠—”

Cair latched onto my throat without warning, sucking harshly and replacing my babbling with a shameless, hiccuping whine. His fangs pierced the skin, and the unexpected sting had my free hand scrambling for purchase, nails digging into my mate’s arm. I was suddenly so close it was startling. The tip of my cock blushed a violent shade of red and my stomach was knotting, but I needed one last shove to fall over the edge.

“P-please let me come,” I outright begged. My thighs were trembling with the effort of not thrusting helplessly into the confines of my fist. My muscles strained, my back bowed. “Tell me to come.”

I felt Cair’s smirk against the stinging bruises, his tongue soothing the ache. “You’re stunning when you beg, sweet boy,” he whispered. “This is what you needed, isn’t it? To be reminded of how good it feels to be mine. To be shown that nothing, not even a cruel error in fate, can change it.”