"Here I come, kitten."

​

Caden's breath caught in his throat, his stomach tightening. He looked back at the house, but there was no sign of his mate yet.

 

Perfect.

 

He darted into the entrance of the hedge maze, a sharp burst of laughter breaking free as he took his first turn. Goddess, he loved this man. They didn't play like this often—hell, they barely had the time some days for quickies over Quin's desk—but he loved when they did.

 

This was the first time they'd been back to the house since Tiho's death, and he planned on forcing his workaholic alpha to have actual fun all weekend.

 

Starting with tracking Caden through the maze and fucking him into the ground when he found him.

 

He could feel the steady pulse of his mate’s excitement and arousal through their bond where it sat like a tiny sun in the center of his chest. He knew the connection would fade somewhat the longer they had it, but he’d always be able to feel Quin inside him, even if he couldn’t detect his emotions in the future.

 

Though considering they were rarely more than a few rooms apart, he didn’t see that as becoming an issue.

 

His mate loved having him close by, and Caden loved feeling so wanted.

 

The sun was just setting, lighting up the horizon with gorgeous shades of orange and red and purple. The maze, with its eight-foot-high hedges was barely more than shadows as the light sank deeper and deeper. Adrenaline spiked through him as he took turn after turn. Even with the added edge to the spell, Quin wouldn’t be able to catch Caden if he used his full strength and speed.

 

But what would the fun be in that?

​

Something crunched on the other side of the hedge he was next to. Freezing, he listened closely and caught his mate inhaling deeply.

 

“I smell you, mate. My perfect fucking rose.”

 

A hand shot through the hedge. Caden shrieked and then laughed as he dodged the grasping fingers and took off again.

 

Quin’s deep laugh rumbled in his ears.

 

The hunt was on once more.

 

Caden slowly made his way to the back corner of the maze where the exit was, knowing if he didn’t at least try and escape, Quin would be disappointed. He was almost there. He could see the trees at the edge of the woods just beyond the maze over the top of the hedge in front of him.

 

He took the second to last turn, his body stilling as a deep, snarly growl began to grow behind him. Half-wolf, half-human, it was a sound completely unique to his mate.

 

To his alpha.

 

Reacting on instinct, he moaned and dropped to his knees, falling forward onto his elbows.

 

Slow, even steps drew closer and Caden’s jaguar purred in complete submission.

 

“Mmm, my sweet mate. So needy for me.”

​

“Yes,” Caden hummed, arching his back. “Take me, alpha.”

​

Quin growled again, then the heat from his bare skin was right behind Caden as he knelt on the grass between his legs. “Do you know what happens to naughty kittens who run away from their owners?”

 

Caden keened softly and shook his head, pretending he didn’t know exactly what was about to happen. The tip of his hard cock was already leaking onto the ground beneath him he was so excited, the muscles in his thighs twitching as he worked to hold himself still instead of pushing back against his mate.

 

Quin’s hand came down on his right cheek in a hard smack, then his left. He wailed as the spanking went on and on, the sharp pain melting into a soothing heat that sank deep inside him and liquified his bones. His arms started to shake as he gripped at the cool grass and shuffled his knees farther apart.

 

Then his mate’s strong arms were coming around his chest and jerking him upright. He sank, boneless, against Quin’s wide chest, nothing but a wanton moan falling from his lips as long fingers wrapped around his throat.

 

“They get reminded of where they belong,” he growled against Caden’s ear, his grip tightening on his neck just a little more.

 

“With you,” he breathed out, tipping his chin back and offering more, offering everything.

 

“To me,” Quin snarled and sank his sharp teeth into the curve of Caden’s neck.

 

Caden screamed, the pain quick and intense before it exploded into pure bliss. His orgasm hit him fast and unexpected, his come spraying the ground in front of him and filling the air with the scent, his hands shooting backward reflexively, grabbing onto Quin. His mate grunted as Caden’s claws sank into his skin.

​

Licking at the bite he left, Quin chuckled darkly. “Someone likes belonging to me.”

 

Caden couldn’t do anything except moan and nod loosely, his claws retracting as all the strength left his body.

 

“But we’re not done yet, are we, kitten?”

 

He sighed happily, letting his mate lower him back to the ground on his belly. His come smeared into his skin, the scent of orange blossoms and blood filling his lungs and making him lightheaded.

 

There was a faint noise behind him, then the wet sound of Quin coating his cock with lube. Moaning, Caden spread his legs as wide as he could, but otherwise lay still, waiting for Quin to take him exactly how he wanted.

 

How they both wanted.

​

A big hand grabbed one of his cheeks and spread him, Quin’s gloriously wide cockhead pressing against his hole. He grunted as it began to breach him, the burn of the stretch just as intense as always even though he’d had his mate inside him two hours ago as he’d laid across his desk.

 

Just like the first time.

 

“Always so fucking tight for me,” Quin said between clenched teeth, slowly but surely pushing his whole length inside him without stopping.

 

Caden sucked in deep breaths, doing his best to stay as relaxed and pliant as possible as the burn in his ass faded into a fullness so good his eyes crossed. His prostate was even more sensitive than normal, fresh after a mind-blowing orgasm, so just the pressure of Quin’s thick cock against it had exquisite pleasure radiating through his body and settling in his spent balls.

 

He moaned into the ground as his mate started pulling back out, the feeling somehow just as good as when he sunk inside him.

 

“Ready, kitten?” Quin asked once only his head was inside Caden.

 

“Yes. Please. Give it to me,” he rambled. “Take everything.”

 

“I will.”

 

And then he slammed back inside, forcing Caden several inches across the grass. He barely noticed, his whole body vibrating with bliss as his mate fucked into him like a man possessed. His own cock began to grow hard again where it was pinned beneath him, rubbing against the rough ground with every thrust.

 

“Every fucking inch of you belongs to me, mate. Inside and outside.” Quin plastered himself against Caden’s back, gripping at his wrists to hold him exactly how he wanted him.

 

Caden moaned, relaxing even more. His own pleasure was an afterthought at that point, nothing mattering more to him than his alpha using him to find his own release.

 

“Say it!” Quin snarled, teeth snapping next to Caden’s ear.

 

He shuddered, euphoria building in every cell of his body. His words slurred together as he complied, saying, “Every inch belongs to you, alpha.”

 

Quin’s thighs slapped against him as he punched inside him with quick, hard thrusts. The rhythmic sound of skin on skin combining with the breathless grunts Quin made each time seeped into Caden’s ears and wove into his brain, ensnaring him as he sank into a world filled with nothing but pleasure and his mate.

​

He was almost surprised when the base of Quin’s cock began to catch at his hole, so zoned out on his cloud of delirium he’d somehow forgotten about his mate’s knot.

​

Goddess, he loved this spell.

 

It wasn’t that he was unsatisfied by their non-magical sex—far from it. He’d live with Quin’s cock inside him twenty-four-seven if he could. But the added elements—heightened senses, being able to bite Caden over and over, and knotting him?

​

They elevated the joy he already found with his mate, taking them to a new level that he enjoyed visiting sometimes but he didn’t need to live there. Quinten was perfect just the way he was as far as Caden was concerned.

 

His mate’s knot kept growing, but Quin didn’t stop thrusting, grinding the swelling base against Caden’s hole until it popped in and then jerking back out to do it again. He growled next to Caden’s ear each time he forced the knot inside.

​

A shiver ran down Caden’s spine and he gripped at the grass, unable to stay lax beneath Quin any longer as fervor built inside him, his cock throbbing with the need to release again.

 

The next time Quin pulled out, Caden whimpered in dismay, needing that thick knot back inside him more than he needed his next breath.

 

Quin hummed and nuzzled at the side of his face. “Is my needy kitten ready for my knot?”

 

“Fuck, Quin, please! Stop teasing me!”

 

“No more running away from where you belong, hm?” Quin teased at his earlobe with his tongue.

 

Grinning into the darkness surrounding them, he cried, “Never again! Please forgive me, alpha.”

​

“You don’t sound sorry at all,” Quin snickered, pushing his knot against him, both of them groaning roughly when it took longer than before to pop inside.

 

“It’s hard to pretend to be sorry when you’re making me feel so good,” Caden murmured breathlessly, turning his face to nuzzle back against Quin.

 

“Maybe you’ll be more convincing next time.” Quin licked up the side of his neck and rocked inside him. One of his hands wiggled beneath Caden and found his throbbing cock.

 

Caden lifted his hips a little to give him more room, moaning when Quin rubbed all the most sensitive spots on his head and shaft. His mate’s come was still filling him, his knot pulsing against his sensitive walls. The scent of their combined releases drawing his second right to the surface.

 

He just needed a little more…

 

Wrapping his fist around Caden, Quin ran his lips over the healed teeth marks he’d left and began to jerk him roughly. “Maybe next time I won’t let you come until you convince me you’re sorry.”

 

Caden sucked in a breath, the idea more appealing than he would have thought.

 

“And if you can’t…” Quin whispered, squeezing just below Caden’s weeping head. “I’ll put you in a cock ring and just keep filling you, over and over, until my come is spilling out of your wrecked hole and you’re begging—”

 

He screamed, cutting off Quin’s taunting words, and shooting all over his hand and his own stomach. Quin cursed behind him, snapping his hips forward a few times and prolonging Caden’s release.

 

Fuzziness crept in as his muscles gave way and he landed back on the grass with a pathetic whimper. That had been…

​

“Perfect. I have the perfect mate,” Quin murmured, peppering every inch of Caden’s neck and shoulders with soft, loving kisses. “So perfect and all mine.”

 

“Yours,” he agreed, eyes falling shut. It would be at least ten minutes before Quin’s knot went down—just enough time for a quick cat nap.

 

Quin wrapped his warmth around him, pressing a lingering kiss on the curve of his neck.

 

The last thing he heard before he drifted off was his mate’s deep voice.

 

“I love you, kitten.”