64
64
Chapter 30: Everett
I
was never more certain about something than I was about marking Aislin in that moment. I knew it was what I wanted because I had been thinking about it for days. Obsessing over it, wishing I could do it in the moments we were alone before. Aislin Mundy was my fated mate, and she was the only person I wanted to be with—the sooner I could mark her, the better. Now was the time to do it.
My relief was immeasurable when she told me to mark her. Propped up above her, with my cock still inside her and our hearts beating in time, this was as close as we could get before the marking ritual and still it wasn’t enough—I had to make her mine. Sealing our lips with a long kiss, I slowly brushed back her hair and revealed a tract of skin on her neck where the tendon was firm. Gentle pecks staked my claim on the spot where I was to draw her blood. She found a place of her own under my jaw, where I felt her hot breath against my ear. Our bodies fit together perfectly, snug as two puzzle pieces that had gone missing from their boxes, only to find belonging in each other’s shapes. Alone, we were lost, but together… She belonged with me, and I belonged with her. Somehow, miraculously, we worked. I wasn’t going to take that for granted ever again.
“Are you ready?” I asked between kissing her neck.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Aislin replied.
I pinched her skin between my teeth. Immediately, I felt her body tensing at the small pain, which would rise as I pinned the skin tighter until it broke. Aislin returned the favor. The sharp pain shot up through my jaw and sat in my head, burning throughout my body as though it already knew what was coming next. My heart pounded harder as I tasted her coppery blood, smelling sweeter than when it was shed in wrath. When I was certain that she had cut my skin too, I took in a breath, and together we uttered the words that would bind us.
“Mark us, Luna, we are ready to become one.”
Our voices entwined with one another, Aislin’s husky notes cradling my deep and passionate growls. We reached out to the Moon Goddess with our plea to solidify the fated mate bond, and she heard us.
Immediately, a supernatural warmth suffused our bodies. The sensation was so strange that it left me gasping, the ambrosial effect of the ritual pumping through my blood like honey, and through Aislin’s mirrored to mine. The small wounds we made on each other’s necks burned and sizzled with magic, instantly sealing the blood into soft pink scars, eternal declarations of our affections. They were signatures of our fervor which would let everyone know about the experiences, memories, desires, and intentions we shared, and that our lives would become permanently interwoven.
I once thought the Moon Goddess was foolishly mistaken in assigning Aislin as my fated mate, but now I knew she had carefully crafted our future all along. It gave me hope that maybe David wouldn’t succeed in his plans after all.
As the warmth receded, Aislin and I were left with the lingering giddiness of our spiritual marriage. I wanted to touch all of her. I couldn’t get enough of her. Laying there above her, I kissed her neck and succumbed to the craving that kept me glued to her body, ignoring whatever responsibilities usually compelled me to action. If I could spend the rest of my life like this, I would.
Aislin chuckled softly behind her lips, trailing her fingers behind my neck and through my hair. “Now you’ll never be able to get rid of me,” she mused.
“That won’t be a problem,” I said.
“I still can’t believe you like me.”
I chuckled too. “Even after I’ve marked you?” Laughter was an unfamiliar concept to me, so rarely did I employ it that it sounded almost foreign coming my mouth. I laughed more with Aislin than I had in my whole life. She brought that out in me, a deep joy that I’d never been able to unlock before.
“Yeah. It must be some elaborate farce,” she said lightly. “Secretly, you’re the world’s greatest jokester pulling a horrible prank on me.”
“I’ve never pulled a prank once in my life.”
“Never? So this is all legitimate?”
I hummed in amusement. “Yes. What else do I have to do to prove that?”
“Let’s see. From now on… I want ‘I love you’s’ on demand.”
“What does that entail?”
“It means that any time I ask if you love me,” Aislin snapped her fingers, “you tell me you love me.”
“So you’re asking for constant, perpetual reassurance.”
“I’m expecting—nay, demanding—constant, perpetual reassurance. Can you do that?”
I couldn’t imagine that ever interfering with my feelings for Aislin. If anything, I thought the regular reminders and nudges to express my feelings for her might be a good thing. It would help normalize me to be more open with her, and so even for this silly little condition that she imparted on our relationship, I was grateful. Leaning in, I kissed her again and murmured against her skin, “I love you, Aislin.”
She squirmed with delight and embraced me around my neck. “Thank you.” Unleashing a few rapid-fire kisses against my temple, she then added, “What can I do for you in return?”
Our relationship didn’t need to be a business exchange, and I was tempted to say that. But instead, I held my tongue and really thought about what I might want from Aislin to fulfill our relationship. “Hold my hand whenever you feel I’m closing off from you. Remind me of the connection we share. I don’t ever want to feel alone again.”
“You never will, I promise.” Aislin sought out my hands right there, weaving her fingers between mine. She smiled up at me, looking prettier than ever with strands of red hair splayed across the bed sheets, her freckles hiding in her dimples and the creases around her eyes. This beautiful spitfire of a girl was all mine.
We ended up curled together under the covers, my body embracing hers, forming habits that would become second nature. My arm draped over hers, my fingertips grazing her knuckles. I closed my eyes and listened to her gentle breathing, noting the difference in her silence compared to the wheezing of her injured lungs that forged our first few interactions. Her mind wandered, and through our newfound telepathic link, I explored the faint murmurings of her thoughts, endeared by how often she came back to this moment in sheer revelry. I didn’t know how truly amazed by our attraction she was until then. She meant it when she said she still couldn’t believe it. Aislin must not have expected my feelings to be sincere, but I didn’t blame her, not when I had acted like such a tool before.