Book 2 - Chapter 55

I didn’t even see when Nox walked into the house with me in his arms.

I just numbly stare at him, waiting for him to answer me.

He enters the bathroom and sits me on the closed toilet lid.

“Nox! I asked you a fucking question! Am I your great-grandfather?” I scream.

Nox’s gaze finally reaches mine, “I can tell you from your reaction that mine was the same when I found out.”

“FUCK FUCKITY FUCKING FUCK!” I curse. “Uh-huh,” I shake my index finger at him in denial. “I’m going to pretend that something hit your freaking head!”

“Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with my head! Well, not this time...” Nox winces as though he doesn’t even want to bring up the whole blood-related subject.

“How?” I ask harshly, throwing my arms abruptly. “Why?”

Nox turns on the shower and puts his hand under the water to feel the temperature. When he’s satisfied, he approaches me and grabs my hand, guiding me under the shower.

“How are you so okay with this?” I ask him in disbelief.

The warm water runs over my body, and I almost groan at the relief it gives my stiff muscles.

“I only found out after I marked you. Until then, I didn’t know anything.” He defends himself. Nox takes a washcloth and applies soap before starting to gently rub it over my body. “And frankly, now it doesn’t make that much difference to me anymore. You’re my fated mate, and that’s all that matters to me.”

I try to get him away from me. “But this is wrong! We can’t—”

“Shh! Don’t worry about it! You’ve been through a lot and discovered a lot in just one night.” Nox continues relentlessly cleaning me. After cleaning my arms and stomach, he bends down to rub my legs with the washcloth and then my feet.

I take a deep breath. Maybe he’s right. Maybe tomorrow, with a calmer head, I’ll be able to think better. Or not.

He grabs the shampoo bottle and starts washing my hair. “Close your eyes so you don’t get foam in your beautiful eyes,” Nox says, and I obey, but not before I roll my eyes. Always bossy!

“How is that possible?” I whisper after a while when he starts to rinse my hair.

“I don’t know. I just know that the Moon Goddess never makes mistakes. And I’m pleased to have you as my fated mate,” my eyes are still closed, but I know he has a bright smile on his princeling face.

After he finishes bathing me, he dries me off and picks me up. “I can do this by myself, Nox!”

“I know. But I like taking care of you,” Nox says and goes to the dresser beside the bed. When he comes back, he has in his hand green undies and a white T-shirt.

Nox starts dressing me like I don’t know how to do it. Still, I let him because part of me misses him constantly fussing me.

When he finishes dressing me, I lay down on the bed, and he covers me. “Stay here. As soon as I bathe, I’ll grab something to eat,” he bends down and kisses my pregnant belly under the blanket before leaving.

Nox enters the bathroom, and as I hear the shower sound, I start to reflect on everything that happened today. I don’t even know what time it is, but I think it must be after midnight.

Fuck! What if more rogues come back? Or worse, what if more members of the Bloodmoon pack return?

‘Princess, try to stay calm. I can feel you getting anxious. You’re exhausted. Try to relax a little!’ Nox mindlinks me.

I roll my eyes and don’t answer him.

‘Nige?!’ I try to talk to Nige again, but again, he doesn’t respond. Where is he, for Goddess’ sake?

Not long later, Nox comes out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Most of his cuts have already healed. A few drops of water run down his sculptural body, and I follow them with my shameless eyes.

As soon as Nox gets dressed, he immediately goes to the kitchen, and not long after, he returns with a tray.

“There wasn’t much in the pantry, but I’ll make something better tomorrow, I promise.”

My eyes fill with tears. He’s so sweet.

“Tomorrow? And how long will you stay here before you leave and abandon us?” I say, holding myself. I’m starving, but my heart has been hurting since he told me he needs to go back to the future.

Nox looks away before responding, “Eat, I’ll be right back.” That’s all he says before leaving.

I start crying silently as soon as I don’t feel his presence around me while I eat because I need to think of my baby.

He didn’t even lie that he wouldn’t return to the future. He doesn’t care about me or our baby.

I’ll stay here alone.

I start to panic about the possibility of him abandoning me.

Goddess... Maybe he’s already left? Maybe he just stayed here to ensure I was fed and safe before leaving without even saying goodbye?

‘Our mate would never do that! But if he did, I wouldn’t blame him because of how you’ve treated him!’ Tyra growls.

When I feel him approaching the room again, I quickly dry my tears so he doesn’t see that I cried.

Nox quietly enters the room again. His hair is almost dry now. “Are you done?” I nod. “Good.” He takes the tray away from me and leaves the room again.

When he comes back, he sits across from me in bed. I’m leaning my back against the wall. This bed does not have a headboard.

“I don’t know if I’ve forgiven you yet,” I say after a moment of silence. Nox seems defeated, but he doesn’t seem to give up.

He pulls me over and sets me on his lap.

“I know that what I did hurt you, and for that, I ask for your forgiveness.” He lifts my right hand to his mouth, dusting light kisses over my fingers. “I never meant to hurt you, Princess.” He dips down to my neck, nibbling the skin, and then he softly kisses the mark he made where my neck meets my shoulder. I pant softly against my will, trying with all my might to hold onto my anger as a thrill shoots down my body.

I look down and see that he holds something in his hands. It looks like a yellow jewelry box. One that might have a necklace. Then, he holds it out to me.

“What is this?” I ask, curious.

“A gift. For you. I hope you like it.” Nox says.

I take it, then open the lid as he kisses the side of my head.

I won’t lie — I love gifts. I love shiny things. And besides the gifts Nox gave me, I don’t remember the last time someone gave me a gift.

When I open it, I gasp.

Inside the yellow jewelry box is the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever seen. The necklace itself is silver. It has a thin chain and would sit almost tight against the base of my neck. Then there is a small, shiny, full moon-shaped pendant. Bright white diamonds nestle at the pendant.

“Oh my Goddess, Nox! Are these real diamonds?” I touch the necklace to feel the full moon-shaped pendant against my finger.

“Of course it is!”

“But I... I... it’s for me?” I look at him.

“When did you get it? How?”

Nox interlocks the fingers of his hand with mine and kisses the back of my hand before responding. “I never abandoned you, Princess. I just wanted to give you time to think and calm down because you didn’t want to listen to me. I ordered this necklace a while ago, but I just picked it up now.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. Goddess, he’s exhausted. “I don’t want to abandon you. I don’t want to go to the future. I want to stay here with you and our baby. But I have no choice. The Goddess Selena told me the last time we spoke that I must return. Alone.”

“No!” I say at the same time that a tear comes out of my eye. He lets go of my hand and wipes away my tears with his thump.

“I know, I don’t want to, either.” Nox clears his throat as if he needs to get his composure. “But if something happens, I want you to know I love you more than anything. I was ready to give my life in exchange for yours and our baby’s. I would happily do it as many times as necessary.”

I hug him tight, “It’s so unfair!” More tears run down my face.

He doesn’t respond for a moment, but when I release the hug, he says firmly, “The Moon Goddess knows everything. She placed me here, and I will trust her until the end.”

I wish I had his faith because right now, I just feel angry.

I don’t want it to, but my face falls into the crook of his neck, letting tears run down his collarbone. I wipe them and grin before asking him, “Put it on me?” I hold up my hair, and he settles the stunning necklace on my neck.

Once it is on, I run my fingers around to feel the texture of the necklace.

Nox whispers the next words next to my ear, his deep, raspy voice causing me to repress a moan. “I may be a Prince,” he murmurs, and then his hand snakes into my hair and grips it, tilting my head to the side to look at him. Bringing his lips to mine, Nox says against my parted lips. “But you are my Queen!”

Then Nox claims my mouth instantly, groaning into it as I move my tongue past his lips and slide it against his. Nox holds my head in place the way he wants as he kisses me hard. And fuck me, I don’t have a shred of strength to stop it. My body is exhausted after everything that happened and tired of denying him. All my greedy body craves is my fated mate right now. And Tyra agrees because she howls in my mind, euphoric from Nox’s possessive kiss.