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Her cheeks immediately flushed at the sight of him looking at her like that, growing so incredibly embarrassed.
"W-what...w-why..." she rushed to cover herself with a hand over her wet and bruised kitty, the other wrapping around her naked breasts.
"W-why are you-"
Nicholas' gaze snapped up to meet hers, noticing that look of hurt and mortification displaying all over her features.
"Oh shit," he swore under his breath, rushing to climb out of bed and get to her.
"No, sweetheart, it's not that," he placed a hand under her jaw, offering her a tender look before he kissed her forehead.
"I swear that you're the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen. You're fucking perfect, even the goddesses would be jealous if they could see your body," he sincerely said, meeting her eyes again.
She blinked, "B-but..."
He softly smiled down at her, taking a hold of her waist and pulling her closer to him.
"Come, let me show you what I was looking at,"
He sat down on the bed, coaxing her to sit sideways on his lap. Diana held his gaze, so lost and wondering what was this all about when his fingers suddenly started to caress the inside of her thigh, making her breath hitch in her throat.
He looked downwards and her gaze timidly followed his, eyes growing wide as soon as she noticed what he was looking at. There was an inky black symbol drawn on the inside of her right thigh, exactly where he'd bitten her some time ago.
"What in the heck is this?" She quickly shot up from his lap as if it were on fire, standing on her own two feet and bending forwards to get a better look at it. It looked so foreign, like nothing she had ever seen before. There were swirls and patterns around it, the middle actually containing a some kind of letter, if she could even call it that. It looked way more complex that any other language or letter she had ever laid gaze upon.
"What did you do? Did you tattoo me while I was sleeping?" She cried out, her gaze meeting his. Noticing that look of awe and adoration glinting in his blood-coloured eyes as he simply stared at her for a moment. Having yet to utter a word.
"Nicholas," She called in an effort to claim his attention, causing him to blink. He then reached out and grabbed her hand, coaxing her to take a few steps closer. Standing in between his legs.
"I've already told you, they're not tattoos," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. Pressing a sweet and lingering kiss in the middle of her chest. Over her beating heart.
She shivered a little, affected by the feel of him so close to her. His skin against hers. His warmth.
"What are they then?" She breathed.
His gaze met hers again, so intensely peering between her eyes. Looking at her as if she was the most important being in his life. Making her faintly blush.
"Mating symbols,"
Her brows drew together at the sound of those two peculiar words, staring down at him with nothing but confusion. They were what? What was that supposed to mean?
He blew out a long and tired sigh, taking her hand in his before placing a kiss in the middle of her palm. Coaxing her to rest it on his shoulder right after. The other one simply followed, her arms snaking around the back of his neck on their own accord. She continued to watch him. Gaze roaming over his face searchingly.
"These roses on my body, these tattoos as you call them have appeared from the moment that I was turned into a vampire," he started to explain, his voice so calm and even.
"They're called mating symbols. They represent the existence of one's other half. A soulmate," he peered between her eyes, gauging her reaction.
The soulmate bond is sacred... that sentence suddenly echoed into Diana's mind again, causing her eyes to widen just a little.
"And mine was a rose, as it turns out," he offered her a smile. One that made her belly flutter, and her kitty pulse.
"Diana Rose," he softly uttered, the way that her name rolled off of his tongue making her body shiver and her breath hitch into her throat. She blinked, so entirely stunned by his words. By what he was trying to tell her.
She let her eyes roam over those beautiful roses on his neck and shoulders for a moment, suddenly seeing them so differently. Brighter, and more accentuated than any other tattoo she had ever gotten the chance to lay gaze upon.
She found his gaze once again. Having yet to utter a single word. Continuing to watch him as she felt his hand wrap around her thigh, his thumb softly caressing that black mark on her skin. Gazing up at her with nothing but tenderness and longing. She could feel her core heating up yet again, reacting to his touch. Yearning for him to move that thumb closer to her center. Caress her there.
"This symbol on your skin, it represents my name and my shadows. The name that I was born with and my godly grace. My powers," he quietly said, tracing his finger once again over the symbol in question. Making her whimper a little.
"Nyktos. The god of night and shadows," he uttered, the sound of his voice and those specific words causing a certain reaction within her. Making her breathe faster, and yearn for more of him. More of those sensual touches of his. His kisses.
"You were made for me, Diana Rose," he sincerely said, placing another featherlight kiss in the middle of her chest. Making her blush so profusely.
"You were made to be mine, and I yours," he confessed, igniting a passion within her that burned brighter than a thousand fires. Setting her world ablaze. Making her forget that she was tired, or hungry.
She placed her knees on the bed either side of his hips, settling herself in his lap. Gazing up at him with nothing but renewed desire. Fascination. She couldn't believe that this was happening. That she was branded as his now. Bearing his mark. And he, hers.
She couldn't even understand how it happened, or why. Why her, a simple human being with nothing special about herself had been chosen to be a god's soulmate. To be touched by powers that she hadn't even known that existed before. Blessed with such a gift.