Mina was still not used to being seen naked by Jayden. While he did say he saw her beautiful, she still had doubts about her body. It did not bother her before when she was sure no one would marry her. Since Jayden became her husband, she wanted him to at least be fond of her if he could not love her.
“You can bathe first,” Mina said. “I need to prepare some things for tomorrow.”
“What things?” Jayden asked with curious eyes. Mina looked at the bed nervously, and Jayden put two fingers under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Tell me!”
“I have to finish the pillowcases in time if I want to receive money for them. And I want to check on the kittens and the children,” Mina replied, hoping Jayden would not insist on bathing together. She let go of his wrist and lowered her hands.
“Once you finish those damned pillowcases, I don’t want you to work for anyone else! You already know I leave money for you in the nightstand,” Jayden said, grabbed her wrists, and brought her palms to his mouth. Keeping his eyes fixed on her, he kissed the tip of her fingers. “The little ones are asleep, and so are the kittens. I—” Jayden stopped speaking. His eyes were fixed on her, and something seemed to bother him.
“What is it?” asked Mina.
Jayden started unbuttoning Mina’s dress quickly. “I want to spend time with my mate.” Jayden pushed the dress down her shoulders, and Mina grabbed Jayden’s wrists, her eyes begging him to stop. “What it is, little lamb?” Jayden asked, his eyes filled with confusion. “Are you nervous about me seeing you naked?” he chuckled. “Or of all the things so shameless I am about to do to you?”
Perhaps if Jayden looked like a mortal and not like a God, Mina would not be so nervous to remove her clothes in his presence. If only she were beautiful, Jayden would be happy being married to her.
Jayden growled, startling Mina. “That is what you think? That I am not happy with you because you are not beautiful?” he asked angrily, removing her dress. “You have no idea, little lamb, of the decadent thoughts I have when I am around you. I can barely restrain myself from throwing you on the bed and fucking you. But when our mating night comes, Mina, I will fuck you until you can’t walk anymore!” He stared into her eyes as he grabbed her undergarment. “Let me show you something,” he said and ripped off the remaining of her clothes.
Jayden’s reaction scared Mina, but she knew he would not hurt her. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she wondered what he wanted to show her.
When Mina was naked, Jayden took her to the bathroom and made her stand in front of the mirror. “Look at you!” Jayden demanded and put his hands on her shoulders.
Mina looked in the mirror only to find her reflection staring back at her. Jayden put his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs stroking her neck. Mina tried to turn around and bury her face in Jayden’s chest, but he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“It made me very happy to see you with the little ones. You will be a wonderful mother to our little ones. You are a wonderful mother already,” Jayden purred in her ear, his teeth grazing her skin. Mina’s knees might have given out if not for Jayden’s strong arm around her waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Jayden growled. “Open your eyes!” he demanded. Reluctantly, Mina did so. “Look into the mirror!” Jayden said, and Mina did as he asked. “Tell me what you see!”
Mina looked at her naked reflection in the mirror. Years of being told how ugly she was left deep scars inside her. She never liked mirrors because they always told her the truth about herself.
When Rosalyn first discovered Mina’s journal, she laughed and called Mina not only a dirty gypsy but also stupid for thinking the prince would fall in love with the daughter of a gypsy.
‘Disgusting, ugly half-bread!’ the mirror seemed to shout at Mina. ‘Jayden will leave you for a beautiful woman with porcelain skin and blonde hair! You are not good enough to be the wife of Commander Jayden!’ her reflection accused her.
A sob escaped Mina’s lips. “Jayden, please!” Mina begged, not wanting to look anymore. It was the first time she had acted that way, and she felt ashamed of her little outburst.
“Keep those gorgeous eyes on the mirror, Mina!” Jayden said and lifted his hand to her face and caught a tear with his thumb. “Do you want to know what I see?” he asked. Mina’s heart hammered against her ribcage and felt like a deer caught in a trap. After mustering up her courage, she slowly nodded, and Jayden kissed her neck before speaking. “I see a beautiful woman, not only on the outside but on the inside as well. A woman who not only helped those who most needed it, but she did it with love. When I look at you, beautiful lamb, I see my wife, my mate, my future. If I were to enter a room full of mermaids, they would not affect me like you do. I told you this before, but as you seem to have forgotten it, it is my duty to remind you—your hair always smells like apples,” Jayden purred, his nose buried in her hair. “Your eyes are so beautiful I could stare at them all day long. As for your body, do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?”
Mina blinked. Did Jayden really find her beautiful? She didn’t know what to reply.
“If you knew what I want to do to your sinful body, you would run for the hills! Waiting for the Trails of the Land is the greatest torture inflicted upon me!” he groaned, and his face contorted with pain. “But it is torture I gladly endure because when I take you to Isyleon Island, you better run fast, little lamb. Once I catch you,” he purred, his sharp canines grazing her neck, “I will do everything I want with you, and you will beg for more.” Mina’s chest rose and fell fast. “This look you have on your face, remember it, for it will be the same one you will wear when I mate with you over and over again, and I do all those decadent things that have been haunting me day and night from the moment I first kissed you!”
Mina looked at Jayden’s reflection, his eyes fixed on her. The way he was staring at her reflection as if she was his everything made her feel butterflies in her stomach.
“You accepted me as your husband, even if you knew nothing about me. I should not have pushed you to say yes to me that day. Instead, I should have taken my time and courted you like a true gentleman, but my ocxoa would not take no for an answer. Even if I acted as a rascal with you, you said yes to me. With each passing moment, I hate more and more Athea for making you despise peering in a mirror. I loathe the high society for looking down on you. And Prince Liam, how could he look at Rosalyn and love her when he had you right in front of him? His loss, my gain. I don’t plan on letting you go!” Jayden’s fingers followed the shape of her body before hugging her tight, his chin resting on top of her head. “See how perfectly your body fits with mine? I keep wondering why you are not my soulmate, my hjarrta, or n’alxa, as we say in the common tongue, little lamb. It is obvious the Gods made a mistake.”
Soulmates were rare and precious, and most women dreamed of finding their other half. Mina never had that desire, not even with Prince Liam, but she wanted to be Jayden’s hjarrta. “I would have loved being your soulmate. You make me feel beautiful and desired.”
Jayden spun Mina around, his eyes roaming her body. “You are more than beautiful, little mate. You are magnificent! I am a lucky male to have you as my mate. I can hardly wait for the other ocxoas to meet you, their new Andarra. They have been waiting for you for a long time.”
Mina bit her lip. “What if one day you find your soulmate, Jayden? What then? Will she be your Andarra then?”
Jayden kissed her forehead, and his scent enveloped her. “I have no desire to touch another woman, but if I do find my soulmate by mistake, I would reject her, little lamb. Once I mate with you and mark you, there is no way to take it back.”
Mina swallowed hard. “And if you find her before we consummate our marriage?”
“I would still choose you, little lamb. I choose you now and forever!” Jayden replied.
When a man found the woman he wanted to spend eternity with, he said to her, ‘I love you now and forever.’ While Jayden didn’t say he loved Mina, it was proof enough for Mina to know Jayden cared for her more than she thought.
Mina put her palms on his shoulders. “And I choose you, my Uzgaia,” she breathed before giving him a chaste kiss.
Jayden growled, fisted her hair, and claimed her mouth in a soul-shattering kiss. Mina felt a tug on her heart and soul, but Jayden’s lips and tongue distracted her. All she could do was feel—his mouth moving on top of hers, his tongue tasting her while his free hand cupped her breast.
Jayden took her nipple between his fingers. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes while rolling her nipple between his fingers. Mina bit back her moans. “I think I have found the spot where I will mark you,” Jayden growled, his eyes turning gold before taking her nipple in his mouth and sucking it hard.