I carry her into the bedroom and set her on her feet while I fish out one of my henleys for her to wear. I tug it over her head, and she threads her arms through the sleeves and lifts her wet hair out of the neckline to cascade down her back.
I cradle her face and steal another kiss. We’ve blown past my broken promise not to do it again.
We’ve blown past any doubt that she’s mine.
The question is–now what am I going to do?
She can’t mate me. Not without giving up her magic.
Besides, the Adalwulfs would never let me take her. She’s their prized possession. The asset that gives them a leg up over the Blackthroats. And I’m not joining the Adalwulfs.
So I can’t mate her. Not without giving up my life’s mission of bringing down the Moonborn and freeing my mother from her mental slavery.
Fuck.
I don’t see a way out of this mess, and it seems I’m getting in deeper with every minute I spend with Aster.
I break the kiss, troubled.
Aster searches my face, and whatever she sees there makes her turn away. She pulls on the sweatpants I lent her last night without underwear, since those got dirty in our roll in the mud. Is it weird that all I can think about is the fact that her bare skin is coating my clothes with her scent? Yeah. Probably weird.
“Come. I’ll re-heat breakfast.” I take her hand and lead her to the kitchen. She’s probably starving. She still seems weak.
A few minutes later, we both sit down to the plated omelets and mugs of hot chocolate. She digs in right away–hungry, as I expected.
We devour our food in silence until Aster sighs and pushes her plate away.
“Full?” I ask, showing her the ASL sign for full stomach, lifting my flat palm from my stomach to my chin while puffing out my cheeks. Aster laughs and copies it. I teach her the signs for Hungry, Stop, Ready, and Sleepy.
“Why did you fly a drone to the tower?” She mimes a drone swooping around.
I frown. I don’t know how much to tell her. Just because she’s my mate doesn’t mean she can be trusted.
“Were you looking for me?” She points at her chest.
I shake my head. “No.”
“Why were you in the tunnels?”
I hesitate. I should be the one interrogating her, but I’m too drunk on satisfying her sexually to want to push her right now. This information is about her, so it seems fair to share. “I knew you were having a seizure because the drone fell. I ran for the tower, and you showed me the way in.”
Aster looks at me with wide eyes. “But then you took me prisoner.”
I shrug. “I didn’t know you were my mate.” There, it’s out in the open. We need to acknowledge this thing. “At the time, it seemed like fate delivered you to me for a different purpose.”
Her gaze sharpens. “What purpose?” she asks, ignoring the part about being my mate.
I turn the questions around on her. “Where do you keep the Moonborn?”
She chokes on her hot cocoa.
I sip mine, studying her.
“What do you know about the Moonborn?” she asks.
I lean forward. “I know they brainwash females into serving as sex slaves.”
Aster recoils. “Not true.” But I see doubt creep over her expression.
