“What?” Nate half raised himself up from the bed and gaped at me.
“Yes. When you trapped me you called on a magic older than the forest itself. Remember what I said to you when you woke up?”
“Nope. I thought I’d died and was freaking out a bit.”
I snorted. “I told you that he who traps an Elvertritsch is lucky, for he catches himself a mate for life.”
“Oh yeah, it rings a bell.” He folded an arm under his head and snuggled into my chest. My heart threatened to explode when he pressed a kiss on my wishbone.
“I should have taken it seriously before…but then again—” Words abandoned me as I sank into his warm brown eyes.
“Then we wouldn’t have this, and it feels fucking amazing to be your mate, Vee. Best sex of my life.” Nate’s cheeky grin melted my bones.
“I hope I can be a good mate for you because there, uh, isn’t really a way out anymore, sorry,” I added in a tiny voice.
Sorry? You’re bonded to me for the rest of your life. SORRY? Vee! You dumbass.
“Good, I don’t want a way out. I’m all in, baby.” He snuggled his face between my pecs. My vision blurred and silent tears leaked out of my eyes.
“So am I,” I whispered. “The mate bond is the treasure of my people. It connects us in a way that’s deeper than anything I’ve ever known or felt.”
“Ugh, same,” he chuckled and pressed his cock against mine for a moment.
“I don’t mean just that, Frat Boy. Everything you were going through in the last six weeks? I felt it, too. Forgive me for making you go through this.”
“I know why you did it, or at least I think so,” he murmured into my chest and I froze. I knew we had totalk about Linden but didn’t expect us to have a conversation that would shape our future straight away.
Part of me wanted to distract him and make him come again, but we had months, years, maybe even decades of Nate coming undone for me.
“If you want to tell me, you can, Vee.”
Oh, Frat Boy.
There was no pity in his voice, only understanding. He opened up space for me to do whatever I wanted with it.
“It happened two years after I went to Canada. I don’t know how much you know…” I took a deep breath. “A scout watched me play in a game against Canada’s youth team. Then I got an offer from the Vancouver Caribous. It was ahugedeal. Not only for me, but also for the Pumas.” Nate rested his hand on my back and stroked my feathers. His touch gave me the strength to keep going. “They were so proud that their poster boy went to play with the big kids, you know? I busted my ass training, had a minor injury, but nothing serious.” I tossed the duvet on both of us to make sure he stayed warm. “Linden and I joinedthe Caribous at the same time. He was from Winnipeg, from a wealthy family, and then there was me, not exactly poor but an orphan at eighteen, the German kid... We had nothing in common, but we just clicked…somehow.” My voice cracked.
I hadn’t talked about Linden in ages, maybe never. Nobody had known how I felt, not even Linden himself.
Nate pulled me in, wrapping his arm tightly around my waist. He easily could have hated me or been bitter about Linden, but he comforted me.
“I never had the guts to tell him how I felt. He might have caught on when we played that silly drunk game and everyone dared us to kiss.” Ihadto keep talking. Once I unleashed his memories, they all came flooding out. I’d kept them inside for way too long. “I tried to pluck up the courage to confess my love,” I whispered into Nate’s hair, crying in earnest now. “We had a game against our biggest rivals and things were heated from the start. Linden was in his best form that day. He was so good.” I exhaled hard. “That’s why they attacked him. Greg, our captain, told me to clear space for him,and I did. We were in the lead, and I got distracted by one of their players. It was only a minute, Nate.”
I was crying too much to go on.
“Hush, love. You’re okay.” It took me a moment to realise he cried with me.
“Sorry, I, it’s been ten years, but—”
“Don’t eventhinkabout apologising to me. I can’t believe you had to go through that, baby. I’m sorry.” Nate held me closer, as if he wanted to shield me from any more pain.
“I was halfway up the rink and had this urge to turn around. And I saw him going down, just like that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nate
Part of me didn’t want Vee to go on, didn’t want to hear his pain, but I knew I could handle it.
