My mark. Already setting into her skin permanently, the way the wolf wanted.
"No."
"No?"
"No, Mel. I wouldn't undo it."
She’s quiet.
"Good."
"Good?"
""Well, yeah. I would have been pretty annoyed if you'd done all that and then wanted to take it back." Her hand drifts to the bite, comes away red again. She studies her fingers a moment. "Alrighty, let me recap to make sure I'm understanding this. What you're telling me is your wolf just made a very permanent decision. And this—" she gestures vaguely at our connected hips, "—is the cosmic receipt."
"I wouldn't—"
"That's what this is, isn't it. Wolf-married receipt."
"I cannot believe that's the term you've chosen."
"I can't either, but I'm sleep-deprived and your body is doing something to me I don't fully understand and also I just had two of the biggest orgasms of my life. So we're working with what we've got, vocabulary-wise."
A laugh tears out of me. Real. Helpless.
"There he is." She is smiling. Tired. Bright. "I knew he was in there—I mean, you ARE still in there, you're still in me, but you know what I—"
"Mel."
"You know what I mean."
A pause. Her face goes still.
"Wait."
"Uh-oh."
"Wait wait wait."
I release a breath. "What?"
"Keer. Why is the lock a couple hours?"
"Uh, well…."
"Why specifically. Why that long."
"Mel."
"Oh my GOD. Oh my GOD. Keer. KEER. This is a babylock, isn't it. This is for babies. Your body is currently—right now—it's actively trying to—"
"Mel."
"OH MY GOD."
"Mel, breathe—"
"Your body is BABY-LOCKING me. Right now. As we speak. KEER."
