The branches wrapped over the top of his shoulder and partway over his chest, and stopped there before resuming on the other shoulder and climbing down that arm too.
“Do cherry blossoms mean something to you?” I asked.
The tattoos had obviously been there before he met me, so my scent couldn’t have been behind them.
“I grew up next to a cherry orchard. My parents and I sold the fruit and baked goods we made with them. The pack was so poor that there’s a good chance we all would’ve starved to death in one bad year with those trees. Luckily, they never let us down.”
I bit my lip. “Is it common for your soulmate to smell like something important from your past?”
“It’s one of the ways fate pushes you to stay with them.”
“That’s why your scent hasn’t changed for me, and mine hasn’t changed for you?”
“Yeah. Someone doesn’t stop being your soulmate just because you don’t seal a bond with them. Regardless of what you and I choose to do about it, we will always be fated.”
I nodded slowly, taking in the tattoos on his other arm. They were also covered in branches, mixed with other shapes and images. I had a feeling each of them had a story and memory behind it.
“If my scent hasn’t changed, what happened when the pull faded?”
“My instinct to abduct you is gone for the most part. Some of the obsessiveness eased too, but not much. Turns out I just really fucking want you.”
My lips curved slightly. “Is obsessiveness a typical personality trait for you?”
“It is.” Maverick lifted his hand to my back and took a few strands of my hair, twirling them around his fingers. “You never wear your hair down like this.”
“The internet said I shouldn’t sleep with it in a bun.”
“The internet did me a favor, then.”
My face warmed. “I remember you saying you don’t flirt, Mav.”
“But the faces you make when I do are so fucking cute.”
“You’re supposed to want me, not think I’m cute.”
“Can’t I do both?”
“No.”
“My cock disagrees.”
My eyes lowered to his lap, and I heated when I saw his erection straining against his pants.
Nope, I wasn’t bringing that up.
“Why do you want to meet my family?” I asked instead.
“You’re close with them. I think the words you used were clingy and codependent?”
“That’s not inaccurate.”
“If they’re such a big part of it, meeting them seems like a necessary way to break into your life.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Is that what you’re doing?”
“I thought it was obvious.”
“Why would you want that?”
