“Not long,” I admitted.
It was the truth, even if it was a complicated truth.
“That answer took you too long to find.” He didn’t sound irritated about it, dragging his finger lightly over the jewelry that no longer burned his skin. He hadn’t said it was a gift, but it was. He’d clearly been keeping it in his car, waiting for me to agree.
“It’s not a simple one to give.”
“That’s fair. Am I allowed to ask for your thought process?”
“I’m still working through it.”
“That’s also fair,” Maverick said.
I studied him in the mirror. “You really feel ready to seal the bond? To bite me, right this second?”
“I watched you nearly die, Bloom. I almost lost you. We may not have known each other long, but it’s been long enough for me to realize there isn’t a world where I walk away from you. Can you genuinely picture yourself moving away and never seeing or interacting with me again?”
No.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t even want to.
He took my hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing my knuckles lightly. I looked down at his hand on mine, and froze.
“What is that?”
“What is what?”
“Don’t dodge the question, Maverick.” I lowered my fingers to brush the brand new tattoo on his ring finger, trying to figure out if it was real.
It was.
Holy shit.
“It’s a tattoo. I have plenty of others, if you’d like to check them out.”
I pulled my hand free of his and grabbed his wrist, lifting his gigantic hand so I could look at it better.
It was a simple, thin black band that wrapped around his fourth finger.
A wedding band.
Inked on his skin permanently, so he wore it the only way a werewolf could.
“What the fuck, Maverick,” I breathed, panic swelling in my chest.
I was lying to him, and he’d tattooed himself.
I was definitely going to hell.
“Vampires follow human mating traditions. I can’t wear a ring, but I can still prove my devotion in your way.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“You can’t do that.”
“You need a ring to throw at my face.”
“You can’t just tattoo a wedding ring on your finger, Mav. When did you even do it? We should talk about that. We should?—”
