My stomach flips.Mate.The word doesn’t scare me the way it did last night.It probably should, and maybe it will again.But this morning, in the messy quiet after choosing him, the word feels like a hand, held out in the dark.
I touch the mark on my shoulder, and Knox’s gaze follows the movement, and the bond shudders.
“Does it hurt?”he asks.
“A little.”His jaw tightens.“Not bad,” I add.“A good hurt.”
His eyes close briefly.Interesting.I file that away for a braver version of myself.
Then my gaze drops to his shoulder, where my bite left a red, imperfect mark on his skin.It’s not magical like his.Not ancient.Not glowing with some beastly power.Just mine.
Human and messy.
Something warm unfurls in my chest.“I marked you back.”
His eyes open.“Yes.”
“And you let me.”
His voice turns rough.“You wanted to.”
The simplicity of that answer nearly undoes me.
I reach out before I can overthink it and press my fingertips to the bite I left on him.Knox inhales sharply, his muscles locking beneath my touch.
I pause.“Too much?”
A laugh breaks from him, low.“For me?Always.”
That shouldn’t make me smile, and yet it does.
My fingers trace the edge of the mark.“You’re very dramatic for someone who punches through brick walls.”
“Brick is easier.”
“Than me?”I ask softly.
“Yes.”
No hesitation, no charm, just truth.
The bond hums softly, and for a moment, I feel the shape of his want more clearly.Not just the physical hunger, though god knows, that’s there, dark and hot and enough to make my pulse trip, but the rest of it too.His need to hold.To protect.To kneel.To be trusted.
It’s too much, and I pull my hand back.Knox releases me before I have even finished moving, rolling onto his back to give me room.
The loss of his heat is immediate but so is the gratitude.
“Thank you,” I say.
His gaze fixes on the ceiling.“You don’t have to thank me for giving you space.”
“I know.”I sit up, pulling the sheet with me.“I’m doing it anyway.”
My body aches as I move, and memories of last night flicker through me in pieces.His mouth on my shoulder.His voice telling me I didn’t need to be quiet.My hands on his face.The bond opening.Pleasure sharp enough to turn frightening, then his voice bringing me back without stopping unless I asked.
You are here.You are safe.You are mine only because you chose me.
My cheeks burn hotter, and Knox looks at me.
