Page 33 of The Guardian's True-Mate

Getting permission to use one of the houses was a quick and painless process. Getting the house ready for Dakota took hours. The matingmoon houses were cleaned between uses, but I scrubbed down the important parts anyway and washed all the bedding and curtains inside the house. I didn’t want a single whiff of a previous occupant to distract either of us. After the mundane parts of the house were finished, I set to work on the security in a combination of practical and magical.

“I think I just stepped into your head,” Dakota said as I shut and locked the door behind us.

“Huh?”

“It smells like you and only you and it’s buzzy like your energy when you want to do a sweep.”

“Is that a problem?” I asked, wondering if I’d gone overboard.

“No, I like your energy. I’ve just never been completely surrounded by it like this,” Dakota shook his head and turned to face me.

I took his hands in mine and then lifted them to kiss. A trail of rose petals marked the path to the master bedroom, but one whiff of him, let me know both of us were too tired and too on edge to jump into our claiming vows without a nap.

“Come on,” I said, leading him to the sofa after we kicked our shoes off. “Let’s get some rest.”

“That sounds like a plan. I stayed up this morning when you weren’t there. For a bit, I worried you’d taken off because things got too intense. You wouldn’t have been the first guy to do it.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I cupped Dakota’s chin in my hand and met his gaze. “I’m here with you until the end of time. There isn’t anywhere I’d rather be.”

Smiling softly, Dakota leaned forward, taking my hand with him, to meet my lips. We shared a slow, tired kiss before we stretched out on the sofa. I lay with his head resting above my heart as I turned on the television to some old movie where non-magical non-shifters rode horses they couldn’t understand and talked about how small their towns were. Apparently they just needed to build more houses and the movie might’ve been more interesting. Yet, boring was the perfect way for Dakota and I to drift off to sleep cuddled up together.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dakota

The matingmoon house was dark when I woke up with my head still resting against Cardian’s chest. It was dark and warm and toasty. Sweat prickled on the back of my neck.

Shit! Shit! Heat. Probably heat. What else would make me so hot?

“Told you so,” my wolf chimed into my thoughts.

Inside his inner sanctum, he was stretched out on his belly with his tail wagging. His tongue lolled from his mouth when he panted. I wiggled around, not willing to sit up yet, but all too aware of Cardian’s hard, thick dick poking into my thigh where it rested over his waist. I licked my lips and tried to will my heartbeat to resume its normal pattern.

“Morning,” Cardian yawned, stretching one arm out above his head. “Well, sorta.”

“It’s dark outside,” I chuckled, stating the obvious. “Maybe we’ve moved to your sleep schedule.”

“I don’t think we’ll have a steady, stable sleep schedule for a bit.” Cardian said.

“You mean until we get used to each other being around all the time,” I teased him. “You should know the house is like ten degrees hotter than it really is.”

“Huh?” Cardian blinked and then his eyes lit up with the realization. “Oh! Do you need me to do anything? Turn the thermostat down or get you an ice pack or anything?”

“I’m going into heat. I don’t have a concussion,” I laughed, wiggling up a little bit to steal a good-morning-in-the-middle-of-the-night kiss.

Cardian’s lips were cool against mine as his tongue pushed them apart and snaked up into my mouth. I sucked on the tip of his tongue for a second before releasing it to dance around mine. His hands slid to my hips and then further over to grope my ass. His squeezes sent little bolts of longing throughout me.

“Hey,” Cardian said when the kiss broke, “I just realized we haven’t exactly discussed kids and now with you going into heat it’s probably now or never if we want any say about it. I found a bunch of condoms in all the bedrooms and both bathrooms. So, we can have a say. I know that heat and the true-mate response make that more difficult, but if you don’t---”

I put my hand over his mouth to stop his rambling.

“I love the sound of your voice, but shut up for a minute,” I growled and uncovered his mouth.

“It’s hot when you’re all bossy,” he said and squeezed my ass again until I moaned.

“I want a family. I want the chance to give a family what I was never able to have from my parents. So, if you’re okay with it, we can let nature take its course,” I said, trying not to think too hard about his long, thick cock filling my omegahole up.

Cardian’s nostrils flared as the aroma of my arousal filled the borrowed living room.

---