Page 110 of Heir

Her smile was small but endearingly sweet. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, Prince Zandren Thorne.”

“And you’re what I’ve dreamed about for two centuries, Queen Omaera Playfair.”

We bowed our heads together until our foreheads met. Our free hands found each other, and we entwined our fingers.

“Are you ever going to kiss me?” she asked, her forehead still against mine.

I smiled. “It’s all I’ve wanted to do since the first moment you called me Pooh Bear.”

Tilting our heads in the opposite direction, we pulled our foreheads away just a little, and my lips found hers. The kiss started out sweet, almost timid, but in mere moments, her arms were around my neck and I held her hip and jaw, coaxing her mouth open wider so my tongue could explore.

The flash of lightning that cracked into the room was less dramatic or intense than the one a few days ago, but we both felt it. It was as if it hit me and bounced into her. I hoped that I absorbed most of the shock.

She gasped and broke the kiss, locking eyes with me in wonder. “What just happened?”

“I . . . I think we mate-bonded.”

“B-but doesn’t that involve sex?”

“I thought so.”

“I . . . I haven’t had a lot of boyfriends in my life. I don’t trust easily. I don’t let people in. And even though I don’t know what falling in love feels like, I don’t think it feels like this.” She swallowed and her eyes shifted back and forth across my face. “From everything I’ve ever watched on television or read in books, falling in love is supposed to feel like this wild roller coaster, sickening but exciting. Consuming.”

I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, so I kept my expression neutral but open, even though my heart relentlessly battered my ribs in anticipation.

“This doesn’t feel like that. With you, I feel seen. I feel known. You take care of me. You anticipate my needs. You don’t push, and you respect my boundaries. And although it’s all happening lightning fast—” She paused and chuckled at her choice of words. “I don’t care. I haven’t fallen in love with you. I’ve gently, perfectly, slid into it. Like two puzzle pieces that just . . . fit.”

My whole body erupted with joy and I’m sure I was smiling like an idiot.

“When we kissed, all I could think of was . . . I think I could be with this bear forever. If he’s shown me who he really is, then I’m okay with forever.”

“I’m not perfect,” I said. “But you’ve seen all of me.”

“Not the murderous side yet.” Her smirk was playful.

“No. Not that side.”

“So . . . are we like, really mate-bonded now?”

I shrugged. “It’s a first for me too. I didn’t even know an emotional bond was a possibility.”

“It seems I’m all kinds of firsts in this secret world, hmm?”

Nuzzling her neck, I kissed her. “I kind of like that we bonded this way instead.”

She lifted her head. “Really?”

That made me grin again. “Okay, well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to have sex.” My erection pressing against her hip said as much. “But I’m okay waiting until things settle down. You’re my Bonded Mate now. That’s what matters.”

Nibbling on her lip, she glanced at me. “I do still have my period. And I have a tampon in. But, um . . .”

Smiling like a Cheshire Cat, I caught her wavelength. Wait, was I reading her mind? Was the Bond that fast to start giving me her powers and her mine?

She flipped over to her back and I bent my head, pressing kisses along her neck, down over her cropped shirt, to her belly. I lifted the hem of her shirt slightly to reveal a tattoo of purple roses that looked wet, surrounding a skull inked onto her ribcage. I kissed that too, while I unclasped the button of her jeans and tugged down the zipper.

I pushed my fingers down beneath the elastic of her cotton boyshort panties, beyond the trimmed downy hair until I found her wet center. Her hips bucked as I gathered some of her arousal before dragging my fingers back up to her throbbing clit.

“Kiss me,” she whispered. “You’re really good at that.”

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