Page 76 of Dealing With Drak

“I am yours,” I murmur, allowing myself to kiss the top of her head. “I have told you that I do not fear your mean nature, and I meant those words. You can not lose me, An-nana, because I will not allow you to.”

“It won’t happen again,” she whispers. Though the proclamation is quiet, it is firm.

“An-nana, I know that you can not always control?—”

“No,” she interrupts firmly. “It won’t happen again, Drak. That wasn’t me being snappy or mean or grouchy. That was me being scared as hell and too much of a stubborn idiot to tell you how I was feeling.”

I do not like that she speaks of herself poorly, but I do not have time to scold her for it as she continues to speak.

“I’m telling you, I’m never doing that to you again. I’ll talk to you and be honest about my emotions, even the scary stuff. You don’t deserve to feel this level of heartache so I can hide. I don’t ever want to feel this way again. I especially don’t want you to ever feel this hurt again.”

Her eyes begin to leak, and my fingers catch her tears. Despite her clearly overwhelmed state, my chest begins to deflate with tension. Nearly all of my hurt seems to lessen with her promise, and I cup her face.

“I forgive you, An-nana. I would have forgiven you even if you did not ask for it. There is no other way I wish to live than by living at your side for eternity.”

She absorbs my words and lets out a shaky breath. “That’s good,” my mate breathes. “Since I should probably tell you, as a part of my new feelings communication, I love you so fucking much.”

All the air in my lungs dispels, and I freeze. “You speak truly, my mate?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to say it for a little while,” she admits. “Drak, I… I think I loved you way before I was ready to love you. Before your soul seed, before we kissed, before all of it. No one has ever looked at me the way you do, and I think if anyone else tried to, I’d want you to remove their goddamned eyes.”

My chest rumbles with a laugh, and suddenly, all of the pain from before seems definitively unimportant. An-nana loves me. She did not mean to hurt me. She never wished to be without me.

And AN-NANA LOVES ME!

“I don’t expect you to say it back,” she adds. “You can still be upset with me, and I’ll understand if you need more time.”

“I do not,” I inform her immediately. “I love you, my An-nana. I love you more than anything and anyone. You are my mate and my soul shines for you. I live for you.”

She sniffles, and her lips curve into a smile.

“Does that mean I don’t have to have my own room now?”

I chuckle and nod. “We shall share one if that is what you wish, my Mean One.”

“It’s what I wish,” she whispers, still smiling.

Her happiness fuels me.

“Are you going to kiss her or what?”

An-nana startles at the sound of her brother’s voice, and we look up, finding him watching us from his bedroom door.

“I’m going to do more than kiss him,” she sneers at him. It is both aggressive and lighthearted when she snaps at him. “So, why don’t you make yourself scarce unless you want to hear it.”

My cock stirs.

I like the sound of this.

Gagging, Cay-leb rolls his eyes.

“I saw Terum and the girls are outside, I’ll go tag along with them. Try to keep your pants on until I’m actually out of the house.”

“No promises,” my mate quips.

Her small hands grasp my face, and she pulls my lips down to meet hers. The kiss is bruising, and she tastes just as lovely as I remember. I hear footsteps fading away from us as she moans into my mouth.

“Don’t think I won’t get you back for this,” Cay-leb calls out, but An-nana just keeps kissing me, thrusting her tongue past my lips. I hear the front door slam shut, and then his voice rings out again. “Wait up, I’m coming with you guys.”

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