Page 33 of Under My Bed

Taking a moment, she stood there smiling at me with wonder. "I never knew love until I met you. Not only did you make me fall in love with you, but you made me find a love for myself for who I am. I love how you always look at me like I am the best thing you ever laid your eyes on like I am your whole world. I will forever be grateful for all your love and care for me and our relationship, and I cannot wait to watch us grow with time. I will always love you no matter what, and I will always be there for you through it all. Even when you get into your moods, I will always be there with open arms for you. Through thick and thin, in sickness and health, for rich or poor, for better or worse, until death do us part. I swear on my mortal life that I will be the best soulmate I possibly can. I will be your solace in the darkness, just like how you are the bed of shadows beneath me, ready to catch me."

Great, now I'm gonna cry.

I didn't want to make a fool of myself, but I couldn't hold the stray tears back. "I truly don't deserve you, but I am never going to let you go or take you for granted, ever," I whispered with a grateful smile.

A clearing throat drew my attention away from Stella to Zaesiel, who held out a set of rings to me in an open palm. Usually, this part didn't happen with a soul binding ceremony, but we made a small adjustment, which went off without a hitch.

Once we were finished adorning each other's fingers with the rings, the real important part of the event came along. "Once two souls are intertwined and bound, there is no going back. Do you two understand this?" Aesophedus looked at each of us sternly for confirmation before continuing. "Are you both here of your own free will? No coercion or blackmail from anyone?" And again, he waited for a positive answer from both of us before continuing. "Is there anyone here who objects to this? Speak now or stay forever silent."

When no one dared to object—thank all the unholy and holy figures out there—Aesophedus gestured for one of the others to give him the ceremonial dagger. "Are you absolutely sure and prepared? This is your last chance before things become permanent." The king of shadows looked at both of us one last time, waiting for our agreement before nodding at me to continue.

Reluctantly, I let go of Stella's hands to undo the buttons of my shirt so my chest was exposed. Then, with a deep breath, I nodded at Aesophedus, who pressed the tip of the dagger into the center of my chest, just right over my heart, piercing the flesh a bit. Gritting my teeth, I sucked in a sharp breath and grunted from the searing pain of having a piece of my soul ripped from my body.

To say it hurt like a bitch would be a gross understatement. If I had to relate it to anything, it would be akin to having every layer of my body skinned off one at a time while alive. But I didn't care much for the pain. It would be worth it in the end once I was bound to Stella. I only felt bad for her because there was no way she could be prepared for this.

With a piece of my blackish soul hanging outside my body in Aesophedus's grasp, I watched as he turned his attention to Stella, who gave him a nervous but determined nod. "Be brave, Stella doll." I encouraged her with a proud smile, holding her hands tightly in mine. "If I could take away the pain, then I would," I whispered.

Pacing my breathing, I watched Aesophedus carry out the same process on Stella with an aching heart. Seeing her cry out in pain when he pierced her soul with the dagger and pulled out a piece made my fingers itch to snatch the dagger away to stop it. "You are doing great, Stella doll. We are almost done." I smiled proudly at her while stroking her hands with my thumbs.

Carefully, both of us watched Aesophedus as he literally tied our souls together before urging us together with a firm hand on our backs. "You may embrace each other and your new life as bounded soulmates."

Immediately, I wrapped an arm around Stella's waist and grabbed her face with the other to bring her body right against mine before kissing her with all I had in me. Shudders racked my body as the feeling of our combined souls returned to our bodies. It felt so strange to have another person inside of me, but it felt so right at the same time.

'Holy shit, that felt weird.' I could hear Stella's voice clearly in my mind.

Chuckling, I looked deeply into her eyes as I held her face lovingly. 'How many times do I have to tell you, baby? Shit can't be holy.' I couldn't help but smile amusingly at Stella's shocked reaction when I responded to her telepathically.

"Oh my… You're in my head…!" She gasped with a happy squeal.

Aesophedus chuckled and rubbed Stella's shoulder. "Welcome to the soul bound life. Good luck, you're gonna need it with this one."

Yeah, she was definitely going to need it. I haven't told her yet, but she really was stuck with me until death—my death, to be exact. Beings with lesser lives took on the lifeline of the demon or angel they become bonded to, so Stella would live the rest of her life with me until I died or she did—by means of murder because natural death wasn't a thing with us angels and demons.

'I love you so much.' She smiled so tenderly at me that my heart melted.

'And I will spend forever returning it tenfold. I love you, Stella. For now, and the rest of eternity.'

Epilogue: Stella

5 years later

"Mom! Bacon!"

My groan of complaint became choppy with the jerking of the bed as my three-year-old son jumped on it like a damn trampoline while demanding his breakfast. "Kassieeee." Throwing an arm over behind me, I whack a laughing Kastoron.

"Alright, bud, that's enough." The bed became still when the sounds of my son's feet hitting the mattress ceased. "What did I tell you about screaming at Mommy early in the morning?" It still surprised me how calm Kastoron always was with our son. Seriously, never once has he remotely raised his voice at our child.

Fucking best demon dad ever.

Smiling softly to myself, I turned my head to look at Kastoron who sat on the bed with Killian in his arms. "And just what's got you smiling like that so early in the morning after a long night?" Kastoron questioned with a curious chuckle.

I could feel him trying to push past the mental wall I had put up, but I held strong, earning a pout from him. "Meanie." He grumbled, sticking his tongue out at me with our son, who copied his father.

It took a while after we joined souls, but eventually, we learned to shut each other out of our minds. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many surprises were ruined within the first six months of us not knowing how to fully block each other out. Of course, I didn't mind it too much because seeing a scare from Kastoron beforehand worked wonders for me.

Giggling, I reached out and stroked his thigh after settling my hand on it. "Just thinking about us, our family, our life."

Life really couldn't be more perfect, in my opinion. I had a successful career as a photographer, running my own business and all, and Kastoron was the perfect stay-at-home dad to little Killian who was a ball of wonder in his own right.

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