Page 21 of Bonded Beyond Trickery

CHAPTER 9

TILLY

The delicious ache in my body has a smile spreading across my face. Holy shit. The ache in my limbs and the dull roaring reminder of how hard, how sinfully my mate took me yesterday, should not feel as good as it does.

“I could have healed us, but I like it,”my wolf purrs.

I giggle softly and whisper conspiratorially to her,“I like it, too.”

My wolf sighs as she stretches in my mind. There’s a dreamy quality to her growl,“Do you think we can mate again? Can we mate every day?”

“We may be that lucky. It felt like Whitaker was insatiable,”I sound giddy.

Hell, I feel giddy.

Copying my wolf, I stretch on the bed and the pull where my neck and shoulder meet has me wincing. I jolt up in bed remembering that not only did I mate with the other half of my soul, but we sealed our bond with bites.

“We are forever bound together,”reverence pours from my wolf.

Yes. Yes, we are.

I want to get up and look at my mating mark, but with a glance to the other side of the bed I realize that I’m alone. The realization has a pit opening up in my gut.

Does he regret what happened? Would he take it back if he could?

While I know that our past, the feelings of hurt, aren’t all resolved—how could they be so quickly—I did think that we got a little closer to letting the shit go to focus on the future.

“Open yourself up to the bond,”my wolf suggests.

Easier suggested than done. It’s not like I’ve ever had a mate bond before.

Sinking back into the bed, I close my eyes and focus on Whitaker. I visualize a wall in my mind falling away along with a thread that connects my soul to my mate.

“Little wolf,”Whitaker’s voice is gentle in my mind.

“Hi,”I whisper back to him, not even considering that with the bond comes our own personal mind link.

I don’t like feeling shy, but with him, especially with what happened yesterday, it’s unavoidable. Knowing it wasn’t just myfirst time, that Whitaker waited for me, has my thighs clenching. It’s a shame that I woke up alone.

Whitaker purrs, a sensuality in his tone that has me panting,“Did you burst into my mind to distract me with naughty thoughts?”

“N-no,”I stammer,“I wasn’t sure where you were, and my wolf suggest that I use the bond. I forgot about the mind link though.”I clear my throat and try and shake off the lust coursing through my veins.“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. I’m new to this whole bond thing.”

“I am too, Tilly,”the amusement in his voice has me breathing a sigh of relief.“I didn’t want to leave our bed this morning.”

Our. He called it our bed. Why does that make me want to dance and jump for joy at the same time?

I try not to pout. I really do, promise.“Then why did you?”

“I needed to go to the first training session of the day.”I almost ask him why he didn’t wake me up since we talked about when I can join training.“You were sleeping so peacefully, little wolf,”there’s a growl in his voice that sends a shiver up my spine because it means that his wolf is at the surface,“and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense.”When I shift in the bed, that ache reminds me to move a little slower.“I’ll see you later?”

“Of course, Tilly,”he assures me.

As our connection fizzles out, I take a moment to tap into his emotions. While I don’t want to spy on him, he hasn’t blocked me out of his emotions and I’m curious. It will help me navigate the beginnings of our bond in light of how we began.

There’s a hint of anger pulsing in our bond, but it’s tempered with a lot of hope and the need to forgive and move forward. I can work with those emotions.

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