Page 26 of Caelum

This was The Mark, after all.

What all males received once they’d met their Chosen.

I wasn’t sure whether to be jealous or happy for him.

For however long it took to get into Eve’s panties, that would be the only sex he’d be having. His cock was officially on lockdown. That was how it worked with Chosen males. They were tied to one woman and one woman only.

When I thought of that particular female, it certainly would be no hardship to be with her, but the time it was going to take to gentle her?

She hadn’t even known what sex was.

I could imagine her screaming if she came face to face with a cock. That wasn’t exactly going to put a guy in the mood, was it? And Stefan’s soulsneededsex, so these next few months were going to be a real barrel of laughs.

Not.

“I felt it when I touched her.”

“Mates aren’t Chosen until graduation,” Nestor said softly, his eyes just as firmly fixed on the markings on Stefan’s spine as mine were.

“You’re telling me something I know already,” Stefan grumbled, and I knew he was edgy because not only was he in pain, but he knew the ramifications of what had happened today.

“You’ll have to wear a shirt all the time,” I told him. “Otherwise they’ll never let you near her.”

He nodded, his mouth still set in grim lines. “I remember.”

“Who could forget?” I thought back to Cash and Jane who’d determined they were mates before graduation two years ago. They’d been practically cordoned off from each other.

We weren’t sure why. Not when sex was permitted between students so long as no one spent the night in another’s bed. It made no sense that casual sex was allowed but committed sex wasn’t. In fact, it was the exact opposite of everything I’d ever been taught.

I reached up and gripped his good shoulder firmly. “It will be okay.”

“Will it?” He sighed and bowed his head. “It’s annoying, but I’m not sad about meeting her.”

“She’ll change things,” Nestor commented.

“She will. But I guess I know what we are now. That’s something, I suppose.”

The fact that her Succubus had called to his Incubus meant they knew which of their souls would be dominant.

This wasn’t unheard of, not exactly, but what was unheard of was for a single touch to trigger the Choosing.

“What happened?” I queried, trying to understand how the impossible had gone down.

“You saw me,” Stefan argued. “It’s not like I did anything. I just held out my hand for her.”

“It must have been on her side,” Nestor reasoned. “Maybe she did something to you?”

Stefan snorted. “She isn’t a witch. Not that they exist anyway,” he dismissed, staring at the lines on his back before scowling at his reflection and grabbing the tee then dragging it over his head. “I’ll bring this back when it’s clean, Eren.”

“No worries.” I cut him a look. “Want to work out?”

“Yeah, but my back’s on fire.” He grimaced. “I never realized it would hurt this bad.”

“Love is pain,” I teased, amused when he just glowered at me. “Wow, you’re delicate. Normally you’d have tried to slap the shit out of me for a joke like that.”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I am.”

“We’ll watch out for her, Stef,” I promised him softly. “There’s no need to worry about her.”

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