Page 19 of Silver
I shouted into the room, and when Silver’s neck suddenly moved in front of my mouth, I instinctively bit. The taste of iron in my mouth was new, and I quickly pulled my teeth from his neck and licked over the bite. A feeling of complete relaxation overcame me, and I suddenly felt drowsy and sighed.
“My thoughts exactly,” Silver mumbled. He slid his arms under my back, and we were rolling once again. I found myself on top of my mate—my mate! I had been claimed by my fated mate!
The chest below me suddenly started moving as Silver chuckled, but it stopped just as quickly as it had started. “Yes, we’ve claimed each other. That was the intent, was it not?”
I sighed again and snuggled into his chest. “Yeah,” I mumbled before yawning.
I felt Silver’s lips on the top of my head, one arm wrapped protectively around my back, the other threading through my hair. I yawned again.
“Take a nap. We’ll worry about the next round in a bit.”
I couldn’t do anything except nod in agreement. I felt our bond slip fully into place, and I saw a giant silverback gorilla running through tall grass with a gray koala hanging on to his neck as I dozed off. It was such a beautiful thing to see, and I hoped we would be able to make it reality soon. But for now, it was time to nap. We had a lifetime ahead of us to get to know everything about each other.
Chapter Nine
Silver
Not even half a day. Less than twelve hours ago, my life was drastically different. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea I would be ending Valentine’s Day with not only a mate but a claimed mate. I was clueless about Ma’s scheming, and even an hour ago, I was ready to chew her out for what she’d done. That was before I’d claimed Charlie.
My adorable little mate, who was currently quietly snoring against my chest. Our claiming was probably a bit rushed, but neither of us seemed to care all that much. I knew my gorilla wasn’t going to have an easy time letting Charlie go without at least our scent on him. That he was just as willing to claim me back made not only me happy, but my animal side was running in my mind, stopping long enough to beat his chest and roar out in triumph.
Had I ever done that in real life? No. Which was probably why my animal side was doing it in my mind. I’d let him have his moment or two because I understood the need for celebration.We’d not only found our mate but had claimed him already. That wasn’t something I thought I needed. Apparently, I had been wrong.
I was going to experience so many firsts with Charlie. Having a partner sleep on me was certainly one of those firsts. Just the fact that he was in my bed was a huge one. I couldn’t help but lie here and wonder how soon I could get him to move in with me. Sure, I would spend the night in his tiny cottage with him, but I knew that it would be incredibly cramped with me there with him.
I realized it was a very real possibility that he wasn’t going to want to live here in my house. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but for my mate, I was willing to sell this place and buy something that Charlie wanted. It would be an adjustment not living so close to my brothers, but things would be changing for everyone in the family. I had a mate! That meant my first priority now would be Charlie and not everyone else in the family. I smiled at that. Ma’s scheming worked. I had found my mate and already claimed him. What I didn’t think she thought about completely, though, was the fact that I would be focusing on Charlie and any family we might start now. I would no longer be as eager to drop everything and go to our parents’ house. I would no longer be spending time there every weekend. I was sure she hadn’t thought about that.
Charlie started to stir, and instinctively, I tightened my arms around him before I started rubbing my hands up and down his back. Charlie made a noise seconds before he moved his head. Then, he raised it and looked up at me. I smiled at him. He was so damn adorable.
“Hello. How are you feeling?”
After a moment, Charlie’s eyes widened, and then he pushed up a bit and looked around. When his eyes made it back to mine, he smiled. “It wasn’t an amazing dream,” he said.
“Nope. We met on a blind date, and we ended up back at mine. Clothes came off, body parts collided, bites were exchanged, and you fell asleep.”
Charlie’s cheeks darkened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. That was incredibly rude of me.”
I chuckled. “I was taking it as a compliment. I’m not upset even a little.” I had discovered that I very much liked the feeling of Charlie lying on top of me and wondered if I’d be able to get him in this position again in the very near future.
Charlie squirmed a little before he seemed to sigh. “Your knot is gone,” he said, his eyes widening.
“Yes. It didn’t stay long. Maybe ten minutes at most. I’m not sure if that’s how it will always be or if it was there this time because we claimed each other. I’ve never experienced it before, obviously.”
Charlie smiled before nodding, resting his chin on his hand, which was now on my chest. He looked sleepy, and I realized I probably should get him into the shower and cleaned up.
“How about we take a shower and get cleaned up?” I asked. I knew the bed was going to need to be changed. Well, the blanket at a minimum. That depended on how much of our combined mess got onto it and if anything leaked through. Most likely, since it wasn’t an overly thick blanket.
“Oh, a shower sounds wonderful,” Charlie said. He pushed up again, this time sitting up on me. I very much liked the look and feel of Charlie there in that position, and I wondered if he would like that position. I certainly wanted to see him in it during other activities. “I have to assume with your size that your shower is larger than mine?”
I snorted. “You would be correct. There is plenty of room for the two of us in my shower. Same as with my tub.”
Charlie was suddenly giddy, and he made a bit of a squeak before he climbed off me. He was standing beside the bed inseconds, and I rolled to join him. He moved back a step, giving me room to slide off the bed. A quick glance told me that I was definitely going to need to change the blanket, and looking at the size of the mess, most likely the sheets as well.
“Let me get you started in the shower, and I’ll join you after I strip the bed.”
“Did you…oh.” Charlie winced when he looked around me toward the bed. “I’ll help. That’s partly my mess too, I’m sure.”
“It’s most likely mine.” I cleared my throat. “Most of your mess is on my stomach and probably yours as well.” He didn’t have the amount of hair on his stomach that I did, which was a lucky thing for him since he’d probably ripped a bit of mine out when he sat up. Charlie’s mess had mostly dried on my stomach and at this point was incredibly itchy. It could wait a bit longer though.
