Page 86 of Mate Night Snack
Vines traced protective sigils across her body, glowing lines of ancient design weaving over her thighs, her stomach, her breasts. They crossed to him next, marking him in mirrored patterns, twining over his shoulders and arms, wrapping around the old scar on his left shoulder.
“It’s healing me,” he whispered. “Your magic… it’s healing everything.”
She cupped his face with both hands, her thumbs brushing the edge of his jaw. “It doesn’t hurt,” she said. “It feels like… like we were always meant to fit.”
His throat burned.
“You are my fit,” he said, voice thick with love and something more primal. “My perfect match.”
Their bodies met harder now, her legs locked tight around his waist, her hips rising to meet every stroke. He could feel her close—tight and trembling and about to shatter.
“Come with me,” he said, burying himself deep and grinding against that spot inside her that made her whole body tense.
She cried out his name, her climax breaking through her like a wave crashing over stone. Her body arched, her pussy clenching tight around him in pulsing waves that dragged him under.
He followed with a growl, driving into her one last time, emptying himself in a release so consuming it left him breathless. As they climaxed together, the bond between them exploded in a radiant surge.
Tiny golden petals burst from the vines and floated skyward, catching in his hair and on her cheeks like glittering blessings.
The mark blazed, and beneath it, a new one formed across his heart, lit by her power, sealed by their union.
They collapsed together, tangled in vines and magic, her body pressed flush against his, the sweat and wildness between them slowly fading into quiet.
The sigils dimmed but didn’t vanish.
They settled into their skin like tattoos made of light.
Permanent.
Sacred.
His.
"Well," Katniss said eventually, her voice dreamy with satisfaction. "That was unexpected."
"Which part? The magical light show or the fact that we're apparently glowing?"
She laughed, the sound bright as silver bells in the hushed clearing. "All of it."
"Maybe it's never had a bond like ours to work with." Emmett traced one of the faint light-patterns on her shoulder, marvelingat the way it seemed to pulse beneath his touch. "Built on choice instead of compulsion. Love instead of just instinct."
"You think that makes a difference?"
"I think everything about us makes a difference." He pulled her closer, feeling the protective magic hum contentedly around them. "We're writing our own rules, remember? Creating something new."
Emmett held her as she drifted off, his own eyes heavy but reluctant to close. This moment felt too precious to lose to sleep, too perfect to let slip away into memory. The protective magic continued to pulse gently around them, a living reminder of what they'd created together.
Emmett smiled and finally let his eyes drift closed, secure in the knowledge that this was only the beginning. They had a lifetime ahead of them, full of ordinary moments and extraordinary love, small challenges and great adventures.
But tonight, beneath the protective canopy of ancient trees and surrounded by magic that had blessed their union, they were exactly where they belonged.
Together, bound by choice and sealed by love, ready for whatever the future might bring.
And for the first time in his life, Emmett Hollowell was completely, utterly, perfectly at peace.
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KATNISS
