Page 76 of Shifting Fate
Dallon
I stretched, slowly waking up from the best damn dream I’d ever had. Sunlight draped over my body, warming my bare skin. I closed my eyes on a sigh and reached across the bed for my mate, only to find it empty.
I was alone.
My eyes popped open and I looked around the bedroom. He must’ve already gotten up. Did that mean his heat was already over? I tried not to pout, because to be completely honest? I wastotallydown for a couple more days of wild and crazy sex. Holy wow.
I touched my sore neck and the memories came rushing back—how goddamn beautiful we’d been last night, how hungry Arias was for me. Deeper even than that, was the fact that he’d bitten me. He’dclaimedme, and three softly-spoken words had lit me up inside.
I love you.
I frowned up at the ceiling. Three little words. Words I hadn’t expected to hear for awhile, but there they were, out in the open. He’d been lust drunk last night. He couldn’t have meant it…
Right?
I rolled out of bed and scrubbed both hands over my face, then grabbed a pair of PJ pants out of my duffle bag. I needed a shower. I smelled of sweat and sex and I’d been so cozy, I’d only half-assedly cleaned up last night.
Nothing a little soap wouldn’t fix.
Arias’s scent lingered in the bathroom, the mirror still a little foggy. He hadn’t been up long. I touched my neck again, running the pads of my fingertips over the slightly upraised skin. I leaned over the bathroom counter to get a better look at the mark, and there it was.
That really happened. Arias claimed me.
A little thrill shot through me and I smiled.
I took a long, steamy shower that probably used up all the hot water, but I didn’t even care. After toweling my hair dry and pulling my clothes on over my damp skin, I went in search of Arias. I needed to know if this was real, or if it’d simply been a heat of the moment thing.
I found him sitting at the kitchen table, staring out the window. He must’ve been lost in thought, because he didn’t look up when I entered the room. Sunlight poured in through the glass, surrounding my mate with a halo, his blond hair glinting gold. He was so beautiful…but was he mine?
Doubts crawled beneath my skin like bugs and, unable to take the silence any longer, I leaned against the doorframe. It creaked beneath my weight. “You wanna talk about what happened last night?” I asked. “Or?”
Arias startled, then surged to his feet. He came over to me with his bottom lip snared between his teeth. Tilting his head to the side, he gently brushed his fingers over the mark he’d left on me last night. His smile brightened his entire face.
“Nothing to talk about,” he murmured. “You are mine. You’re really mine.” He slid his arms around my waist in a loving embrace. I relaxed into his touch with a sigh of my own as we came together in a pool of daylight.
“And you’re mine.” Forehead to forehead, I pressed my lips to his. “You’re okay with this? You put us off for so long…”
“No regrets, Dallon,” he whispered. “I promise you, I havenoregrets about this, or about you. If last night wasn’t proof enough, I love you. I love you more than words can say, and I’m so glad you gave me a second chance.” He kissed me, so sweetly, that for a moment, I thought I might cry.
I smiled against his lips, swallowing back emotion. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I curled my fingers in his damp hair, drawing him down for another kiss. He sighed against my lips and closed his eyes, and I let the worries fall right off my shoulders. Arias was my mate, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
All of a sudden, howls split the air like sirens, alarmed and frantic. I yelped and stumbled back, gripping at my chest. Dread sent my stomach plummeting. “Now? Why now? Jesus!”
I spun away from Arias, but he caught my wrist and yanked me back. Pinning me to him in a fierce embrace, he kissed me hard, his blue eyes searching mine. “We’re in this together, remember?”
I nodded, then thought better of it and leaned up on my tip-toes to kiss him one last time. A promise. “Let’s go kick Dreadhunter ass.”
