Page 148 of Just One Bite
I laugh, placing his hand on my cheek. “We can enjoy this first.”
“Oh, I’m enjoying. I plan on enjoying you over and over again.” He kisses me on the cheek. “Once you’re healed and rested.”
“So what happens now?” I say, looking around the room of a luxury treehouse we’re definitely not permitted to be in. “Do you think they’ll kick us out of here?”
I didn’t care at the time, but thinking of someone walking in to find Parker and me naked and covered in dirt would be mortifying, especially if the paparazzi are involved.
I guess I have to look at my life through that lense from here on out. I’m no longer just Olivia Osborne, the ballerina. I’m Olivia Osborne, the ballerina and the first human linked mate in Vviveren.
It’s a heavy title, but with Parker, it’s not as daunting. Maybe it’s somethingI can be good at. No. I know I can. Just like I know I can play Giselle, my dream role.
“No. I will likely have to pay for the door and the ruined sheets though.”
“What about Barrett and Aster? What if they’re … angry?”
He’s still inspecting me, rubbing his cheek against mine and his nose down my jaw.
“There’s no one in Vviveren that will take you from me. Let them be angry. We’re linked for forever now. I’m going to take you to the city. I’ll need to build a pack. The moon festival is almost here, and your ballet is coming up soon. It’s all up from here, baby.”
“You make it sound like it’s all going to fall into place now.”
“It will. This is like … like a childhood dream come true. That’s how long I’ve wanted you.”
“It’s like that for me too.”
“Oh, keep doing that.” He kisses me with a wide smile.
Parker and I bonded, and my entire life will be different. I’m still going to get into the IBCE, but Parker will be there. He’ll get into the pro league, and I’ll be there too. I’ve found my mate and I never have to part from him.
All the dreams of destruction and storms were warning us of The Hunt, but now the threat has passed, and I feel free.
The thunder continues with the barrage of lightning, but I’ve never felt safer.
Parker pulls me onto a pillow with him. “All of this is pretty rough on your body. I want to heal you.”
I smile and wrap my arms around his torso.
“I’m yours. I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Olivia
“Hi.” The boy on the swing is waiting with a wide smile.
“Parker,” I say.
He turns, smiling. “I’ve been waiting for you. I brought this for us.”
Young Parker hands me an umbrella.
“I think it’s about to rain.”
“Parker.” I wake with his name on my lips. The rain has stopped and the light of dawn illuminates the room in a blueish gray, while I stare up at a ceiling made entirely of wooden planks, reeling.
Parker’s arms tighten around me tighten. “What’s wrong?”
“I remember. We met at the swing every day. There are so many times … too many to say. And when my mother died, you were there. You let me cry in your arms.”
