Page 43 of Shade
"Actually, they were both grooms, and they're both my friends, so I suppose, both?"
That seemed to stump them for a moment, but not too long.
"Was there cake?"
Diego grinned. "Yes, and, I brought some for you, which you'll get at lunch time if you're good."
The kids cheered at that. Then a little girl with pigtails and big blue eyes asked, "Did you dance with someone?"
Diego's smile softened, and butterflies filled my belly when I realized that look was for me, because of me.
"I did. It was fun," he said, then clapped his hands. "All right, time's up. Let's start roll call now, hmm? We have a lot of work to do today."
"Yes, Mr. Sánchez!" everyone shouted, and I settled back to watch him teach, feeling so damned proud of my beautiful mate.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Diego
"It's been, what, anhour?" I asked as I leaned against Shade's shoulder, and he pulled me closer with a hum.
"More or less."
"You're getting stronger," I murmured happily, wiggling my toes as the water lapped at them.
We were sitting at the beach in the Ocean area, and I was loving the heat of the sun on my face, especially because Shade was right there beside me. He'd been practicing staying outside every day, and he'd gotten a lot stronger in a short time. From a few minutes, we'd made it to an hour without him needing to retreat,and I loved it.
I loved that Shade could hang out with his friends now, and while it sucked that he couldn't do it without me nearby, it wasn't like we spent much time apart. His friends were my friends too now, and everyone knew we were more or less a package deal.
Last week, he'd helped Zamir play a few pranks—stealing Silas's snacks through the shadows when he wasn't looking, then giving it to Keoni, who gobbled it up instantly, and other annoying but harmless things—as payment for babysitting Pixie, and I got the feeling Silas was planning his revenge, though I doubted he'd be able to get a one-up on my Shade.
"I think we'll need to go back soon," he said after a few minutes, and I turned my head to press a kiss on his cheek.
"Okay. We can go back to our place," I said, making him smile. It'd been more than two weeks since I moved in, and he still lit up every time I called itourplace, or when I called him, "Come on, vida mía." I'd first called him that because of how much he seemed to love it when I spoke Spanish, but I'd quickly realized it was the perfect pet name for him, because he really was my life, just like I was his.
Shade hopped to his feet, pulling me with him, and then led me to wherever the closest shadow was. It had taken me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why he could only use my shadow when traveling solo, but then I realized that my shadow would cease to exist the moment Shade pulled me in and yeah... that would be bad.
The world around me turned cool, and the chirp of crickets and the sound of running water from the river greeted me a moment later. Pixie was in the Forest, since we'd tried taking her with us, but she'd freaked out at the sight of all the water and clawed her way up my body. Shade had taken her there so she wouldn't have to wait for us alone in the Darkness.
After the first time Zamir babysat Pixie, Shade had started simply dropping her off at the Forest for him or someone else to look after her whenever we needed some alone time. Pixie had befriended Dustin's cat, Scrappy, and the two had taken it upon themselves to terrorize the residents of the Forest. Half of them seemed to find the duo amusing, while the other half kept trying to pawn them off to another area.
"We still have a few hours until dinner. What would you like to do?" Shade asked, and I grinned.
Wrapping both arms around him, I trailed my palms up his smooth, lean back, raising my head so he could see my face. "I can think of a few things I'd like to do."
Shade chuckled, the warm sound skittering over my skin like tendrils of his shadows, and I pressed closer as I felt his breath against my lips, tilting my head so he could join our lips together. I melted into the kiss, clinging to him as his wispy tongue slid into my mouth, dancing against mine as it caressed my mouth, the sweet, smoky taste unlike anything else I'd ever tasted. Shade was so unique. None of the other supes here even compared to him, and he was all mine. How could I have gotten so lucky?
Shade had told me once that all supes believed in a being called Fate, someone who wove our paths together so fated mates could find each other. I'd never believed in a God before, despite my mom's strong faith in one, but I believed in Fate. Because how else would I have found someone as wonderful as Shade not once, but twice?
"Bed," I gasped against his lips, and he hummed into my mouth before picking me up and carrying me to it. He dropped me onto the mattress, and after a moment of weightlessness, I bounced against it as he covered me with his body.I loved it when he did that. It made me feel secure, protected, like nothing could get to me with him so close.
It wasn't like I was afraid of someone hurting me all the time, but being without your most useful sense was hard. I had to be on high alert all the time when I was around people. I could never just tune out or daydream. Or at least, I couldn't before Shade. Now, he was always with me when I went outside the Sanctuary, whether that was to work, or the markets, or out to dinner. He was always close, and he kept me safe from everything.
Shade tugged my shirt up my chest, and I leaned up to help him take it off, then quickly got rid of my pants and boxers as well.
I sucked in a breath as Shade's lips wrapped around my nipple, reaching down to cup the back of his head. I caressed the smooth skin as he continued playing with my nipple, then switched to the other one, making me arch up into him as sparks of pleasure raced straight to my cock.
