Page 44 of Marked
Iver suddenly switches the camera mode, turning it around in his hand and raising it higher above us, pressing the shutter.
“Iver!” I admonish, white spots dancing across my vision from the flash.
He lowers the camera, flipping back into display mode to view the photo he just took. “You’re not smiling,” he mumbles.
“Well you didn’t warn me,” I laugh, swatting his chest with the back of my hand.
Iver rolls to his side, nuzzling into my neck and tickling my ribs. I stifle a giggle as he lifts his arm and snaps another photo, quickly lowering the camera to check the screen again.
“That’s a framer,” he declares with a smug grin. “I’m thinking right on my desk…”
I give him a playful shove, pushing up and sliding out of bed. A few weeks ago, I would’ve found this cheesy as hell. I would’ve poked fun at anyone acting as sappy and loved-up as the two of us are right now, but cynicism is hard to come by when you find someone that loves you for exactly who you are. Iver doesn’t even realize how much he’s done to mend the cracks he didn’t cause just by beinghim.
I probably owe Javi an apology for all the shit I gave him about the mate bond turning him into a sucker.
I’ve never been this damn happy. Even as I stoop to grab my clothes off the floor and start getting dressed, I can’t keep from smiling like a fool just thinking about what the future holds. Moving into his packhouse is a big step, but it’s a necessary one if I’m going to be his Luna. In sealing our bond, I became part of his pack. From here on out, we’ll be leading them together, but it’s not the pack rank that excites me. It’s the thought of waking up beside Iver every day for the rest of my life; of me being his and him being mine.
Tugging down the hem of my shirt, I turn to glance around the room, smoothing my hair as I shift my gaze to the blonde adonis still resting on my bed. “We should probably get going,” I say, tipping my head toward the door.
Iver pushes up on an elbow, his ab muscles flexing with the action. “Don’t you still have to pack?”
“Already did,” I shrug, grabbing my sunglasses off the dresser and pointing to the boxes lined up in front of my closet door.
His brows knit together as he glances toward them. “That’s seriously all you have?” he questions, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as he sits up.
I shrug again, sliding my sunglasses onto the top of my head. “I’m a simple girl, Iver.”
He rises from the bed with a frown, stepping into his sweatpants and pulling them up his hips. Then he slips his t-shirt back on and crosses the room to me in a few quick strides, his hands landing on my waist. “I’m taking you shopping,” he declares, staring down at me intently.
I press a palm to his chest, his delicious scent filling my nose and making my belly flip. “Don’t you darePretty Womanme.”
Iver quirks a brow. “Are you insinuating you’re a call girl?”
“Ugh, you’re right, that was a horrible choice of metaphor,” I groan, dropping my hand.
He steps in closer, lowering his head until his lips brush mine. I lean into the kiss, accepting it, and he sinks a hand into the back of my hair, tongue sweeping against the seam of my lips.
We’re rudely interrupted by the sound of the front door swinging open, followed by the familiar thud of Javi’s footsteps.
Reluctantly, I pull back, breaking the kiss and glancing toward the doorway just as my best friend appears from the hall.
“What are you doing here?” I ask breathlessly, heat rising to my cheeks.
“I came to send you off,” he replies, wrinkling his nose as he glances past me to the rumpled bed. “Guess it’s a good thing my meeting with the pack enforcers ran long, eh?”
I avert my gaze, blush deepening as I duck under Ivers arm, grabbing my sneakers off the floor and moving to the edge of the bed to put them on. “Don’t act like you don’t have a healthy sex life,” I mumble.
“Oh, I know I do, I’m just glad you’ve got one now, too,” he chuckles, advancing into the room and offering Iver a fist-bump.
I just shake my head, huffing out a breath as I finish tying my laces.This is what I get for being best friends with an Alpha male. Pushing up from the bed, I step over to the closet, bendingdown for one of my boxes and hefting it up into my arms. “This way, boys,” I call out as I start for the door.
Iver and Javi pick up two boxes apiece– which is sadly all that remains– and follow me out of the cabin to Iver’s truck. He lowers the tailgate and we slide my boxes in, then he brushes his hands together after slamming it closed.
“You’re sure that’s everything?” he asks, still seemingly perplexed about my lack of belongings.
“Yes,” I sigh, waving him off as I turn to Javi. “Guess this is it, huh?”
A chuckle rumbles in his chest as he steps closer and drapes an arm over my shoulders, giving me a side-hug. “Don’t act like you’ll never see me again, you’re moving fifteen minutes away. Since when are you all girly and dramatic?”
