Ever Marked (Mystics of Mercy Ridge #1)

32. Myles

Chapter 32

Myles

“ S o everything’s working without a hitch?”

Seraphina’s mate Leo grunts in agreement on the other side of the phone. “Looks like whatever you did to the barrier did the trick. We haven’t had any more incidents, but we’re flying regular patrols for any signs of anyone lurking around as a precaution. Not the first time we’ve had someone testing the wards, they always move on to easier prey eventually.”

I blow out a relieved breath. “Good. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Will do.” He hangs up without any fanfare, and I tuck my phone away, striding back in the house only to nearly wipe out on a hunk of plastic. The living room looks like a bomb’s gone off in a hardware store; wires, screws, and plastic controller shells strewn across the floor. And in the middle of the chaos sits a stressed out Ever, tossing something aside with a frustrated huff before grabbing a new shell and installing the hardware.

“Hey, Ev?” Carefully, I navigate a path through the mess. “I think maaaaaaybe it’s time to take a break. Let’s get you a snack and you can stretch your legs, you can’t be comfortable after sitting like that for hours.”

“I can’t stop now! They could call any day with a buyer for the project, and-”

Crouched in front of her, I press my finger to her lips. “I’m not saying quit for the day. I’m saying breathe. What you’re currently doing isn’t working, right? So it’s time to brainstorm. Look at things from a different angle.” I remove my finger and offer her my hand. “Talk me through the problem.”

She takes my offered hand to pull her to her feet and sucks in a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and I lead her to the kitchen while she repeats what she told me the first day we met, about how she can’t decide between a universal controller or sticking to the originals per system, but that’d mean people would need to buy several different controllers which defies the point of the universal system she was going for.

“So your problem is that anything you do will work, but some people will complain? I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to get that no matter what you do in life. You can’t please everybody and trying will only make you miserable.”

Ever tosses her head back dramatically and groans, “I knooooooooow, but I want the majority to be in my favor at least. It’s already going to be hard enough making a name for myself in the industry because I’m a woman, I don’t want to sabotage myself right out of the gate.”

I pull a container out of the fridge, making a mental note to thank Ledger. Now that we have a mate that’s as terrible about feeding herself while in work mode as I am, he’s started prepping easy grab and go containers we can pick at between being distracted. It’s been a game changer.

Ever snacks while I mull it over aloud. “So the key concept is user preference.” I nod slowly, working through the potential pitfalls and slowly suggest, “You have a tech mage at your disposal. I could infuse your intent in the universal controller you created. Then it could morph to each individual person’s preference per game.”

Violet eyes blink owlishly up at me. But to her credit, Ever doesn’t immediately laugh my idea off, seriously considering it. “Doesn’t that kind of expose magic to humans, though?”

“Not if we say it’s nanotech and keep the schematics classified. It’d take some negotiating on your lawyer’s part to get the company to agree not to have that part of the design, but if they mass produce the base controller, you could have it shipped to a warehouse right outside of town so the barrier isn’t an issue with delivery drivers. Then claim your in-house specialist prefers to remain anonymous for obvious reasons and will put the finishing touches on it and ship them to the distribution center. It’d be easy to sell that because if word got out, every tech company and the government would be banging down their door, and they aren’t interested. Might even help sell it because they’d have exclusive access to nano tech that other companies would kill for.” Worried I’ve vastly overstepped, I take my glasses off, cleaning the lenses with my shirt as we return to the living room. “Sure, shipping costs will be argued, but your agent could balance that with the cost of the ‘nanotech’ in the fine print.”

I barely get my glasses back on my face before she throws her arms around my neck in a fierce hug. “Myles, you’re a genius . Can you show me? I’d really like to do this myself if you don’t mind teaching me and loaning me your abilities to pull it off?”

My Adam's apple bobs as I clutch her a little closer. “Yeah, of course. Anything for you.”

Heart in my throat, I commit to risking everything and go for it. Ever hasn’t pushed me away yet, and if I’m going to be her mate… that means getting more comfortable with casual physical contact. Braced for rejection, I take a seat on the couch, pulling her onto my lap and grab a controller like it’s no big deal and I’m not freaking out.

“My abilities are all about the intent. So keep your hand on it, but infuse it with your will. Imagine what you want it to do. Adaptability. Suit its users' needs.”

With another deep breath, she centers herself, subconsciously relaxing back into me and leaving me biting back a wild grin. Sparks light up along her fingertips, and I don’t even feel a sliver of regret as she leaves me powerless. Because fuck, the look of pure, unadulterated joy on her face is enough to carry me for the rest of my life.

“Holy shit, I think I did it,” she breathes, turning that ethereal gaze onto me and breaking into a wide grin. “ We did it.” Before I can blink, she palms both of my cheeks and crashes her lips against mine in a fierce, enthusiastic kiss that’ll I’ll be remembering for the rest of my days. “You’re amazing, Myles. Far too good to me, but fuck, I couldn’t do this without you.” She grimaces. “It really doesn’t bother you if I use you like this?”

Is she joking right now? Her using me is a recurring dream .

Heat suffuses my cheeks, but I tighten my grip on her waist. “It’s my pleasure. Seriously.”

Her gaze turns flirty as she pivots in my arms to straddle my lap, looping her arms around my neck. “Oh, is that so?”

I’m pretty sure my heart is about to beat straight out of my chest. But even though a part of me wants to run away like a nervous coward, a bigger part of me realizes exactly how lucky I am to have someone like Everest Moore looking at me like I’m the answer to all of her problems.

My breath catches as I say, “Wait. Before we go any further, I need to confess something in case it changes how you feel about me. I wouldn’t blame you, in fact-”

She pulls back, looking down at me warily now. “What are you talking about?”

It’s like gargling glass to admit the truth. “I…” I wet my lips, bracing for her inevitable rejection and hating myself for ruining the moment. But it’s already hard enough to live with myself. If I cement my bond with Ever without telling her my darkest secret, I’ll never be able to look at myself in the mirror again.

“I killed my best friend.”

She jerks back, shocked. “What?”

My stomach is a pit of writhing snakes. “High school was brutal. Kids aren’t exactly nice to the nerds, and being afraid to make friends and risk exposing my abilities didn’t help. I thought college would be better, but it turned out to be a living hell where teachers didn’t worry about watching the halls or bathrooms to cut down on bullying like they did in high school. And since my parents had paid so much in tuition for me to attend, I couldn’t bring myself to drop out.

“I wasn’t the only myst there, but the others had fallen into a makeshift pack. They got off on being cruel to everyone, but especially me.” My hands tighten on her waist. “Skylar sat down next to me out of the blue one day in the cafeteria and decided we were friends. Walked with me to the classes we shared, and sat with me every day from then on. It helped get them to leave me alone… for a while. But one day the mysts cornered me after class and held me down as the fire elemental went to burn me, and Skylar walked back into the room to see what was holding me up. Saw this football player with a handful of fire and still didn’t hesitate to tackle him trying to help me.

“It was drilled into me since birth; don’t let anyone see that you aren’t human. So I froze. My best friend was fighting to protect me and I was too afraid of revealing my secret to do anything.” My voice is a watery croak as I rush to finish. “Suddenly, Skylar was engulfed in flames. They were so hot that he didn’t even scream, just turned to ash right in front of me. I lost control and the surge blew them all back, but one of them cracked their skull on the edge of the teacher’s desk. He didn’t ever wake up, and the others all banded together and told the police that I shoved him during a fight. And I couldn’t exactly deny it. I did kill him. His death was my fault, just like it was my fault for not doing something sooner to save Skylar.”

Ever palms my cheeks, a fierce glint in her violet eyes as she glares down at me. “Are you kidding me? How the hell was any of that your fault?”

“How isn’t it? He took the blast meant for me . He was only human, yet dove into a fight between mysts for me. If it wasn’t for me, Skylar would still be alive. They didn’t even get arrested for his death, because how the fuck could I go to the police without sounding crazy? There wasn’t even a body. Everyone just thinks he disappeared and his family will never know what happened to him… because of me.”

“Myles, I accidentally broke into a house full of gargoyles because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I’m lucky that it ended okay. What if it had been a bank? I’d be locked away for life for something I couldn’t control at the time. Of course you were afraid to use your powers in front of humans; there are hundreds of thousands of stories that teach us that doing so never ends well. Your parents beat the lesson into your head your entire life.”

She holds my gaze, emphasizing each word. “You. Did. Not. Kill. Skylar. The assholes that tormented and tried to mutilate you, are the only ones to blame. Skylar pushed you out of the way to protect you because he loved you. But he made that choice. He was an adult. He may not have understood the supernatural element going on, but he saw a stream of fire and willingly dove toward it to protect you. You didn’t kill him, your bully did. I guarantee that wherever Skylar is, he's proud as hell that his sacrifice wasn’t in vain and you took out one of those assholes so they could never torment anyone again.”

Blinking away tears, I rasp, “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve good things too, Myles,” she whispers, caressing my jaw. “Don’t ever let anyone convince you otherwise.”

Palming the back of her head, I crash my lips against hers. Never has anyone treated me like she does. Like I’m not just someone to take care of, but like I matter.

Her tongue flicks against mine, and I clutch her closer, a part of me convinced that when she pulls away, it’ll be for good. She’ll realize that I’m so far beneath her it’s ridiculous and replace me. But then she rolls her hips and kisses me deeper.

My hips buck involuntarily. “You’re killing me, here.”

“Do you want me to stop?” she asks breathlessly between kisses.

“ Never.” Skimming a hand down her side until it lands on her waist, I help her keep her rhythm and bite back a tortured groan.

“Do that again,” she pleads.

My cock kicks against her, but she shakes her head vehemently, tearing her mouth away from mine. She snaps her hips, riding me with a smirk on her face as I toss my head back and suck in a sharp breath. “You’re so open about what feels good; it’s really doing it for me. Feel free to moan louder.”

But how the hell can I moan when I can’t so much as breathe? Ever doesn’t let up, grinding on my lap until my cock jerks again, desperate to break through my jeans and feel her against my bare skin.

All hot, and wet, and strangling my-

I tear my mouth away from hers, ears burning as I breathlessly beg, “I need a second.”

She gives me a knowing look. “That’s fine.” Sliding off my lap, she falls to her knees and undoes my pants with a flick of her fingers.

I’m pretty sure I forget how to breathe.

“What are you…”

She curls her fingers around the base of my shaft, my head falling back with a groan. “Fuck, don’t move or this is going to be over embarrassingly fast.”

“There’s no shame in coming quickly. It's flattering, really. Makes a girl feel pretty.”

“ So pretty,” I gasp, bucking up into her tight fist as she strokes me from root to tip. “The prettiest.”

When her tongue flicks over the head of my cock, there’s no holding back. I come hard and fast, gently rocking my hips into her fist while I struggle to catch my breath. And when I see my cum splattered across her lips and chest? I erupt all over again, my vision whitening in ecstasy.

Despite her attempt to reassure me, heat creeps up my face. “I should have gotten you off first. Let me find something to clean myself up with and then I’ll-”

Ever drags her tongue up the side of my length, slowly licking a stripe of cum off my cock, and all coherent thought flies out the window.

Gonna keep her forever. Buy her all the computer parts she wants so she’s too happy to ever leave me.

“Trust me?” she asks, blinking up at me from her knees.

Is she serious right now? She could ask me to dress up like a clown and make snow angels, and I’d thank her for the honor.

“Always.”

A subtle smirk plays at her lips as she unfastens her pants and shucks both them and her underwear off in one smooth move. Her shirt comes next, and I watch transfixed as she reaches back to unclasp her soft blue, cotton bra.

Ever Moore is a work of art. Every curve of her hips, her tits, and the dip at her stomach has me trembling with desire.

How the hell did I get so lucky?

The universe at least seems to think I belong with her. Otherwise the Fates would never have marked me as her mate. Now I just need to spend every day of the rest of my life earning my place at her side.

She straddles my lap again, completely naked this time. “Admittedly, I was a bit selfish making you come first. You’re massive, and I didn’t want to stop to track down some lube.”

Gripping the base of my cock, she runs the tip through her folds and against her clit with a happy little sigh.

Is this what a heart attack feels like? I’m pretty sure I’m dying. But fuck if it isn’t the best way to go.

“You can touch me, you know,” she says with an amused lilt to her voice, gripping my shoulder for leverage.

Fuck, right. Have to make this good for her. I’m pretty sure I’ll die if I never get to see her naked again because I was a selfish idiot and blew it.

“Tell me what you like.”

She grabs my left hand and sets it on her breast, using her thumb to roll mine in example. “If you’re just tweaking them, they can get sore after a while, so feel free to use your mouth too.”

She’s giving me permission to suck on her perfect tits? Fuck, I think I’m going to come again.

Alternating pinching and rolling her nipples, licking and sucking, she rocks against me as I try not to make a fool of myself. When she sinks down a few inches, though, tingles spread from the head of my cock to the base of my spine and I lose it, cock jerking as I come again, flooding her entrance and feeling the heat drip down the side of my cock.

“Oh f-fuck,” she stutters, using three fingers to circle her clit and lift up slightly, just to slide back down farther than before. “What's happening?”

My voice is little more than gravel. “Cementing the bond.” My fingertips dig into her soft skin as I feed her another few inches of my cock, nearly to the base now. “Power boost.” I pant, energy coursing through my veins and amping me up. “Can… can I try…? “

She doesn’t even let me finish my sentence before nodding wildly, back arching as she circles her clit faster with one hand, the other clutching my shoulder as she rides me. “So long as you keep that monster far away from my ass, I’m game to try almost anything.”

I flip our position and start fucking her into the couch cushions, all the way to the base this time. “Oh Fates,” I breathe. “Fuck. You’re so tight, and hot and,” I thrust again, loving the way her tits bounce as I thrust into her. I nudge her hand out of the way now that I’ve seen how she likes it and take over teasing her clit.

When her back arches, she clamps down around me so hard I don’t stand a chance, burying myself to the hilt as I come so deep inside of her, she’ll never be rid of me.

Every shifter in this town will know she’s mine.

I nearly come again at the thought, but my balls are so wrung out, the thought is nearly painful. Everest took everything I had and then some, and fuck, if I don’t love her more for it.

Still, energy flows through my veins like never before. And as I gradually come down from the high… she’s still here, legs wrapped around my waist and holding me close. The best thing that ever happened to me. My Ever. My mate.

She’s really mine.

And nobody can take her from me now.