Chapter Fifteen
Remi
I felt my mate stir beside me. He was pressed so tightly against my back, his eyelashes moved against my skin.
There was no other feeling in the world that compared to having my mate settled in beside me. Wearing my mark. Knowing that no matter what happened in life, he was mine.
I made several promises to myself and to him after he fell asleep last night. We showered quickly after making love, and Bowen instantly passed out afterward.
I would never take him for granted. I would make every day special somehow. I would support any dream he had.
He would always be loved and cherished.
I would protect and take care of him.
“Hmm, you’re thinking too hard for so early in the morning.” His lips moved against my back.
I turned around and he wrapped his leg over my hips. We were both hard as could be, but this morning was intimate in other ways. Both naked. Face-to-face after having shared a night of passion and love.
Turned out, I was passionate. It just took the right man to make me that way.
“I’m thinking about my mate. How incredible last night was.”
He leaned forward to kiss me, morning breath and all. I couldn’t care less. “You were amazing.”
“Hey,” I said, laughing. “That’s my line.” My heart sped up. Being brave around my omega had worked out well thus far, so I decided to push the envelope. “Is it too soon to tell you I love you? Because I do.” I ran my palm down his face and then to his neck. Goddess, I loved every inch of this man.
“Not too soon, alpha. I love you too. I came here thinking that maybe this was bullshit. That there was no way it was so simple to come on a weekend getaway and be introduced to my fated mate, but here you are. I feel like I’ve been searching for you my whole life and now you’re here.”
“I feel the same way. I don’t even care to understand Franklin and his ways. They clearly work.”
His brightness dimmed. He looked down at my chest. “What happens now? We live in two different places and have two different lives. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”
“We’ll work it out. I promise you. Trust me?”
He nodded. “With my life.”
“I want to take you to breakfast. In the town near here. I want to make this morning a memory.”
Bowen giggled. “It already is a memory, Remi.”
“I know but, please?”
“Sounds good. Let’s get dressed.”
Franklin looked pleased with himself as we went downstairs and announced that we would be heading into town for breakfast. If I was making mates come together, I’d be pleased with myself as well. He really was magic.
We drove into town and stopped at a diner that boasted pancakes as big as my head. I got the pineapple upside-down ones, and Bowen opted for the huckleberry version. Every time he took a bite of something he liked, he did a little dance in his chair. It was the most adorable thing.
To everyone’s surprise, we polished off the pancakes in no time and even got a big omelet to share after that. Of course, they didn’t know we were shifters, so eating that much wasn’t a big deal.
My flight left that afternoon and even though we were having a great time, the thought hovered in the back of my head. We would have to part ways. Usually mates, marked ones, were attached at the hip for weeks if not months after the fact.
This was strange to know that I would have to let him go and while I put on a smile, all of it troubled me.
My panther knew, from the bond with Bowen’s wolf, that it troubled him as well.
But Fate had blessed us so far. No reason to think she wouldn’t continue to do so.
“This is it!” Bowen exclaimed in one of the shops. He lifted a candle almost as big as his head with five wicks in it. “This is the tomato plant candle.”
He handed it over and I took a sniff. “Close but nothing like the real thing, I’m afraid.”
“Tomatoes are summer fruit, right?” I nodded. “I’ll have to wait until then to compare. Do you have mountains where you live?”
My chest warmed hearing him talk about where I lived. It was as though he was already planning to share my life with me—at my home. “Mountains and streams and rivers and some waterfalls. Hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing. You name it.”
“It sounds amazing.”
We didn’t buy the candle and stayed in town until the last minute. On the ride back to the inn, he never let go of my hand, and we took turns pulling them up to our lips for a kiss.
I never wanted to leave him. Not for a second, but life called.
We had jobs and things to handle.
If only we had more time.
“How about we go for a walk?” I asked once we got back. We sat in the car for a few minutes, not wanting to face the inevitable.
“Do you have time?” he asked.
“Of course. Just a short one.”
We took a walk through Franklin’s gardens and down the path I’d gone on when we first arrived. “I wish I had been more daring on Friday night. I would’ve had another night with you,” I whispered as we strolled.
“Things work out the way they are supposed to, I think,” Bowen said, moving under my arm, wrapping his around my torso.
“We’ll find a way,” I said.
“I know. I trust in us, Remi. I do.”