Chapter 9 Jesper
jesper
. . .
I checked the basket for the fifth time: candles, food, a blanket, a flask of her favorite tea, and the noodles she liked. Then, I snapped it shut before I could second-guess myself again. My heart hadn’t stopped hammering since I’d asked Gavin for permission to take his daughter out on a date.
To my surprise, he hadn’t gotten upset. He’d just smiled, patted my shoulder, and offered his classroom for our date location.
So, now here I was, standing outside of House of Twilight with dinner and nerves.
I had already texted her to let her know I was here.
Rune opened the door with a curious expression. “You’re early,” she teased.
“I was…eager,” I admitted, holding up the basket.
Her eyes widened with excitement as she sniffed the air. “Noodles?”
I blushed and nodded. Before I could say more, Dimitri’s voice drifted from inside. “Rune. Don’t forget, we study in two hours.”
She sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically, and shut the door behind her. “Yes, overachiever,” she muttered under her breath before smiling up at me. “So? Where are we going?”
I grinned. “I’ve reserved your dad’s classroom.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Pops's?”
“Yeah. I…told him I wanted to take you on a date. He offered his room.”
She let out a small gasp. “You did?”
“Come on,” I said, gently grasping her hand and tugging her along with me to the classroom.
When she stepped inside, Rune froze.
The classroom glowed with candlelight, shadows trembling across the bookshelves and desks. Gavin had even cleared the floor in front of his desk to make space for the blanket. I walked over and spread it on the floor.
“So, what do you think?” I asked, wringing my hands.
She blinked, mouth still slightly open. “Jesper…”
“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered, setting the basket down before my trembling hands dropped it. “Gavin helped.”
“He helped?” Her lips flickered into a smile. She shut the door behind her, locked it, and then walked over and sat cross-legged on the blanket. “I’m shocked. In a good way.”
I smiled, getting out the noodles and handing her the container filled for her.
Her golden eyes lit up as she took it from me. “Your garlic noodles are literally the best noodles I’ve ever had.”
My cheeks heated as we ate noodles by candlelight until my phone buzzed.
The sound shattered the moment.
“I’m sorry. It’s one of my squad members,” I murmured, standing to step into the hall for the quick call. I knew my duty as an agent came first, but I hated leaving Rune, even for a minute.
It was just an update on the human that Drecken had dissected, but what came next could wait.
When I came back, Rune was sitting exactly where I’d left her, smiling.
“Everything good?” I asked, setting my phone face down beside me.
“Perfect,” she said, twirling her noodles and shoving a mouthful past her lips.
We finished eating, and I noticed her bowl had several bites left. “You’re full already?”
She nodded. “It was fantastic.”
I frowned. “My mom drilled into me never to waste food.”
My next action was automatic, instinctual, really. I reached across the blanket and slid her bowl toward me. “So, we can’t let it go to waste.”
“Hold on!” Rune’s golden eyes flickered with realization as I dug in, but I didn’t think twice.
I polished it off without hesitation, savoring the taste, the warmth, and the thought that I had fed her until she was full.
“What?” I asked, setting down the fork. Heat licked up my spine.
“I tried to stop you.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
My pulse raced, and my palms sweated. The air itself thickened until it was hard to breathe. “Rune,” I rasped. “What was in the noodles?”
“Fuck.” She slammed her eyes shut for a second before they fluttered open. “I—Jesper, I’m so sorry! I dosed my food with a lust potion. Drecken and I brewed it earlier, and I thought since I loved your noodles, it would taste great. And it did! But I didn’t mean for you to—”
“Fates,” I groaned, dragging my hands through my hair. “Rune, you dosed me with a lust potion?”
“I didn’t mean to!” She ran her hands down her face in horror. “I dosed myself!”
The potion tore through me like wildfire. My whole body trembled with restraint every second I stared at her.
Clenching my jaw, I forced myself to turn away from her. “I won’t take advantage of you, don’t worry.”
She crawled closer, her fingers curling under my chin before she moved my head to face her. Guilt was clear in her gaze. “Then, I’ll take advantage of you.”
“You—what?” I choked on air, wheezing as I scrambled back from her.
“I like you.” She continued her pursuit, her golden eyes glazed with desire as she crawled on top of me, straddling my waist. “Do you like me?”
My painfully hard erection poked up, and she sat on it until it lay between us. “I do,” I croaked.
“Do you care that I’m dating Zuko and Slater and have something happening with Drecken?”
My brows raised at Drecken because that one surprised me, but I found myself shaking my head.
I didn’t care about that.
I cared only about her.
Her mouth covered mine before I could say more, but I jerked back until my head smacked against the stone floor, not realizing that the blanket was no longer under us.
Pain bloomed in my skull.
“Shit, Jesper, you okay?” She fought back a laugh as she hovered over me.
“Rune, I’ve never done anything before,” I explained shakily as desire lanced through me, making my cock and her warmth over it impossible to ignore.
“So, you’re a virgin?” She raised an eyebrow.
“And that was my first kiss,” I admitted.
“My mom…and my aunt…they’ve been through some serious trauma at the hands of men, okay?
They grew up in Blezen and stayed until thirty-one-ish years ago when she got pregnant with me.
I could never let myself hurt a woman the way they were hurt. And you…Rune, fuck…I can’t hurt you.”
She blinked her glossy golden eyes at me and settled down over me, her elbows propping her up. “Jesper, you won’t hurt me. It’s admirable the reason that you’ve stayed pure, but do you feel the connection between us?”
I nodded, swallowing an audible gulp.
Of course I had. She was the first woman I wanted to touch or be around.
“I’m sorry I dosed you,” she whispered. “If you would rather sleep it off, we can cut the date short. I’ll understand. But…if you’re as interested in me as I am in you, we could stay longer. We could explore each other.”
“What if I hurt you?” I rasped, my hands shaking in fists as I tried not to reach out and touch her.
“You won’t,” she promised me. “Besides, you couldn’t do anything to me I didn’t want you to do to me right now. So, what do you say?”
“Yes,” I said, the word ripping out of me. “I want you.”
Her lips curved into a sultry, victorious smile before she claimed my mouth with hers again. Her lips were soft, and her tongue was gentle as she slipped it into my mouth, tangling with mine.
The kiss deepened, and my restraint snapped.
My hands were hot as I fumbled at her clothes.
Rune’s fingers paused at my collar, then slid down the fabric with a slow, deliberate motion that made the skin along my chest bloom with goosebumps. She undressed me with ease while I struggled.
She took pity on me, undressing herself until we were both on my blanket, naked. She pushed me back against the ground. I wanted to climb on top of her, to bury myself between her legs, and to worship every inch of her.
But I was afraid I’d hurt her.
Before I could voice my fears, she straddled me, knees on either side, and for a second, I could only look at the line of her jaw and the sweep of her shoulders. Up close, she was everything, and when she lowered herself, it felt like my soul was being welcomed home.
Her breasts were in my face, and I couldn’t stop my mouth from watering from how freaking perfect they were.
“Oh, fuck,” she moaned, reaching down and grabbing my thick cock. “You’re really fucking big.”
“Sorry,” I whimpered under her touch, shaking.
She barked out a laugh, her hands coming up to brace on my chest. “Fates, Jesper, please don’t apologize for that. You’re so girthy. This is…you’re really big. Can you help me?”
I nodded, obeying in the only way I knew how. Letting out a ragged breath, I reached down and leveled my dick with her hot opening, where we’d fit together soon.
She eased down until the tip was in, slowly, and the world shifted as she took over with a sharp cry. “Fuck!”
“Did I hurt you?” My muscles froze.
She shook her head, her eyes rolling back as she sank a few inches deeper. “No, no. It feels good, just a lot.”
She was strangling me, and I wasn’t even halfway in yet.
The lust potion flooded me, and I couldn’t stop the moans from escaping me as she clenched down harder.
She was so wet, I could feel her dripping down the length of me.
“Can I help?” I asked, my hands gently coming up to rest on her hips. “What do I do?”
She leaned forward, using my chest to steady herself. “Touch me, Jesper, please.”
“Tell me if I hurt you,” I whispered, gliding my fingers over her skin, slowly trailing lines around her breasts and carefully over her nipples.
Fates, she was so soft.
“Mmm,” she moaned, eyelids fluttering shut, as she slid the rest of the way down until I was fully inside of her.
As soon as her golden eyes opened with a low moan, my entire world changed.
It began as a hum behind my ribs, my magical essence swelling up until something inside of me unlatched and reached toward her.
Rune’s breath hitched as she leaned back and moaned my name, “Jesper, Fates…”
The matebond slid through us like stardust in our veins, wrapping around each other and building pressure that stole my breath and joined my soul with hers.
My right hand rested on her hip, and I shifted it on instinct. My talons pierced her flesh, and my magic seared into her flesh, into her soul.
“Yes, Jesper, yes!” she cried out as my mate mark scorched into her hip. She moved, taking my cock up and down as my mark became permanent.
“Rune,” I murmured in awe, my hand shifting back and pulling her closer.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders hard enough to break skin. She leaned down and bit my neck, her fangs sinking into the front of my throat as she marked me as hers.
Heat threaded from the two puncture wounds, and she continued to ride me as her magic intertwined with mine. I was untethered. Every nerve was on fire, and every small sound she made carved into my bones.
She broke away from my throat and met my lips in a desperate kiss.
The classroom blurred into glows of candlelight as I came, spilling inside of her as her muscles spasmed around me.
She collapsed in my arms, and I held her tightly, inhaling her scent like it was the only cure for me, and it was.
“Gavin’s going to murder me,” I whispered in realization.
“You’re my mate,” she panted. “We’re bonded. He can’t be mad.”
“We are,” I murmured, holding her even tighter. “You’re mine, honey drop.”
Then, the door opened.
Gavin stood there, wide-eyed and trembling. “I only wanted my special pen.”
He slammed the door shut.
Rune went instantly tense, her pussy clamping down on me as she tried, and failed, to pop off me. “This is…I can’t get off. Jesper, you’re too big. Help me.”
My face was flaming with heat as I gripped her hips, her mark burning under my palm with new desire, and lifted her off. My cock was still hard and soaked, and it slapped against my stomach, filling the silence of the classroom.
“I am going to enjoy that soon,” she promised, her golden eyes filled with mortification. “Fates, I can’t believe Pops saw that.”
“I didn’t know he’d be back.” I groaned as we scrambled to get dressed.
“I locked the door,” she hissed.
“He has a key,” I reminded her.
“I thought we’d hear it!” she said weakly.
“The matebond snapped,” I murmured, reaching out and tucking a piece of her wild green hair behind her ear. “He’ll understand.”
“You can come in,” Rune hollered to her dad on the other side of the door.
When he finally stepped back into the room, his face was still red. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“We weren’t either,” I mumbled, feeling guilty.
“We’re mates, Pops,” Rune whispered, grabbing my collar and showing him her mate mark on me. “You won’t be able to see mine right now, but the matebond snapped.”
Relief washed over Gavin’s face. “Oh, thank Fates. That’s a great thing. If I had to pick a mate for you, it would be Jesper.”
My heart swelled with acceptance, and I smiled at him. “I always thought of you as a father figure.”
He smiled softly at me before looking at Rune. “You need to tell your other relationships. They deserve to know.”
Rune’s face scrunched up in confusion before she turned to me, her scent officially mixed with mine. “I’m so happy you’re my mate, Jesper.”
“So am I,” I told her, leaning down and kissing the line of her jaw like a vow.
She pulled back to meet my gaze. “But I need them too. I still feel for them.”
I took her hand. “Who exactly are you speaking of? I know about Slater, Zuko, and Drecken as you’ve just told me. I am also aware of something between you and Dimitri. Who else?”
She smiled, and the matebond thrummed between us. It was warm, loving, and accepting. “Koa.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” I felt happier than I’d ever felt before in that moment.
“Koa, and wait, did you just say Drecken?” Gavin’s face paled. “He’s older than I am!”
“Mom didn’t tell you yet?” She let out a nervous laugh.
“Sabine knew?” Gavin cried out, pointing toward the door. “You two, out of my classroom.”
“Sorry, Pops.” She patted her dad’s shoulder as she walked out.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “She dosed me with a lust potion, then the bond snapped.”
“Rune!” His eyes widened a fraction before he sighed. “Jesper, I knew you weren’t the aggressor, but that surprises me.”
“It was an accident,” Rune murmured.
I shrugged and walked Rune to her house, all the way until we reached her door on her level.
Leaning down, I kissed her lips softly. “I’ve got a mission to prep for,” I told her reluctantly.
“Stay,” she begged, voice breaking. “Just for tonight. Can you hold me?”
I wanted to. Fates, I wanted nothing more.
The door next to us opened. Dimitri stood there with a chalice filled with blood. His brows furrowed before he sucked in a sharp inhale.
“Matebond?” he rasped.
Rune nodded. “It snapped tonight.”
Dimitri’s face fell, but he forced a nod. “Congratulations, Rune…Jesper.” He closed the door before we could reply.
Her pain radiated down the bond, sharp and raw. “I have to tell Zuko and Slater.”
I pulled her close. “Shhh. Come here. They’re going to understand, honey drop. Let’s go rest. Okay?”
She nodded, and I held her through the night until we fell asleep, our matebond humming between us.