25. Marilee
Marilee
“So you’re just going to let your mate leave?” Wanda asked when I picked up the phone.
I’d texted her the news about Hazel’s departure a few minutes ago.
“Hold on, let me go outside.”
Hazel was already in bed, but I headed out the back door anyway, wanting privacy.
“She says she has to go back to her real life,” I told Wanda as I stepped outside. “Who am I to stop her?”
“You’re her mate, that’s who you are. Did you even ask her to stay? Or consider going with her back to Canada?”
I shook my head, then realized my friend couldn’t see me. “What’s the point? She doesn’t need me.”
“What are you talking about?” Wanda demanded.
“You saw her, she’s got good skills to protect herself, and she was clear that she didn’t need me going with her to see Donny. She took that asshole down without anyone’s help.”
“Maybe she was afraid you’d distract her. Or maybe she was afraid you’d get hurt.”
“It’s highly unlikely I’d get hurt.”
“And yet she probably worries about it. Don’t you think that Tasha worries about me when I’m out on a job? Nothing would make her happier than if I left personal protection and did something boring and safe, like working at Phoenix Software.”
Phoenix Software was one of the largest and most successful tech companies in the country, run by lesbian philanthropist Madison Phoenix. Rumor had it that jobs at that company were better than gold.
“That’s why she insists on having her team cover her security instead of me,” Wanda continued. “She doesn’t want some crazed fan trying to take me out trying to get to her, or worse yet, coming for me because I’m with Tasha.”
When I just sighed Wanda continued, “You guys seem great together. She is funny, smart, and strong. Plus she loosens you up a bit, which is good for you. But you also ground her and show her that she matters. That’s what good partners do you know, they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. ”
“She lives in Canada,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, and you could get a visa to live there, or she could live here in Seattle,” Wanda reminded me. “And before you say that you don’t want either of you to give up your career, you know very well there are options for both of you in either city if you want it enough.”
“I’ll think about it,” I sighed.
Wanda huffed in annoyance. “You’re an idiot, but it’s your life, do what you want.”
I hung up and went inside, settling on the bed next to Hazel. Both of my animals had gone eerily quiet since Hazel announced that she was leaving, telling me that they were upset.
I’d never been one to ask for things, and I wasn’t going to ask Hazel to stay.
I didn’t want her to feel obligated. She knew she was my mate, she knew how much she meant to me, yet she was still leaving.
Clearly she didn’t feel the same way as I did.
I just needed to accept that. I’d be okay. Eventually…
The closing of the front door woke me up the next morning.
The pillow next to me was empty and Hazel’s suitcase no longer sat in the corner.
She was gone. For the first time since I was a small child I felt tears fill my eyes, though I quickly blinked them away.
Dragging myself out of bed, I wandered around the house for a few minutes, glumly thinking about how empty this place seemed without her.
Then I heard someone banging on the door.
“What the hell?” I mumbled. “It’s six thirty in the morning.”
I tore open the door, expecting to find a neighbor or a particularly irritating salesperson, but instead I saw Hazel. I blinked several times, wondering if I was hallucinating.
“Hazel? I thought you were gone.”
She shoved past me and over her shoulder I saw Wanda waving as she drove off in one of the company SUVs. My mate dropped her bag and rounded on me, her hands on her hips.
“I thought I was your mate, the person you’re fated to be with forever,” she said. “That’s what you told me.”
“You are.”
“But you’re letting me go back to Canada, just like that? No discussion about you coming with me or me staying here or us trying a long-distance relationship? You’re just giving up, no argument?”
“I didn’t think you…”
“What do your inner beings think about all this anyway?”
Mate her, my wolf piped up.
Mate her and make her stay, my vamp agreed.
“They think I should ask you to stay but they don’t understand the complexities of the human world.”
She raised her eyebrows impatiently. “What’s complex about it? I love you, you love me, we’re supposed to be soulmates…”
“Fated mates.”
“Do you love me?” she asked. “The mate thing aside, do you love me?”
I looked at her incredulously. “You can’t possibly doubt that I love you.”
“Well you never said it.”
“You never said it either,” I reminded her.
“Sounds like we both have to work on our communication skills if this relationship is going to work out.”
“You want the relationship to work out?” I asked, feeling hopeful for the first time in days.
“Christ on a cracker,” she burst out, channeling my boss. “I’m going to need some coffee for this conversation.”
I followed her into my kitchen, watching as she brewed coffee. We were both quiet until we settled at the kitchen table with our cups.
“I know you were upset that I didn’t want you to come to Donny’s with me,” Hazel said.
“But you need to understand something. I learned early on that loving someone was a weakness, it gives the other criminals leverage against you. I didn’t want you on the mission because I didn’t want to get distracted worrying about you.
I didn’t want you or anyone else to get hurt because I wasn’t focused on the job. ”
“It’s pretty hard to kill a supe.”
“But not impossible. So I understand if you were offended or hurt or whatever, but you just need to get over it. Man up, well… woman up, and tell me what’s going on in your head.”
“I want you to stay,” I burst out. “Or if you can’t, then I want to go with you to Canada. I can’t stand the thought of being away from you.”
“Yet you let me walk out that door not an hour ago.”
“I never claimed to be the smartest one in this relationship.”
We both burst out laughing at that. Hazel got up and moved to straddle me on the chair, her hands on my shoulders and her eyes meeting mine.
“Tell me that you love me and you want us to figure out how to be together.”
“I love you and I want us to figure out how to be together,” I said. “And I want to mark you as my mate. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Mark me?”
“Yeah,” I touched my finger to the base of her neck. “I’ll bite you, and then the mate bond will be permanent.”
“So it’ll be like we’re married?”
“Better. We’ll feel each other’s emotions and for me, I’ll never be able to look at another person sexually again.”
“Are you telling me this mate bite is like a supernatural chastity belt?”
I laughed. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Bite me.”
My fangs immediately started lengthening. “Well, usually we do it during sex.”
“Even better.”
She didn’t need to ask me twice. I got up with her still in my lap and jogged into the bedroom.
We discarded our clothes in a rush, and when we were both naked I fell on top of her, giving her a long, claiming kiss that left us both breathless.
Having her back in my house, back in my bed, was a heady feeling.
But I wasn’t going to fully relax until I’d claimed her.
“Get on your hands and knees,” I ordered.
“Ooh this is new,” she teased.
Hazel rolled over and I tilted my head to the side to admire the way her heavy breasts swung beneath her. Then I settled in behind her, kneading her ass and spreading her cheeks before moving into a position where I could lick her from top to bottom.
I slid my tongue through her folds, stopping to tease her clit with a few circles before heading back towards her opening again.
I could feel Hazel’s excitement increasing, making me redouble my efforts.
Then I moved one finger through her folds, gathering her moisture before pressing the tip of my finger against her back entrance.
“Are you going to… oh!”
I slid my finger in slowly, gently, giving her time to get used to it, then started giving her shallow pumps while I resumed eating her out.
Hazel was rocking against my face now, making the most adorable little whimpering sounds, and when I could tell she was close I drew her clit into my mouth and sucked down hard.
“Marilee!”
It was all she got out as I teased her from both sides with my fingers and tongue.
Hazel was shaking above me, rocking back and forth, and when her arms gave out she collapsed on the bed.
I moved up her body, covering her with mine, then pushed her head to the side.
I felt my two animals fighting for control as they urged me to finally claim our mate.
Hazel cried out again as I sank my fangs into the juncture of her neck and shoulder, the bite triggering another orgasm. With her pinned beneath me, all she could do was accept the pleasure and ride the waves of her release. The little whimpering noises she was making were driving me crazy.
I could feel our souls join as the mate bond snapped into place, her emotions blending with mine. Then I licked her wound closed and shifted us until we were laying in each other’s arms.
“That was something,” she said sleepily, her hand coming up to the mate mark. “Hey, it’s not even bleeding. How is that possible?”
“It’s part of the magic,” I said.
“Well I’d like to give you a little magic of my own,” she said. “As soon as I can feel my legs again.”
I pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t worry, we have our whole lives ahead of us.”