Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Sunlight streams through the windows and I wake slowly, every muscle in my body aching. The good ache, thoroughly used that reminds me exactly what we did last night.
Caspian's arm is heavy across my waist, his chest pressed against my back. His breathing is steady and even, still asleep. I can feel the bond between us, blazing bright and gold in my chest. Different from Julian's silver thread. This one is stronger, more dominant, impossible to ignore.
My hand moves to my shoulder where his teeth broke skin.
The bite mark throbs with a dull ache and when my fingers brush over it I can feel the raised edges, still tender and swollen.
My accelerated healing will fade the physical wound in a few days, maybe a week, but the scar itself is permanent.
Everyone is going to see this. There's no hiding a claiming bite.
The reality of what we did settles over me. I'm bonded to two of my fated mates now. Julian in secret, Caspian publicly. Two completely different bonds, two completely different males, and I'm tied to both of them permanently.
"You're thinking too loud," Caspian says against my hair, voice rough with sleep.
"How can you tell?"
"I can feel you through the bond." His arm tightens around me and pulls me closer against him. "Tension. Worry. Regret?"
"No regrets." I turn in his arms to face him. "Just processing."
He searches my face, reading something there. When he doesn't find one, something in his expression softens. "Good. Because I'm not letting you go."
He leans down and kisses the claiming bite on my shoulder. The touch of his lips against the wound sends sparks racing down my spine and I gasp.
"Sensitive?" His voice drops lower, rougher.
"Extremely."
"Perfect." He does it again, this time adding the scrape of his teeth, and I arch against him without meaning to. My body responds to him on instinct now, the bond demanding I move closer and take what it wants.
His hand slides down my body, tracing the curve of my waist and hip before pulling me against him.
Before I can speak he captures my mouth with his. The kiss is deep and slow and consuming, nothing like the frantic claiming from last night. This is different. Intimate. His tongue slides against mine and I melt into him, hands coming up to tangle in his hair.
He kisses me like he has all the time in the world. Like nothing exists except this moment, this bed, the two of us tangled together. His hand cups the back of my head, angling me exactly how he wants while his other hand grips my hip, pulling me impossibly closer.
I can feel him hardening against my thigh and my hands come up to tangle in his hair. The bond between us hums with contentment, with rightness, with the certainty that this is exactly where we're meant to be.
When he finally breaks the kiss we're both breathing hard. The morning sun streams through the windows, bathing us in golden light, making him look less human than usual.
"Come here," he says, voice rough with desire.
He rolls onto his back and pulls me on top of him. I straddle his hips and the head of his cock presses against my entrance. We're both still slick from last night and the heated kiss. When I sink down onto him we groan in unison.
This angle lets me take him deep and I pause for a moment, adjusting to the fullness. His hands grip my hips but he doesn't move, just lets me set the pace.
"Fuck, you're beautiful," he breathes, eyes roaming over me. The sun lights up my hair, catches on the claiming bite on my shoulder. "Mine."
I start to move, slow rolls of my hips that have us both gasping. His hands slide from my hips up to my waist, thumbs brushing the underside of my breasts. Every touch sends sparks racing across my skin.
I pick up the pace, chasing the friction, the pressure, how he fills me completely. One of his hands moves to my neck, claiming me even now. The other grips my ass, fingers digging into the soft flesh as he helps guide my movements.
The bond between us blazes brighter with every movement. I can feel his pleasure mixing with mine through the connection, amplifying everything until I'm drowning in sensation.
"Look at me," he orders.
I meet his eyes and the intensity in his gaze steals my breath. He's looking at me like I'm the only thing that matters in the entire world. Like he could watch me like this forever and never get tired of it.
"So perfect," he breathes. "My perfect mate."
His hips start moving beneath me, thrusting up to meet my downward motion. The new rhythm has me crying out, nails digging into his chest. I can feel the orgasm building, pressure coiling tight in my core.
"Caspian," I gasp.
"I know," he groans. "I can feel it through the bond. Come for me."
His hand slides between us and finds my clit. The added stimulation is too much and I shatter around him, crying out his name as waves of pleasure crash through me.
Through the bond I feel the moment he loses control.
His head falls back against the pillow, neck arching, eyes flashing pure amber as his wolf surges to the surface.
His canines elongate slightly and I can see him fighting to keep from shifting, fighting to stay human even as the orgasm rips through him.
"Fuck," he groans, the word torn from his throat. "Nova... I can't..."
His hands grip my hips bruisingly tight and he thrusts up hard, burying himself as deep as he can go. A low moan builds in his chest, turning into a roar as he comes.
"Nova," he roars, hips jerking as he fills me. His whole body shudders beneath me and I can feel every pulse through the bond, his pleasure mixing with mine until I don't know where one ends and the other begins.
I collapse onto his chest and we lie there tangled together, both shaking and trying to catch our breath. The morning sun bathes us in warm light and the bond hums with satisfaction between us.
"That was..." I trail off, unable to find words.
"Yeah," he agrees, arms wrapping around me. "It was."
We stay like that for a while, just holding each other in the golden morning light. Eventually the sun climbs higher and reality starts to intrude. The sun is higher now, probably mid morning. We've definitely missed first period.
"I should get back to my dorm," I say eventually, even though I don't want to move.
"Why?"
"Because Lily is probably freaking out and because everyone will know I spent the night here."
"Good. Let them know." He props himself up on one elbow and looks down at me. "The second I bit you, you became mine in the eyes of every shifter who sees you. Hiding won't change it."
"I'm not hiding."
"Then stay." His hand traces down my side possessively. "Let me feed you breakfast. Let me take care of my mate."
The word mate sends warmth spreading through me. Julian calls me his mate in private, in secret moments when we're alone. Caspian says it like a proclamation, like he wants the whole world to know.
"Okay," I say. "Late breakfast then."
His grin is triumphant and territorial. He kisses me once more, hard and thorough, before rolling out of bed.
I watch him move around the room naked and unashamed, grabbing clothes from drawers.
The muscles in his back flex as he pulls on sweatpants.
I can see the scratches I left on his shoulders last night, red marks across his skin.
He catches me staring and smirks. "Like what you see?"
"Maybe."
"Only maybe?" He tosses me one of his t-shirts. It's huge on me, falling to mid thigh when I pull it on. "Get dressed. I'll order food."
His scent surrounds me the moment I put the shirt on. Pine and winter and Alpha male. Claiming me even when he's not touching me.
He makes a phone call. "Yeah, send up breakfast for two. Full spread. Caspian Jett, Alpha wing suite." He hangs up.
"You can just order from the kitchen?" I ask.
He smirks. "I'm a Jett. Of course I can."
Twenty minutes later there's a knock at the door. He answers it and comes back with bags from the Academy kitchen, special delivery.
We eat on his couch and it feels strangely domestic. Normal. Like we've done this a thousand times instead of this being the first morning after our claiming.
He sits close enough that our thighs touch and steals bites of my pancake even though he has his own. When syrup drips onto my chin he leans over and kisses it away, grinning at my surprised laugh.
"What?" he asks innocently.
"Nothing. Just... this is nice."
"Yeah?" He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against his side. "Get used to it. Planning on keeping you here as often as possible."
The casual possessiveness should bother me but it doesn't. Instead I find myself relaxing into him, enjoying the simple intimacy of sharing breakfast in comfortable silence.
"What happens now?" I ask around a bite of pancake.
"What do you mean?"
"We're bonded and everyone is going to know. Chase is still investigating me. The Council..." I trail off.
His jaw tightens. "The Council can't touch you. You're under Jett Pack protection now, and you're my mate. They'd have to go through me to get to you."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
He reaches across and takes my hand. "I can handle the Council. I can handle Chase. What I need to know is if you can handle this." He gestures between us. "Being claimed publicly. Being mine. Everyone knowing."
I think about what that means. Walking around campus with his claiming bite visible. Students staring. Faculty whispering. Sera Whitlock's inevitable fury. Chase Valemont's increased scrutiny.
His Dominion brothers will have opinions too. The same males who tormented me for weeks, who watched Caspian treat me like prey, who probably bet on how long I'd last before breaking. Now I'm their Alpha's mate. The shift feels surreal.
Not that long ago I despised every single one of them. Hated Caspian most of all. And now I'm sitting in his quarters wearing his shirt and his claiming bite, talking about our future like it's inevitable.