44. Chapter 44 #3
The same enthusiasm he’d shown since I’d awoken won out. His steady pace continued, and he became impossibly harder. That pushed me over the edge. A thrilling warmth surged through me as pulsing waves of pleasure blinded me anew.
In the throes of his climax, the unintelligible sweet nothings he kept up swallowed my name whole.
Still pulsing from my own, I opened my eyes to see that shadows had filled the room, blocking out so much of the light that I could barely see him. He came with a roar trapped in his throat, flooding my body with warmth.
Just like before, he nearly collapsed atop me, catching himself on his hands in time. This brought him close enough to steal another kiss.
“My moonlight,” he whispered into my ear. “My world.”
“Then you’re my sanctuary,” I murmured back. And my thoughts turned poetic in the afterglow. The darkness that allows me to rest and shields me from danger.
With every breath Owain took, the shadows slowly retreated into his skin. He pulled out and gave my forehead a lingering kiss. “I don’t want to be domineering, but…stay here,” he ordered.
He got out of the bed, offering a stunning view of his backside, muscles rippling as he walked.
I would definitely do that again.
He returned holding another warmed-up damp towel and proceeded to clean me with reverent strokes. Instead of walking the towel back to the washbasin, he burrowed back under the covers and conjured a whip of shadows to tidy after us.
I giggled as he lifted me up, repositioning my body until I settled onto the warm, steady expanse of his chest. “Much better,” he said.
We were both quiet for a long moment, letting exactly what had happened between us sink in. A tremor ran through my fingers as they traced the lines of his scars. I propped myself up to look at him.
A question had been weighing on my mind since the moment I told him that I loved him. As I watched the shadows drift across his skin, I finally let it out. “Did you know before the mate bond settled?”
Because there was nothing else that surge of magic, coupled with this strange awareness of him, could be. My parents said the knowing was one of the greatest joys of the bond. And my mother had said the man always knew first.
Owain’s careful gaze, braced for impact, revealed the answer before he spoke. “Yes.”
“When?”
A pause then he winced. With a hesitant breath, he finally said, “We…we figured it out the day I sent for you.”
“We?” I stared at him while pressing my fingers to my temple. “Owain.”
“I know how that sounds. It’s not why I sent for you, but I won’t lie, it affected my decision.” He tilted his head back in defeat. “Camrick read that book of yours and pointed to matehood as the likely reason I was losing control of my magic and temper… I didn’t have you.”
“So Camrick knew before I did,” I grumbled, dropping back down onto his chest, wanting to hear his heart beating.
There was something both irritating and oddly touching about that.
Camrick had known my heart before I did, and he’d patiently safeguarded those feelings for me until I was ready for them.
I said, “The same happened to my magic. It got better when I first stepped foot in the castle. But, Owain…you could’ve told me sooner! ”
He had the grace to look genuinely pained.
“Would you have believed me if I told you when you were still seething with anger and felt like you were being used?” He shook his head slowly.
“That would’ve come across as manipulative.
There was no version of that conversation that ended well.
Hello, I’ve upended your life, also you’re magically bound to me forever felt like rather a lot to lead with. ”
I thought about the way he’d never once tried to use what had been between us to get me to soften toward him. He’d simply let me be angry until I wasn’t anymore. “Ugh, why do you have to sound so reasonable?”
He sighed. “It wasn’t lost on me what it cost you to come. I’m sorry, Lunette.”
“It cost me more to stay in Selmont,” I admitted. “I should’ve gone with you.”
He brought my hand to his mouth. “You were trying to protect them. And you’ve already saved my brother twice… Thank you.”
A thought hit me with the force of a collapsing castle wall. “Owain…we’re mated.”
“…Yes.” He looked confused.
“That means we can’t separate.”
A pause then he agreed softly. “Yes.”
“You’re the prince. I can’t… We can’t—”
He flipped both of us over so fast it almost took my breath away. I wound up on my back with him braced above me, eyes bleeding shadows again. His voice was gravely serious. “We can. We will. I’m yours, Lunette.”
For once, I didn’t mind his domineering side.
I raised one eyebrow, smirking up at him. “You left part of what you wanted to say out didn’t you?”
He grinned. “Didn’t want to push it.”
“I’ll say it for you then.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m yours, Owain.”
That was apparently his breaking point. He growled, pulling me against his chest and kissing me breathless.
When he pulled back, I watched the shadows drift across his skin. “Well, since you’re stuck with me for life, tell me what’s happened since I’ve been asleep, mate.”
Instead of the smile I’d hoped for, Owain’s lips turned down into a frown.