Page 47 of Just One Bite

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Olivia

“Stay with me.”

“Stay with me.”

“Stay with me, please.”

Parker won’t stop crying.

I wake in the middle of the night in Parker’s arms.

There’s something eerie and uncomfortable in the air. A dream I need to remember lingers but won’t take shape. It’s right on the edge of my tongue, but as I blink in the darkness, it fades into nothing, never to be caught again.

All the pain I’d had the day before is completely gone. My wrist. My ankle. Both healed all by Parker’s desire and meticulous work of his lips.

I sit up and he stirs, dragging me back down with him. There’s claustrophobia in his arms, and a relentless racing of my thoughts.

He still doesn’t know.

Parker doesn’t understand how I truly feel, and it’s my fault he doesn’t.

Maybe he still thinks I’m playing games with him, like I might string him along for my own pleasure.

Contrary to what everyone else in the school thinks, I could never hurt Parker in that way.

He’s my best friend. He’s … my mate. Through my life, he was there, even if I couldn’t sense it.

There’s a lump in my throat when I hear his voice .

“Hey, baby.”

“Parker …”

I’ve never needed someone like this before. I’ve never needed love, but if I don’t have his, I might burst. My heart will stop instantly. The dam inside me will burst and nothing can repair it.

But he doesn’t know, and suddenly, all I want is to make him understand.

My lips meet his bare chest, and my body is on fire again.

Like how it always feels when he touches me— I never want him to stop.

It’s a never-ending need embedded in my skin that wakes when he’s here.

He stirs, caressing my head while I kiss down his abdomen.

His fingers tighten in my hair, sending a prickle of pleasure down my spine.

“What … are you doing?” he asks.

“I want you. I need you.”

“Wait, what’s wrong?”

Of course he can tell. I can’t hide from him. I’m absolutely bare despite the coverage of night. It’s so uncomfortable.

“Just let me make you feel good.” My lips don’t meet his stomach again because he tugs on my arm.

“Come here.”

He pulls me till we’re face-to-face. The light from the hearth is dim in the corner, and his blue eyes are fully awake as a finger runs under my jaw.

“I know it’s the bond that makes you feel like this, but it’s more than that for me. I need you to know I wanted you before.”

I desperately need him to know I want to stay with him. Everyone thinks I’m not good enough for Parker, and maybe I’m not, but I want to be.

“Wait. The bond isn’t the reason I want you.”

“You don’t know that.”

It makes more sense if it is. All of it is easier to compartmentalize that way.

“Olivia, I love everything about you. Bond or not.”

Tears pool in my eyes. It’s so quick. I don’t understand why his words draw the emotion from a hidden place inside me.

“You don’t. You can’t. The bond came first and then you just accepted this. It could have been anyone.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I … don’t see how. ”

“How I could love you?”

I nod. “You deserve someone better. Someone who can feel this and will be an amazing mate, who no one would say you could do better with. They wouldn’t make this so hard.”

He wipes another tear. “Is that what all this is about?” I hide in his forearm, but he turns my chin to look at him. “Tell me why.”

“You don’t know. You’ll hate me when you know. Just tell me it’s the bond, and that’s the only reason. It’s better if that’s all this is because then I can’t hurt you and you can’t hurt me.”

“Know what?” He tucks the hair behind my ear, and his voice rumbles in a low hum next to my cheek.

“That I’m the reason for all the terrible things that happened to you.

My mom died first . It’s my fault you never got the pack.

It’s my fault you have a terrible relationship with your father.

It’s … me. I’m your catalyst. Of all the mates you could have had, you’re stuck with me.

A girl who doesn’t care about anything but ballet. Who’s a mediocre sister at best.”

I’m wriggling away, but Parker won’t let me hide. He hauls me beneath him, pinning my hips and kissing the tears on my cheeks away.

“Olivia, who told you that you ruin things?”

“I did. I ruin things for you. For myself. My sisters. My parents … but I don’t want to hurt you. I won’t make a good mate because you deserve more. I’m never as good as I should be, and I don’t want to let you down. You’ll end up hating me, and I couldn’t stand it if you hated me.”

“Baby, relax. Breathe.”

I’m crying so hard I can’t catch my breath, but Parker’s pressure is good.

I can’t remember the last time I let someone see me cry like this.

He’s all the things I’m not. We may be alike in almost all aspects, fated parallels, but he’s the most solid, confident person I've ever met.

Immovable. I grip his arms, grounding myself in their strength.

“It’s not your fault. None of it was ever your fault.

Things happen. Your mom … my mom they wouldn’t have ever wanted you to think like that.

My mom would have loved you. I’m sure she does, somewhere up there in the stars.

The bond … it’s a gift. What came first was you and me.

I don’t need the mate bond to be in love with you.

I love you. You. Olivia. I loved you before I knew we were mates.

You are an amazing sister, and your mom would be so proud that despite everything you’ve been through, you still held yourself together and your family.

But you don’t have to do it all by yourself anymore. I found you.”

“You found me,” I choke.

“I’m not going anywhere. You don’t scare me.”

There’s always been a piece missing. Even when I was certain my ballet form was at its best or my sisters threw me the best birthday party I could imagine, I always wanted more, but I didn’t understand what.

I thought I could fill that want with more ballet because ballet is the only thing that’s ever made me feel whole.

But the thrill was fleeting and fragile, like the idea of it had a leak because the thing I wanted was Parker.

Somewhere out there I could sense him. My mate.

And now I know the success would pale in comparison to being known by Parker Owens.

His kiss tastes like salt, and there’s a slight hum in his throat.

“Will you let me make love to you? Show you that it’s always been you.”

I nod while he wipes the remaining tears on my cheek.

“Okay …”

He flips us so I’m on top and pulls down his boxers, then with two fingers, he tugs my underwear aside and thrusts inside me. There’s a good friction as he stretches me. The whimper that leaves his throat as he drives deeper sends a shiver through my entire body.

“Oh, Parker.” My nails dig into his back. “I want this.”

“I know .” He grins, working his hips.

“I love you,” I say, clenching around him while the familiar pool of wet heat builds in my abdomen.

The breath sputters from my lungs. I’m so full of him I can’t think, but I love watching him watching me. The way he adjusts his weight at every soft sound from my throat. That glossy look in his eye, and those moans of praise from his lips.

Sex for us should be awkward and new—at least for me—but our bodies clear that hurdle for us. There are no awkward bits, just blinding pleasure we both work through.

“Is this how we bond now?” He chuckles as he exhales, kissing my jaw.

“Sometimes. Yes.” When it’s like this. His love mending me. Filling me completely in a way that reminds me this is the most important thing.

He lifts my shirt over my head so his lips can touch my chest and his tongue can roam and explore anywhere he wants.

I want it to last, but I’m already teetering on the edge. Parker was right, we fit together in a way that’s like magic. Like he’s made to draw pleasure from me, and me from him. I just want him deeper. I want him forever.

He hooks an arm around my waist, and his eyes flutter when he goes deeper. Parker is endlessly charming. Beautiful.

“My mate,” I gasp, and the pressure in my abdomen snaps.

We don’t discuss it. It just happens; our orgasms burst at the same time as our bodies blend in a harmonious rhythm.

He’s deep inside me, chasing our pleasure, with his tongue in my mouth.

His arm around me keeps me anchored to him till we’re both completely spent.

My body shakes around him, and he soothes me.

I stay connected to him, and by his satisfied smirk, I know that’s exactly what he prefers.

“Tell me how,” I say.

“How what?”

“How to accept the bond.”

“You want to be mated?”

I love that flicker of happiness in his eyes.

“Yes. I’m sorry I took so long.”

“Let’s not do it tonight … I want this night to be about you and me. And we can make it special. Maybe I can take you on the train to the city, and we spend the weekend. Have you ever been?”

I shake my head, entranced by the thought. A moment alone from the mountain side of Doxlothia. Away from all that’s still harboring outside my bedroom walls. The voices. The press. The council.

“Oh, you’ll love it. I’ll get us a fancy hotel room. We’ll finally have a king size bed.”

We embrace in exhales of relief. We’ve been given a gift people dream and write stories about. I don’t know exactly what the bond will change.

He kisses me again, and it makes my head spin in a delirious elation. “I’m happy we’re doing this the right way. Can I call you my girlfriend for real this time?”

“Yes, I like the sound of that.”

All I know is I’ve been running from Parker since I met him, and I don’t want to run anymore.