Page 114 of Marked By Moonlight

A smile curled over my lips. “Yes, ma’am. Or do I say yes to destiny?”

“Yes, ma’amwill do,” she said primly.

I laughed and did as I was told, stripping out of everything. Then I cuddled up again, my chest to her back.

I exhaled. God, that felt good.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I had been making things too complicated.

“Oh.” She tensed suddenly. “What if there’s no moonlight to mark you by?”

I kissed the curve of her shoulder. “Then we make our own.”

She chuckled, twisting around to come face-to-face. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

I snuck a hand along her ribs. “Let me show you.”

Her breath caught, and she arched, making space for me to kiss…touch…explore. Everywhere.

“Oh…” she murmured as I worked my way down her body.

My hands roved, as did my lips, eliciting happy sounds from her. From me, too.

We touched until we were breathless, until the weight of the world slipped away and there was only the hush of the city outside the window and her warmth beneath me. She tugged me closer and wrapped her legs around my waist. I followed her cue and slid inside with a low groan of need. Slowly. Quietly. A little spitefully too, with Gordon next door.

We moved in a slow dance, not wild or frantic this time, but sure and steady, weaving a vow words never could. Every sigh of hers, every growl of mine, was a declaration of love and defiance.

“Yes…” she hummed, clutching my back as I rocked deeper and deeper.

The more we moved, the more the glow of my mark intensified, filling the space between our bodies. It tickled over our shoulders, creating a faint halo.

Claim,a voice in my mind chanted quietly.Claim your mate.

At first, I put that down to my dragon. But it wasn’t. It was coming from Mina.

Her eyes glowed as she bucked to meet me intently, that chant echoing in her mind.

My back heated as her nails scraped my skin, and magic swirled around us.

My breath caught, and it was all I could do to keep up my steady rhythm. Mina was doing what I’d done that night in Paris — marking me by moonlight. But in this case, she drew upon her inner glow to provide the moonlight, or at least, a reflection of the moonlight that had stayed with her since that night.

“Tell me you want this,” she rasped between breaths, giving me the choice I’d never given her.

I’d never felt so guilty — or so blessed with something precious.

“I want this,” I assured her, over and over.

As we built to a crescendo, the words slurred together, and it was all I could do not to shout them. Then she cried out in ecstasy, clamping down around me. I exploded a moment later, and we catapulted through time and space.

I saw us our first time together. I saw that night by the canal in Paris. I even caught a glimpse of the future, but that view was a little hazy. Hazy enough to hint that destiny still had some tricks up its sleeve.

I collapsed over Mina and held her tightly, daring destiny to try delivering anything but a happy ending.

Gradually, our pants slowed to deep breaths, and Mina curled up comfortably in my arms.

“So good…” she murmured. Then she turned in my arms and touched my neck.

I chuckled at the ticklish sensation. “What are you doing?”