Page 11 of Moist!

chapter eleven

HAYDEN

I wake up sore. Deliciously sore.

Lachlan is wrapped around me, his wings acting as shelter from the chill of what I’d bet by now is the early morning.

As I consider scooting away to try and find my phone to shoot Avery a text and let her know I’m okay, Lachlan’s arm tightens around me.

The motion triggers a cascade of memories. None of them belong to me.

“Lachlan.”

His chin hooks over my shoulder blade.

“I know.”

A million different thoughts rush into my head.

“Did we?”

“It’s entirely possible.”

I spin to look at him, an ache on my thigh as it presses against the ground pulls my attention, but I push it away as quickly as it came. It can wait.

“Tell me to do something. Command me.” Lachlan’s tone is far more relaxed than it has any right to be.

“Take this seriously.” I sigh.

He considers it for a moment .

“No. I don’t think I will, and that’s the point.”

It takes me a second.

He’s not blindly obeying me.

“I don’t think things are as dire as we thought. Unless you find the idea of spending the rest of your life with me entirely unappealing.”

The sentence should concern me, but having the way he feels nestled against my heart, wrapped up with the feelings I’ve started developing for him, well… knowing everything does wonders to ease that worry.

“It’s a big ask on day two.”

He shrugs, his wings furling against his back and leaving me free to gather up my clothes and the phone tucked in the waistband of my yoga pants.

“We can take things one day at a time.”

His grin is more mischievous than the sentence would imply. I raise a brow in return.

“Nice ink.” He taps his own flank pointedly.

The sore spot on my hip is achingly clear.

“So not an indentured servitude bond.”

He shakes his head.

“Nope. I’m guessing more fated mates?”

Logic bumps up against what I know to be true in a way that isn’t uncomfortable, just foreign.

“Well. If we’re skipping the talking stage-”

“We’ve talked.”

I have to roll my eyes at that, continuing without addressing his interruption.

“Then I guess you’re coming to brunch with me. Avery is going to have a lot of questions.”

Lachlan stretches himself out before climbing to his feet, shimmering back to his human form.

“Just tell her the truth. You’ve got a new pretty Scottish boyfriend who is crazy about you.”

“Oversimplification of the century. ”

I cross my arms, but the twinkle in his eye makes the tension soften.

“Well, I’m assuming we can’t quite tell her we saw one another’s souls and know they fit.”

The way he says it makes my heart flutter. It feels completely right.

“Maybe not immediately.” I sigh, it’ll be hard to explain to, well, anyone.

There’s certainly a lot of logistics to figure out, location, life span, and what being fated to a mythical being means as a whole. Somehow, I’m not worried about it all in the slightest. Probably the benefit of knowing someone’s entire being.

“Well then, in the meantime-“ Lachlan simply presses a kiss to my temple.

“Love at first sight, it is.”

The End