Page 9

POE

My family warned me that once I was mated, things would move quickly. They weren’t lying. After all of us returned from Oak Harbor—our parents got along like gangbusters, natch—it didn’t make sense to keep living as a guest in Thorin’s house, at least according to him. After celebrating, then celebrating a little more, then cleaning up, then cleaning up again, we boxed up most of my stuff and took it to his place.

We haven’t been apart for a single day since. That is, until this week.

Thorin has continued to work with his team in Seattle, and they had a big company meeting at the main office. I couldn’t go with him, even though I finally hired someone for the shop.

While I can trust Daphne to run things when I need to take a few days, Bee Cave Buzzfest is this week, and we have a booth. Tech and art types depend heavily on caffeine and, as it happens, have a similar addiction to shiny things. It’s all Daphne and I can do to keep enough coffee and trinkets on hand.

All of which is to say I haven’t seen my beloved in three days, and I am about to go out of my fucking mind. His flight takes off in an hour, and he’ll be home late tonight, so I’m exhausting my energy running around the booth, checking out the festival, and coordinating with other local businesses, trying to stave off the deep longing for Thorin’s strong arms.

Not to mention his massive cock.

All the running around is almost enough to make me feel normal. Almost . Who would’ve thought that we still can’t get enough of each other after six months? It’s not the sex—er, not just the sex. I really do like being with him.

On top of that, the bond between us has only grown stronger. Even though Thorin’s way across the country, I can still tell when he’s happy or bored or missing me.

Did I take advantage of his boredom last night by jacking off to the thought of his broad tongue breaching my tight asshole? Possibly. I certainly can’t be blamed when he FaceTime'd me thirty seconds later and we finished together.

I’m just saying’, we’ve been having fun with this mated business. Even now, in the middle of rushing around, I can feel how anxious he is to see me. It’s as if his soul is traveling ahead of his body, too impatient to wait on air travel.

Thankfully, before I can get too morose, there’s a lull between sessions and we’re overrun with caffeine seekers and impulse buyers. I send Daphne off to take a break while I restock and reset the booth.

“Looks like they’ve kept you busy,” a deep voice says as familiar hands land on my shoulders.

I close my eyes and let out a sigh from the bottom of my toes. “Oh, thank Goddess. How are you here?” I ask, spinning in my beloved’s arms. The glow of his eyes and the iridescent shimmer in his hair does it for me every time.

“Got on an earlier flight.” He pushes aside his carry-on as I hop into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist. His eyes crinkle with his smile. “Couldn’t stand another minute away from you.”

I start talking and kissing him at the same time. “I’m so happy. You have no. Idea. I was. Going to go insane. Without you.”

He laughs between kisses and pulls me in tight. “I’d make some joke about you already being insane, but me too, baby. It was great to get up to Seattle, to see my people, but let’s never do that again.” Leaning in close to my ear, he whispers, “You should’ve seen the size of my nuts last night.”

“I did,” I whisper back, rolling my hips.

“I was in a bad way, even after our little FaceTime rendezvous.”

“Poor baby,” I say, patting his cheek. His pupils flare with passion, and I suddenly remember a very important detail. “So, if I know the location of a private bathroom for the vendors, would that interest you?”

Before Thorin can answer, Daphne walks up, a grin on her face .

“It’s good to see y’all are still as passionate as you were when I first interviewed.”

Thorin lets me down gently and I lean back against him, loving how my mate automatically surrounds me in his warm embrace. Puzzling at her words, I ask, “What do you mean?”

“It was pretty clear that you two’d been fucking right before I walked in.”

She holds up her hands when we both try to protest, and we know the gig is up. Gesturing at us, she shakes her head. “Just go home. I can handle this afternoon, and I’ll get Clark from the candy booth to help me with the breakdown tomorrow.”

Thorin and I exchange a filthy look, and he picks me up again. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he growls, stalking toward the front entrance.

I tighten my grip on him, running my nose along his neck. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

“Me too, my love. Me too.”

THORIN

We pull into my garage, and Poe is out of the car and in my arms before I even close the garage door. I throw him over my shoulder and race up the stairs, pushing into our bedroom before practically launching him onto the bed.

“I’m gonna knot on the first go,” I warn him, removing my belt with a leathery crack .

“Yes,” he begs. “I need your knot so bad. ”

We don’t waste time being cute with the clothing removal. By the time we’re naked, a button is rolling off toward the hallway and I’m pretty sure his underwear is ruined. Completely feral, we throw ourselves at each other as he begs me to fuck his barely prepared hole.

I do exactly as he asks and between the pained and pleasured groans, I’m writing a thank-you note in my head to the inventor of lube. I’m also more than a little glad this place has a larger lot. Without the extra distance between our neighbors, I’m sure they’d be calling the police with all the ruckus we make. Still, I slow the punishing rhythm, needing to make sure his body can take my knot without injury.

“I love you so fucking much,” he says, rolling his hips in time with my thrusts.

I peer into his glowing turquoise eyes, still bowled over by his beauty and his quick wit. “I love you, too, Poe. I’m so lucky to have found you.”

“We both got lucky,” he whines, right before his eyes roll back in his head.

He arches and shivers, and I help him along with my hand on his cock. Seconds later, he shoots all over his belly, cawing sharply as he does.

The tight squeeze at the base of my shaft does me in and I let my hips loose, thrusting with wild abandon as I fill him up. The familiar pressure of my knot, expanding, pulsing in the tight confines of his body, tells me I’m home.

Poe nails me with that icy gaze of his. “Stretch me, baby. I missed your knot. I need it. ”

I thrust one last time, going as deep as I possibly can, my knot swelling until we are well and truly stuck together.

He inhales sharply, his eyes going wide. “Oh, oh, oh,” he whines, his desperately high-pitched caw nearly enough to send me over. “It’s too much. It’s too much. Mm, I love it.”

I still my hips, letting his body adjust to me, forever on a hair trigger when it comes to this man.

“Fuck, sorry, baby,” I say, filling him again. “I swear, I used to have so much self-control.”

“Thorin, your nuts are the size of small avocados. Come as many times as you want to. You know I need it just as much,” he says, rubbing his belly, which is already beginning to swell.

Humming with satisfaction, I grip his cock, shuttling my hand up and down a few times before he arches. “I like how you talk about my nuts, as though you aren’t in the same predicament.” I emphasize this by tugging on his gorgeous, fat sac.

He stiffens again as I gently pull and twist on his sensitive balls, grinning as his cock spurts another huge load onto his belly. Running my fingers through the mess, I raise them to my lips, savoring his taste.

“Fuck, your knot feels like it could last forever.”

I flick and suck on his nipples. “Goddess, I hope so.”

Hours later, after we’ve spent multiple times over and cleaned up in the shower, we’re lazing in bed, not sleepy enough to sleep, but too exhausted from making up for lost time to do anything else. I love these moments with him .

“Oh, I forgot,” I say, pulling him in for a kiss. “I got you a gift.”

Poe’s eyes fly open. “You got a gift for me?”

I grin. “I did. And it is so shiny.”

He claps his hands and pushes me down on the bed, straddling me to press his ass against my indefatigable cock.

“You know how I love shiny things.”

It’s true—my Poe adores his sparkly trinkets. Still, he does manage both taste and restraint. Too many shiny things and you can’t make one out from the other. Just enough, however, and there’s something about the beauty of the space he’s created that lets us enjoy what he’s put together.

Unfortunately, retrieving his gift means I have to leave the bed, and he complains the entire time. He welcomes my return by tackling me with a kiss, momentarily forgetting that I have something for him.

Poe finally pulls back and sticks out his hand, wiggling in anticipation. I place a small box on his palm and his brows shoot up.

“Thorin? What is this?”

I kiss his forehead. “It’s exactly what you think it is.”

He opens the ring box, and his jaw hits his chest. “Diamond and platinum?” he asks, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“Your favorites,” I respond, stroking his cheek. “I loved you before I understood what was happening. Though I struggled with our mating at first, I have not one single doubt in my mind that moving from Seattle to Texas was the universe arranging things so I could meet you. So that I could be yours and you could be mine. It has taught me the difference between a fated love and the cheap love others tried to give me.”

Poe’s eyes go shiny with tears, and he stretches up for a kiss.

“I came to you heartbroken, and you helped me put myself back together. For that alone, I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”

Taking the ring from the box, I hold it up and ask the most important question I’ve ever asked in my life.

“Poe Ravenswood, will you marry me?”

“Yes, Thorin Wolfsbane,” he says, his voice cracking on my name. “I will marry you. I will be yours forever.”

My hands shake as I place the ring on his slender finger, kissing him through a mess of smiles and tears, sealing the pact started by an interfering universe.

Our love, like the stars, will burn forever.

Thank you for reading Shiny Things!