Page 13 of Tino

“We should probably talk about when we should do the bonding ritual,” Tino reminded me. I still couldn’t believe we were meant to be together like that. Soulmatched. I was glad he couldn’t see the huge smile that spread across my face. I was finally getting to claim him as mine.

“Are you…smiling?” The humor in his voice was evident and I realized he’d turned his face to gauge my reaction to his question. Because of course he had.

“Maybe,” I replied, remembering this was Tino.MyTino. I shouldn’t keep my true self hidden around him. I never had before. But it still felt different. For one, we were adults now, and secondly, his hard dick was poking into my back. None of those things had happened back then, and thank the gods for that.

“I love seeing your smile. I’ve missed it.” How could he still be this cute? So honest and just… perfect. “So, the bonding,” he said, steering us back to the important topic.

“I guess tomorrow? I really need some sleep and according to the others, we’ll be bone tired for the first couple of weeks. Plus, our familiars will show up and need attention too.”

“Hmm, you’re right. No matter how tempting you are to claim, we should do it when you aren’t in danger of falling asleep on me.” He kissed the top of my head and laughed when I elbowed himlovinglyin the side.

Chapter 10

Tino

After our bath, I toweled us both dry and found fresh clothes for us in the bedroom. The cabin only had those three rooms, with the front door opening up to the kitchen/living room. I was just glad we’d gotten a bathroom for ourselves.

The bedroom was decent in size and had a queen bed, which was more than fine for us. I was a little taller than Tair, but we were both slim in build.

“Here,” I said, pointing to the clothes the mages had laid out for us. “That looks to be more your size.” It was a basic T-shirt with somesleep shorts, both in a soft blue color. I put on the same, the only difference was the color, mine being a dark green.

“It’s so weird having mages help us,” he said, sitting down and tugging his T-shirt on. I’d finished getting myself dressed, so I kneeled to help him put on the shorts. We both went without underwear, something we used to do as kids too, both most comfortable sleeping without boxers on but with sleep shorts instead. I liked that many parts of our similarities hadn’t changed. It made it seem more real. Like we truly were meant to be.

“Thank you,” he sighed happily as I finished helping him into the shorts, ignoring his enticing dick while I did it. He’d been right when he suggested we should wait until tomorrow. He was dead on his feet and had been abducted and hurt. The stress of the last few days lingered and I didn’t want that to taint our bonding. There was however one thing that could no longer wait.

I tugged off the covers and helped him into bed, then I joined him on my side and rolled on top of him, careful not to touch his wounded ankle. He eyed me warily but with want in his eyes, the two emotions at war with one another.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to claim you now, when we’ve decided on tomorrow,” I assured him with a laugh at his confused expression.

“Then tell that to your dick!”

I laughed and he joined me. “It doesn’t listen anyway,” I replied, still smiling like a lovesick fool. “But I won’t be able to sleep without kissing you first.”

He melted right in front of me. I saw how his eyes gleamed with want, love, adoration. All that and more rushed through his body before he tugged my head down and smashed his lips against mine.

Fuck.

How could a kiss from Tair mend my soul? Because that was what it felt like. My whole body sang as we pressed into one another, feeling his warm body underneath mine while my lips tingled with pleasure. I was a goner. I barely had any control over my body as I just allowed myself to soak in everything that was my Tair. His enticing scent. Soft pillowy lips. How his tongue gently teased its way inside my mouth, tangling with my own.

He moaned, pulling at my hair a little more roughly as we started grinding our hips, unable to stop ourselves.

I was finally kissing Altair.

He tore his mouth from mine and sucked in air. I did the same, panting for breath as we just stared at one another, letting us both recover from that shared experience. It was my very first kiss. But I didn’t dare ask him if it was his first too. Something like that could easily ruin this, and I was already possessive enough as it was, no need to add jealousy into the picture.

“That was…”

“Perfect,” I said, nuzzling his nose with mine.

“Like your mom’s rhubarb pie,” he said seriously.

“What?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“A little tender, sweet, tangy, and best enjoyed hot.”

We laughed, and I remembered again why he was perfect for me. I tugged him into a hug as we lay side to side, needing to hug my best friend. My love. My soulmatch.

It was a good thing we’d decided to wait. After sharing a long hug, I’d spooned him from behind, comforting both of us, letting us be safe and justtogether. We’d tried to talk about our time apart but my poor Tair had fallen asleep almost instantly, his small huffs of breath ghosting along my arm that he’d used as his pillow. That arm was still limp and feeling all tingly since he hadn’t moved all night. And honestly, I had no use for my left arm anyway. It could be his permanent pillow if he wanted.