Page 94 of Virgin Lust

I gasped when he went on to the other nipple. “The reason I came to you to in your dreams and again at that moldy bar is because of that pink goat on your chest. You’re my—”

“Soulmate,” Shepherd finished for me with a slight growl in his voice. “I don’t deserve you, and yet… This makes me so…”

“You already called me your mate,” I pointed out, watching the way his smile grew as he gawked at my curse mark. “Why are you so happy when you’ve already claimed me as yours?”

He blinked like I’d grown two heads and said, “You just told me we belong to one another. That through all the shit, the loneliness I’ve been through, I can finally say I have someone that needs me as much as I need them. Prudence, you don’t understand how much I wanted to be yours too. How much I wanted to be everything for you.”

My eyes watered. “Even without this mark, you’d matter,” I said. “Iloveyou, Shepherd Donavan. I think I did from the moment I saw you standing there at the human festival. You took my breath, flipped my curse upside down, and it scared the shit out of me.”

“You scared me, too. The way you consumed me so quickly when I was ready to leave this world. I barely existed, and then your presence came along and demanded everything from me. I love you, Prudence Reaper. Let’s fight. Let’s save this world and your sister, because no time will ever be enough with you. I want it all.” He caressed my cheek, and my heart fluttered in my chest as if he was holding it. In a way, he was. “Forever.”

“Forever,”I agreed.

THE END