“I want to learn to swing daggers like you do,” Annika added when she was folded into the hug.
Zasha followed, the last to join, and the only one to not say anything. She didn’t need to. We were so much alike. I could read her respect and longing with just a look. I returned her happy gaze with one of understanding and the promise that I would see her off this island too, if she wished.
As we all pulled out of the hug, smiles and love between us, I grimaced. “While we’re on the honesty track,” I said, and raised my left wrist. “This is my real mating mark.”
My mother’s eyes darted between my bare right wrist and my now marked left wrist.
“Don’t ask,” I said, waving her off, and she arched a brow at me. “Speaking of mates,” I said and jerked my thumb behind me. “I need to see mine.” I disappeared through the doors before any of them could protest. While I was elated with my parents' acceptance of my true self, I didn’t want to rehash the other lie about Ransom. Especially not while he was still angry with me. A hurt I needed to soothe like I needed my next breath.
I tracked his scent easily, finding him alone in the training room. The snick of knives sinking into the wooden targets across the room filled the air as I approached him.
“How are the ancients?” I asked when he seemed inclined to keep throwing those knives despite knowing I was here. I walked to his right side, picking up a spare set of knives and hurtling one at my own target.
“Making up for lost time,” he said, and the sound of his voice filled me with such hope.
“Do I even want to know what that means?” I asked, and he finally spared me a glance, a smirk.
“No, you don’t,” he said, then returned focus to his throwing.
I threw a few more, settling myself in this silence next to him. It had never been so vast before. I turned toward him. “Ransom,” I said, and he threw the last knife, turning to face me. “I’ve only been a mate for thirteen days,” I explained despite him knowing full well how long it had been. “And half of those days were fake,” I added with a smile. “I’m asking you for a little grace while I navigate this. It’s all so new to me. And while I’ll never forsake my duties to Avianna, I will consider getting inside a sealed chamber with her next time. Just like I would expect you to take more care on your assassin assignments. You have someone to come home to now. A mate who needs you,” I admitted.
He took one step toward me, then another, his powerful gait eating up the space between us until his hands cradled my face. “We both do,” he said, then brushed his lips over mine in a too-chaste kiss before he pulled back slightly, his eyes turning to pure mischief. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said, and the smirk on his lips had one shaping my own. “I’ll deal with your constant dangerous profession if you agree to go on a true vacation with me. One week. No phones. No missions. Just us. Weapons optional.”
My toes curled in my shoes at the heat in his eyes. “I think I could arrange that,” I said, my fingers bunching the fabric of his T-shirt as I urged him closer. “But I may need a little preview,” I teased, flicking my tongue over his bottom lip.
A low growl rumbled from his chest as he hauled me against him. “Feel that?” he asked, his hard length pressing into my belly. “There is nothing little about it, mate.”
I trembled at the primal tenor in his tone, at the way his fingers tangled in my hair and gently tugged my head back before he crushed his mouth against mine, claiming me with sweeping strokes and sure flicks of his tongue.
“Ransom,” I pled, but he was already moving, cradling me in his arms as he rushed to one of the training area’s changing rooms. He locked the door behind him. The space was small, but we didn’t need much.
Not when we tore each other’s clothes off in a heated rush, our ragged breaths filling the space between us.
And then he was against me, walking me back until my spine kissed the wall. He sank to his knees before me, something I knew for a fact he’d never do for anyone else, and the sight of it...fuck, it unraveled me. Turned my insides tight and loose all at once. Made an inferno of heat sweep over me in waves—
He dipped his head between my thighs, using one strong hand to curl my leg over his shoulder. I threw my head back against the wall, tangling my fingers in his hair as he feasted on me. Goddamn, this man. He worked his tongue over my sensitive flesh with teasing flicks and delicious laps.