Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(50)

My shirt fluttered to the ground, and before I could direct her gaze to my mark, she gasped.

“A tattoo?”

I shook my head. “A brand.”

She moved closer, her hand hovering just above the mark seared into my skin. It had taken days for my uncle Lucas to etch the silver into my flesh. And twice as many more for it to heal enough for me to wear anything over it.

“Does it hurt?” she whispered, glancing from the angry red skin and back up to my face.

“Yes. But it’s supposed to. It’s the mark of a traitor.”

“What? Why would you have that?”

“Because, my little wolf,” I said, lifting my hand to cup her cheek. “I chose you.”

Her brows drew together. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re my mate. I feel it in my bones. After what happened the other day, when the barriers between our minds fell away, I know it beyond all doubt. And in my world, it’s still a crime for royals to mate outside our own kind. My father murdered my grandfather to save the human he loved, to take her as his mate. His traitor mark is even bigger than mine because the Council views his crime as more egregious. But I’d rather be a traitor than give you up.”

“But your father is king. How did that happen?”

I took a deep breath, not wanting to rehash the past. “It was a long time ago before I was born and a story for another night. But the end result is I am not going to live a life without my mate because the Council thinks they can dictate my life. I refuse to deny myself the only thing I’ve ever truly wanted.”

She bit down on her lip, looking both hopeful and wary. “Okay . . . but I still don’t understand how I can be both yours and Kingston’s mate. How is it even possible?”

“Sunday,” I said with a sigh, “what you don’t realize is it doesn’t matter. I chose you. That’s it for me. You might have other mates, but I am yours. Wherever you go from here, I’ll follow. I’m not going to run from it.”

She smiled weakly. “I . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“Say I can be yours.”

“I . . .”

I leaned down, my lips nearly touching hers. “It’s true whether you say it or not . . . if it makes it easier for you to give in.”

“Noah,” she breathed, closing the distance between our lips and claiming mine in a spine-tingling kiss. She backed away just a fraction, her eyes staring into mine. “You’re mine.”

Her palm skated down my torso until she found my belt. My breath caught as she slipped her fingers over the obvious bulge at my crotch. I was aching for her. I always was, but now that she’d claimed me, I was desperate.

“So does this mean we need to go make things official in your bed?” she asked.

“I have a better idea.”





Chapter

Twenty-Seven





SUNDAY





Noah’s fingers tightened in mine as we approached the doors of Iniquity, the bass thumping through the walls. It was nearing the witching hour, the prime time for creatures of the night to come out and play. “Iniquity? Really? I thought we were going to need something more . . . private.”

“This is as private as it gets. Trust me.” His smooth voice with that posh accent brushed over me like velvet, and I leaned against him in response. “You’ve only seen the surface level of this place. It’s a whole new world downstairs.”

“If you’ve brought me to some sort of sex dungeon for our first time together, I might like it too much, and then what are you going to do? What if this is the only thing that does it for me?”

“I’ll give you whatever it is you need, dove. Wherever you need it.”

Heat unfurled within me, the words and his dark voice weaving the same seductive spell as his lips or hands on my body. I wanted everything he promised and more. Right the hell now.

“Do you trust me?”

“I’ve been told to never trust a vampire.”

“I’m not asking you to trust any vampire. I’m asking if you trust me.”

Taking a deep breath, I stared into molten amber eyes and knew he was telling the truth. I did trust him. “Lead the way.”

He took me by the hand, lifting it to his mouth and pressing a kiss between my knuckles. Before pulling away, his tongue flicked the tender flesh where my index and middle fingers met. The action, while perfectly innocuous, left absolutely zero doubt about his intentions. The caress shot straight between my legs, and I gasped as my clit pulsed with need. I was on fire for this man, and he’d barely touched me. What would happen when he was inside me?

We walked through the doors, the air in the club heavy with the energy of the many powerful occupants. Witches, shifters, even some fae. All of them stretched their magic freely here. It was a safe space—except for that one time a hunter tried to kill me.

“Are we going to dance?” I asked.

“Not on the dance floor. I planned on a different kind of dance tonight.”

I shivered with longing, already so aroused my thighs were slick, and I was regretting changing into a dress before we left the school.

We’d only navigated halfway around the dance floor when we were intercepted by a Bettie Page look-alike. Complete with a sexy leather corset dress, fishnets, and a whip.