crack of noon, groggy and still reeling from the events of the previous night. A letter from the academy administration that Celine had pinned to the back of our door notified us that the dining hall was out of commission due to damage from last night’s attack. Until further notice, all meals would be served in the Assembly Hall. Thanks to Em powers, the reconstruction of the Assembly Hall after the Founder’s Ball attack was completed at a speed I’d never seen before.
As I was about to leave for lunch, a knock came from my door—three short taps with an unmistakable rhythm that could only belong to one person. I couldn’t avoid my presumed fated mate forever, but how could I trust someone who had kept such a monumental secret from me?
“Hey,” Nathaniel said hesitantly when I opened the door. “Is Celine here?”
“No, she has to stay at the Healing Center until this afternoon,” I replied curtly.
“Can we talk now?”
“Fine.” I sat on my bed as Nathaniel shut the door behind him.
“Where do we start?” he asked reluctantly.
My eyebrows furrowed as I shot him an aggravated scowl. “How about you knowing that we had matching birthmarks since the Founder’s Ball and you never saying anything?”
“Please, Evangeline, try to understand. I only wanted to protect you,” he pleaded, his eyes filled with remorse.
“Protect me? By keeping me in the dark?” I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. “How could you think that would help me?”
“Because I didn’t want to burden you with it until you were ready.”
“Ready?” I scoffed, a mix of anger and hurt churning inside me. “When would I ever be ready for something like this? How long have you known what they meant? That we’re Elysium Warriors?”
“Not until recently. I did a lot of digging at the library until I figured it out.”
“And then, once you knew, you just let me walk around completely clueless?”
“What was I supposed to say? You barely just found out you were an Em and finally got into a routine here. How was I supposed to spring that on you? ‘Hey, Evangeline, I know we just kissed for the first time, but we’re also mystical warriors, and you’re my fated mate. The thing on your back says so.’ You would have thought I was crazy.”
“Okay,” I conceded. “I agree that would have sounded pretty creepy at the time. What about the glowing?”
“I had no idea about that. It was never mentioned in any of the research I did.”
I paused, my voice softening slightly before continuing, “That whole time you were pushing me away, did you know then?”
He let out a deep sigh. “I knew that we’re fated to be together, but I thought you were still trying to figure out your feelings for Dean.” He looked away from me, a habit of his when he tried to hide his vulnerability. “I didn’t want you to feel like you were tied to me or that you had to be with me if… if you didn’t love me. It was selfish to keep this from you, but I wanted you to choose me on your own, not because of some birthmark.”
As the words of his confession slipped from his lips, the bricks of the final wall he’d built so carefully around himself came crashing to the ground. Now, I knew the heavy burden he’d been carrying in silence, the pain of believing that we were destined to be together, despite my seeming to care for someone else. Though not completely gone, my anger started to melt away, and understanding bloomed in its place.
As if unsure what my silence meant, he crouched down on the floor in front of me, gently taking my hands, his fingertips caressing my knuckles. His touch was so electric that it reverberated through every part of me. He lifted his head to look at me with the purest hazel eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I love you, Eva.”
“Look, Nathaniel,” I sighed, trying to remain stoic and not cave in so easily. “We’re stuck together now. We need to trust each other and be honest if we’re going to survive this.”
“Does that mean you’ll give me another chance?” he asked hesitantly.
“I guess… only because the birthmark is making me.” I cracked a smile, so he knew I was joking. “But no more secrets, Nate. Promise me.”
He popped onto the bed next to me and pulled me into his arms. “Promise,” he whispered into my ear before pulling back and gently pressing his forehead against mine. “No more secrets, no more hiding how I feel. You are my everything, Eva.”
He reached out to take my hands in his, our fingers interlocking, and the warmth of our connection radiated between us. We looked into each other’s eyes, enjoying being together for what felt like an eternity until I finally broke the silence.
“I love you, Nate.” I smiled at him shyly and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before wrapping my arms around him in an embrace. The warmth of his body and the scent of his cologne filled me with a sense of comfort and security I’d only ever felt in his arms.
He responded with a deeper, more passionate kiss, igniting a fire within me that burned brighter than ever before. We explored each other’s mouths with our tongues, savoring the taste of one another. I melted into him as I pushed him down onto the bed. Our hands tangled in each other’s hair.
As I climbed on top of him, I pressed my breasts against his chest as we continued to kiss, and I immediately felt his hardness against me. My hips instinctively moved on their own, as if by magnetic force, rocking against his firm leg in a tantalizing rhythm, unable to resist the primal power.
His hands grasped my hips, stopping my movement. I dragged my lips from his and looked at him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I promise this is not why I came over. If you keep this up, I won’t be able to resist you,” he warned.
I smiled coyly. “I know.”
He smirked at me like he always did, his eyes fixated on mine as he tried to anticipate my next course of action.
I leaned down and kissed him again, and this time I raised my hips and ground my crotch against his. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to feel him inside me again. I wanted to feel him filling me, stretching me, and making me his.
He groaned and let out a small gasp as I continued to move against him. The outline of his erection swelled in his pants. He was turned on.
I fumbled with his belt buckle and pushed his pants down, his erection straining to be freed. He groaned as I wrapped my hand around his erect shaft and began to stroke it slowly, teasing him with my touch as I massaged him. He moaned, enjoying the pleasure I was giving him. But his pleading eyes told me he wanted more, and my lust was getting the best of me. I was quickly losing control of myself.
My head bent down as I prepared to pull his hot, throbbing member into my lips, but he stopped me.
“Wait,” he said, suddenly sitting up. “I want you naked.”
He feverishly unbuttoned my shirt and unclasped my bra, tossing them both aside. His kisses trailed along my collarbone and down my chest until he reached my breasts. He gently took the bud between his teeth and flicked his tongue over it, sending a bolt of electricity straight between my legs. He took his time to work on my other nipple as he pulled my skirt off, followed by my panties. Content with my bareness, he kissed me zealously and groped my breasts one more time before lying back down on the bed.
As I lowered myself down, I licked my lips, hungry for him, as his hands caressed my hair, and the warmth of his member filled my mouth. My tongue explored every inch of him, savoring his manhood. A bead of his seed appeared at the tip, and I licked it off, loving the taste of him.
I looked up at him for approval. His gaze flicked from my naked body to my lips wrapped around his shaft. He stared at me with hooded eyes as my mouth slid up and down it.
“You’re so fucking hot, Eva,” he muttered between groans.
He grew harder in my mouth. He cupped the back of my head, pushing himself deeper into my mouth, and I tried to take him as far as I could. I couldn’t quite manage to take his entire length, but I wanted to please him as much as I possibly could.
When I felt the twitch of an impending release, I pulled away and blotted the moisture from the corners of my mouth.
“Your turn,” he said, pulling me up toward him.
He pushed me back onto the bed and lay on top of me, kissing his way down my body, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. He continued his descent, his lips and tongue exploring every inch of my body until he reached the place that I had been aching for him to touch.
He grabbed my hips and lifted my pelvis up off the bed. His eyes devoured me, and soon his head was buried between my thighs. His warm breath on my drenched sex alone nearly sent me over the edge. I gasped as he found my most sensitive spot, teasing it with his tongue, licking me up and down, and sucking on my soft skin.
“Oh god,” I gasped loudly as the intensity built deep in my core.
I moaned and thrashed on the bed. His tongue switched to penetrating me over and over while his hands held my hips to the bed. My body writhed with raw pleasure, a surge of electric shocks rippling through me, and I released a guttural cry as I reached the peak of delight.
As I came down from my high, I wanted more of him, to feel his warm seed deep inside me. I was drenched and ready for him.
“I want more,” I whispered.
“So greedy.” He chuckled.
“I need you inside me.”
Nathaniel’s eyes flashed, and he lifted me into his arms. He turned me around, my back facing him, and lifted my hips up so that my hands and knees pushed against the bed.
He gripped my hips and brushed his erection against my folds a few times, teasing me before entering me quickly.
“Nate!” I cried out, my back arching to meet him.
One of his hands caressed the small of my back and moved up until it found my Elysium mark. As his fingers glided over it, a scorching flame ignited and spread throughout my body. Surprisingly, every twitch and graze of his fingertips on the mark made me shudder in delight.
“You like that,” he said wickedly.
The sensation of him embedded inside of me and his touch on the mark—the mark that bonded us to each other—overwhelmed me, and I shuddered, a guttural cry escaping my lips as euphoria engulfed me.
As if triggered by my cry, he began to thrust his hips, pushing in and out of me in a quick rhythm as I panted for breath.
“Eva, you feel so good,” he groaned and nibbled on my ear before pushing into me again.
I mewed loudly, my body rocking with his. The force of our desire was undeniable, and at that moment, nothing else mattered but being together.
He kissed the back of my neck and reached around, slowly stroking my center of pleasure as he thrust into me from behind. In seconds, I was coming apart again, throwing back my head to cry out, and Nathaniel groaned as I tightened around him. His movements become more fervent and frantic with each passing moment.
With one final thrust, his muscles tensed. Nathaniel let out a loud, throaty grunt as he emptied himself into me, spreading a wave of bliss through both of us.
Nathaniel settled on his back beside me. His hand found mine and laced our fingers together as I curled up against him, resting my head on his chest.
With every passing moment, our connection deepened and transcended mere words. No matter what lay on the journey ahead of us, Nathaniel and I would always find our way back to each other. Our hearts were fused together in a bond by a cosmic force that could never be broken.
“You’re mine forever, Eva.” He kissed my forehead before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep with me still entwined in his arms.
