Tino smiles, leaning down for a brief kiss before sliding his hands under my armpits and pulling me up. We share a kiss so hot that the water around us bubbles up even more, spilling over the edges. I can taste his memories on his tongue, and as I gobble them up, I get stronger by the minute.
He breaks the kiss, but keeps our foreheads pressed together. It’s time I told him something.
“Tino?”
“Yeah.”
“I know how we can fix it.”
He pulls back enough to meet my eyes. “How?”
“We can mate the demon way. If… if you want to.”
“How do we do that?”
“Don’t laugh, but it’s remarkably similar to how humans marry. I think they stole the ritual from us.”
He smiles. “A wedding?”
“Well, not exactly. There’s a ring and vows involved, but unlike with humans, the vows are an unbreakable bond. It can only be severed through death.”
He nods, his face serious, but even from here I can feel his thoughts swirling. “The bond I gave you ties our life forces together. If you die, I die, and vice versa.”
“So what you’re saying is we’re already bonded for life in the dragon world?”
“Yes, and if we do your process, then we’ll be bonded in the demon world too.”
“And if I do that, it changes my incubus abilities. You’ll be the only one affected by my pheromones.”
Tino licks his lips. “No one else will feel it? No one else will desire you?”
“No. Just my mate. I won’t feel other people either. I’ll feed forever on your energy and all the experiences you hoarded for me.”
His cock swells beneath me. “Gods. That’s fucking beautiful.”
Nodding, I rub his chest. “I didn’t tell you why the ring Mac took was so important.”
“This ring?” He lifts my left hand from the water, showing it off.
“Yes. It’s my mating ring. We make them ourselves when we come of age, and we keep them until we find the ones they’re intended for. That’s why I had to get it back from Mac, but now I think it was all part of the plan to help us find each other. If Mac had taken anything else, I would’ve let it go and never pursued him.”
Tino’s mouth drops. “It was fate all along.”
“Some of it was. We still made our choices.” I shrug. “Or, hell, maybe we didn’t. I’ve been a selfish dick my whole life, but there was no way I was gonna let Maggard hurt Mac.”
Tino nods, his eyes full of wonder. “You’re part of us now, Xaze. My family is your family, warts and all.”
I laugh softly, but my eyes well with unexpected tears. “I haven’t had a family. Not really. When we’re born, our parents send us off to the appropriate level and we rarely see them again.”
His brow wrinkles. “Demons don’t need family?”
“We don’t know any better unless someone shows us otherwise.” I blink the tears away. “I’m really part of all this? The love and acceptance the other mates have can be mine too?”
“Hey, we accepted a wolf, for fuck’s sake.”
I laugh, wiping my eyes.
“They love you because I love you.” His voice cracks and his dragon purrs loud enough to vibrate through me where we touch. “They accept you because fate decided you were mine and I was yours. We’re a motley crew, but we love each other and we have each other’s backs no matter what.”
