“Your mate?” Shawna whispers, and my mother makes a sound of disgust.
“I know my cue to leave when I hear it,” she says cheerfully, and she departs in a sudden whirl of snow that has Shawna squeaking in surprise at the icy blast.
I inwardly sigh at my mother’s theatrics, but she is not entirely wrong for her assumptions either. My eyes are immediately drawn to my mate. She stands there, still staring at the lightly whirling flakes that mark Mother’s departure until they gradually begin mixing with the snowflakes as they begin to fall again.
Leaving my prey to their own devices as they begin to meander away, I turn to my mate with a welcoming smile and open my arms to her. Happiness brightness her dear face and she rushes into my arms with a joyous sob that I can feel in a rippling current of warmth that feeds into me. I close my arms and wings around her, holding her tightly to me as I savor the sweetness of having my mate in my arms. I brush a kiss to the top of her head and hook a finger beneath her chin, tipping her head back so that I can look into her azure eyes.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I lower my head and brush my lips against hers.
Her lips part in welcome, and I deepen the kiss, my entire being, already flushed with warmth from the feast, warmingeven further with the love and passion burning brightly between us. Holding her close to my heart, my wings snap open and expand before drawing more tightly around her until she is pressed close to me, and I am hungrily feeding from her mouth in ways that I wished I had been just moments before. This feeding, however, nourishes something even more important—my heart.
Shawna suddenly draws back, forcing my hold to loosen, as she tips her head back so that she can look into my eyes. She grins slowly at me, her eyes dancing with mischief.
“Now, what was is that you were saying about a mate?” she teases.
“Only that I am yours for as long as you will have me,” I rasp in reply.
Her smile falters, and I worry that I have said something wrong because she searches my eyes for a long moment.
“No promises of forever?”
I shake my head. “I would not cage you anymore than I could hope to capture a snowflake indefinitely within my own hands. My only hope is that you will choose to remain by my side. Mating does not chain you to me irrevocably. It only manifests the bonds that we have already forged within our own hearts.”
Shawna gives me a thoughtful look. “I choose you, Jak. I will always choose you.”
“And I will always choose you, my delightful snow imp,” I murmur, and I smile at the warmth that flushes through me, expanding within my chest to the point of bursting with pleasure.
Lowering my head, I kiss her again, pledging every promise in my heart to her with that kiss before trailing little kisses from the corner of her mouth to her jaw and then down her neck. Upon reaching that sensitive tissue over her artery, I draw forth my inner ice as I brush my tongue against her neck in a slowcaress. She mumbles and gasps a little at the icy contact but it quickly turns into a moan as my tongue bathes that spot, laying the pattern of frost deep within her flesh and soul, marking her as my mate and dragging my immortal ice over our bonds, tying her to me in every way. When I at last lift my head, I smile as I admire the tiny snowflake of frost upon her skin. It is raised, and when she lifts her hand to it, I chuckle at the look of wonder that comes over her face.
“Oh, wow,” she breathes in awe, and she lifts her eyes to me, both nervous and filled with excitement. “So what’s next?”
I shrug my wings casually and with a flick of my tail I draw my magic around me in a way that I seldom bother with so that I appear semi-human. My illusion is perhaps not as good as my mother’s since I cannot even tint my inhuman coloring, but it will only garner a little staring. At least in this form, I can accompany her in whatever adventure she might wish to explore.
“It is your choice, my mate,” I murmur as I take her hand and thread my fingers with hers. Lifting her hand to my mouth, I press a kiss against the back of it.
“Well,” she drawls slowly. “It’s not too late for Christmas with my parents.”
The holidays with my mate’s family. It is not quite the intimate holiday season I had planned with my mate, but why not? “If you like,” I agree.
She grins but then pauses, her nose wrinkling adorably as we begin to walk together down the street. “I don’t have a clue where the hell my car is. Have you ever been to upstate New York?” she asks.
I chuckle at her side as we walk among the milling crowd. The carolers have gathered cups of hot chocolate and have begun singing again, and with the sinking sun, the glow of the holiday lights brings a certain cheer that touches my soul. The fallingsnow dances around them and invites the excited activity of the locals hurrying home. I take pleasure in these things, but mostly in having my mate by my side as we walk through the crowd. The snow falls harder as a slight wind begins to blow. I grab hold of that wind, drawing the snow around us as I summon a minor portal, whisking us away from the town center and into our new life... together.
Epilogue
