I close my eyes, savoring the sound of Rin saying those three precious words. They slice through me, leaving me feeling flayed and exposed in the most wonderful way. Rin loves me. Rinlovesme.
When I open my eyes again, Rin is staring at me. I don’t want to leave him waiting a moment longer. “I love you too,” I whisper before leaning forward and kissing his lips.
I pull back but Rin doesn’t pull away quite yet, stopping to place a kiss to both of my cheeks. Then my forehead. Then my mouth one last time.
“I don’t know what the future holds exactly,” Rin says, starting to eat again. I take a big mouthful, allowing him space to speak. “I own the house I live in right now and you have your housing contract with the Ninjas so I don’t think we’ll be moving in together anytime soon. Not that we won’t continue having sleepovers all the time. I really, really like sleeping next to you and waking up in your arms, Maki.”
“I like that too. I agree with all of this.”
“Right,” he says, nodding his head. “And then there’s our publicity we have to worry about. I think we should wait to tell the world until after we’ve officially mated.”
“I like that idea as well.”
Rin looks over at me, giving me a soft smile. “I like how we’re on the same page about all the serious stuff.” I give him a smile back. “I think someday it would be nice to convert the house fully into a streaming office and then buying a new house for living in, just the two of us. That can wait, though. As long as we’re together and serious about each other, everything else will fall into place.”
“I’m very serious about you, Rin,” I tell him, reaching over and squeezing his thigh. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Rin lets out a long breath before turning towards me fully. “Then I have to ask; can you tell me what it means to mate as an undine?”
“Of course,” I say right away. Rin stares at me as I speak. “I don’t know how much of this is true and how much is simply legend but it’s believed that an undine is born without a soul.”
Rin’s eyes widen. “What?”
I nod my head. “We are without one, so we do not have soulmates like other creatures might have. Instead, when we find the one we wish to spend our lives with, we ask them a simple question. Will you share your soul with me?” I run my thumb over Rin’s thigh. “We don’t have soulmates predestined, instead, we choose ours. When we mate, legend says your soul will be torn in two and you will gift half of it to me. In this way, we will be mated.”
“Oh,” Rin breathes out, watching my face. “You want to be my soulmate?”
“Very much so,” I say right away. “But only if you wish to share that piece of yourself.”
“Yes,” he says softly, barely above a whisper. “It would be an honor to share myself with you, Maki, because I know you would protect it and treasure it, the same way you do the rest of me every day.”
I swallow thickly, trying to push down the emotions welling up inside of me. I stand up and step into Rin’s space, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him until his face is pressed into my belly. He holds me just as tightly.
“That makes me happier than I thought possible,” I murmur, leaning down and burying my face in his blue hair which is growing out, showing the brown of his natural roots. “Thank you, Rin, for trusting me with your heart and your soul.”
“There’s no one else I’d rather hold on to it.”
Chapter Eleven
Rin
“I need one morehoodie from each of you,” Rodney says, staring at the nest he’s putting together in the living room. “Pretty please with sugar on top?”
Kei grumbles something under his breath but he goes into his room without further complaint, coming back with a hoodie. I just take off the one I’m wearing, handing it over.
Rodney puts our hoodies on the edges of the nest, tucking them this way and that. Eventually, he stares down at it, his hands on his hips and gives a soft nod.
“Perfect.”
“Fucking finally,” Kei says, grabbing the giant bowl of popcorn from the table and getting into the nest. Despite how much he pretends to hate Rodney’s nests, he’s always the first one in.
I’ve found him in his cat form, napping in one of Rodney’s nests more times than I can count. I have so many pictures of him on my phone. He hates it but I can’t help it! He’s just socutein his cat form!
I crawl into the nest on Kei’s right side, Rodney tucking himself into Kei’s left side. We snuggle together. I might only be human, but I love our nights like this, all tucked together as a family unit.
Shifters are really sensitive to scents and touch. Kei needs nights like this. He needs to feel close to us, he needs us to smell like a unit. Rodney needs it as well but it’s slightly different for him. He’s not a shifter in the same way that Kei is.
It’s all complicated and confusing but I’m happy to help however I can.
