“I know you’re right. Really, I do.” I shifted her closer. “But it doesn’t stop this feeling inside of me every time I remember how close I came to losing you.”
“I have a solution for that.” She raised her voice. “Jonah, is your bag packed?”
His bedroom door opened. “Yes, Aunt Hannah.”
Jonah bounded out with a backpack over his shoulder. He grinned at me. “I get to go camping.”
“We’re going camping?” I asked Hannah, confused and unsure how that would help.
“No. Jonah is going camping with Gabriel and Austin.” She smiled, eyes sparkling at me. “You’re cute when you’re confused.”
I gave her a mock growl.
“There’s my mate.” She dropped a kiss on the end of my nose and lowered her voice, whispering in my ear. “We’re spending the night alone. I believe it’s time for you to mark me.”
Excitement leaped in my chest, but I tempered it with caution. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “It will make you more secure. Having that connection.”
My brows drew together. “That’s not?—”
“I love you.” She took my cheeks in her hands and stared into my eyes. “I want this. So unless you don’t want to mark me, it’s happening.”
I choked out a laugh. “Of course I want to mark you. I just don’t want you to do it because you think I need it.”
“I promise you I’m not.”
I studied her gaze, searching for any hidden uncertainties. But I found none. Just love for me shining in her eyes. I clutched her close and kissed her softly.
“Ew!” Jonah’s voice sounded in my ear. “Kissing is yucky.”
“Tell me that again in five years, buddy.” I ruffled his hair as a knock sounded at the door.
Jonah rushed to open it. Gabriel and Austin stood there, wary gazes on me. I managed a tense nod. My bear was still uneasy, though calmer now that marking was a possibility.
“Are we really going camping?” Jonah’s excitement was palpable.
“We are.” Austin grinned at him. “Ready to go?”
Jonah whooped and bounded out the door with his bag. “Bye, Aunt Hannah. Bye, Ethan.”
And then we were alone, the air charged with a knowing of what was to come. I sat holding Hannah, unable to move. At war with myself. The instinct to mark my mate was fierce. A driving urge that almost overrode everything else. But I also wanted to take care.
As if sensing my inner turmoil, Hannah made the first move. She pressed kisses along my jaw. “I want this, Ethan. I want you. Because I love you.”
“I love you, too.” My voice was rough with emotion. “Not because you’re my mate. Because you’re you. You’re everything to me.”
She smiled, a slow teasing lift of her lips. “Then show me.”
Hannah
Ethan stood and carried me over the threshold of my bedroom. Our bedroom. He grinned down at me. “After tonight, I’m never sleeping on that couch again.”
“Never say never,” I teased, returning his grin.
“Definitely never.” He confirmed his words, his gaze turning serious. “I can’t promise I won’t mess up in the future, but let’s promise to always work through it. To talk and to listen.”
“I can agree with that.” My gaze warmed.
