Each word had my heart thundering harder, the reverence and conviction in the way he spoke cutting right through the walls I wanted to put up between us just in case he realised he needed time. That he needed to learn more about the world before he committed to the bond.
I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. In a perfect world, I would have helped him. Given him all the time he needed to learn about anything he’d never experienced. Ensured he had the space to figure out what he needed—what he wanted. In a perfect world, it would have been the same for Xerxes. Maybe he could have returned home to his world to make his choices.
But we aren’t in a perfect world, I reminded myself.And there is no perfect world without them.
I finally swallowed past the lump building in my throat, finding my voice once more. “Are you sure you understand what that means?” I asked, opening my eyes again and finding his stare. “You know what…completing the bond means?”
I couldn’t be sure if he did, though there was a chance he was more experienced than I gave him credit for.
My beast tells me I must mark you,he replied easily, confidently.It is instinctual—primal. The need to know you are marked by me—by us. I can feel it.He pulled back enough to run his darkening eyes over me, stopping at my shoulder where Elias’s mark sat. I could almost imagine what it would feel like to have Thor claim the other shoulder.
I know that I must be inside you,he continues, the words somehow gruff inside my head.Feel you.
A shudder rolled down my spine. “Sex,” I murmured, catching his stare. “That’s what your bear is telling you. That you have to mark me during sex.”
The male nodded once before removing one of his hands from mine. He raised it to my face, cupped my cheek, and I leaned into the touch.I know,he replied.
“You do?”
Thor dipped his chin in a shallow nod.They made sure we knew.
Bile rose in my throat. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
But to my surprise, he just shook his head.I wouldn’t know without them.
“It was still against your will,” I murmured, interlocking our hands. “I know…I know there’s a different culture around sex in this world, but you still had no voice, and you were in a cage. You might know what it means now, but that doesn’t mean you were able to consent otherwise.”
A flicker of doubt appeared in his eyes as his brows creased with uncertainty. Like for the first time, he was really considering the effects of the cage—of his treatment beyond thepunishments. Maybe because it hadn’t meant pain for him, he hadn’t thought it bad.
“Did they…do that to you? At all?” I asked carefully. If my magic were free, I imagined it would be thrumming through my veins as I waited for his answer. Building in my chest with the anger and sadness swelling in me.
Thor shook his head firmly.No, he replied, the word bringing me more peace than I expected.They never did that—to any of us.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and said, “Good. That’s good.”
A smile quirked at the corner of his lips, one that had my heart skipping a beat. The scars would have put anyone off, I imagined, but they enhanced how beautiful Thor was. Especially now that his beard had been trimmed and neatly framed his strong, wide jawline, and his hair was no longer the tangled mess it’d been when he shifted. There was a genuine, soft kindness in his eyes that brought me a sense of peace and safety. A softness that called for the parts of me worn down by the battle that was currently my life.
Thor was yet another missing piece waiting to be slotted into the puzzle of my heart.
I want to complete our bond, he said, the words drawing me out of my thoughts.Just as Xerxes said, I want to protect you. That is what my beast is telling me. But I also want to be yours. I want to choose you, Ivy. And I don’t want there to be any chance we could be parted.
The wordsI want to choose youslammed into me, tearing into my heart and ripping away all the convictions I held onto. Every reason to push pause on the bond became non-existent as I felt the truth of those words in my own heart.
“You’re not saying that because you feel like you have to, right?” I asked, unable to make my voice louder than a whisper. “This is what you want—just whatyouwant. Don’t think about what I want right now. I want you to be sure that this is something you feel is right foryou.”
For me, it didn’t matter if we completed the bond now or in ten years. Regardless, there would be plenty of time to learn the truths of one another’s hearts. The bond might mean eternal commitment, but that didn’t stop us from still growing together, learning one another, figuring life out as partners.
There is no reason for me to wait, he replied, the hand on my cheek moving to the back of my head.And there is no reason for me to deny what I have known since I found you.
My skin prickled with a shiver. “What have you known?” I asked breathlessly.
Thor leaned towards me, warm breath brushing my cheeks.That you are my saviour, he replied, nose touching mine.That you are my heart.
The first brush of his lips was like a test, a careful consideration. I’d always loved the claiming, possessive way my other mates kissed me. But this was something else.
Sure, yet hesitant, soft and delicate like the thread tying us together.
I held myself still, allowing him to explore the feeling himself, giving him the room to kiss me how he wanted—how he needed to. I could almost feel the hesitance within him. Yet when his eyes fluttered closed, a small sound fell from his lips.
