Chapter Nineteen

Van

What a flip from the afternoon. It was as if it never happened, and Jamie did not want to get into it. But with only a few hours left together before our weekend ended, I knew I didn’t want to waste any of it, so maybe that was how he felt.

The restaurant was lovely, the food good—I would need to have all my stage clothes let out if I continued to eat like this—and the atmosphere super romantic. Franklin could not have picked a better spot for a date night.

And by the time we got back to the inn, the tension between us was so intense, we ran up the stairs and left a trail of clothes across my floor. I was cursing myself for not having managed to get through whatever was bothering him earlier in the day.

But maybe that was all right. I was so used to everyone rushing to cater to me, and Jamie did not do that. Nor did I want him to. If I’d ever had any kind of a legitimate relationship before, I didn’t remember it. And Jamie, even if I never saw him again, was my mate, and I would never forget him. Or replace him. Maybe it was better to spend two days with my mate than a lifetime with anyone else.

Right now, I could believe that. My mate lay sprawled on my bed with the lamplight glowing on his skin. I dropped to my knees in front of him and stroked his legs. I wanted to memorize every inch of his body, the shape of his hips and waist and chest. His smile and frown and the crinkle between his brows when he was concentrating. I dragged him closer to the edge and grasped his cock in my hand. I closed my mouth around him lapping and sucking, wanting to bring him fast and as many times as a I could.

He would occupy a huge part of my heart and mind forever. I hoped he would consider me at least a little memorable. His groans echoed in my head, urging me to go faster, suck harder, and I was more than happy to comply, dragging my tongue along the vein in his swollen cock and scraping my teeth on his head.

“Alpha!” he cried, bucking his hips. “I’m—oh yes!”

Hot salty fluid flowed down my throat in gouts, and I swallowed it, feeling as if it made him more a part of me. And when the last bit dribbled out of the tip, I let him fall out of my mouth and rose up, bringing his knees to his chest. A quick check confirmed he was slick and ready for me, and with a quick thrust, I plunged into his hot, tight, slippery hole balls deep and let out a breath of relief at joining with my mate.

I moved slowly at first, but the tension I’d felt all day, building since our quickie in the shower, drove me to lose any control. He encouraged me in rough gasps as I thrust in and pulled out almost all the way, over and over, faster and faster.

The light in the room broke into splinters in my vision, and my mate’s eyes were wide, watching me. He was speaking but my blood roared in my ears, and since he was bucking and nodding, I knew he wasn’t telling me to stop, and then almost as soon as I began, I was coming, pouring my cum into his body, my knot swelling to bind us together. I shuddered and bent, my teeth touching his shoulder. “May I…can I mark you?”

He let his head fall to the side and sighed. I pierced his skin, my teeth sinking deep and warm blood filling my mouth before I pulled free and licked the wound closed.

It wasn’t until my knot shrank and I rolled to the side that I recognized what a bad idea it was to mark him. If I never saw him after tomorrow, how fair was it to him to have this scar on his neck to tell everyone he met that he was my mate?

And how fair to me was it if he did not?

I pulled him into my embrace and kissed him over and over. Marking in another way, imprinting on him. “Jamie.”

“Mmm?” He sounded sleepy, and who could blame him? “Alpha,” he sighed.

“Omega mine.” I trailed my lips over his cheek and to his ear where I nibbled on the lobe. “You feel so good in my arms.”

“Yes…”

I stopped talking, letting him rest. But I did not sleep, not for a long time, not wanting to miss a moment. Finally my traitorous body took over, and I passed out, holding him close.

My dreams took over, reliving the weekend and what might be the only time I spent with my mate, ever.

Could Fate do that? Jamie never mentioned seeing me again, and I didn’t want to be the one who pushed the issue… But how could I say goodbye?