Chapter 13

"Did you know your grandfather? The half-fairy one?" Constantine asks as we step inside his house. He's been peppering me with questions all the here.

I think he's trying to make sure I don't pass out again. Apparently, shock and I don't mesh well. "I only ever talked to him on the phone. He and my grandmother lived far away. My parents said they couldn't travel, and I always assumed it was for health reasons. Now I know it was because my grandfather had wings. Wings!" I recognize the hint of hysteria in my laugh. I had it the day I met Constantine. After everything that's happened, you'd think I'd be handling this better. "They told me he died, but I wonder if he's still alive, too." Okay, not the best train of thought for remaining calm.

"From everything you've told me about your parents and your relationship with them, if there was any dishonesty on their part, I'm sure it would've been to protect the family, not to deceive you."

"I know." I lean in to his side, my arms circling his waist as much as possible while we walk through the house. "This is just so much to absorb. My family includes fairies. It's…"

"Amazing. Exciting." In the living room, he wraps me in an embrace, his big hand stroking my hair while turning my ear to his chest. The steady thump of his heart calls for mine to slow and match it. "And good news for us, I hope."

It could be, if the conversation with my parents goes the right way. But even if my mom is aware of my dad's unique lineage, she may not know about all the other non-human species in existence. Aside from wings and pointy ears, fairies basically look human. My Minotaur mate, on the other hand…

Making the call, broaching this subject matter, is a risk. One I don't have to take. I could lie to my parents, tell them Ro and her fiancé eloped, that there's no wedding to attend. I could meet them in Kelowna for a visit, come back here for the wedding, then go back to Toronto without breathing a word of this reality to my parents. I could reject Constantine officially, freeing us both to move on, separately.

Even if I leave here, I won't forget him. I could never replace him. I don't want to.

I know what I do want.

Tipping my face up, I meet his waiting gaze. His strong jaw is clenched, his black lips in a straight line. I don't have to ask if he heard my thoughts. He wouldn't have, since my mind is the furthest thing from open to him right now. I've been locked up tight in my own head since we left Flora's. No more of that. I want to share everything with him. Always.

Placing my palms on his big, broad chest, I inhale deeply and open myself to him. Light flickers in his amber eyes, then warmth flows through me, igniting sparks of arousal and calm comfort at the same time. Our bond. Our connection. Reaching deeper, I picture the door between us. Open it.

I decided. I'm staying with you.

His eyes widen. "Gods, Natalie. Tell me I heard you correctly." The smile that breaks across his face when I nod is like no other I've seen.

"I wanted to tell you before I call my parents, so you know I choose us, that my staying isn't because they approve. I'm staying because I want to, whether it's easy or not. I hope this call with my parents goes smoothly, but I know we'll sort things somehow. I'm not going to lose them because I love you. Tell me what I need to do to make it official. How do I accept you as my mate—no, how do I claim you as my mate? Because I want to. I love you."

That open door in my mind feels like it blows off the hinges, leaving a wide-open archway in its place. Where there was light before, there's a beautiful, perfect, endless glow.

"You just did," he says, then dips down, sealing his lips to mine.

The call can wait.

His chuckle rumbles against me.

I don't have to ask if he heard my thought. I know he did. Everything is clear now. Right and perfect.

Claim me as your mate.

Mine.His single unspoken word takes all the space in my mind, sending my pulse rocketing, the heat between us flaring. The pressure of his kiss intensifies, his growl vibrating through me as his tongue slides between my parted lips.

Our hands bump and tangle as we scramble to get rid of the physical things between us. Clothing hits the floor, some intact, some shredded by Constantine's big, impatient hands. Clothes are replaceable. Time with him isn't.

After a week of seeing him naked, you'd think I'd be used to the sight. Wrong. I can't take my eyes off him. He's huge. All over. Wide and thick, solid from horned head to hooves. Dark-brown fur covers nearly every inch of him, and I run my hands over it, spreading my fingers. The soft fur tickles the tender skin in the V between each finger, and I swear a feel it between my legs too. Longing tugs beneath my clit and deep inside me. I need his huge cock filling me. Making me come. I'll never get enough of him.

His tail lashes wildly behind him, his hoofs stomping against the hardwood as I grip his cock with both hands and stroke it hard. An actual blowjob is impossible, but I drop to my knees and do the next best thing, licking up and down his long, impossibly thick shaft, sucking each of his big, heavy balls between my lips and tugging until he groans.

One hand threads through my hair to cradle the back of my head. With the other, he grips his meaty cock and angles it toward my mouth. "Open for me, my sweet little mate. Taste me."

Starved for him, always, I open wide, humming when the first drops of sweet, milky cum hit my tongue. He presses the bulbous head of his cock against my lips and presses, forcing my lips to stretch wider. Wider. As open as my mouth can go, leaving no gap for air. Breathing through my nose fills my head and lungs with his rich, earthy, masculine scent. I wait until thick warmth coats my tongue, all the way to the back of my throat. Then I close my lips before anything seeps out, moaning as I swallow it all down. The light, buzzy sensation hits me faster than the times before. Because we're truly mated. Because I love him.

Looking up at him, I stroke him again, gathering precum on both hands, then spread it over my nipples and between my legs, where I rub my clit until my hips are rocking against my fingers. I'm drunk on him. Desperate and so, so ready.

His nostrils flare, his breath pushing out in a rough huff. My sexy Minotaur doesn't attempt to hide his bullish side from me now. He knows it turns me on. Everything about him does.

He reaches for me, helping me to my feet, then lifts me onto the couch, placing me on my knees, facing away. The firm pressure of his palm on my heated skin as he bends me over the backrest sends anticipation rippling through me.

I'm expecting him to fuck me, but he doesn't. He pushes my knees apart—wide apart—then settles between them, face up. His thick, furry arms wrap around my thighs and he pulls me down onto his face. My eyes roll back in my head as his long, wide tongue pushes inside me, so incredibly deep. Another bullish huff pushes from his nose, the heat of it tickling my sensitized skin.

I moan as his tongue finds that magic spot and moves against it, pushing me toward the peak. Reaching down, I take hold of his horns, gripping them hard while I rock against his face, rubbing my clit hard and fast on his wide nose.

Wet warmth slides down the crack of my ass, then the pad of his finger is there, massaging my anus with his precum. Getting it ready to take his thick finger.

Leaning forward, angling so I'm open wider, I moan as he presses the tip past the tight ring. "More," I pant, "I want all of it." I moan as his finger fills my ass—deeper, deeper, then I cry out, riding his face hard while I come and come and come.

"Gods, you undo me, Natalie," he says, rubbing his precum-covered cock head up and down my pussy after positioning himself behind me. Holding my hips, he pushes inside, huffing, his hooves clomping. Driving me wild with all the primal tells of his desire for me.

Knowing he'll fit doesn't make the absolute stretch of it any less thrilling. My panted moans join his rough grunts of pleasure. Every inch feels like it must be the last, but there's more. So much more. It should be too much, but I want it all. Inhuman sounds leave me when he bottoms out, his furry abdomen pressed tight to my ass cheeks and heavy balls brushing my inner thighs.

He folds over me, his chest to my back. Slips his hand between my legs to stroke my clit. "You take me so well. I crave you. More than air, I need you." His normally smooth voice is husky with tightly held need. "Come for me, my sweet mate. Squeeze me, milk every drop from me."

Stars explode behind my closed eyelids as I come hard, panting his name, writhing against his fingers on my clit, my skin tingling beneath his hot, ragged breath on my neck.

His deep, long low fills my ear as he comes. His massive cock throbs inside me, then I'm coming again, my body flying high on cum coating the deepest parts of me.

His cock slips out of me, and what feels like endless cum oozes from me, running down the insides of my thighs and?—

"Oh no, the couch," I say, shifting quickly, but it's too late. Puddles of white are all over the earthy-gray velour. "Yikes. That's going to leave a mark."

Constantine's rumbling silent laughter vibrates through me as he pulls me against him, then onto the other side of the L-shaped couch, where he lays us out together in a beautifully entwined embrace, nuzzling my hair and neck before kissing me softly. "All that matters is the mark you left on my heart, sweet Natalie."

"It matches the one you made on mine," I whisper, snuggling in, soaking in the rightness of being with my mate.

The call, and everything else in the world, can wait a while longer.

* * *

The next day