Chapter 7

“Are you sure you still want to do this tonight?” Cos asked me as we undressed and cleaned ourselves up after work. “This week has been kind of crazy, so I wasn’t sure if you’d want to wait.”

I set my clean t-shirt on the bed and walked over to him, grabbed his hands in mine, and forced him to look at me. “That’s exactly why I want to do this.” I rubbed my thumb over his soft skin. “If we keep waiting for the perfect moment, we’ll be waiting forever. There’s always going to be a bad guy or a family event or five million other things going on. I know I kept wanting to wait until we could concentrate on only us, but I want to show you that even when there’s all that other shit going on, you’re still the most important thing in my life. Always.”

A soft smile spread across his lips. “Mads, the romantic.”

I scrunched my nose up. “Uh, no. Don’t call me that.”

His smile grew, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. “I love you, baby.”

I smiled up at him without removing my forehead. “I love you, too, kitty cat.” After placing a sweet kiss to his lips, I backed away. “Hurry so we can head out to our spot. I can’t wait to do this.” We were going to make our tying ropes tonight and wrap them around each other’s wrists and forearms. Then we’d keep them on for the next month—so they could soak up our essences—and then we’d do the actual tying ceremony on the next full moon.

Finally, I was going to show Cos just how committed I was to him.

I couldn’t wait.

Part of the spell that created the tying ropes had to be done with moonlight, so that was why the timing had been difficult before now. We had to wait for a full moon, and we had to do the spell outside somewhere. It was kind of cold out, but it would be fine because I could use magic to heat up an area once we picked a spot.

Instead of going into the woods like Logan and Haiden apparently had, Cos had set up a small area in our new yard, the one we’d officially purchased this week. Hopefully it was far enough away from our house to keep nosey pride mates out.

Cos had found a fallen tree and dragged the whole thing over to the far side of the new yard. He and Dare sawed the tree into three pieces and made a sort of large triangle area. Then they used some plywood and stuff they had in the garage to make two lean-tos right next to each other. The only reason we even needed the lean-tos was for privacy since you could still see our area from the main pride house, if you looked out the right window. The last thing we wanted was for someone in the pride, especially one of the kids, to look out the window and see us making our tying rope or cuddling or kissing or… you know… having sex or something.

We also had a small tent set up within the triangle area, but we couldn’t go inside there until after the ropes were made since we needed the moonlight. So… here we were with our own little area.

When we stepped into the triangle, I was surprised to see that Cos had actually strung up fairy lights all over the place and hung some fabric on the lean-tos. He’d even brought out a ton of pillows and blankets and all kinds of stuff to make us more comfortable. It was so sweet it made me smile. It was so Cosmo.

I grabbed onto him and pulled him into a hug, resting my cheek against his chest as I whispered, “Thank you. This looks perfect. It’s, you know… beautiful.” I murmured the last part.

He embraced me and kissed the top of my head. “No need to thank me, baby. I thought it’d be nice if we were both comfortable tonight.”

“Definitely.” I waited a beat, then added, “The only thing missing is snacks.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Do you really think I’d do all of this and plan to spend an entire night with you without having snacks here?” He pointed to an area that had a bunch of pillows, and I straightened to get a closer look, but I didn’t let go of him. “There are three coolers over there filled with food and drinks and the ingredients we need for the tying ropes.” He kissed my cheek. “I would never let my mate wither away from starvation.”

I snorted. “I should’ve known better.”

“You really should have.”

We both chuckled, and I couldn’t help but just stare up in amazement at my kind-hearted mate. He stared at me for a long moment and raised a brow as if to ask why I was staring.

I shrugged back at him. “I just like you.”

Another chuckle burst from him. “That’s definitely good to hear. I like you, too.”

“I know.” I shrugged again and tugged him farther in and toward the pillow mountain… and the coolers of food.

Cos scooted in front of me and sat down on the pillows before he gently tugged me down to sit between his legs. I leaned my back against his chest with a sigh. He always made a nice chair, so I didn’t have a problem with this position at all.

I opened the closest cooler and peeked inside, chuckling when I saw just how packed it was. “You know, I’m not actually a giant pig, right? There’s no way we need this much food.”

Cos shrugged. “I’d rather have too much than not enough.” He reached into the cooler, pulled out a container, and opened it in front of me since his arms were wrapped around my waist. It was full of little pieces of cheese and pepperoni, and Cos wrapped a piece of pepperoni around a cube of cheese and lifted it to my mouth.

Since I was used to my mate trying to feed me all the time, I didn’t hesitate to eat it from his fingers. I kissed his fingertips before chewing and swallowing, and then I said, “Very yummy. Do you want a piece?”

Cos nuzzled the side of my neck for a moment as he squeezed me in a hug, then left his chin on my shoulder. “Sure. I could eat.”

I started preparing a small bite for him. “You guys act like I’m the one who eats all the time, but you and the rest of the shifters eat just as much as me.”

He nodded and took the bite I offered him, licking my fingers with his talented tongue before he released my hand, chewed, and swallowed. “We do eat as much as you. But we’re all a lot bigger than you, and it takes a lot of energy for us to shift.” Before I could argue that it took a lot of energy to do magic, too, he put his hand over my mouth so I couldn’t speak. “And yes, I know magic takes a lot of energy and that’s why you need to eat so much. But you’re smaller than us by a lot, and honestly, none of that stops me from wanting to tease you about it all the time.”

I mean… that was fair, I guess. I liked to tease him about things, too, so who was I to deny him?

I shrugged and nodded at the same time, then kissed his palm before licking it with as much spit as I possibly could.

He jerked his hand back in surprise and let out a laugh when he saw how wet it was. “You are so gross.”

“But I thought you liked licking and grooming.”

“This”—he waved his slobbery hand in front of my face—“is not grooming. This is just being disgusting.”

I chuckled. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t stop me from talking, then.”

He wiped his wet hand down the side of my face, making me squirm. An embarrassing squawk sounded across the yard that I totally didn’t make. Nope. That sound definitely did not come from me.

He held me tight so I couldn’t squirm away and muttered into my ear. “This should teach you not to slobber all over your mate.”

“I’ll slobber all over you anytime I want,” I said through my laughter.

His chuckle rumbled through his chest, shaking against my back. “I have much better places you can slobber on than my hand.”

“You’re a perv.”

“Only when it comes to you.”

“I can’t decide if that was sweet or crude.”

“Probably a bit of both.”

I snorted, then managed to turn myself enough that I was sitting sideways with my legs over one of his thighs. I no longer had a back to my Cos-chair, but that was fine because now I could reach up, grab his chin, and pull him into a kiss. Which was exactly what I did.

Our kiss was slow and sensual, filled with affection, tenderness, and love. I soaked up every second of it, the feeling light enough I could float up into the sky with the clouds.

After a few minutes of gentle kisses, we broke apart and rested our foreheads together, staring at one another.

I waited a few beats before I asked, “Should we get everything ready? The moon will be high in the sky before we know it, and our ropes need a couple of hours to soak up moonbeams or whatever, right?”

“They do.” He kissed me chastely and sent me a sweet smile that I returned before I got up from his lap.

It didn’t take long to find our supplies, and I started a fire while Cos mixed all the ingredients together in a large pot. He set the pot on the fire, which we made sure was in direct moonlight, and the two of us sat facing each other with our knees touching.

“Did you add the blue dye?” I asked him.

We’d decided on blue dye since blue had always been a special color for him—because that was the color of his adopted parents’ front door—and he said he loved it still because it was the color of my magic and my eyes. It was awesome that he was able to see my magic now.

Our soul bond had come by harrowing means, but I couldn’t deny it had its perks. And… that I loved being bonded to him.

“Yep. Everything’s in there. I triple-checked.”

I gave his knee a squeeze in response.

He held up one of his old t-shirts as he transformed his hand so he could use his claws. “I’ll cut this, and you cut yours.”

I grabbed the scissors and the old shirt I’d decided to use and got to work. Once I had the strips cut, I started tying them together to make one long rope. It needed to be super long for the eventual tying ceremony.

A bout of nerves overtook me at that thought for just a moment, but Cos knocked his knee against mine and asked, “You good?” and the nerves dissipated.

I wasn’t sure why I’d gotten them in the first place. This was Cos we were talking about. He was the sweetest man I knew. Not to mention the fact that we’d already been bonded for years. This ceremony was almost more of a formality when it came down to it. Our soul bond was already more powerful than anything else. Although, maybe tying would increase that? But even if it did, that would be fine because this was Cos. My Cos.

He loved me deeper than I’d ever imagined possible, and I loved him the same.

There was nothing and no one that could ever change that.

I sent him a small smile. “Yeah, kitty cat, I’m good.”

He smiled back, knocked my knee gently again, and went back to tying his fabric together.

After we finished, we both placed the ropes into the pot, making sure they were submerged, and set it over the fire. As soon as it was set, I yelped because Cos picked me up without preamble and put me in his lap.

“Um, well, hello there,” I murmured. “You could’ve just asked.”

He shrugged. “I wanted to pick you up.”

That made me roll my eyes. “I’ll allow it… for now.” I draped my arms over his shoulders and buried my fingers in his hair. “Don’t even think about making a habit of it.”

“I would never.”

I snorted. “You sounded real convincing there, hun.”

He grinned and smacked a kiss to my lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh.” I brushed my fingers through his hair, and he closed his eyes, his purr rumbling between us. “How long does it have to cook?”

“A few hours.” He leaned forward to nuzzle against my neck. “Plenty of time for us to eat and hang out together uninterrupted.”

“I really hope you didn’t just jinx us.” I winced and couldn’t help but check in the direction of the house—I couldn’t actually see it from where we were because of the lean-tos—as if someone was about to come running for us.

He snorted. “They’ll only come out here if it’s a true emergency. We’ll be fine.”

“You have a lot of faith in the adults’ abilities to keep a curious eight-year-old from sneaking out of the house.”

He sat up and met my gaze with humor written in his eyes. “Actually, I don’t. That’s why I had a very serious talk with Teo yesterday about how important it was for you and I to spend the night together by ourselves. He seemed to understand.”

I lifted a brow, absolutely skeptical about that. “Did he?”

Cos made a face.

My eyes widened. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

He huffed. “Okay, fine. I might’ve promised that we’d have a sleepover in the treehouse with him and El next weekend. Teo said the baby can come, but I told him that he’s probably still too young for playhouse sleepovers.”

“We’re having a sleepover? As in, you and me?”

He nodded.

“How did I get roped into this?”

He shrugged.

I poked him in the chest. “You better be prepared to be used as a mattress because I am not sleeping on that hard wooden floor for an entire night.”

He bit his lips, trying not to laugh, but after a beat, a chuckle came out. “That’s why you don’t want to?”

“Obviously. A sleepover with the kids sounds fun, but I don’t want to be sore for a week from the hard floor.”

“I’ll buy some air mattresses.”

I stared at him for a moment, then lifted one shoulder. “I like it.”

He chuckled again. “So I don’t have to force you to come with me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nope. And even if you weren’t bringing a mattress, I’d go with you because you promised I would.”

He kissed me quickly. “Sorry. I should’ve asked you before I did that. I was just… sort of desperate because you’re absolutely right that no one in that house would be able to keep that little tiger shifter from escaping if he really wanted to.”

I snorted. “True. And… I don’t mind that you promised that. It’s a simple thing to make happen, but… you really do have to be more careful with your promises.”

He sucked in a large lungful of air. “Yeah, I know. There are times when I forget about the magi magic that’s connected to me, but you know I never break my promises. I never did before we bonded, and I obviously haven’t since.”

“I know, but now, you have tangible consequences to think about. I just don’t want to see anything happen to you.” I ran my hand through his hair. “You’re not allowed to get hurt.”

His gaze softened, and he leaned in, pulling me into another one of his devastatingly tender kisses. Goddess, I lived for these kisses. How a man so big and strong and muscular was able to be so sweet and gentle, I had no idea, but Cosmo was truly a giant marshmallow. A huge, squishy, sweet marshmallow. He even tasted delicious.

When he pulled back, he was all smiles as he rubbed his nose against mine. He pecked me again and asked, “Are you hungry?”

“I’m always hungry,” I answered automatically.

He laughed. “True enough.”

Without so much as a flinch or even a moment of hesitation, he tightened his hold on me and stood up. He did it so gracefully and smoothly, I didn’t even have time to startle before he walked to the other side of our small area.

He sat down on a pile of pillows and arranged me in his lap so we were both comfortable. Then he reached over and dragged a cooler closer to us.

As he rifled through it, he said, “Alright, baby, let’s hear it.”

“Hear what?”

“The complaint about me carrying you around and about how you’re an adult who can walk and take care of himself and blah, blah, blah.” He waved his hand around. “You know, the usual.”

I lightly punched him in the arm. “Well, I wasn’t planning on complaining, jerkcanoe, because I was giving you a free pass tonight?—”

“Oh, that’s good to kno?—”

“But now that you’re being rude, I can definitely think of a few arguments to?—”

He cut me off with another kiss, and I couldn’t help but laugh into his mouth. I wasn’t actually mad or anything, so it was easy enough to let his skillful mouth wash away my complaints.

But when he pulled back, I still said, “You’re on thin ice, kitty cat.”

He chuckled and kissed me again, hugging my body to his chest for another minute. When he stopped, he asked, “Will offering you chocolate help?”

I pretended to think about it for a minute. “It’s a start.”

He grinned at me as he held a piece of chocolate up to my lips. I ate the bite and hummed in satisfaction.

“That’s really good, but we should probably eat our dinner before we eat dessert.”

He grunted in acknowledgment, but still offered me another bite that I took. He ate a bite himself before pushing that cooler aside and reaching for another one. It didn’t take him long to find what he wanted, and before I knew it, my mate was feeding me so much food I was half convinced he was trying to fatten me up.

In between every bite, I kissed him and offered him a bite of food in return. It was fun, and even though I’d never admit it to anyone else, I was pretty sure I was actually giggling.

Me, giggling.

Ugh.

If anyone but Cos would’ve heard the sounds coming out of my mouth, I would’ve been embarrassed. But my mate just seemed happy that I was happy and having fun, so I tried not to dwell on it too much.

“Do you think the ropes are ready yet?” I asked him after we finished off another container of food. I was—somehow—still in his lap even though I tried to move several times, afraid his legs would fall asleep. He kept assuring me they were fine and that he liked me right where he had me.

He blinked. “Oh shit. I totally forgot about them.”

My eyes widened before I burst out laughing. “You forgot the entire reason we’re hanging out outside and actually alone for once?”

He nodded. “I got distracted.”

I lifted a brow, and I swore it almost looked like he blushed.

“You’re distracting.” He kissed my throat. “It isn’t often that we hang out like this… with you, you know, letting go and having fun.”

I clenched my jaw and nodded. He wasn’t wrong.

He kissed my throat again. “Please don’t clam up because I said that. I don’t mean that I don’t like what we normally do. You know I love being with you, whether we’re with other people or not. I just… this has been a wonderful night.”

I took a breath and tried not to let my insecurities ruin what had to be one of the best nights in recent weeks… months… years? After blowing that breath out, I nodded. “Okay, you’re right. This has been a great night.”

“It has.” He leaned up enough to kiss my cheek. “I love you, cat lover.”

That made me smile. He didn’t call me that very often anymore. But when he did, it always made me grin and remember when he first came up with that nickname before we were even dating. “I love you, too, kitty cat.” I kissed his nose. “Now, come on. Let’s go make sure we didn’t burn our ropes and mess this whole thing up before we really even started.”

He stood with me in his arms, but to my surprise, he set me on my feet. I stepped back, holding onto his hand, and snorted when I saw him shaking out his legs.

“Well, you probably should’ve listened to me.”

He huffed. “I didn’t think they were asleep.”

With a fond smile on my lips, I pulled him back over to the fire and peeked into the pot. I sighed in relief. It still had liquid in it, so at least we didn’t burn it or anything. “You think it’s ready?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s been in there for long enough.”

I turned to him. “You ready to do this?”

He smiled and kissed my cheek. “So ready.” Then he released my hand, grabbed a pot holder, and pulled the pot off the fire. He used some tongs to pull the ropes out and set them flat on the ground to dry.

“So we wait again?”

“We wait again. But the spell is supposed to help them dry fast, so it should only be thirty-ish minutes.”

With his sweet-ass grin, he sat down and pulled me back into his lap, making me laugh as I wrapped my arms and legs around him.

“Your legs are going to fall asleep again.”

“Worth it.”

I shook my head at his ridiculousness, then tucked myself against him in a hug, just because I wanted to. Cos didn’t hesitate to hold me tight against him, burying his nose against the side of my neck and breathing me in.

We stayed like that for a while, simply holding each other and letting a peace form between us.

It was so easy to be around Cos.

In the beginning, I’d been so unsure of him—and of myself—and questioned every little thing. But over the years, Cos had proven to me time and time again that he loved me unconditionally and irrevocably, that he was here for me always, that he liked me as I was and didn’t expect me to change.

He’d showered me with love every day, and even though he hadn’t wanted or needed me to change, his love for me did change me. It made me happier and calmer. Made me feel freer to show affection, not just to him but to the other members of our pride. It made me feel more confident in who I was because I knew there wasn’t anything wrong with me—that was probably the biggest change. He made me see that there really, truly wasn’t anything wrong with me. He made me feel valued.

And I appreciated and loved him all the more for it.

After a while, I leaned back up and reached over to the ropes to see if they were dry. “I think they’re ready to go.”

He kissed my neck. “Good because I’m very, very ready to take you inside that tent and take every piece of clothing off you.”

The way his voice deepened made me shiver. I wanted to take him up on that so bad, but I forced myself to slide off his lap, although I didn’t go far. I only put a little space between us so we’d have room to move.

Sitting cross-legged with our knees touching again, we smiled at each other and reached for our tying ropes. Since I didn’t want to go first and screw anything up, I held my right arm out for him.

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before wrapping the tying rope he’d made around my wrist and forearm. It had to be wrapped several times because we’d need the length later on. The scent of the herbs and flowers from the stew reached my nostrils, and I sighed. It was a… nice smell. Knowing what it was and what it meant, I kind of liked the scent.

After he tied the ends together, I did the same to him, wrapping my rope around and around and around his wrist and forearm.

The second I finished tying it off, a burst of magic flew out and around us. It seemed to come from our chests and was filled with warmth and comfort. A smile formed on my lips as I closed my eyes and soaked in the magic and the very strong sense of Cos floating around and through me. I could feel the magic wrapping around my soul, and instead of being scared, it made me feel like I’d finally found my home. Like my soul had been drifting for all these years, but it found its place, right beside Cosmo’s soul.

When I opened my eyes, the expression on his face told me he felt the same. We shared a smile, and it felt like I could feel his love and happiness in every atom.

And I just wanted—no, needed—to touch. I needed him close. Closer than he’d ever been before.

As one, we moved toward each other, crashing together in a storm of lips and limbs. I wrapped myself around him as our mouths sought each other out, and before I knew it, I was being carried away, straight into the tent.

It was filled with more blankets and pillows and fairy lights, but I hardly noticed because all I cared about was Cosmo’s mouth on mine.

He gently placed me on the pillow mountain, and I grabbed the hem of his shirt before he could lie on top of me, tugging it up. Cos didn’t hesitate to pull his shirt over his head and throw it to the side.

He kissed me again, using one hand to hold himself up and the other to slowly push my shirt up. Then he dipped his head and started kissing my belly as he leisurely slid my shirt higher, his tongue following until it reached my nipple.

I gasped and buried my fingers in his hair when he sucked on the nub. It sent a tingle straight down to my groin, and I groaned as he continued his ministrations. I used my feet to try to push his pants down, and Cos laughed before sitting up on his knees and pulling them off.

“These, too?” he asked, tugging on the hem of his boxer briefs.

“Obviously.”

He moved quickly. And then he was kneeling there with his cock pointed toward me, completely naked except for his tying rope. The sight made me swallow something thick in my throat that felt like feelings.

I cleared it several times before I croaked out, “You’re so gorgeous.”

He smiled and said, “Thank you. But it’s not fair that I’m naked and you aren’t.”

In answer, I quickly got undressed, then pulled my mate back on top of me and captured his mouth with mine. I grabbed his hips and tugged them down. Our cocks rubbed against each other, and we both groaned into each other’s mouths.

Cos moved his hips, thrusting against me for a minute while his tongue fucked my mouth before he pulled away.

“What are you?—”

“Lube,” he mumbled as he reached over to the side and came back with a giant bottle—the biggest bottle of lube I’d ever seen.

I blinked at him. “I don’t think you brought enough.”

He barked out a laugh. “You might be right. I’m planning on keeping you up all night long.”

I chuckled as a thrill raced through my veins.

Cos poured a decent amount of lube over both our cocks before tossing the bottle aside and falling back on top of me. I moaned as our mouths and chests and cocks met, then moaned even louder when he moved his hips.

This was one of my favorite ways to get off with him. Kissing him was… thrilling. He was always tender and gentle yet made me feel so fucking wanted, made me feel sexy… and needy. And having him rut against me like he couldn’t wait another second to rub our naked bodies together made me even hotter.

I grabbed his ass with both hands, pulling him hard against me as I thrust my hips in time with his. His mouth… gah, his mouth. He kissed me like he needed me more than he needed to breathe, and I couldn’t get enough of the feeling, couldn’t get enough of his flavor.

I could feel my orgasm building, and through our bond—and through the new tying magic swirling between us—I could feel how close he was.

I squeezed his ass even tighter, and Cos leaned on one elbow to use his free hand to thread his fingers into my hair and tilt my face up to somehow deepen the kiss.

He groaned out his pleasure, and that was it for me.

When my orgasm swept through me like a lightning strike, I shouted his name into his mouth as wetness pooled between us, and every cell in my body thrummed with pleasure.

Cos shouted as his own orgasm hit. I could feel echoes of his pleasure through both our bonds, old and new, just as he could feel mine. And I quivered beneath him, holding him tight as we both rode it out.

Afterwards, he didn’t move right away. Instead, lying on top of me and slowing our kisses to something even more gentle that made my heart swell.

Eventually, he pulled his mouth away and rested our foreheads together.

I blinked up at him, still a little dazed.

He grinned at me, pecked my lips, and rolled off me.

An embarrassing whimper came out of my throat, and Cos leaned back over to kiss my cheek and whisper, “I’m grabbing a towel, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

After another peck, he grabbed said towel, cleaned me off, wiped himself off, then scooted in close. He lay on his side, pressed against me, and I didn’t hesitate to roll into him and wrap my arm around his waist. He held me close and pressed a knee between my legs, entwining them.

It was peaceful and wonderful, though I couldn’t help but ask, “Could you feel the tying rope magic?”

He nodded. “Yes. It was barely there compared to our soul bond, but I definitely felt it.”

“I didn’t think we’d feel anything until after the actual tying ceremony.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t think so, either, but maybe our soul bond changes things and makes it more intense or speeds it up or something. Did you… not like it?”

I leaned back to look him in the eyes. His alpha-bright golden eyes held concern, so I reached up and ran my thumb across his cheek. “I loved it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, kitty cat, really.”

He let out a long sigh and hugged me back to him for a long moment. “I liked it, too.” He kissed the top of my head. “What do you say we test it, just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke?”

I snorted. “If you want to have sex again, all you have to do is say so, you goof?—”

He rolled me onto my back again and captured my mouth to cut me off. I laughed and pulled him closer, more than happy to test out this new tying rope bond with him.