Epilogue

Sloane

" H ow are you doing?" Essa asks me for easily the hundreth time in the last twenty minutes.

I crack my eyes open to see how panicked she looks. Her tail started thrashing about as soon as the tattooist loaded the ink into the gun. I'm surprised he hasn't kicked her out yet, with how much she's fussed over me.

"Do you need more water? Maybe a snack? Are you lightheaded?"

"I'm fine, Essa," I tell her with a small smile. "It's been an hour, and he's almost done. This isn't the archaic way of tattooing anymore. It doesn't even hurt."

"If it hurts, you will tell me," Essa snarls, her eyes narrowing on the tattoo artist, who doesn't even look over at her.

He must be used to overprotective species. He's experienced in tattooing mating and bond marks, and that's why I convinced Essa to go on a girl's trip with me for a couple of nights so I could get away from Jovi and Alik long enough to surprise them by doing this. He came highly regarded by the only person I could think of to ask. Via's recommendation was good enough for me after how much she's helped me and the rest of the crew.

We've been at this port site for two days now, and the crew should be getting here soon to pick us up. It took a little bit of finagling to get Jovi and Alik to let us go without them, but Essa reminded them that she's better able to protect me than anyone else on the ship. She wasn't eager to leave either, but I told her the boys could all manage on their own for a couple of days. Plus, they have Avery there to keep them in line.

"She's in no pain," the tattooist grumbles under his breath. He finishes the last band on my arm and turns off the machine. "I think your friend should leave for the neck."

"I will not leave," Essa snarls, her lips pulling back and her canines flashing. "You think to hurt her? Is this why you tell me to leave?"

"Essa," I groan and lay my head on the back of the seat. "He's about to tattoo my neck. And you're about to breathe down his the whole time."

"I won't," Essa says, trying to sound certain, but even she can't hide the uncertainty in her words. "Okay, how about I sit in the corner and don't leave it?"

"And no speaking," the tattooist adds as he switches out some parts of the tattoo gun.

I don't really know how the technology works. I just know he can put dark lines in my skin with relative ease, and it doesn't hurt. I've been told it'll itch pretty bad once it's over with, but I grabbed some cream for that already so I won't ruin the bold, black bands.

"No moving. No speaking." Essa nods as she pushes her chair back into the corner. "I will be silent."

The tattooist gives me a do-you-think-she-can-do-it look that has me biting back my smile. He lowers the chair, so I'm on my back and then adds the ink to my neck from the base of my throat up to my jawline.

I can feel the air swirling around in the room from how hard Essa's tail is thrashing, but she stays true to her word by being silent and staying in the corner. In less than ten minutes, we're done and on our way back to the shipyard.

Jovi messaged me and told me they were getting their paperwork processed at intake. So we won't need to kill too much time. Which is good because I'm ready to be back with my mates. I can't wait to see their expressions when they see the bond marks I had added to my skin.

We stop and grab a snack to munch on for the last little walk to the dockyard. The pungent fruit seems to help Essa calm down as she eats. She keeps her tail wrapped around my ankle like she's afraid I might run away from her, but as we near the ship, she sighs and untwines her tail.

"They are not going to let me see you for many days. You know this, yes?" Essa says, looking over my body and taking in the dark bands that now circle my joints and neck. "When I asked you so long ago if you wanted to make them lose their minds in a good or bad way, I did not realize you would be making them lose their minds for so long."

"What can I say?" I flick some hair over my shoulder and saunter up toward the ship's loading bay. "I'm really good at making them lose their minds."

Essa opens her mouth to say something, but the ship's doors open to reveal both of my mates looking equally unhappy to see me. Not because they're unhappy about me being here but because it's been a while without me. I think they're a little codependent. Not that there's any complaints from me. Their anger lasts for only a second before their eyes soak in what exactly I left the ship to do.

Alik is the first to go dead in the eyes and the first to grab me and tug me close to him. Jovi isn't far behind, his lips pulling back in a snarl when he realizes he can't wrap his teeth around my neck for a few days.

"You aren't leaving my bed until I say," Alik whispers, a harsh sound in my ear before nipping at my earlobe. He lifts me off my feet, throwing a wave at Essa as if to say they have me now and she doesn't need to bother us. It isn't until we're locked away in our room that they fully take in what I've done.

Jovi is on his knees, his fingers skating over the freshly marked skin of my legs and up my body to my arms and finally wrapping a hand around my neck as though he can feel the ink under his fingertips. Alik is still behind me, his hands working on stripping me of all of my clothes while Jovi continues admiring me.

"You made yourself ours," Jovi says with admiration. The cold in his eyes is there, but I've grown so accustomed to it. It's a reminder they need me in all ways. "Everyone will know you have been claimed by Varons. You want that?"

"I do."

"You want the whole universe to know you share our bed?" Alik finishes getting the last of my clothes off my body and begins to pet me between my legs in soft strokes that have me widening my stance. "Want everyone to know you're not satisfied by one male? No, you had to find two males of another species to satisfy your needs."

"Yes," I moan as he inserts two of his fingers. "Please, Alik, I want everyone to know."

"They do, mate. I promise they do." He locks his teeth around my shoulder and bites down softly. It's his way of telling me he's reapplying my neck bite as soon as my tattoo heals. When he's satisfied with the soft indents on my shoulder, he pulls his teeth away. "Let us reward you for how accepting you are as our bonded mate."

Jovi wraps an arm around my waist and picks me up off the floor. I'm laid out on the bed, and my two mates make good on their promises of rewarding me.