Chapter 203

Fiona

A hard, warm body curls around me and makes me sigh as I wake up. Ethan’s arms around my waist keep me tucked back against his chest, but I find I don’t mind. In fact, I really, really don’t mind.

The full, soft feeling in my chest expands. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s amazing, like I have the brightest, yet softest fire burning right in the center of my chest.

It’s probably because I love the feeling of him holding me like I’m something precious. The way his arms cradle me while his hand gently lays against my stomach, like he’s protecting our unborn child even in his sleep… it’s more than I could have ever imagined.

Will it always be like this with Ethan?

God, I hope so.

After last night and this morning, I couldn’t imagine anything different. Life without him would be miserable, and I can’t even think about how things would have gone if I’d never come to the West.

Would that have been the end? Or were our lives always going to come back together?

Whatever the answer is, I’m glad to be here, now, with him. I relax into his chest, soaking in the comfort that washes over me. I’d been so angry before, but now I can’t find one shred of anger or resentment in my body. It’s as if it disappeared as soon as I heard he was dying.

I glance back at him, taking in how his breathing is even, the soft thump of his heart, the way his eyelashes lay against his cheeks, the small smile puling at his lips as he sleeps. It’s everything.

And somehow, some part of me always knew he would be there or that he would come back for me. The feeling had been sitting just beneath the surface, and I realize now, that is why I came to him so easily.

I didn’t know at the time, but he’s the one I was always waiting for.

“You were waiting on me?”

Looking back, I find Ethan looking down at me. He was just asleep, but that’s not what shocks me. He knew what I was thinking.

“What? How did you… Can you read minds?” I ask, unable to think of any other alternative to how he knew what I was thinking. This is definitely something he should have told me sooner.

Ethan chuckles and shifts my body, turning me over to face him. I watch with suspicious interest as he taps my heart then my temple.

“While completing the mate bond, we completed our link. I can hear your thoughts,” he stops talking, but his words continue in my mind, “and you can hear mine. We can mind link now.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me this before?” I’m not really upset, but this is crazy. We can hear each other’s thoughts.

Ethan chuckles again, a smirk pulling one side of his mouth up as he says, “We were a bit busy, if you recall.”

My face heats. I do recall. In great detail.

My body still tingles from the way he touched me last night. Every time we’d been together was better than the previous, but last night had me in a whole different realm of satisfaction. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how Ethan can make me feel like I’m on a different planet.

I shift, trying to ease the growing heat between my legs, and the movement brings something else to my attention.

The slight throbbing pulse in my shoulder reminds me that he’d bit me, and… oh jeez. Why is that such a turn on, and why do I want him to do it again?

“I can if you want.”

“Stop it,” I mutter and smack his chest, lowering my flaming face. “Tell me more about this mate bond and mind link. Will I be able to always hear your thoughts? Wouldn’t that get annoying, having someone else’s thoughts in your head all the time?”

I’ve never thought about hearing someone’s thoughts, but it sounds annoying. I can imagine getting headaches all the time from it.

Ethan shakes his head, “It’s something you might have to practice at, but mind linking is like having walkie talkies. I can send you messages, and you can send them to me. There are ways to close off your mind to where I can’t hear you all the time.”

“How?” I ask, now curious. I don’t need him to hear everything I think about. That wouldn’t go well for either of us. I like privacy just like anyone else.

“I like to imagine a soundproof barrier between my thoughts and the link, but just so you know, your thoughts aren’t the only thing I can feel,” he says, brushing a thumb across my bottom lip. “I can feel your emotions, too.”

My brain stalls, realizing what he means only after I think for a minute. He felt the arousal a few minutes ago.

Burying my face in his chest, I groan, “Why didn’t you tell me? I was…” I groan again and pull away from him.

“Uh, uh. Don’t be embarrassed. I liked knowing how you feel about me and that you want more—”

I slap my hands over his mouth, muffling whatever he says next. The dirty words make my cheeks burn, because somehow, our mind link tells me exactly what he means. He wants more of me too.

He wants to pin me to the bed and have his way with me for the rest of the day and every day. And you know what? My body responds, equally excited and begging for more, and I have to take deep, calming breaths so I can focus.

“No, no, no. We’re not doing anything else until you tell me exactly how all this works,” I scold him, wagging a finger in his face, even though I’d love for him to do exactly what he’s imaging.

Biting my bottom lip, I hold in the moan that tries to surface from the images of him kissing and licking his way down my body until he finds my center. I try to block out the mental image of his tongue and his fingers, the way he wants to touch me and fuck me.

“Stop!” I whine, my hips lifting up instinctively.

“Doesn’t look like you want me to stop,” he murmurs, kissing my neck. I moan in frustration, my mind torn between our conversation and the need to do what he’s imagining. “Put up that mental shield, and it’ll stop.”

I mock growl at him as I try to picture a shield around my mind.

“You smell fucking amazing,” Ethan growls, sending a shot of need through me.

“I-I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Then concentrate.”

As I try to concentrate, Ethan crawls over me, kissing and nibbling along my neck. I try my hardest to put up the shield, but I can’t focus.

Need and desire pour off of Ethan, penetrating my mind and body, and when his tongue flicks over that sensitive spot where he bit me, I give up.

Grabbing the back of his neck, I pull his mouth to mine and flip us both over. I straddle his hips and rock against him, needing the friction to satiate the desire burning in my core.

“We’ll finish this conversation later,” I moan before slamming my lips to his again and giving us both what we truly want.