Heat blossomed in my chest, unfurling like the most delicate flower, as a new awareness flooded my body. He grunted, and I knew he was feeling it too.
The bond. We’d done it. I’d accepted his kiss, let him in, and now—the gentle heat coalesced, built in intensity until it reached its crescendo, centering over my hip bone.
The pain in my stomach was gone, lost to the passion between us, and the only thing I felt was liquid heat, like my limbs were made of molten Jell-O.
“Did you just feel…” He stopped, moved to rest a hand over his left pectoral muscle.
“I did.” I dropped my hand down to my right hip bone, where I was sure I now had a brand-new mating mark, the irrevocable proof that I’d found my fated mate, the other half of my soul. The strength to my softness, my protector, my one tr
