CHAPTER 3: MINE
712 Words
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Kael dozed against Vaelen’s chest, the remnants of their second knot still locked deep inside him. The world around them was hushed, the forest holding its breath. Only the slow thump of Vaelen’s heart and the faint hum of the bond broke the silence.
Every inch of Kael ached, but it wasn’t pain—it was something sweeter, something dangerous. His body was filled to the brim, claimed so thoroughly that he couldn’t tell where he ended and Vaelen began. Slick clung to his thighs, and the burn of the mating mark throbbed with warmth.
Vaelen was awake, watching him. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the half-light, and his hand never stopped moving—stroking Kael’s back, smoothing through his hair, tracing the shell of his ear.
“You’re trembling,” he murmured.
Kael blinked slowly. “I’m not cold.”
“I didn’t ask if you were.”
Vaelen shifted beneath him, lifting Kael carefully, as if he were made of spun glass. Kael whimpered at the stretch as Vaelen slid out, their joined fluids spilling between his legs.
“Shhh,” Vaelen soothed, one hand curling around Kael’s hip. “I’ve got you.”
Kael should have been humiliated, but all he felt was warmth. The way Vaelen held him—like he was something rare, something precious—it made Kael’s heart twist.
“You don’t have to do this,” Kael whispered. “I know what this was.”
Vaelen’s eyes darkened. “Do you?”
Kael opened his mouth, but Vaelen pulled him close again—cupping his cheek, kissing him softly, then dragging his lips down Kael’s throat to the bite mark.
“I don’t knot omegas I don’t intend to keep,” Vaelen growled. “And I never mark someone unless I’m ready to kill for them.”
Kael’s breath caught.
“Do you feel it?” Vaelen whispered against his skin. “The bond? The way it wraps around you, threads into your thoughts?”
Kael nodded, shivering. “It’s… it’s in my blood.”
“Yes,” Vaelen murmured. “And it’s only going to get stronger. The more I touch you. The more I fill you. The more I take care of what’s mine.”
He leaned back and reached for a flask from his pack, pouring warm water onto a clean cloth. Then he settled Kael in his lap, thighs draped over his own, and began to gently clean the mess between his legs.
Kael gasped.
“No one’s ever…” He couldn’t finish.
Vaelen’s hand stilled. “No one’s ever touched you like this?”
Kael shook his head.
“You’ll get used to it,” Vaelen said, his voice like velvet over steel. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He was careful—painfully so. Every stroke was slow, every touch laced with reverence. When Kael flinched, Vaelen paused. When he whimpered, Vaelen kissed his hair and whispered soothing nothings in a tongue Kael didn’t recognize.
“Look at you,” Vaelen murmured, eyes burning. “Wrecked. Bruised. Mine.”
Kael blushed, but didn’t look away.
“Say it,” Vaelen said. “Say you belong to me.”
Kael’s pulse fluttered. “I belong to you.”
“Good boy,” Vaelen purred. “Say it again.”
“I’m yours.”
Vaelen kissed him, deep and slow, hand cradling the back of his neck. When he pulled away, his gaze had softened—just a little.
“Rest now,” he said, shifting them both onto a bed of furs he’d laid out. “You’ll need your strength.”
“For what?” Kael asked, already half-asleep.
Vaelen curled around him from behind, one hand possessively cupping Kael’s belly.
“For when your body starts building a nest. For when the bond starts changing you. For when I knot you again.”
Kael moaned softly, pressing back against him.
“And when others come to take you,” Vaelen added darkly, voice turning to smoke. “I’ll be ready. I’ll burn the world down if I have to. No one touches what’s mine.”
Kael didn’t speak, but his fingers curled over Vaelen’s hand at his stomach.
A small promise.
A silent surrender.
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- Writer
