Chapter 691

"What?" I murmur, lifting my head a little, curling my body even closer to his, wanting as much of me touching as much of him as possible. "What's so funny?"

"I just...can hear every single one of your thoughts," he murmurs, shaking his head and grinning at me.

I burst out laughing, giving him a lazy smack on the side even as I press a few fervid kisses to his cheek. "Well then I guess we're lucky I liked it," I murmur, tracing a hand long down his side, loving the shape of his muscles beneath my fingers.

He snarls, still possessive and wanting me near. "Told you I was made for you." He pauses then, stroking a hand over my hair. “I'm glad you liked it. That's...important to me."noveldrama

"Well, what about you?" I ask, lifting my head a little and peering down at him, still caught up in and enjoying very much the afterglow. "Did you like it?"

"Ariel," he murmurs, looking up at me with half-lidded eyes, shaking his head and opening the bond more so I can feel precisely how incredibly happy he is right now, how simultaneously overwhelmed and peaceful. "If you think, for a single minute, that I'm not quietly plotting how to get you to quit this school and run away with me to live in a cabin in the woods for the rest of our lives, doing precisely that every waking moment...then you're not nearly as clever as I've given you credit for."

I laugh, smacking him a little and laying down again, snuggling up close. "We can't do that," I murmur. "We have stupid responsibilities."

"Listen, I'm at your beck and call, Princess," he murmurs, pressing a sweet kiss to my cheek. "The minute you say you're ready to abandon those responsibilities and I'll bail with you. Especially if we're headed to that cabin."

"You're my Alpha," I sigh, playing with his hair with my fingertips, my eyes drifting shut. "You call the shots now, apparently."

"Yeah, I think we both know that that only applies in bed," he says, his voice dry, making me laugh.

"Oh, you like being here at the Academy too," I say with a happy sigh, winding my arm around his waist. "Sex cabin or no sex cabin, we both want to be here."

He makes a huffy, noncommittal noise, but we both know it's true. I smile softly.

We lay precisely like that for a few minutes longer, just holding each other, quietly passing our emotions back and forth along the bond, snuggling close. Jackson is playful and sweet in these moments, an abrupt change to the bossing controlling Alpha I took to bed, but not one I mind at all. They're both different sides to my big, brutal, scary mate - sides just for me, which make them even better.

Little tingles of happiness trace through me as Jackson presses kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, my mouth - but when he trails the tip of his nose down my neck and presses a kiss again to that spot, I go a little still.

"What?" Jacks asks, pulling away a bit, of course noticing the change.

"Jacks," I say, pulling away a bit and frowning at him. "Why...why didn't you give me your mark?"

Jackson exhates, long and slow, but

he doesn't break eye contact with me. We sit for a moment in silence and I do my very best to be patient. Inside though, my wolf dodges from toe to toe, anxious and unhappy to have been denied. Content belongs

"I really wanted to, Ariel," he whispers, reaching out and cupping my cheek in his palm.

"I really wanted you to," I whisper back.

But still, he shakes his head. "Time wasn't right."

Dread floods me and I immediately shut down the bond, not wanting him to feel it as I remember what my grandmother said - that if I don't get that mark that she'll take him away. And after this?

Losing him?

Impossible - horrible - everything in me rages against it. Tears flood my eyes and I grit my teeth.

“Oh, god, please don't cry," Jackson murmurs, wrapping me up close. "I'm so sorry -"

"No, it's okay,” I say, a little shaky, looping my arms around his neck. "I just..." I sniff. "I really wanted it, Jacks."

He nods, understanding, and rests

his forehead against mine. "I

think... Ariel, want you to have my mark more than anything. But if you have it, it will... change things for me.

You will be mine, in my heartme.

see another man touch you even look at you..."

if I

He hesitates now, not wanting to say Luca's name in this moment, not wanting him in the bed with us after the incredible things that passed between us this afternoon - even in name, in spirit. But I nod, understanding.

even in

"I mean...have things changed?" Jackson asks, I think doing his best to keep the hope out of his voice. "Did you...are you choosing to leave him behind, Ariel?" he asks, looking up at me from beneath his lashes.