Page 14 of Deep Love

Chapter Six

Mason

A part of me stillfeared this was all a dream. A fantastic, phenomenal dream. I’d spent so much time wishing Delphi was still here with me. To have her back now was a fucking miracle, but if it wasn’t true, I’d be crushed beyond repair.

“Mason?” Delphi turned around to face me.

I’d been towel-drying her gorgeous body after our shower. “Hmm?”

Delphi reached for the towel I now noticed I’d been holding instead of rubbing over her wet skin. “Are you okay?”

“I’m still worrying that maybe I’m actually asleep and none of this is real.” I gestured between the two of us.

She wrapped the towel around her, securing it by tucking an end in above her breasts. Her hands then came to rest on my shoulders, massaging the area then coasting up to cup my face.

“It’s real. What we did in the bedroom is real. What we’re feeling for each other again—or maybe still—is real.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips against mine. “We’re getting a second chance, Mason.”

I slid my arms around her waist, my hands traveling up her back, and hugged her to me, intending never to let her go. My fingers brushed against two long, ragged scars at her shoulder blades. I’d noticed them in the shower, but my attention had quickly gone to the way water droplets glistened on Delphi’s sexy-as-hell body.

“Is this where your wings were?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Delphi stepped out of my hold to walk toward the wall mirror above the vanity in the bathroom. She turned so her back was reflected and peered over her shoulder, wincing at what she saw.

“Well, that looks like shit.” She reached over her shoulder and ran her fingertip over one of the scars. “I wish you could have seen my wings, Mason. They were white with lavender tips and so beautiful.”

Being a werewolf was inconvenient at times, but for the most part, my wolf was such a part of me that I couldn’t imagine not being able to turn, not having fur and fangs. Having wings was probably the same, and I ached for Delphi.

“What happened to your wings?” I asked, taking several steps closer but not touching her.

She sighed then turned to face the mirror but her gaze was on me. “After I was falsely accused of re-routing souls from humans who had died in a train accident, two of Solari’s guards marched me to the border of Seraphia. They burned my wings off before booting me out the door.”

I cringed. “Did that hurt?”

“Physically? No. In every other way imaginable? Yes.” She swiveled to face me, the lights above the vanity illuminating those two scars so I could see their details in the mirror. “When flames engulfed them, I knew Solari wasn’t going to let me back into the Chosen City. She believed I’d committed that terrible act of re-routing the souls. She wasn’t going to suddenly realize her mistake. She wasn’t going to welcome me back into her embrace.”

Delphi wrapped her arms around her and closed her eyes for a moment, a single tear rolling down her cheek. As much as I wanted her with me, I also wanted her to be endlessly happy.

“Is there something we can do?”

She opened her eyes to look at me and swiped the tear away. “You mean to get me back into Seraphia?”

I nodded, my throat too tight to verbally reply. I didn’t want to lose Delphi again, but I’d do whatever it took to help her clear her name with Solari, to get her wings back, to allow her to live peacefully even if that meant living in Seraphia rather than with me.

“I know of nothing we can do.” She closed the distance between us and hugged me. “But that’s okay because I’d rather be with you, Mason. I want to live a long, full life with you. I want everything we didn’t get to have because I died.”

I met her gaze when she backed up a step. “You’re sure?”

“That I want to love a super-hot werewolf?” She grinned. “Absolutely.”

I picked her up and spun her around until her towel came loose and dropped to the floor.

“Oops.” I set her down, but I kicked her towel out of reach when she bent to grab it.

“Hey!” She shot her arm out and untucked the towel I had around my waist so it joined hers on the bathroom tile. “Two can play this game.”

And play we did. Several times.

Delphi asked if I could stay at Jessica’s apartment with her tonight and I didn’t need to be asked twice. Cuddling with her all night was a way more enticing offer than going back to my empty cabin.