Page 86 of Tempt

His brow dips into a deep frown, and I can tell he’s trying to figure out if I’m lying or not. I’m careful with my thoughts right now, but I open up a little in hopes he can feel that I am not lying to him.

‘I need to protect you.’

From what, he wants to ask. I feel the question battering against the inside of my temple, but he reins it in after a long moment, then bows his head in a nod. ‘Ok.’

Those two letters startle me. I was expecting more fight. More argument. More fury. But he gives in and takes another step back.

‘What do you need me to do today?’

And that is the question that plagues me. My eyes flick down to his nipples, and my tongue peeks out, wetting my lips. It is something I have put off, but must do.

‘I must mark you as my companion,’ I sign, waiting for him to ask questions.

‘And how do you do that? A tattoo? A bite?’

My hearts beat unevenly in my chest at the suggestion. I would love to mark him in this way, but I cannot.

Not yet, anyway.

Instead, I take a step closer to him and reach out, one of my sharp nails pressing against his nipple.

His eyes follow the movement and his cheeks turn red. ‘Oh, I see.’

He does, his mind moving to the ones Everest has—Rathyn’s mark.

‘It will hurt, but only for a moment, and with the zitha it will heal quickly.’

He swallows, and I hear the click in his throat, then he squares his shoulders and his chin juts outward. ‘Fine. Go ahead.’

His permission has my nostrils flaring, my ears fluttering. When I go to my room to get the needle and the silver bars, my hands shake. The last person I did this to was Kori, but this seems far more significant.

Maybe because Luca is mine in every way.

When I reemerge, I can feel Luca’s eyes on my hands, the needle between my fingers, the rings in my palm. In the other is the small vial of zitha.

With how much he is currently consuming, I’m sure the healing will be almost instantaneous, but I will not risk it. I do not want him to be in any pain.

His nipples are puckered, his cock hard as I approach.

He doesn’t look away from me as I reach out and tug on them, his lips rolling between his teeth as he moans low and deep. I feel that sound all the way inside of me; it slithers between my slit and stirs my cocks.

Ready? I ask, tunneling into his mind and finding only peace at what has to happen. I cannot appear before the council without him pierced and adorned.

He gives me a faint nod and everything inside of me roars as I bend down and press the needle against his nipple. His hands move up to my shoulders, squeezing gently as I flick my wrist to the side, watching as the needle pierces the skin, the ring following shortly after. When it is clasped together, he stares down at it, his pupils blown out. I can see his cock beneath, hard and dripping, and I wish I could suck him dry while I do this, but I cannot. He must be ready for the meeting.

So, I move deftly on to the other, piercing that one. This time, he gasps in pain, but I quickly place zitha on his tongue, and he relaxes as the pain fades.

It is done.

He is marked as mine.

I step back and admire him, those rings in his swollen nipples. They will return to normal by the time we arrive at the council meeting with the other companions.

His hands move up his stomach in what I perceive as a show, and he touches them gingerly, his head downturned. Then his gaze flashes up to mine, and I find the breath has left my lungs. He is gorgeous, and now he is fully mine. I do not know why I put this off for so long, but I do not regret having done it now.

I regret nothing about him.

Luca seems unbothered by the companion attire. He wears his jeweled sound and adornments well. The gold chain curls around his cock, then around his hips, traveling up toward his chest where it fixes to his nipples and then to his collar. There is a thin leash that hangs from the lock—one he could easily break with a single tug.