Onyx tipped his head back, and his fangs lengthened. He purred and scraped them along Nico’s jaw. Nico’s pulse pounded in his ears, begging for Onyx’s bite.
 
 He didn’t know the process for mating, but had a hunch.
 
 “Bite me, little butterfly.”
 
 Onyx rumbled, purring until it turned into a growl. He pushed Nico flat on his back, tilted Nico’s head to the side, and kissed his exposed neck. “I’m going to keep you forever.”
 
 “Yes.” Nico arched beneath him, and Onyx bit down.
 
 Pleasure bloomed in Nico’s blood. He gasped and hugged Onyx close. Their hips rocked together, bodies connecting in a sweet rhythm, dancing in time with Nico’s pounding pulse.
 
 Onyx drank, purring deeper than ever, his hands tight in Nico’s thick hair.
 
 Nico was breathless. Onyx called to him, pulling him closer, their magic twisting together.
 
 Onyx withdrew his fangs on a moan, his head tilting back as he licked the last of Nico’s blood from his lips.
 
 Nico rolled them, positioning himself on top. Onyx’s eyes burned, and his face bloomed in a beautiful patchwork of color. He tilted his head to the side and ran a sharp nail along his skin, drawing blood. Nico leaned in and licked, then sucked.
 
 It was more intimate than tonguing Onyx’s ass. More intimate than drinking his blood in The Herb Emporium. Their souls connected, and Nico felt Onyx’s delicate joy echo his own.
 
 Onyx began to chant, the language as melodic as a song. Nico’s whole body came alive. How had he ever doubtedbelonging to Onyx? As their connection solidified, it became hard to remember his doubt.
 
 Nothing in Nico’s life had given the impression it was meant to be, yet this moment rang with the magic of something that had been coming for a long, long time.
 
 He pulled back as Onyx finished the incantation, and their lips were drawn back together. Nico tasted citrus on Onyx’s tongue, and fizzles of joy coursed through his blood—through Onyx’s blood—against their skin, and deep within them.
 
 They were bound together.
 
 Onyx’s tender kernel of happiness tickled Nico along the bond. Onyx’s lingering fear and worry prickled, and all the trepidation he had about letting Nico in swelled between them.
 
 Nico loved every single feeling with all his heart.
 
 “I feel you,” Onyx gasped between kisses.
 
 “Then you know that I love you, little butterfly.”
 
 A swell of deep affection—Onyx’s emotions—drowned out all other sensations and enveloped them like a tidal wave.
 
 “I love you too, Nico.”
 
 26
 
 ONYX
 
 Ideally,Onyx would never leave the loft again. He’d keep Nico prisoner. Though he preferred to be tied up, so his plan needed work.
 
 His phone buzzed somewhere on the floor, and he groaned.
 
 Nico stood naked by the window, finishing a phone conversation with Rowan. Onyx had texted Dante as he’d left Jaune—before he’d answered Nico’s call—and figured he had a slew of missed calls by now.
 
 He crawled from the bed. There were better things to do than talk to his brothers now that he and Nico were mated. Like address the plug in his ass.
 
 Even with that alternative, Onyx wasn’t as grumpy as he might have been, fishing his phone from the pocket of his discarded pants.
 
 Who knew having a mate would make dealing with his brothers more tolerable?
 
 He’d never had anyone of his own, and now he had Nico. No matter how talking to Ash and Dante went, Nico would be there. Onyx had someone on his side. Someone to vent to.Someone to look out for him. Someone who wouldn’t walk away like Onyx was nothing, even if everyone else did.