“Never,” he confirmed and then brushed his nose against my collarbone. “Our mates are the only people we ever physically love.”
My heart squeezed, and I blinked. “So this was both of our first times?”
His eyes widened slightly as something rather emotional passed through them, his sharp nod making me smile. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head against my chest. I brought a hand through his hair, loving how intimate the moment felt.
I was cuddling with Death. Holy shit. That was… something else.
“What was the other reason?” I asked after a moment.
“Besides the five nightmares that follow after you obsessively? Or the sense of affection that you share for them?” He looked up at me, his eyes flashing with heat rather than being upset. “I figured you wouldn’t take kindly to being taken away from them, and that was very much what I wanted to do at the time.”
I bit down on my lip at the thought of the others and their reaction to all of this. Saint’s eyes snapped to it. “What?”
“I just don’t know what to do about the others. I mean… clearly, I survived… us. So do I tell them that? I am worried they will be upset—”
“I think they have a clear understanding of who you want in your life, flower,” he said, running his fingers up my bare waist. “Razar will probably attempt to start some shit with me, but it is what it is. Plus, it was about time that I explained to them why exactly you can’t die from being with one of us. I had tried several times before, but then figured it was best explained to you first. They like to tell themselves that I’m crazy, but I doubt when it comes down to it that they will be all that surprised.”
“You are a tiny bit crazy.” I flashed a smile. “And surprised about what?”
“Crazy about you.” He offered me a serious look. “You are not human, Arabella. Well, not fully human.”
What?
“What?” I sat up slightly, but he just dragged me down by the waist and pinned me against him, his fingers brushing through my hair possessively.
“Nightmares existed long before humans, and I assume we will continue to do so. However, our worlds have always been rather separate, and that, in part, comes from the inability to mate successfully with them,” he explained softly. “That was until the sis metas were brought into existence. It was clear upon the birth of the first that there was something distinctly different about them, because despite being human, they found themselves constantly gravitating towards nightmares.”
“Soothers?” I asked, aware that was what sis meta meant in Latin.
“Precisely.” He nodded. “We don’t know where they came from, if it was a natural mutation or something else, but they were born into the world with this innate ability to soothe the nightmares that most humans feared. It was actually one of the reasons that humans would sacrifice certain youth of their community to the ‘monsters’ that lived outside their walls, hoping that one of them would be a soother. Most weren’t, but the ones that were not only managed to stay alive, but often bred with the nightmares.”
“Is that how the Class D are created? Is everyone who has them a sis meta?” I arched a brow in confusion, wondering how something that important would have just escaped my attention.
“No.” He shook his head. “Remember, a female nightmare can still mate with a human male and become pregnant, even if the male doesn’t survive the act of mating itself. Although some humans do survive for a time, especially if it is a weaker nightmare. Never a Class A though. No, the soothers are not only extremely unique, but the only species of individuals that can successfully mate with extremely powerful nightmares to continue their line.”
“So? I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”
I was piecing it together though. The realization of what this could mean left me with a sense of satisfaction and exhilaration that everything I had wanted could be that simply achieved.
“You don’t know who your parents were, correct?” he asked, and I nodded.
“It isn’t very important, but if I had to assume, they were terrified humans that realized they had given birth to a child that far exceeded their understanding. They made the right decision by bringing you here.”
“Because I’m one of these soothers?”
“You are one of the only soothers left. Many of them have been killed by humans,” he explained, frowning. I felt a stab in my heart. “But that is why you are able to not only soothe nightmares but also survive mating with them.”
“Wow,” I breathed out. “And the others don’t realize it?”
“It would take a special eye to recognize it. They aren’t very well known.” He kissed my cheek gently before nuzzling against my throat. “Which is a good thing, because while you have hand-selected your mates out of free will, some nightmares may try to force you into mating if they knew of your identity.”
My stomach revolted at that. “What? Why?”
“When you mate with a nightmare, you are directly affected by their magic because soothers act as somewhat of a void, a collective vase… so you take in everything, which is why you seem to still be so drastically physically affected. However, as you take in their energy, it cycles through you and rebounds back, not only increasing the energy of the nightmare but leaving you with a marker of their magic. It's why you have so much more energy now. As much as I love pulling your delicious soul from your body, you are going to be a bit more durable from now on, so you won’t die each time that I fuck your tight little cunt.”
I jolted at his blunt words as he flashed me a smile, a hot, electric surge of desire running over my skin and distracting me. I couldn’t begin to describe how excited I was for round two… especially if I was more ‘durable.’
“I have absolutely no idea what to say,” I mumbled, staring at the many tattoos that covered his neck and shoulders. “Does my father know?”
“I think he suspects something.” He tilted his head curiously. “I don’t think he has put it together fully though, or else he would probably keep you away from most nightmares for your own safety.”
“You guys keep me away from everyone,” I teased.
“Not everyone,” he mused before narrowing his eyes in thought. “I have… somewhat accepted Amun into your mating selection. Although, if you do want me to kill him, I wouldn’t argue.”
My face flushed. “I don’t even know—”
“You feel a connection to him, and that instinct is what led you to choosing all of your other mates.” He offered me a knowing look. “Including me. Amun is very much someone you have chosen, whether I like the bastard or not.”
“We need to tell the others,” I warned softly, anxiety about their reaction slamming into me and ruining my post-sex relaxed haze. Once they had no ‘reasons’ to hide behind for not accepting the bond that they said they felt towards me, how were they going to react? What if it didn’t change anything?
“Only if you are ready for that.” Saint nipped my collarbone.
“Ready?”
He chuckled dangerously. “I want you to consider the floodgate you are opening there.”