"You don’t owe an apology for a cri that was never committed by your hand," Ronan objected to her apologies, firmly shaking his head. "Just as you are not culpable for your brother’s cris for which you were punished, you do not owe anyone an apology."
With that being said, he tipped Vivian’s chin, and his lips t hers in a soft, slow, and sweet kiss that made her eyes flutter closed. Ronan ended the sweet gesture with a peck to her forehead and both her eyes.
Like before, when he’d done the sa thing to console her in the dungeons, Vivian thought it was silly of him to kiss away her tears.
Yet she didn’t detest it either.
"Why are you the one comforting ?" Vivian’s lips curved downward in defeat when Ronan gently stroked her hair. "It should be the other way around. You’ve been through so much...a nightmare that no one should ever have to experience."
It was indeed a terrible nightmare Ronan desperately wished he could have erased permanently from his mind; however, the fates were never as rciful when it involved cursed Lycans like him.
"It is in the past now," he remarked, as if hinting not to speak of it any further. "Your eyes will start to hurt if you cry too much," Ronan said, wiping her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "I don’t wish to see you shed any more tears, hmm?"
Vivian nodded, deciding not to press any further on the topic to upset him.
Truth be told, Ronan wholeheartedly accepted Vivian’s apologies despite the fact that they could not reverse or undo the slaughters brought upon his family in the past.
And unfortunately, a part of him doubted if she was any different from her ancestors and bloodline.
What if that dark and twisted streak hidden in her bloodline surfaced and she would co to loathe Lycans? What if she were to begin to believe that Lycans were a threat and deserved to be driven to extinction?
"What are you thinking about so deeply?" Vivian asked, her head tilted to the side as she studied his eyes closely.
And when her pretty, innocent erald eyes looked up sincerely at him, Ronan wondered how he could ever doubt anything about her.
Foolish thoughts.
"It is nothing," Ronan said reassuringly, his thumb brushing over her cheek. "I was thinking. Why don’t we take a stroll in the gardens, hmm? I’ll ask Morgana to have breakfast set up for us there if you’d like."
Vivian didn’t shy away from such a tender mont to spend ti together. She answered him with a smile and a nod, and then her attention was drawn to the multitude of bites and marks that his mouth and teeth carved across her thighs and breasts.
Her gaze trailed over to Ronan’s neck and she realised that it had been unmarked.
And as if sensing her intentions, Ronan’s expression shifted into a smug smirk.
"Want to leave your mark, princess?" His eyes flashed with an amber glow, eagerly welcoming her idea to mark him just as he’d done to her. He bent his head down, lips drawing closer to her ear to whisper, "I didn’t know ogas could be so possessive."
"I told you I could scratch and bite too," Vivian uttered with a sweet shiver, his hot breath fanning across her ear and neck. "You’re not the only one with teeth to leave marks."
Ronan chuckled, letting out a sound that was charming and teasing at the sa ti.
"Oh, I’m very well aware that you can scratch," he murmured, his lips brushing over the shell of her ear. "You may not have left marks with your teeth, but my back and arms definitely enjoyed those nails of yours digging into them and raking the skin."
Vivian flushed, recalling every mont of pleasure when it spiralled into overwhelming sensations and her nails raked across the sinewed muscles on his back or dug into his biceps as her mind travelled on the high.
"I’m sorry," Vivian apologised, clearing her throat. "Did those hurt? I definitely left scars. Oh god, they must have bled too." Panic rose in her voice, and Ronan gripped her chin to force her to look up at him.
"I loved and enjoyed every second of it," Ronan said confidently, his eyes smouldering with intensity. "The marks of your nails are proof of how much you enjoyed the pleasure I gave you. It will always be a reminder to how I made you lose control underneath and how you lost yourself in the throes of passion."
He leaned down again to whisper in her ear, "Those marks are proof that no other man will ever have the pleasure and privilege of watching you co undone and the way your beautiful body obeyed every kiss and touch from . Do you understand, princess?"
Ronan’s bold statents were enough to bring heat to Vivian’s ears, which flushed red, but she couldn’t deny a single word that he claid as truth.
Vivian’s body reacted of its own will to Ronan’s possessiveness. He all but growled out his words, and she absolutely adored the rough, gravelly voice in which he spoke to her.
Ronan Wolfsbane didn’t need his large, rough, and expert hands to touch her in ways she never imagined.
His voice was just as equally effective.
His voice touched her in depths that could never be reached before.
"Yes, I understand," Vivian answered obediently, swallowing hard when his hand snaked up her throat, reminding her whose oga she was.
"Good girl," Ronan praised with a teasing bite on her ear. "If another Alpha or man dares to lay a finger on you, I will kill them. And that’s a promise, princess. I’m not as rciful and nice as you think I am."
"But you are to ," Vivian countered, brushing a few curled strands of his hair away from his forehead. "You are rciful and nice to , Ronan."
"To you and you alone," Ronan emphasised, his hand trailing down from her throat to her waist, where it perched comfortably. "I have never shown kindness to others in my life, but you are different. I will never dare to hurt you, and if I do, then my Lycan half will tear itself to shreds, but I will hurt anyone else in a heartbeat if I need to. The only marks your skin will know from are the ones I leave to claim you; it will never know the pain of bruises and wounds otherwise."
After what they just shared between each other, Vivian didn’t doubt a single word from Ronan. His actions and treatnt towards her since the beginning and thus far had been proof enough that he would never harm her nor bring newer nightmares.
And now that he’d laid his claims bare and clear before Vivian, it was her turn to display her claims. Shuffling closer on his lap, she moved his hair away from his neck, and Ronan tilted his head to the side to allow her better access.
His hand remained firm and tangled in her hair as she teasingly dragged her lips over the pulse point on his neck. It wasn’t long before her teeth sunk in, and Ronan responded with a groan, eyes rolling back from the sensation of her soft, wet lips sucking over the spot.
It was enough to drive him insane and challenge every ounce of restraint he’d just built up.
Vivian continued her assault until there were three dark, fresh marks engraved onto his neck, and then her attention was drawn to the mating mark, a star-like tattoo, on his shoulder.
"You said my mating mark would appear when we mated," Vivian said, recalling and tracing her finger over the mark. "Why hasn’t it appeared yet?"
She was right. The mating mark should have undoubtedly appeared on her shoulder by now. So, why didn’t it?
Ronan’s gaze narrowed as he checked her left shoulder, searching for any signs of the mark’s appearance, yet there were none. The delay was unusual since, as per history and mating procedures between Lycans and their mate, her mark should have appeared instantly when his knot flared inside her.
So why didn’t the mark appear?
Vivian’s expression fell as she shifted her shoulder forward to search for the mark, and then her gaze moved back to Ronan, pained and intense.
He could already predict the question in her eyes.
He could already see the surge of unease rising in her gaze.
"Ronan..." Vivian muttered his na with a voice weighed down by doubts. "What are the chances that... I’m not actually your fated mate? What if... you were mistaken?"
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