Without moving his gaze from my chest, he took my shoulder and turned me to the light. He was angry again, and when I looked down, I saw why.

There was a complete footprint shaped bruise that went from the top of my chest to the middle of my stomach. That jerk was really going to stomp me to death.

Without saying anything or meeting my eyes, Tate used both of his hands to inspect my upper body. He started at my collar bone, went over my chest, and stopped to check each rib on his way down.

I was trying to hold still, but when he got to the bottom of the footprint, he went a little lower than seemed necessary, and I couldn't help it; my body shivered.

Pulling his hands back without looking up, he whispered, "Nothing's broken."

He went to the end of my stretched out leg and knelt. Pulling my pant leg up, he looked at my ankle and shook his head, "It's swollen and...bruised."

I moved my leg closer to the light, to see for myself. It was a freaking hand print all the way around. You could even tell his fingers overlapped like mine might wrap around a child's ankle. Without saying anything, I covered it.

Tate seeing me like this was making me sick with embarrassment. Why the hell out of my entire life would this have to be the first time I'd ever lost a fight so badly?

I got the crap beaten out of me, and the only one around to help was him. The smokin hot badass that would never lose a fight. The first guy I'd ever had feelings for. I couldn't even look at him; I wished he hadn't seen all of this.

"I should've killed him. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," his voice sounded off, and when he looked up, I saw his eyes were filled with tears.

I was stunned. "What? How is this your fault?"

"If I had stayed away from you, they would have left you alone. They would have taken me as I planned, but I was selfish. I like you, I want you to be mine, and I let them see that. You were almost killed because of it. I never thought they would take anyone but me, I swear."

I was almost afraid to ask; I thought I must've misunderstood. My voice came out as a whisper, "You still want me?"

He looked at me with wide eyes, "That's what's important?"

I couldn't answer. I focused on my racing heart and his lips as I waited for him to say something.

He moved closer until our faces were only a few inches apart, "I heard you. When Ash made me sleep, I heard you say goodbye. I felt you kiss my cheek. In my last waking seconds, my heart broke at the thought of losing you. Of course, I want you."

I couldn't believe this was happening. I felt the realization flow through my body like electricity. I wanted to tell him I felt the same way, but he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, and my brain stalled.

He pulled my forehead to his and closed his eyes, "I was so afraid that when I woke, you'd already be gone forever. I've only just found you, but I know I'll never be ready to give you up."

He was worried about me, and he was blaming himself, that's why he'd been acting so weird. My heart raced. He was so close, I thought he might kiss me. Instead, he sat back.

Letting his hand slide off my neck, he kept his eyes down. "I can tell you're upset with me; I don't blame you. If I'd taken any longer..." his voice broke. "When I saw Sarsen holding you down, I couldn't think I was so furious. There was so much blood," his voice trailed off.

"It wasn't my blood, it was his. I got a couple of good hits in before everything went to shit. This wasn't your fault, I'm not upset. I'm embarrassed about getting my ass kicked."

His head jerked up in surprise, "Embarrassed? Are you joking? You fought well, better than anyone could have expected."

"You weren't there," I huffed out a laugh.

"I didn't have to be. You made it long enough for me to get there. Sarsen wasn't standing straight, his nose was broken, and he already had discoloration around his eyes. You did better than anyone I saw fight him in training."

Lifting my face to his, he looked at me with wonder, "He's a fae warrior that's trained to kill, and he's massive. You're a human who fights as a hobby and you did real damage, you protected yourself. You should be proud, I'm proud of you."

His words were like a balm to my entire body. I didn't feel my injuries anymore, I just felt excited and nervous. Our closeness and the knowledge that he wanted me too, was going to make my heart pound it's way out of my chest.

Before I could overthink anymore, I reached up to hold his beautiful face. I drew my thumbs lightly over his cheeks while he studied me with his bright blue eyes.

Pulling him down, I kissed the scar on his forehead where it disappeared into his hairline. I heard him inhale softly as I moved to the scar on his cheek. I love the little imperfections that make him who he is.

I felt his smooth square jaw with my lips, and he tilted his head to encourage my explorations. His breathing grew shallow as I moved to his neck and his hands squeezed my sides. I didn't want to stop, but he leaned back.

"Mark," he looked so serious, I was afraid I'd done something wrong. "You truly are my favorite everything. I want to follow you anywhere you go."

I'd never been so happy, but I just gave him a smirk and a wink, "I know."

Grinning, he let out a surprised laugh. His face turned serious as he bit his lip, and a rough sound came from his throat, making my stomach tighten. "Arrogance looks good on you."

He pulled me close, and his full lips were on mine. His hands were in my hair and I wrapped my arms around him. With his strong chest against me, I could feel his heart beating faster as our kisses deepened.

I thought my first kiss would be awkward, or inept, but it wasn't, it was perfect. His hand slid from my hair and traveled slowly down the front of me. I felt him tremble and was amazed this warrior was shaking because of me.

When his fingers slowed to examine the rows of muscle on my stomach, I sighed and gripped him tighter. His other arm went around my shoulders and I gasped.

I was so focused on what we were doing; I'd completely forgotten about my injuries. His strong arm was a quick reminder. He pulled back and let go of me so fast, I didn't have time to say it was OK.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you." His face was worried and that was so at odds with what I'd been feeling, I almost laughed.

"It's alright, I'm fine," I smiled. "Believe me, I wasn't thinking about my back either."

He relaxed as a smug grin covered his face, "You weren't, huh?"

I laughed, shaking my head, "You're pretty distracting."

"Yeah, well so are you, or I wouldn't have forgotten to be careful."

Turning, so we were next to each other, he raised his wings up high before laying back. He put his arm out for me to use as a pillow, but I couldn't move. I was stuck gazing at the extraordinary sight in front of me. I couldn't believe I was there.

"Stop staring at me like that and lay down before we get distracted again. It'll be morning soon, we need to rest before we go meet up with Ash and Jolie."

Shaking my head, I laid down carefully. I didn't think I'd be able to get comfortable, but with my head on his arm, my shoulders were kept off the ground. Actually, it was pretty great. I took a deep breath and tried to relax, but it wasn't easy when we were so close.

"Sleep well, my favorite."

Smiling, I said, "Goodnight, my badass god of war."

He chuckled and that was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.

When I woke in the morning, my head had moved to Tate's forearm and he was leaning on his elbow, looking down at me.

Unsure of what to say, I cleared my throat, "Hi."

That made him smile, "Hi. How do you feel?"

I moved my shoulders a little, but it was hard to tell, "I don't know."

Sitting up wasn't any easier than it was yesterday, I still had to lean to the side and push myself up. Once I was up I moved my shoulders and found they were sore too. I didn't really expect anything to heal overnight, but it was frustrating.

Behind me, Tate ran his hand lightly over my back, "It still looks like it hurts."

"It does, but I'm alright." I pulled my leg up to check my ankle. Since I'd been off of it, it was less swollen than yesterday, but it was still ridiculously bruised. "This should be easier to walk on, I hope."

Tate leaned up to look, "Well, it's smaller than it was; that's good." Standing gracefully, he reached down to help me up, "Come on, let's see how it does with some weight on it."

I gave him my hand to pull me up and he didn't let go. I carefully leaned on my right foot, a little at a time. Taking a deep breath, I said, "It's not great, I won't be able to run."

"If everything goes to plan, there'll be no reason to run. We'll meet up with Ash and Jolie soon, get to the exit we decided on and be back in your world in a couple of hours." Shrugging, he said, "Besides, if walking is too hard on your ankle, I can easily carry you."

I looked at him incredulously, "I'm not letting you carry me."

"Why not? If we fly, I'll have to carry you. What's the difference?"

"The difference is I have feet, I don't have wings. I have no choice but to let you carry me if we have to fly."

Stepping closer he rested his hands on the waist of my jeans, "Aww, come on," he grinned and lowered his voice, "you don't like it when I hold you?"

Rolling my eyes I said, "How about when my ankle gets better, I'll carry you around?"

He leered at me dramatically, "You promise?"

I cracked up and he smiled, making my heart race. "You're ridiculous."

"You're amazing," Tate whispered before lowering his mouth to mine in a slow kiss that made me wonder if we really had to leave this cave.

His hands roamed my sides and lower back, careful to avoid my injuries as my hands stayed planted on his shoulders. I was suddenly too nervous to move them, I didn't want anything to mess this up. I just kissed him and enjoyed the feeling of his hard body against mine.

His kisses moved down my neck, pulling a sigh from my lips, and he paused. He nipped at me playfully before rubbing his cheek against mine, "We need to go. They'll be waiting for us."

I knew he was right, but it took me a minute to nod in agreement, "I'd really like to be home soon."

Backing up, he took my hand, "Anything you want, my favorite."

Exiting the cave, we stepped out into the sunlight. It was so much brighter, it took a second for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I saw Tate was staring at my stomach. I thought he was looking at the giant bruise, but then he reached over and ran his fingers over my abs.

His unexpected touch made my breathing standstill as I thought about kissing him again. How did he make me feel so good and so nervous at the same time? His hand stilled, and he looked up at me like he could read my thoughts.

Taking a deep breath he said, "We need to hurry, but you should know, I've decided humans wear too many clothes."

That made me grin, "Thanks?"

"You're very welcome."

Turning, he walked into the woods with me following slowly. Not far from the cave his whole posture changed. He was all business, looking around constantly like he was expecting someone to jump out.

He was putting me on edge, but I guess it was better to be vigilant than caught by surprise.

Who loves Mark and Tate? I think they're my favorite couple. 😍

I dedicated this chapter to morningsunshinegirl   because she keeps calling me a tease and my guys finally got a little action. Not much, but this is YA! If you're looking for a lot more romance, you should check out her books!! You will definitely fall in love! 🥰

Thank you for reading!! 😁💜