DEDICATED TO Anacardaceae :) (ONE OF MY OLDEST READERS!)

Which cover? Select please! I'm damn confused now!

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Chapter 16 - ❝Let Me Remind You, Angier. You. Have. A. Soulmate.❞

What the freaking fuck? was her first thought.

Tatum's hands grasped blindly at something as held onto his shoulders, and she opened her mouth to voice exactly just that.

Only, she didn't get to—because the moment her lips parted, his tongue was right there, sweeping into her open mouth with a fervor that made her feel as if molten lava was flowing into her as his hands came up and tangled themselves in her hair, tugging gently as he coaxed her still lips to respond.

And respond, she did.

All rational thoughts flew out of her brain. Instinct and need took over, and she was like a wanton version of herself who operated without heed to their consequences.

It was tentative at first, a new experience that she had to get her bearings around because no matter how many times she'd seen it on TV, movies, real life and all around her, she could safely agree that none of it amounted to the real thing. For a moment, it felt almost strange, this intimate touch of lips, but when his tongue brushed against hers for the second time in a luscious stroke that sent fire igniting all over her insides and left her craving for more, she decided this was her new favorite thing.

It was definitely as awesome as they were cracking it up to be.

She tried to reciprocate with gentle movements that she copied from his experienced mouth, and soon, she was getting the hang of it—getting really into it. She slowly, hesitantly ran her hands up his strong neck and let her fingers weave themselves in-between lustrous blond hair that felt like the softest of hand-crafted silk. She gave a soft tug, emboldened by this rampant desire that he'd ignited within her as she nipped at his lower lip gently, making him let out a groan in a voice that was so low and gravely that it reminded her immediately of the night when he'd claimed his Mate for the first time in that basement.

Francesca Blythe.

It was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped on her.

"Fuck!" Tatum dropped her hands from his hair like she'd touched a live-wire, jumping back like he was on fire as she muttered under her breath, "If I hadn't kissed you back like a thirsty nymph, my fist would've had an intimate conversation with your nose."

Angier looked a tiny bit regretful, but one can definitely tell that his actions were anything but unplanned. It was obvious to anyone with two eyes that he'd come down there that night with this idea in mind. The thought just made Tatum even more pissed-off, "How the hell could you even do that, Angier? I'm sorry I kissed you back but you kissed me first! You have a Soulmate for Goddess' sake!"

"Chill, Tate." Angier muttered softly almost in a resigned manner as he shook his head and sighed, "We are gonna kiss like a hundred times before we're done with this play, anyway. Francesca knew it when we auditioned. If not you, I'd have kissed someone else. So if she's gonna be ticked off over one little kiss, then she can be."

"That's onstage!" Tatum almost screamed in frustration, "Where she can clearly see what's happening. Not like this!"

"What the hell else would you have me do, Tate? Let you go to some dingy bar somewhere and let a random dude stick his tongue down your throat?" Angier's voice rose now as well as he finally met her eyes with angry ones of his own, "I'm sorry, my dear best friend, but I can't stand by and let you do that just for the sake of some play!"

"Oh, really?" Tatum was seriously raging now, "If I could stand by and watch you stick your tongue down some random girl's mouth and then stick your dick into some other girl's orifices even when I hated it all, why can't you let me do whatever the fuck I want, huh?" Angier's eyes went wide as Tatum slowly took steps forward, making him take a step back with each move.

"Because let me remind you, Angier. You. Have. A. Soulmate." She jabbed a finger harsh enough on his chest to leave little bruises, "You will forget all of this like it's nothing the moment you go to her tonight and get your dick wet, and you can call this 'one little kiss', but to me? To Mateless me who'll probably have to marry someone for convenience and put the lives and needs of hundreds of families above my one need to love and to be loved? It means something. It means fucking something, you insensitive asshole!"

And then it was like that last sentence had popped her furious bubble, making tears stream down her cheeks as she screamed hysterically, "I don't care if I have to kiss a random dude and get it over with or chicken out and beg Mrs. G to postpone the intimacy until I can do it or if I just have to fucking quit! I didn't fucking ask you to kiss me now, did I? Because I didn't want you to!" Her voice was almost like a screech and her vision went blurry with the tears that were flowing uncontrollably, "I . . ." She hiccuped, swiping at her cheeks angrily as she turned away, "I didn't want you to." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Oh, come on!" Angier growled, grabbing her elbow and twisting her around to make her face him forcefully, "First of all, when I said 'one little kiss', I never said it's just a kiss. So stop putting words in my mouth. Second of all, you always keep going on and on about having a Soulmate but let me tell you this, all the Mate-bond does is chemically get you riled up and force attraction on that person. Everything besides that requires work." He rolled his eyes in his fury-filled spiel, spreading his hands in emphasis.

"You see Micajah and Seneca finishing each other's sentences and loving each other with every breath they take. That kind of love is not there between them just because they're Mates. It's only there because they fell in love." He then jabbed a finger in the air in front of her, insinuating every word, "And they fell because they struggled to overcome all their fears and trust each other to catch them when they do. That's what it takes to have a partner for life like that. and my Mate?"

He let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head without mirth, "Well, she could care more about her social status than me, because she's basically been disappointed with the fact that I'm not a high-ranked Wolf from day one. So before you start claiming that I've already ridden into the sunset with the perfect girl in my arms, you can think again."

"But you are going to become Beta!" Tatum yelled, throwing her hands up in confusion, "Why torment yourselves with all this confusion when you could just end it all with just one confession? Are you still so reluctant to challenge for a position that you're willing to give up the person you're meant to be with?"

Angier laughed harshly without merriment, two indifferent stones the color of topaz in the place of his eyes, "You really don't get it, do you, Tate?"

She remained silent.

"Tell me, something. Do you love me?" Angier questioned out-of-the-blue all of a sudden, and her heart jumped a second in panic at the thought that he might've found out. But then she quickly eliminated that possibility as that would only mean that one of the Mordecais had told on her, and that's something they would never do.

"Yes," She finally replied, crossing her arms as she swallowed.

"When did you start loving me? I mean, at some point I would've been just a friend to you, right? I couldn't have been someone you loved since the day we met. So, when did I transition into your best friend and close enough to call family?" He crossed his arms as well, pressing his lips together so hard that they were almost white.

"I . . . I don't know." Tatum replied uncertainly, unsure where he was trying to go with this, "Maybe around when we were six or seven when I understood what friendship really is. And the fact that I can love my friend as much as I love my family."

"Hm, so was I some sort of cool-ass popular kid, back then?"

Ah, so that's why he's not telling his Mate.

"No," Tatum looked down at her feet, unable to meet his eyes now that she understood why this was so painful for him.

"Was I some Alpha's kid who'll increase your cool points for just being seen with me?"

"No."

"Has your love diminished now that you've grown up and have come to know that powerful people can get shit done like say, get you into the best college in the world for junior year with just a snap of their finger and make life much, much easier?"

Tatum sighed, "No."

"That's what I thought. I want that kind of unconditional love from her; because settling for a love that was only there in the first place because of something as materialistic as a title is much worse than living your life as a cat-lady like you're set on thinking you will. Which is just a pile of horse-shit, by the way, because any guy would beg at your feet to have a chance for someone as genuine and beautiful inside and out as you, to be by their side forever."

Any guy except you, a part of Tatum's heart whispered, while the other part felt like it'd just been given a warm hug, "Um—"

"And until I'm sure she loves me and I love her, I'm not telling her about the title."

She sighed, "Okay . . . I get what you mean."

"Now, come here." Angier grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer with a slight pull, letting her come nearer on her own without using any force. When she finally did, he wrapped his arms around her waist and annihilated all semblance of 'friendliness' from the hug as he crushed her body to his, removing any little gap between them. He buried his face in her neck as he sighed deeply, forcing her to relax and wrap her arms around his back tightly as well.

It was like the tightness of the hug—the way it made her breath come out slightly constricted, soothed her raw, blistering soul and put a temporary end to all the heartache this conversation had dredged up.

If only our fates weren't so twisted up . . .'

"I love you, Tate-bear. You have no idea how much I do. Sometimes, it's like the only thing I know certainly with clarity. The rest of my life is just a scrambled mess." His heavy breath tickled the skin on her neck as his lips brushed unconsciously against it with every word, and Tatum had to close her eyes and draw on every ounce of her self-control she possessed to stop herself from moaning at the way it sent goosebumps all across her body.

"I love you, too. Angier. I love you, too." Tatum whispered as she rubbed her palm up and down his back, tilting her head to let her temple rest against her shoulder.

They stood like that for a while, just absorbing each other's presence and enjoying the unconditional love they shared.

And the whole time, all Tatum could think was how perfect it would be if they were hugging for a whole different reason.

Her heart hurt from it all.

One thing she was sure of was that if he kept this up, one day she just might blurt all her feelings out and ruin this thing between them.

She really needed to make sure that that day would never come.

But her throbbing head and bruised heart told her that she was on the end of her rope already, and that, that day might not be as far as she hoped for it to be.

The overwhelming panic that arose at the thought of losing her only constant was almost enough to send her into hysterics once again.

I will never let him know about all of that, She pledged to herself, Never.

But why did a silent voice whisper from somewhere deep within her to just confess it all and get it over with, because it was bound to be out in the open at one point, anyway?

Tatum looked heavenward as she pleaded with the Goddess who was having fun with her life to help her with this one thing, to make sure that this one part in her life wasn't messed up.

Goddess, please don't let Angier leave.

Little did she know that all of it has only just started.

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Question: *le HUGE sigh* SO YEAH, that happened. WTF, right? I know, I know. So what do you think will happen now? I mean, what "has only just started"?

Where do you see all of this going? ARE there gonna be some cliché, yet sort-of good twists? *evil grin*

Okay, don't hate me. I love you all for reading and I hope like hell it stays that way.

LOL.

HOPE YOU LIKED IT AGAIN!

IF YOU DID, PLEASE DO,

VOTE, COMMENT, FAN! <3