"I was made and meant to
look for you and wait for you
and become yours forever."

~~Robert Browning

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~Nova~

I moaned into his mouth, my tongue gliding against his in a dance that felt familiar and entirely new. His words played in my mind like a song I had known forever, their strength pushing on the walls that had steadily begun to crumble all those weeks ago. My body was coursing with power, my blood humming with energy as it crackled in the air around us.

It felt surreal, the chances so impossibly small that I struggled to fully comprehend it, but it felt so right. Gods, I wanted this more than I ever imagined I could ever want anything especially something like this. From the moment I had laid eyes on him, I had wanted Robbie. Even when I had been pissed and damn near murderous, I had still wanted him. 

I never felt us move, but I found myself straddling his lap with my hands threaded through his hair. Reluctantly, I pulled away to drag oxygen into my burning lungs but I kept my hands buried in the velvet strands and my eyes closed, hovering just far enough away to breathe.

"How is that possible?" I whispered against his lips. "Or am I dreaming? Is this a dream? Did I fall asleep in the car?"

Robbie silenced my rambling with a quick pressed of his mouth and I could feel him smile before he spoke.

"It's not a dream, I promise," he assured me and I finally allowed myself to open my eyes.

The room had been plunged into darkness except for the moonlight that spilled through the windows… wait, where was the glass? My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened as I vaguely remembered the burst of energy I had released unintentionally. 

"Uh…," I started to say but my head was so scrambled, the hum beneath my skin still pulsing steadily, no other sounds came out.

Robbie chuckled, the vibration rocking through me as I remained pressed against him eliciting a shiver throughout my body. 

"Yep, that was you," he teased, his tone light and amused, and if I wasn't mistaken a little bit smug. 

Heat rushed to my face and I was glad it was dark until I remembered that my puppy dog here could see very well in the dark. I hated losing control of my magick, it was like being caught with your pants down, except that never bothered me but for being interrupted. 

Sighing, I let it go for the moment and looked at Robbie's face. While his face was darkened by shadows, I could make out the contours of his features. But his eyes, bright and blazing silvery gold, watched me intently.

"What are you thinking about?" Robbie asked after a moment.

"Nothing," I answered honestly. "It's… I can't…"

I trailed off, unsure of how to explain what I was feeling when my brain was like a melted slushy. Robbie stilled beneath my hands, a flash of panic hitting me like ice water and I rushed to calm him.

"No, no not… no!" I spit out, clasping his face in my hands in case he tried to look away. "Shush, don't think that!"

I still couldn't figure out what the hell I was saying and I was pretty certain I wasn't making any lick of sense whatsoever. But I tried anyway because I couldn't have him thinking… no, I couldn't even think of it!

"I wasn't thinking anything," he lied and I frowned in response.

"My brain is squishy. Stop!" 

What? Nova, you're belligerent. Your brain is squishy?! Of all things you could say dumbass!, I admonished myself but it was still progress because at least I was actually able to think something.

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this," Robbie said, nudging my nose with his and playfully licking my bottom lip. "I like it."

I forced myself to scowl. "You prefer me with my mouth shut?"

"No, I like knowing what you're thinking," he said, his lips trailing along my jaw, "how you're feeling," he paused to nip the sensitive skin of my neck, "but I also like being the one to make your brain squishy."

He said it so seriously, as if it was the most important adjective and I couldn't help but smile, warmth blooming in my chest. This boy, this man, was so infuriating and darkly broken that I wasn't sure I would be enough to hold his pieces together. But he wanted me to, was holding the shards of his heart out to me, waiting for me to take them and impale them through my soul.

How did I get so goddamn lucky?, I wondered, burying my face in the crook of his neck. 

Robbie wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me flush against his chest and I drew a deep breath in. The familiar aroma of his aftershave filled my nose, his skin smooth and cool against my cheek as I closed my eyes. My throat felt tight, my eyes burning beneath the closed lids. I had never imagined I would have a mate much less find them. Love wasn't something I ever believed I would want because it came with promises no one ever kept, not for me.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, my words slightly muffled against his neck. "I'm sorry you lost James because of me."

I don't know what possessed me to say it out loud but I had to tell him. If it hadn't been for me, Robbie would still have a part of James to hold on to. If what he said was true, they lost each other because I existed. The memory of Robbie's pain and grief at that loss had pierced my heart but knowing what I did now, knowing I was to blame, I felt even less deserving of his affection.

"What are you talking about?" Robbie asked in confusion, forcing me to lean back so he could see my face. "You didn't cause me to lose him, Nova. Hey, look at me."

He tilted my head up, his thumb gently grasping my chin to keep me from turning away. Although my vision was blurred by unshed tears, I met Robbie's warm gaze and let it wash over me.

"I lost James a long time ago," he told me softly, sadness lingering beneath his words. "What happened to him had nothing to do with you and what happened yesterday…," Robbie released my chin, tracing my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. "I can't be the man you deserve, the man you need me to be, if I'm still holding on to who I used to be, a life I no longer have. You're a gift from the gods, Nova, a blessed treasure meant to be cherished. I'll give you everything I am if you'll have me?"

My tears slipped free, overflowing and warm as they fell. Hope, joy, relief, and love danced around us, a beautiful tango that left me almost delirious. No one had ever spoken to me that way, or felt any of those things towards me to such an intense level before. As he looked at me expectantly, honey eyes blazing and anxious, the emotions grew stronger to the point I swore I could taste them. It was true magick, gorgeous and elegant in such a delicate way, serving to fuel more tears.

With wet cheeks and a horrifyingly clogged nose, I knew I looked like a complete troll. But with the way Robbie was looking at me, none of that mattered, the thoughts bouncing away as quickly as they had come.

"I want you, Robbie," I whispered, my voice hoarse and cracking in the most unattractive way. "I want every sharp edge and soft curve, every dark shadow that lurks inside you. I want the monster you cage and the smile on your lips. I want every part of you," I whispered with a feather light kiss as I spoke against his lips, "everything you are… everything you have been… and everything you will be…"

I trailed off for a moment, kissing him deeply, tasting the moan that rumbled from his throat, twisting me up inside.

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," I told him breathlessly, repeating my promise once more. "I love you… forever."

I expected Robbie to growl and turn into a primal caveman, ripping my clothes off and claiming me right then and there. But he didn't. Instead he stared at me for a moment, eyes bright and filled with wonder before he smiled. 

"I was hoping you would say that," he said as he pulled me flushed against him, arms clinging to me as if I would disappear. With his face buried in my neck, he mumbled, "Gods, I don't know what I would do without you, Nova. You have no idea."

I melted against him even as I grew harder inside my jeans, the denim tight and uncomfortable but I couldn't bring myself to move. Leaving the comfort and safety of his arms wasn't on my to-do list anytime soon. 

The night had dropped a few degrees, the mountain breeze drifting through the shattered windows and making me shiver despite the heat rushing through my blood at his close proximity. Ignoring my protests, Robbie released me and gently slid me from his lap onto the fluffy couch cushions. I grumbled to myself as he crossed the room, moving confidently in the dark room. I could hear shuffling and other odd sounds I didn't recognize before a match flair in the darkness, briefly illuminating his face.

My jaw dropped as he moved the flame carefully through the air and within a few moments a fire slowly came to life in the empty hearth. Light danced along the walls and filled the small room with a warm, orange glow as the flames licked the wood. Wordlessly, Robbie returned to the couch and before I knew it, we were lying down.

I was on my side, my back pressed against his chest with my fingers laced through his just above my heart. With our legs tangled together and the heat of the fire gently warming my skin, the exhaustion I had been keeping at bay finally broke free. Stifling a yawn with our joined hands as my eyelids began to weigh themselves down, I turned my face to look at him as best as I could from the angle we lay. Struggling to stay awake, a sudden thought sparked in my mind.

"You're not going to make me wait, are you?" I asked, my words thick with imminent sleep but the warning clear. "Blue balls make me pissy and drugs stores sell puppy viagra so don't tease me."

Robbie laughed, the sound tickling gently against my ear and sending a delicious shiver down my spine. "Don't worry, little Tink. I have no intention of waiting and torturing us both. But I would prefer you to be conscious at the time."

"I'm conscious," I argued with a yawn, eyes slipping closed but I forced them back open, blinking hard. "I'm good. Let's go, Romeo."

The determination behind my words was dragged under and swallowed by another jaw splitting yawn. Robbie chuckled again, kissing my temple as he smiled.

"Get some rest, baby," he cooed softly against my hair, making me smile sleepily as he kissed the side of my head and he pulled me closer somehow. "We'll wake up in the morning and have an adventure. But afterwards, I promise that next time you sleep will be with my mark on your skin."

My sluggish thoughts snagged on the word 'adventure' causing me to frown but it slipped away like water through my fingers. Sighing contentedly, I gave in to my exhausted state and began to drift away on a bed of clouds.

"I love you," I whispered as sleep enveloped me.

●●●●

I woke alone on the couch, the room bright with sunlight and the fire burned down to barely smoking embers. A blanket had been put over me at some point and my boots lay on the floor beside the coffee table. I didn't remember taking them off or Robbie getting up, but I remembered everything else.

Robbie's voices drifted to me from somewhere close by but my head was still fuzzy with sleep and the words didn't register. Knowing he was close by, and that he was absolutely mine, I couldn't stop the giddy feeling that bloomed in my chest or the ridiculous smile that split my face. 

It still felt surreal but I couldn't bring myself to question it. I didn't know how people normally felt or reacted when they first found their mate or how they realized that's what they were to each other. Thinking back, it was so obvious even the first time I laid eyes on him, but I had kept myself in denial about so many things back then. It had been easy to push the thoughts away for a while, but from the moment he had first kissed me, I had craved him in every way. I couldn't deny it then and I sure as hell wouldn't deny it now.

Pushing myself into a sitting position against the arm of the couch, I looked around the room. I could see Robbie's profile as he stood just outside the front door, glaring into the distance as he held his phone against his ear. When he spoke again, I was too distracted watching his lips move that I couldn't pay attention to what he was actually saying. As if he could feel my eyes on him, Robbie turned his head slightly, amber eyes clashing with mine.

Smiling widely the moment he looked at me, he stepped into the house. "August, I got to go but I'll look into it like I said."

With that he hung up without waiting for a response. Sitting on the cushion beside me at the edge of the couch, his hip pressed into my thigh as he kissed me. One hand was braced on the armrest behind me while the other held the side of my face.

"Good morning to you, too," I grinned, trying to ignore the likely possibility of my morning breath. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten," he answered, giving me another quick kiss before lifting my legs to rest against his thighs as he sat down. "I made coffee, figured you might need it."

"Yeah, probably," I agreed while yawning and stretching, hoping to wake up some more. "What did August want?"

"They think the fires are linked somehow. Nevada remembered seeing a she-elf on a few different occasions, one they suspect to be a fugitive from the Braelyn kingdom named Valyndria," Robbie answered, his hand resting on my knee. "They believe she may be involved with Torch and whatever he has planned."

I vaguely remembered an elf showing up the night of the shifter attack but couldn't quite recall her features. "Okay, so what do they need us to do?"

August wouldn't have called just to tell us they had suspicions about something. I may not be an expert in war and scheming but I wasn't stupid either. 

"He wants me, not you, to check on some people and see what may be going down if possible." Robbie hesitated for a moment before continuing. "They also suspect that your mother lied to me about what she was doing and going to do after she left."

My face was blank as I looked at Robbie, waiting for the familiar ache in my chest that always occurred at the mention or thought of my mother. But it never came, instead all I felt was cold emptiness.

"Why?" I asked, not because I cared any longer what she did or why she did it but because there was a point he was trying to make. "Spit it out already, babe. You promised me an adventure today, remember? And I'm getting a bit bored now."

Robbie rolled his eyes. "The way she showed up and then suddenly Ashira's house was under attack. That fire is similar to the fire at Appleton Estates, but also Ashira's family basically raised Valyndria. There are just too many links for it to be a coincidence. We're missing something and I've got to see if some legwork will clear it up."

I hummed in thought, brows furrowed as I zoned out momentarily. When I looked back up at Robbie, he was watching me warily as if expecting me to break or start throwing things. 

"Calm down, Rover," I laughed with an eye roll. "Other than the fact that I'm related to a psychopath, I'm fine. However, I am curious about this legwork. What's the plan?" I sat up straighter, childish excited bursting in my mind. "Oh, wait! Is that the adventure? Playing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson?!"

Robbie laughed and patted my knee affectionately. 

"Sure, but first," he answered, amber eyes suddenly glinting mischievously, "we're going to see my grandmother and then we're going to a rave."

"Yes! I love raves!" I exclaimed but then the first part of his statement sunk in and I froze, my face falling as the color drained away. "Wait… I'm meeting your grandmother?"

Robbie grinned. "Yep, and we're leaving in thirty minutes so hurry up."

With that he stood up, my feet dropping heavily to the floor in his wake as while I gaped at his retreating form. I had just realized that Robbie was my soulmate not even twelve hours ago and I was already about to meet his grandmother.

Oh shit, I'm going to need more than just coffee for this day.

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A/N: Aw, I just love Nova and Robbie!❤❤  Going to see grandma! Wonder how that's going to go...🤔

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XOXO🖤❤

~SM~