“Oh, my gosh.” I giggled so hard that tears streamed down my cheeks. “I totally forgot about that. You waited until Mrs. Walters had lunch duty and brought the radish into school even though you bought lunch, just so you could eat it in front of her. Man, she really hated you after that.”
“So much,” Thana groaned, dropping down onto a stone bench and tilting her head back to stare up at the night sky. “My mom gave me this huge lecture about not being petty with authority figures, but then she went into the school and raised hell with the principal about how Mrs. Walters better not take the whole thing out on me.”
Sitting down beside her, I gripped her hand in mine. “Your parents really were the best.”
“I miss them so much,” she whispered, resting her head against my shoulder.
I hugged her close. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when they died. I hate that your aunt took you away and never brought you back.”
“I never blamed you,” she vowed, squeezing me back. “All’s well that ends well. Now that you and Athan are together, you’re going to be a part of my life forever. And after the crap my aunt pulled when Kieran and I met, we’ll probably never see her again.”
Shifting to face her, I asked, “What exactly happened with Aunt Judy? You were kind of vague about everything that went down with her last year, which I’m guessing had to do with the fact you were trying to avoid the whole vampire thing.”
“Girl, I’m so glad I can finally tell you the entire story.” She proceeded to blow my mind with a tale of her surprise arranged engagement that led to the death of a nightwalker and her being claimed by Kieran.
“Whoa, that’s wild.” My eyes were wide as I stared at her. “And here I thought the way I met Athan was unusual. My story pales in comparison to yours.”
“I don’t know.” Thana tapped her finger against her chin. “Athan finding a ring that was meant for you a whole century ago is kind of shocking, too.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to wrap my head around all of this.” I stared down at the amethyst that had belonged to one of my ancestors and sighed, “But I can’t deny that some part deep inside me knew that Athan was mine right off the bat.”
Thana bumped her shoulder against mine. “I’m not even shocked by how easily you’re accepting all of this. You used to love that show with the girl in high school and the vampire brothers that came out a year or so before you were shipped off to boarding school.”
I giggled over her vague description of the show I made her watch when we were tweens. “I guess it isn’t a surprise that I ended up with a vampire since I’ve always been kind of obsessed with them. Before I discovered The Vampire Diaries, I was addicted to True Blood.”
“We were darn lucky your parents never caught us watching that one.” She fanned herself, most likely remembering one of the many sex scenes we’d been scandalized over back then. The show had been something we definitely shouldn’t have been watching at that age, but I’d been drawn to shows depicting the supernatural world after binge watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there had only been so many to choose from.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure if they would’ve freaked out more because of the sex or the vampires.” I shook my head and heaved a deep sigh. “I can’t believe they’ve known about them all this time and never said a word.”
“I bet that’s a part of why they hated how much you were fascinated by vampires. What are the odds that your aunt was a potential consort who was killed by a nightwalker?”
I wiggled my fingers in the air, the moonlight bouncing off the amethyst. “Probably the same as Athan finding this a hundred years ago.”
“Good point,” she conceded with a smile.
“Soooo,” I drawled, wagging my brows. “I guess we should get to the reason I wanted to have this little chat.”
Thana bounced on the bench, rubbing her hands together. “You have questions about the claiming, right?”
“Yup.” I nodded, my cheeks heating as I thought about the few details Athan had already shared with me.
“Losing your virginity, no matter how good last night was, will pale in comparison to what happens when Athan claims you.” The pink in her cheeks matched mine, making me giggle. It came out sounding super nervous, probably because I couldn’t imagine a night more intense than the one I’d already spent with Athan. “The level of dominance during the claiming is through the roof.”
Considering how Athan had mastered my body last night, drawing reactions from me that I didn't think were possible, my jaw dropped. “How so?”
She traced her finger over the inside of her wrist and shivered, her lips curving up in a smile of pure feminine satisfaction. “If it’s anything like my claiming, there will be a little bondage, some biting, and lots of orgasms.”
“Well, then.” I cleared my throat and grinned. “I guess I have a lot to look forward to.”
“Without a doubt.” She took my hands in hers. “But the claiming is more than just mind-blowing sex. It’s so powerful when you share the claiming words with each other.”
She went on to explain what Athan would say and how I was supposed to respond. My ring warmed on my finger, almost as though it was anticipating the moment I would fulfill my destiny with Athan.
“And after you experience the most amazing night of your life, you’ll find the bond between you and Athan unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.” She let out a dreamy sigh and smiled with a faraway look
