<h4>Chapter 334: Only The Beginning</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    My heart felt like it was going to pound straight out of my chest as his voice filled the quiet of the room.


    "Evaline Greystone..."


    His tone was rough, deep, andced with something that made my skin prickle. Then, in a breath that seemed to carry the weight of centuries, he spoke the words that I had been waiting for.


    "I - Alpha River Thorne - also epts you as my mate."


    The moment the words left him, I felt the bond locking into ce like an unbreakable chain, but instead of cold metal, it was warmth, a golden thread weaving tightly between us.


    The warmth not only filled my chest, but also my veins, my lungs, my very soul. The mate link finally opened between us, and I gasped as a rush of emotions mmed into me.


    Love. Fierce, relentless, consuming love.


    It was so overwhelming, so raw, that tears stung my eyes before I even realized they had formed.


    River had always been unreadable, his emotions buried so deeply I sometimes wondered if he even allowed himself to feel them. But now... now there was no wall between us, no mask.


    Through the bond, I felt the truth of him. His tenderness. His protectiveness. His devotion that he had only recently started making known and seen.


    A shaky sound escaped my lips, somewhere between a sob and a sigh. My fingers trembled as they clutched the nket, as if holding on to something solid might ground me.


    His eyes didn’t leave mine. Green, dark and bright all at once, zing with the same love I felt pounding through the bond. For a long moment, neither of us moved. We just stared, breathing the same air, letting the bond wrap tighter and tighter around us.


    And then... I didn’t know who leaned in first. Maybe him. Maybe me. Maybe it was the bond pulling us both. But the space between us vanished.


    His lips pressed against mine, and I swear my entire body melted.


    The kiss started soft, tentative, as if he was giving me a chance to pull away. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Instead, I leaned into him, into the warmth of his mouth, into the heat of his hand that slid from the nket to cradle my cheek.


    My breath caught when his lips moved more firmly, brushing, molding against mine with a hunger that made my toes curl.


    I tilted my head and parted my lips for him, and that was all it took. He groaned low in his throat. The sound rumbled through his chest and into me, before his tongue slid past my lips to meet mine.


    The first stroke was tentative, testing, but the second was bold. Heat red as our tongues tangled, teasing, tasting, exploring. My hands moved of their own ord, one fisting into his nightshirt, the other sliding up his shoulder to the nape of his neck. His hair was still slightly damp from his earlier shower, and my fingers tangled in the strands as he deepened the kiss.


    It wasn’t rushed. No, he kissed like he had all the time in the world, like every second was a treasure he would never let slip away.


    His mouth was hot and demanding, but there was tenderness in the way his lips lingered, the way his tongue coaxed mine into a rhythm that had my heart racing even faster.


    When his teeth grazed my bottom lip, I gasped into his mouth, and he immediately took advantage, capturing my lip between his teeth before soothing it with a slow, gentle sweep of his tongue. The move sent a shiver down my spine so strong it made me arch against him.


    The kiss grew wilder, hungrier. Our lips crashed together, parted, then sealed again in a rhythm that left me dizzy.


    His hand slid from my cheek down to my jaw, then lower, brushing over my throat before finding my waist and pulling me closer. The nket tangled around us as I shifted, pressing my body to his, desperate to feel him even closer than the bond already allowed.


    I moaned softly into his mouth, and the sound seemed to undo him. His grip tightened on my waist, his thumb stroking in small, almost reverent circles against my skin through the thin fabric of my nightshirt. He kissed me harder, his tongue stroking mine with a need that made my head spin.


    Our breaths turned ragged, every inhale filled with the other’s warmth. I felt the scrape of his teeth again, this time along the corner of my lip, before he kissed it away with almost painful gentleness. The contrast left me whimpering, my body arching helplessly toward his.


    He pulled back just a fraction, and dropped his forehead to mine. His lips hovered, brushing mine with the barest ghost of a touch, as if he couldn’t bear to let gopletely.


    His breaths came hot and uneven against my lips. And through the bond, I felt his turmoil - his hunger, his restraint, his overwhelming love.


    "Evaline..." he murmured again, my name more a groan than a word, as if it burned his throat with how badly he needed me.


    And even though my own body was burning with the same need as his, we both knew we needed to stop now.


    We stayed like that - with our foreheads pressed together and our breaths mingling - for few more minutes before he finally pulled away. And when he looked into my eyes this time, the hunger was reced by pure love.


    "Can I hold you tonight?" He asked, his voice so low that I would have almost missed it if not for the fact that I was looking at him.


    Without wasting any time, I nodded my head. Iy down and turned to the side, putting my back to him. There was movement behind me for a second or two before his arms snaked around my waist from behind, his palming to rest on my bump.


    And this time when I closed my eyes, my heart was at peace, my mind calm, and a soft smile ying on my lips.


    Because I knew, without a doubt, that this bond had been worth every second of waiting.


    And this... was only the beginning.<fn03f6> Newest update provided by find·novel</fn03f6>