The Castle Under The Moon

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Can we talk about it now?" Luna asks for the nth time since the two of them made it to the castle.

Shadow sighs and opens her bedroom door for her, waiting until she walks in to speak, hoping to get out of it.

"I need to speak to Gabriel."

"No. We are going to talk." Luna states, pulling Shadow's arm with all of her strength, attempting to pull him into her bedroom.

Staring at her, he sighs, allowing her to pull him forwards as he closes the door behind him.

Luna sits on her bed and pats the open spot next to her, not saying anything, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she watches him.

Deciding to please her, he sits on the bed, enjoying the feeling of their thighs touching.

"Lost your tongue?" Shadow asks after a few, silent minutes, a small smile on his face.

"Oh, hush." Luna grumbles, softly punching his bicep, her nerves almost vanishing.

"How long have you known?" She wonders, biting her lip while her gaze Is glued to the ground.

"Not long. I struggled at first because I didn't understand it." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, scared that she was going to reject him. He knew that he couldn't live if she did, she was made for him, and he her.

"Why wait?" She whispers, afraid to speak too loud.

"I thought that they were going to kill me and if they did I didn't want you to know so you wouldn't have been hurt. Now, all of this has been going on and I wanted to wait until later but it just slipped out." Shadow stretches his legs and then crosses them at the ankles before he turns to look directly at Luna.

"I figured that something was going on because I was and am feeling things around and for you that I haven't around or for anyone else."

Shadow and his beasts ego and pride swell a bit at her admission, hope blooming in the center of his chest.

"I can say the same thing about you." He whispers, watching as Luna's cheeks heat up and her lips turn up in a shy smile. It is a picture that he wanted to keep in his mind till the end.

"So you want me?" Luna turns to face him, hope clear in her eyes and voice, confusing Shadow.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Shadow stands, offended and slightly angry.

"Well, I'm not anyone's first choice." She gives a nervous laugh, hating how shaky her voice is.

Getting on his knees, Shadow gets between Luna's legs, using his left hand to raise her head so that their eyes were connected.

"I fell for you before I knew we were mates. I fell for you before I even knew I did." His voice was soft, reassuring. His beast, who usually hated showing any kind of weakness, was nodding his head, his tail sliding back and forth as he agrees.

"Since I laid my eyes on you all those years ago I was yours. Even when my mind didn't know, my heart did."

His heart stalls as tears start to make their way down her face, rolling onto his hand that was still connected to her chin.

'Stupid!' Shadows beast growls, knowing that he probably should not have mentioned the fact that he had seen her when she was twelve, right after he signed the blood contract, now he sounded like a creeper.

"I thought I was doing well! Was it because of what I said about me first seeing you when you were young?" His voice is frantic now, not liking the tears slipping down her patchy face.

"Nothing!" Luna laughs, using both of her hands to hold onto Shadow's face, a large smile looking out of place on her face as the tears continue their route.

"I promise, if you let me, I will worship you like the goddess you are. Defend and love you till the day that I am unable to do so any longer."

Luna's smile widens, her tears slowing down just bit as she gazes into the giant mans nervous amber eyes.

"I am not sad, you big oaf, I'm happy!" Luna laughs, a big, hearty, wheezing laugh. A laugh that Shadow would do anything to hear again.

"Keep going" He whispers, his hands leaving her chin and landing on her knees as he leans forwards, trying to get closer to the sound.

"You are not what I expected you to be." She states, her eyes finally drying.

"What were you expecting?" Shadow wonders, his eyes still connected to hers.

"Well for one I didn't expect for us to be mates, I didn't expect to have one at all, you know, 'cause I'm human." Luna sighs, using her fingers to put some of Shadow's hair behind his ear.

"Two, I didn't expect you to be as caring, as sweet, as handsome." She hums, letting the end of the sentence hang in the air.

His heart expands while his beast wags his tail, genuinely happy and more calm than he had been since he existed.

"Stay with me tonight?" Luna asks as she stands, grabbing onto Shadows hands and looking up into his eyes with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Of course." He scoffs, walking around to the other side of the bed, as if there would be anywhere or anyone else that he would spend the night with.

Using his left hand, Shadow points to the side of the bed that he was on and waits until Luna nods before taking off his shoes and slipping his shirt over his head.

Before laying down with him, Luna blows out all of the lamps, making the room go completely dark except for the moon and stars that adorned her ceiling.

Shadow lets out a gasp as his gaze lands on the ceiling, causing Luna to chuckle as she walks over to her wardrobe, ready to get into more comfortable clothing, unknowingly drawing Shadow's attention to her.

"Don't watch" Luna grumbles, feeling the man's eyes on her back.

A deep, rumbling growl comes from deep within Shadow's chest.

"If you don't want me to watch then don't change in front of me." His voice was more deep and raspy than usual, sending shivers down Luna's back.

Out of nowhere Luna lets out a yelp, feeling Shadow's warm hands on her hips, the touch sending warm tingles through her middle.

He moves his head to her neck, his lips lightly touching her skin causing her knees to weaken, making her have to lean her back onto him, only intensifying the warm tingles.

"You forget that I don't need the light." His voice seems to trigger something inside of her.

"Maybe I didn't." Her voice came out in more of a moan, eliciting another deep growl from Shadow.

Turning her around, he connected their lips, sliding his tongue over her bottom lip and nipping at it when she was too slow for his liking.

The small noises coming from the back of her throat only cause him to groan as he pulls away, knowing that it wasn't the right time.

"Not tonight." He groans, him and his beast enjoying her eagerness.

"Okay." She mumbles, turning around and hurriedly pulling her nightgown over her head, not believing that what just happened was real, or that she had been that brave.

Shadow makes sure that his eyes were moving around the room as his mate was dressing, though he stole a glance or two, causing his beast to want to continue what he had just stopped.

Once she was done, Luna grabs onto Shadow's left hand and lets him lead her to and onto the bed, laying down and patting his chest, grinning when Luna didn't hesitate.

Not long after Luna's head met his chest, she was out, her breathing becoming even and lulling Shadow to sleep along with her.