Chapter 86 - The Intimacy

LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV

Those eight words froze me on the spot. I could sense the continuous thumping of my heart and also how my entire face blushed because of the heat coming from my ears. However, I still couldn't come up with a proper response to that. Maybe it wasn't the right time for us yet, considering how we still had to deal with my adoptive father before we could totally relax and be comfortable with our everyday lives.

"Everyone's waiting for us..."

"I don't care." Jerome cut me off. "Don't you want to be mine for eternity, Luna? Are you going to reject me?"

The longer that I stare at those eyes of his, the more I can sense that his wolf is peeking through my own and is trying to lure me in.

Jerome's hand started to travel from my shoulders down to my waist, exploring the insides of my shirt as he pulled me closer to his muscular body. He rested his chin on my right shoulder, sniffing my neck while fanning it with his hot breath, which made me feel a surge of burning sensation burst from my stomach.

Everything he did mysteriously made me lose myself as my consciousness drifted away with each of his movements.

"J-Jerome, stop... We might get seen by other people," I murmured in between my tiny gasps as he began to softly bite my skin.

He didn't listen to me. He walked backwards without pausing his smooches until he reached a door, which he effortlessly opened with a kick. I could no longer restrain myself from this heat. My legs momentarily wobbled in every second that passed by with the desire to close my eyes and let him take the lead.

"You smell so good," Jerome whispered as he slowly dragged me with him to his bathroom, then he opened the shower, and despite the cold water splashing from my head down to my feet, the heat was still there.

I raised one of my legs to his waist, which he instantly held to keep my balance stable until he carried me to sit on the edge of the sink. I tilted my head upward with our kiss still intact, suppressing the urge to let a moan escape through my mouth in the midst of it.

The thin fabric that covered us got wet, making our bodies exposed. My mind was clouded by the thought that we would make love tonight if we still didn't stop.

And that's exactly what occurred for all the hours that went on. After taking a short break in the shower, we headed over to his fluffy bed with white sheets to continue.

"I guess I have no reason to reject you after all these," I muttered, then planted another kiss on Jerome's forehead as we lay down, both of us catching our breaths.

Jerome tucked some strands of my hair into the back of my ear as he gazed at me with those tired eyes. "Were you planning to reject me? In case you don't know, you can't find someone else similar to me even in the afterlife," he replied with a chuckle.

"Luna? Jerome? Are you there?" Mrs. Asterbelle asked outside Jerome's room after consecutive knocks.

My eyes widened as I pulled the blanket to my neck. "What are we supposed to do? Mom is here." I panicked.

My mate laughed at my reaction as he sat on the bed after playing with my hair. "You're worried over nothing. Go dress up; I'll talk to her," he said.

I searched for his walk-in closet and picked up a white shirt, which I paired with his black leather duster jacket and some comfy jeans. All of his belongings looked exquisite for me to wear, as if I were someone reputable.

I went out of the room and saw the two sitting in opposite chairs in Jerome's office.

"What's the matter?" I curiously asked them.

Mrs. Asterbelle stood up to approach me as she gave me a piece of mail. It somehow reminded me of the day when I received an invitation from the clan.

Upon reading what was inside, fear was instilled in my soul. "Yana is held captive by Brian?" I inquired for verification, which my mother answered with a simple nod. "But why? How? Isn't Yana locked up in their house? As far as I know, she rarely goes out without Yve..."

Yana was Yve's sister. They were born as twins, but Yana treats Yve as the older one since Yve has a stronger resolve than her. Yana often gets discriminated against just because of her cowardice whenever she's tasked with defeating a rogue.

And ever since Yana got an injured leg from one of her tasks in their academy, Yve strictly warned her not to go back to school and just stay put in their home.

"That's his way of telling us to get our asses back in the Blood Moon Pack to continue the war that all of you declared. Brian's using Yana as hostage, since he knows that Yve was together with you," Mrs. Asterbelle explained.

"Does Yve already know about this?"

Mrs. Asterbelle shook her head. "I can't be the one to tell her about it; she might go insane and act up on her own."

Jerome seemed agitated. He didn't like Brian's gut right from the start. "This hostage thing never gets old," he murmured.

The three of us went downstairs, where the rest were waiting. Yve held her own hands as she played with her fingers, and she immediately looked at us when she heard us.

"What was the mail about?" Yve questioned, her gaze stuck on mine.

I gulped, contemplating whether I should tell her the truth or hide the facts about her sister.

Jerome stood in front of me and stole the paper, which he displayed in front of Yve. "Your sister's in danger," he briefly said.

Yve's eyes widened in shock, then she placed a hand on her mouth. "T-this can't be real. Yana is going to be killed by your father!"

She attempted to push me, but fortunately, Jerome didn't let her. He held her shoulder firmly as she continuously punched the air as if she could hit me.

"I understand that you're frustrated. No one expected that Brian would use Yana. Calm down, okay?" I mumbled with a deep breath.

"How can you expect me to calm down? You know I only have Yana left in my life! You're lucky that you still have Jerome and even those who adopted you." Yve expressed her misery.

This was the problem with Yve's mindset. She thinks ahead of time, and she doesn't even consider the possibility that everything will turn out alright.

I removed Jerome's hand from Yve's shoulder. There's no other way out of this mess other than to face it head-on.

"I'll do whatever it takes to save Yana. I'll even use the power that the Moon Goddess, Althea, bestowed upon me. I swear to her name that I won't let Yana die in the hands of that filthy man," I seriously said to reassure her.

Yve has finally cooled down; she didn't harm me even though I was clearly vulnerable. "You're not lying, are you? I can still vividly see the image of you cursing us, saying that we would definitely regret how we turned our backs on you when you came to us begging to treat you like usual," she said.

I smiled at the thought that she had thought about it for months. "You can mark my words. Yana would be living together with you under the same pack, far from Brian's touch," I replied.

"I'll trust you on this one, Luna." Yve claimed my hand, gently pressing it before she wiped her tears off her face. "Tell me how I can help; I'll do my best to make sure I won't get in your way."

It has been approximately an hour and a half since the six of us discussed the next plan for how we'd deal with Brian. We came to the conclusion that we'd face him together and just have some reliable pack warriors, vampires, and mafias to guard us in the back lines.

Even so, I gave Yve my pistol along with several magazines of silver ammo, since she can't fight Brian without any weapon.

"Jerome," Joseph called my mate, who was standing by the window, enjoying the peaceful scenery outside. "Are you sure we can take the Holmes siblings with us? Haven't you thought about how they could suddenly team up with Brian and betray us like Jazpher did?"

Jerome sighed, inserting his hands inside the side pockets of his jacket. "There's no room left for doubts, Joseph. If it were Andrea here, she would certainly have faith in each and every one of us."

I noticed how Joseph's thin smile faded the moment that he heard his former mate's name. "If you say so."

"This is bad news, Jerome!" Yuki exclaimed as she went inside the room with beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Shin's loyal warriors don't want to cooperate with you. All of them said that they'd rather die than obey any of your commands!"