Page 54 of Truthfinder’s Promise

“Okay, we’re pulled over. What was so impor—”

Jensen opened his door, stalked over, pulled hers open, hit the release on her seatbelt, and hauled her out. He pulled her in tight, buried his face in her hair, and inhaled.

“I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead because of me.”

She gave in to what she wanted and hugged him back. “I’ve sort of been trying to pretend that didn’t happen.” Unlike Val, Meredith wasn’t practically on a first-name basis with death. Pain? Yes. Death? Not so much.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry.” He squeezed her tighter and the warmth and solidity of him made the memory of teeth and claws sinking into her skin less visceral. He leaned back, his fingers trailing down her arm to the tattoo on her inner wrist. “The whole point of this was to stop that from happening. And it didn’t.”

Meredith sighed. “It stopped the living room of my house from turning into an all-out war zone, so it did something, but…married, Jensen?”

He winced. “For what it’s worth, that tattoo does just represent an oath. It doesn’t intrinsically mean marriage.”

“But I am assuming that is what your people use it for?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t lie when you said we could undo it. So that means we can get divorced, right?”

“Yes, but—and I would understand if you told me to go fuck myself on this—I think it would be best if we held off on that.”

Meredith tilted her head. “Why? Is your girlfriend likely to try and kill me again if my magical marriage tattoo disappears?”

He winced. “Ex-girlfriend. And no. At least, I don’t think so. It’s completely selfish, but I’d just…feel better if we waited until this was all over.”

It was in her nature to demand to be done with it now. Understanding what the tattoo meant, what people would see it as, made it feel like another cage. She’d been in too many of them—maybe not literal cages, but those born of familial bonds and societal expectations, and she was done with all of them.

The look in Jensen’s eyes—the fear hiding behind the blue irises—kept her from outright refusing. She drew her Aspect forth, let it hum along her skin where he could feel it. She didn’t need to do that to know if he told her the truth, but she wanted him to know what she was doing.

“If I asked you to dissolve it right now, would you?”

“Yes.” No hesitation, no lie. “I’m not trying to trap you. The truth is, I don’t want to be married. Ever. It’s one of the reasons Ren and I broke up. It’s why she’s so pissed about this.” He tapped the tattoo.

Meredith thought about it, weighing what she felt she needed against the situation. They were trying to get the Aspect and Shifter societies to agree to coexist peacefully. It stood to reason that having an Aspect/Shifter marriage to display might be advantageous. It certainly wasn’t going to hurt. One way or another, she had a feeling it would all be done by the time the auction was finished. A couple days. It wouldn’t kill her to stay “married” a couple days.

“We can wait, for now.”

He blew out a breath. “Thank you.”

What was she supposed to say to that? Sure, no problem?

“Sure, no problem. Can we go now? It’s freezing.” He moved past her and she blurted out, “Were you with her when we were together?”

He stopped abruptly. “No. We broke up a couple months before that.”

Relief hit her like an avalanche, then yielded to anxiety again. “I know it’s none of my business. We didn’t—don’t—have that kind of relationship, but…” But if they were all going to be living under the same roof, even for a short amount of time, she didn’t need to be second-guessing everything every second of the day.

“But?” Jensen prompted.

“Do you still want to be with her? If she’s changed her mind about the marriage pre-requisite?”

His gaze softened and he shook his head. “We broke up for a lot of reasons. That was just the final one. You don’t need to be worried.”

“I’m not worried,” she said, sounding defensive even to herself. “This—” she pointed a finger back and forth between them “—isn’t anything, this is just...”

“Sex?” he offered, stepping closer and pulling her to him.

“Exactly. Just sex.”

“Like this is just a kiss?” He leaned in and took her mouth with his. The heat of him was a sharp contrast to the cold air. His lips glided against hers, and his tongue delved inside when her mouth parted to grant him access.

It wasn’t just a kiss. Nothing with him was just anything.

When they broke apart, both breathing hard, his hands cupping her face, she knew they weren’t fooling each other. But maybe they could pretend for a little while longer.