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Shawn

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I had apparently already been asleep for a while but I had felt the need to go back to sleep for the rest of the night. I guess when you almost die your body needs its rest.

I don't know what time it was when I fell back to sleep with Dietrich, but I slept soundly all night, held tightly in my mate's arms. Dietrich was already awake when I woke up sometime after noon but he hadn't left the bed. He said he didn't want to leave my side. Now isn't that just an awesome mate?

"How did you sleep?" He asked me after I had questioned why he was still holding me if he had been awake.

"Peacefully." I smiled at him, knowing it was because of him that I was alive and able to be sleeping and talking and doing anything ever again.

"Then I am glad I kept holding you close. I would have hated to have ruined your sleep."

"You spoil me, you know that?" I grinned at him.

"I try to, but you keep trying to stop me." He chuckled.

"I'm trying to accept it more. I think I might be able to move on from it soon, very soon."

"That's good to hear." He looked at me lovingly, as if I was making all his dreams come true.

"But, before we get to more spoiling, can we take a shower? I feel really grody."

"But of course my love." He pulled his arms from me, though he still seemed reluctant.

Once we were no longer tangled together Dietrich stood and held a hand out toward me. I knew he wanted to help me to my feet, and I knew he would have some excuse for it, so I didn't say anything, I just pushed the blanket aside and took his hand. I would have been able to have gotten up by myself, but I was still in a slight amount of pain, not too much but a little, so his help was actually appreciated.

I hadn't had the chance to look at myself during the brief time I had been awake yesterday. Once I was standing I realized just how much of a mess I really was.

"Why did you let me lay in the bed when I was covered in so much filth?" I couldn't believe that not only did he let me get the bed dirty, he then proceeded to snuggle me all night while I was still so filthy.

"What did you want me to do, lay you on the couch?" He seemed appalled at my words.

"I don't know, but now the bed and you are both a mess."

"The sheets can be changed, Liebling, and I am showering with you, so all is well." He was definitely not bothered by this as much as I was.

"Will I learn to be as carefree as you now that I am part vampire?"

"Whether you do or not I will love you either way." Why did he have to say things like that when he knew what it did to me?

I let Dietrich pull me into the bathroom then, lost in thought as I looked down at the torn and bloody clothes that I was still wearing. I hadn't seen my injuries before I had lost consciousness and when I was awake last night I focused more on the fact that I was alive.

Once I was in the brightly lit tiled room I stopped and was frozen in my tracks. I was looking into the large mirror that was just opposite of the door and was shocked by what I saw.

The first big surprise was the splashes and smears of blood that were all over my shirt, arms, and face. The second big surprise was the long thin mark on the left side of my face. I felt the air rush from my lungs as if I had slammed into something and fallen backwards hard. I felt like I had been hit so hard that all the wind had been knocked out of me.

"What happened to me?" I was surprised that I hadn't stuttered with how shocked I felt at that moment.

"It was one of your injuries. It doesn't appear to have healed completely. It is most likely due to the venom of those beasts."

"How could I have not healed it? How could it have not gone away?" I could tell that I was panicking, that I was beyond worried about this mark on me.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a vain man. But I know how much that Dietrich cares about appearances. How could I be scarred when I was to be with him? He couldn't possibly want a mate that was ruined like this.

I had to know, I needed to see if the wound on my chest had scarred as well. I grabbed the edges of my shirt and ripped it open, pulling it apart so fiercely that the buttons flew everywhere.

Yup, sure enough, there was a long thin slash that went from my left shoulder down at an angle to just above my navel. Both of the marks were thin and pink like fresh new scars. Over time they might fade to a less noticeable pale pink or white. But for now, they stood out very noticeably.

"I can't be scarred." I whispered the words with a tone of fear and worry.

"What is wrong my love. You are alive, that is all that matters."

"How will you stand being seen with me? Won't you be embarrassed by me."

"Albern, my silly love, how could I be embarrassed by you? How could I feel anything but love for you?"

"Look at me Dietrich! Look at me and tell me that this wouldn't be an embarrassment to you if we went out to dinner."

"I will tell you that anytime you need to hear it, my love. I will never be embarrassed by you or the way you look. To me it doesn't matter whether you have a scar or not, it doesn't matter if you're wearing the right clothes for the occasion or not, nothing matters to me except you. As long as you are there with me, my love, that is all that I need."

Dietrich, who had been standing near me, cupped my face in his hands and leaned in close to me.

"This does not matter to me." He kissed the side of my face all along the newly formed scar. "This matters to me." He pressed his lips to mine gently, lovingly. "This does not matter to me." He released my face and bent forward, placing his lips on the scar on my chest, kissing along it until he would have had to almost kneel to keep going. "This matters to me." He said again as he raised his head and kissed me right above my heart. "I do not care what you look like at all, my love, as long as you are there for me and your heart is beating then that is all I need in life."

"Dietrich, mein Liebe, how is it I got lucky enough to have you?"

"I am the one who is lucky, my love, I have finally found you after half a millennium. I had been searching for so long in vain, because you were not yet ready for me." At those words he pressed a kiss gently to my cheek and trailed down to my neck. For some reason, when he kissed me there it felt extremely sensitive.

"Ahh." I cried out, unable to stop myself.

"Is something wrong?" He jerked back, looking afraid like he thought he had hurt me.

"No, it just felt really, really intense when you kissed me there just now." I laughed sheepishly, hoping he didn't think I was already addicted to sex or something.

"That is understandable, it is where I marked you after all."

"Marked me?" I gave him a look of shock.

"When I turned you, I had to bite you, and in doing so I marked you, I noticed the mark when I woke this morning, still holding you in my arms."

"I have a mark? Like a mate mark?" I was still in a state of disbelief as I continued to ask him.

"Yes, and I have to say that I am liking the meaning behind its design."

"What does it look like?" I wondered out loud as I hurried over to the sink and stood in front of the mirror.

I saw the swirling marks on my neck and expected them to be black like a mate mark usually was. But this mark was a bright blood red. It was swirling lines with a lattice of roses inside of it.

"That symbol is called the Endless Knot and when it comes to lovers it means eternal happiness." Dietrich was looking at me over my shoulder in the mirror. I could see and feel the joy and the love radiating off of him.

"Eternal happiness sounds pretty damn good to me." I smiled right back at him as I felt my love for him grow even more. I turned to face him and pulled him close to me, sealing his lips with mine.

After that we had a very eventful shower with lots of hands on time. I was just happy to be alive and with the man that I loved.