Arius began laughing "Oh my love, you're so funny."

He continues to laugh as he says, "You're so cute. I've an idea. Why don't I go to the lycan kingdom and cut his head off."

"You can't, Ari," I said, softly.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want. I think you forget that I'm a fucking god and the plus side of being a god is that I don't have to follow mortal legal systems."

"Death is too easy for him," I snarled.

Arius raised his eyebrow and asked, "And what do you think will be a fit enough punishment for our dear Sinclair, beautiful mate."

Giving him a smirk, I replied, "Thank you for asking, my darling."

"I want him to think that he has won, and then I want to see the look in his eyes as we take everything from him. Sin thrives on power and once he realizes it's all gone, you can do whatever you want with him, Ari."

"Why do you want to hurt him, amare?" Arius asked.

"You're not the only one that wants to protect their mate. It's my time to protect you, revenge for you. I also have a personal vendetta against him that he thinks I will die by his hands."

In a flash, Arius picked me up and placed me in his lap, placing kisses all over my face. Giggling, I made no attempt to stop him as I ignored our audience, reveling in Arius's touch.

"Why do you always put me on your lap?" I asked.

"I want my perfect girl on me at all times," he answered.

"Do we have to sit here and watch this?" Allegra said, rolling her eyes.

I turned around in Arius's lap and stuck my tongue out in response as she did the same. Adonis on the side looked out of place in this whole exchange.

"Let's get back on track, ladies and Arius, keep it in your pants," Akoni said to Arius, who was still peppering kisses on the side of my neck.

"What is your plan, Ana?" Adonis asked, breaking his silence.

"Present me to Sin when you take me back, Adonis. We can spin a lie that Arius is a horrible mate, and that I wanted to get back together with him. In the meantime, Arius can go meet with Abia to get some spell that will take all of Sin's power and make him a mortal human," I explained.

"That could work," Adonis replied.

"No," Arius said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Baby, no, he's going to want to touch you."

"I won't let him," I said, grazing my hand over his face.

Lifting me from the chair, Arius walked us to our room, saying a quick goodbye to our friends. We silently traveled through the castle as I snuggled into the warm embrace of my mate. Reaching our room, Arius placed me on the ground before grabbing my chin and pulling it up so I was staring directly at him. Saying nothing, Arius turned me around and undid my hair. He brushed my hair before braiding it and then tying a hair tie around it once he was finished.

Turning me back around, he made me look right at me before grabbing his crown and my own and putting it in his safe.

Coming back to me, Arius, with no warning, said, "You know you've my heart, right? It's yours to do with as you please."

"And I you," replying to him.

"My entire life I have been with absolutely no one other than Abia, Akoni, and Allegra. I've loved only them for the past eon. Even when I was close to losing my humanity, the only thing keeping me tethered was the thought that I would one day meet my mate. In all honesty, during the last two or three centuries, I was losing all hope until I met a certain dark-haired beauty. You came crashing into my life and I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself except love you."

Barely whispering, I asked "What did you just say?"

Grabbing my face, he brought us close enough that we were brushing lips and said, "I love you Analise Kade, the women of my dreams, the queen of my kingdom, my soul, my mate, my whole fucking world. I love you, amare."

I was full-on sobbing by the time he finished his sentence as I reattached myself to Arius. Snuggling into his neck, I continued to cry as he rubbed my hair, soothing me.

When I finally calmed down a bit, I said, "I thought that a soulmate was over for me after I met Axel. Then I met Sin and the full basis of our time together was him ignoring me, always mad at something. Finally, I met you, Athanasios Mortem, the man I've been waiting for my whole life. There's a saying that your first love is the one that comes at a young age, the second is the hard love, and the last is the one that comes at you blindly. You, Arius, literally popped out of nowhere and have taken my life by storm. Not one second has regretted being with you, as you showed me what love is truly about. I love you, Ari, more than anything in the known universe."

Arius laughed as tears streamed down his eyes and said, "You said my name."

"Don't laugh at my mispronunciation. It took me a long time to learn it," I said.

He laughed as he picked me up and twirled me around in a circle.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Arius said repeatedly as he placed kisses on my face and neck.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," I replied.

We laughed and giggled until it wasn't so funny anymore as we stared deep into each other's eyes. His eyes changed into a darker color as the lust showed brightly in his eyes. For the first time, I saw the dark side of Arius's love as I looked into his eyes. Instead of frightening me, it just turned me on. He pushed me against the wall behind before slamming his lips against mine. I could feel that his kiss was more desperate and hot than our usual ones.

Breaking our kiss, Arius said, "Mine."

"Yours," I replied.

Not needing another thought, I melted to the ground and got on my knees in front of him.

"Stop, amare, you don't have to," he said to me.

I just rolled my eyes at him as I made my way to unbuckle his belt. Pulling my hair, he brought my face back and stopped all motion.

"You have one chance for us to stop before I lose control."

"You go on and on about how much you want me, but when are you going to take control and finally take what you want," I said, testing him.

"You want me to take what I want, little girl?" Arius snarled.

"Mhmm" I replied.

"Safe word?"

"Sin" I replied, smirking.

Tightening his hold on my hair, he said, "Don't be a fucking brat, amare."

"Fine, fine. I want my safe word to be crown," I replied.

"Good, let us begin."