Chapter 219 - Marks

Bai Lei and I stand in the room with all the constellations, facing each other in silence. He slowly reaches up to the back of my neck and gently touches the skin with his fingertips. His dark red eyes search my own green eyes as he asks "Are you ready?" 

A smile slowly crawls across my face as I say "I'm ready when you are. But, why here?" This time he smiles as he says "I somehow felt it would be more appropriate here, among the stars." I slightly nod my head and say "Good thinking"

The star constellations spin around my feet, bouncing back and forth between Bai Lei and I but when Bai Lei unleashes his power, the stars begin to burn brighter. Warm energy washes over the back of my neck and slowly seeps down my spin like warm honey.

I slightly close my eyes and enjoy the feel before Bai Lei says "I'm going to begin... if it's too much, tell me and I'll stop." I open my eyes again and smile up at him as I say "It'll be fine, stop worrying so much." 

Was I a little scared of the pain? Yes. I don't like pain but when I think about being taken again... I'd rather have his mark. That way, he can always find me, no matter what. The warm honey feeling quickly starts to fade as the feeling begins to become hotter.

Bai Lei watches me closely so I keep a neutral look on my face as I say "I'll be upset if you stop halfway through..." Bai Lei gives me a strained smile as he slightly nods. The hot soon turned into burning but just like before, I try to keep my face neutral, even if I was starting to sweat. 

If I had to be honest, it was very similar to the pain I felt with Hundun when he did it but somehow this didn't feel as bad. As Bai Lei starts increasing his power and the pain continues to grow, the stars on the ground blow begin spinning around us in lazy circles.

When Bai Lei's eyes begin to glow red, my green eyes start to glow silver as I bite my lip in pain. He keeps his eyes locked on mine, reading my every reaction. He's really trying to take it slow so he doesn't hurt me but in a way, he's making it worse.

I grit my teeth and say "Like a bandaid, just rip it off in one go. Doing it slowly is worse." Bai Lei looks at me in confusion before nodding his head and increasing his power. A hot searing pain burns it's way all the way down my back, nearly bring me to my knees.

Bai Lei steps forward, allowing me to rest on his ċhėst as he asks "Want me to stop?" I scoff and say "I told you to just do it." Bai Lei doesn't say anything as another wave of pain nearly takes my breath away. The stars around us are now spinning around us so quickly, it just looks like a circle made of solid light.

Suddenly, the stars begin to lift and spin around us like a tornado made of light. Lightning begins to crawl across the walls and mix with the tornado of light as Bai Lei increases his power yet again. Somehow, it doesn't really hurt anymore.

If anything, I can't seem to stop looking at the tornado of light and lightning spinning around us as Bai Lei says something in a low, soft voice. When I feel the power reaching its peak, I lift my head to see a blinding light headed straight for us!

I suck in, causing Bai lei to look up. I feel his arms tighten around me as he tries to move us to the side but the light tornado wouldn't allow us to move. The blinding light hits us both, causing everything to go dark.

~~~~

When I hear Bai Lei groan, I slowly open my eyes and lift my head, quickly realizing that we're both on the ground but I was still in his arms. I reach out and touch his cheek as I ask "Are you okay?" He groans again and reaches out, cupping my hand on his cheek.

He slowly opens his dark red eyes as he says "What the hell was that?" I arch an eyebrow at him and slightly smirk as I say "I thought you'd know. That wasn't you?" He snorts and lays his head back down on the ground as he says "No, that wasn't me."

"I had just finished placing my mark on you when I looked up and saw the blast of energy. It almost felt like... the stars." He says with confusion. He slowly reaches up and rubs his neck as he says "Other than a little sore, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

I do a quick mental check and realize I'm more than fine. "I feel completely fine and it actually didn't hurt at all towards the end," I say quickly sitting up. I lift my hair up and pull it to the side as I turn my back to Bai Lei asking "Is it there? Did it work?"

He chuckles and slowly sits up so that he can see the back of my neck and says "I'm sure it did. It looks..." His voice suddenly stops as he freezes behind me. I frown and slowly turn to him asking "It looks like what?" But he just stares at me with large eyes.

I reach up and touch the back of my neck, instantly feeling a warm tingle run down my spine. I look back to him in confusion as I ask "What? What's wrong?" He blinks several times as he reaches out and spins me back around.

His fingers gently touch the back of my neck, instantly causing that tingling feeling to come again but it was much more intense with his touch. His voice is bȧrėly above a whisper as he says "It's... It's my mark but so much more. It's also... a shimmery silver color. Not solid black like it should be."

This time I blink several times as I say "Is that... okay?" I reach back up and touch the mark, causing little tingles to run down my back but when I turn to see Bai Lei, he has an awkward look on his face as he reaches up and touches the side of his neck.

I frown at him and ċȯċk my head to the side asking "What?" He looks to me and says "Touch my mark again." Still confused, I reach up and touch it again but when I see Bai Lei shiver, I freeze. I lean forward and gently push his black hair to the side, revealing a large shimmery, silver star-like marking on the side of his neck. 

It's so faint, you almost don't see it until the light catches it a certain way or when I touch mine. When I reach up to touch mine again, I watch his light up from within. "They're connected..." I say in a whisper as I stare at it with awe.

He reaches up and touches his, this time making me shiver from the feeling of his touch. Our eyes lock onto each other as we try to figure out what just happened. "Is this... has this happened before?" I ask, searching is dark red eyes. 

His eyes begin to glow a bright red as he slowly shakes his head saying "No, no male has ever received a mark like this and no mark has ever looked like this or acted like this." My mouth twitches as I start to smile and say "Well, it looks like we're gonna keep having a bunch of firsts between us. Does this mean I've marked you too?" 

Bai Lei chuckles and says "It looks like it... I think the surrounding stars had something to do with it." I chuckle myself as I look down to see the stars slowly dancing around us on the ground in what looked like a victory dance. I place my hand down and watch with a smile when they all come rushing over to my hand.

I giggle with excitement and turn to find Bai Lei watching me with a warm smile. I reach out for his hand and when he places it in mine, I slowly lower onto the ground with the stars and watch as all the stars pulse with a bright light. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I say looking down at the surrounding stars with delight. "Absolutely breathtaking.." He says just above a whisper. I turn to look at him and see him watching me with a small knowing smile. I roll my eyes and lean over to place a soft kiss on his lips. 

I pull back a little and ask "Are you ready to go hunting?" His eyes flash as a cruel smile crawls across his face saying "Oh, I can't wait."