The Unexpected Inheritances

Chapter 19

Disclaimer:

- this - means thoughts

this means creature talking in head

"this" means normal talking

Severus's P.O.V.

James helps me out of the bath, grabbing my towel from the rack without even looking. I don't stop to wonder how he knew which was mine. He wraps it around me, then reaches for a random one himself.

No, no, no.

And even though that's all Nat says, I know exactly what he means. No, he can't use someone else's towel. No, because it will smell like someone else. No, because he will smell like someone else.

I do the first thing I can think of - fall against him before he has the chance to wrap the other towel around himself, forcing him to drop the towel and catch me. His arms around me feel like home.

"Are you alright?"

"Share?" His answer is an unrestrained grin, and I shift the towel so it's around both of us.

We dry off, then head back to the main room. My eyes snag on my 'nest', and the panic flies through me again, stealing my breath and bringing tears to my eyes, though I try to stop it. But one look at James shows that he's deliberately ignoring it, and that calms me slightly.

"You're so beautiful. How could I be looking at anything but you?" And then my heart is racing for an entirely different reason. "It's okay, Severus, I promise. I know, I understand it isn't you, I know." But it's not just that. I don't entirely know what it is myself, but I know it's not just that. Because subs make nests for their dominants. My nest is for James. It's for James and me and our chicks and no one or nothing else. And anything I give to James must be perfect, because he deserves perfect.

I think he can tell that his words don't relax me as much as they were intended to, because he remains frowning slightly.

"What do you want to do, my love? We can stay, I can ignore it. Or... or I could give you time to fix it?" I nod at that. I want to fix it, I want to put effort into our nest, for it to be perfect. I want to give my mate something perfect, something I made myself that he loves more than anything. "Okay, that's great. How... how long do you need?" Forever. Because nothing can be perfect enough for my mate. I cock my head, a silent question to whether or not I can speak. He nods, smiling softly.

"A week. Maybe more."

"That long?" Is it too long? Is he angry? No no... "Hey, that's fine. I just didn't realise how long it took. Take as long as you need. I'll just.... I'll miss you." A whine crawls out of my throat. He'll miss me. My mate will miss me.

I bury my face into his neck to inhale his scent. I can't get enough of it. I can't wait until I can mark that spot; until his scent can merge with mine. I don't want him to go. I want him to stay with me forever and ever. But I need to fix my nest. And need comes before want.

Eventually, he leaves. I give him one of my larger cloaks; the thought of anyone but me seeing my mate's bare skin makes me feel like I'm about to throw up all the blood from my body. The sight of him leaving is almost worse. Almost. But he leaves, and Lucius and Narcissa take his place a few moments later. They're grinning.

"You found your mate, Sev", Luc says, voice warm.

"Yeah, I did." And it's not just Luc's voice that's warm, it's everything.

I turn, assessing my nest and starting on a mental list - a painfully long mental list - of things I need to do before it is anywhere near acceptable.