Summary: On the night before she’s supposed to go to Eros, Nina has something she needs to know first. A soulmates AU.
The night before her appointment with Eros, Nina convinces Nadia to send her everything she has from them.
“That will ruin the process!” Nadia initially protests, but after a little cajoling and pleading, she gives in.
Now, as Nina scrolls through the email Nadia sent her, she’s starting to second guess the whole idea. Most of the information is standard: Eros’ address and phone number, the process of doing personality tests, how the company matches people who are “compatible and complementary”. The wording in the documents is oddly formal, almost clinical, but that’s not what really bothers her.
No, what bothers her, as she continues reading, is the sudden, tucked away disclaimer that agreeing to work with Eros will result in the erasure of a person’s soulmark. For as long as she can remember, her soulmark has been there, normally hidden in its spot high on her left rib cage. Even though Eros has such an apparently high success rate, and even though she hasn’t met her soulmate yet (at least, Nina thinks, not that I know for sure), the thought of the mark being gone bothers her.
She almost calls Nadia, but Nadia is such a hopeless romantic and is so happy with Steve that Nina knows she’ll just wave it off. She could call Damien. Damien will agree with her and tell her he told her there was something off about them. His playful gloating will make her roll her eyes, but she can deal with that. That’s not what makes her hesitate. No, she hesitates because talking to Damien about soulmates is more complicated than ‘have you met yours?’ and ‘what is your soulmark?’.
For the years that she’s known him, Damien has deftly avoided discussing anything too personal, but one thing he’s been clear on is that he finds the soulmarks ridiculous.
“Do you really think what’s essentially a birthmark should determine who you’re supposed to be with?” he’d asked one night.
Nina had shrugged. “I mean, maybe? There’s more to them than just being a mark, Damien. Don’t you want to know who out there has a soulmark that matches yours?”
He’d looked at her then, for a long, drawn out moment. There was a look on his face she’d never seen before, something open and almost…vulnerable. His eyes had searched hers, and she’d swallowed hard.
For a second, she’d thought he was going to lean in, say yes, kiss her, something. But just as he’d been about to answer, Nadia had come bounding into the bar, and the moment had vanished.
Now, even though she’s certain Damien will ignore her concerns about her soulmark disappearing and focus instead on why Eros is a bad idea, Nina finds herself texting him. She wants, needs, to know if the feelings she has for him that have grown into more over time are meant to be nothing, or meant to be something.
You up? she sends to him.
Yeah, he texts back. Everything okay?
Fine, she replies after a minute. Can we talk?
Sure. Where at?
Nina hesitates. He’s been to her apartment a handful of times, but never like this. But if she doesn’t do this now, when will she?
My place?
It feels like forever before he answers, even though it’s only a few minutes.
Okay. You sure you’re okay? he finally replies.
Yeah. See you soon?
On my way.
When he gets to her apartment, Damien takes one look at her face and asks her what’s wrong. She sighs. Of course he’d figure it out immediately.
“You can’t make fun of me,” she says, and Damien looks at her curiously.
“Okay,” he says.
They sit on her couch, and Nina pulls up the email from Nadia about Eros.
“Read this part,” she says, scrolling to the line about the soulmarks.
Damien’s brow furrows as he reads it. “Nina…”
“I know, I know, you think soulmarks are just random marks and don’t mean anything. But…this is weird, right?”
Damien snorts. “This is the weird part to you?”
She huffs in frustration. “A lot of it is weird, okay? But this…”
She shakes her head.
“Then don’t go,” Damien says, as if the answer is that simple.
Sitting there with him, late at night in the quiet of her apartment, with no risk of interruption, she feels a sudden surge of bravery. She asked him over for a reason, she reminds herself.
“Damien?” she says. “Where’s your soulmark?”
He glances up from reading through the rest of Nadia’s email, looking startled and a little guarded. “Why do you want to know?”
“You’re a private investigator,” Nina retorts. “You should be able to figure it out.”
Damien laughs wryly. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
“You didn’t answer me,” she points out.
Damien shuts her laptop. “Why does it matter, Nina? Would you really let a mark be the only thing that determines who you end up with?”
“I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “But I still want to know if it’s you.”
He places her laptop on the end table next to him. “Do you really think it’s me, Nina? Or do you want it to be?”
It’s an alarmingly honest question from this man who’s always deflected personal questions. She feels the need to be just as honest.
“Both,” she answers.
Damien turns towards her. She can see his stubborn resolve crumbling. He still looks hesitant, an oddly worried look on his face. He lets out a heavy sigh.
“It’s on my ribs,” he answers, then places his palm under his jacket and over the spot on his right side.
Nina feels her heart start pounding, and stares at his hand over his shirt.
“Can I see?” she asks.
He hesitates, watching her scoot closer, then shrugs his jacket off. His fingers grasp the hem of his shirt, his eyes locking on hers for one brief moment, and then he pulls it over his head. She looks for his soulmark, but her gaze also lingers on his bare skin, the dark smattering of hair on his chest and stomach, the outline of his muscles.
When she glances at the spot he’d placed his hand over, she freezes. She reaches out and places her fingertips on his soulmark and hears Damien suck in a breath. It matches hers, the same intricate lines and swirls decorating his skin. When she looks up, she knows that he knows. The look on his face says it all. Nina yanks her shirt over her head and nudges her bra out of the way.
He doesn’t move. His eyes widen and he stares at the mark on her skin, until she finally laughs nervously and says his name. His head jerks up.
“Unbelievable,” he says dazedly. “I’ve known you for years…and just find out now…”
“You’re stubborn,” Nina says, and Damien gives her an incredulous look, looking like he’s about to argue, and then laughs quietly.
She shifts on the couch, moving slowly, until she’s straddling him and they’re nearly skin to skin. He opens his mouth to say something, and Nina hurriedly says, “If you say you still think soulmarks are ridiculous, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
Damien barks out a laugh. “No. I was going to say I really hope you’re not still planning to go to Eros tomorrow.”
His hands glide slowly up her back as she leans into him.
“Definitely not,” she murmurs.
His fingers hover over the clasp on her bra, the fabric the only thing keeping their marks apart now. She nods, resting her forehead against his. Goosebumps erupt across her skin when he slowly undoes the hooks and slips the straps over her arms. He wraps his arms around her back, holding her close, and she hears him groan right as she does when she presses against him.
Their marks aren’t even fully touching, and already Nina can feel hers tingling, can feel warmth rolling through her. It’s intense, makes her close her eyes and bury her hands in Damien’s hair. It grows more and more insistent, this feeling, the desire for him, and she squirms against him. His arms tighten around her, and he shifts her closer.
“I want you,” she gasps.
Damien groans, then stands suddenly, still holding onto her. “You sure?” he asks, even as he makes his way to her bedroom.
“Yes. Quit being so stubborn,” she breathes in his ear, wrapping her legs tighter around him.
She feels his chest rumble as he laughs. “I’m always stubborn,” he reminds her, setting her down just inside her bedroom door and closing it.
“Good thing I’m always persistent then,” Nina says.
Damien just laughs again, shaking his head. “This one time, I’ll agree with you about that.”
She wraps her arms around him, letting herself get caught up in the feeling of his bare skin against hers, his solid warmth under her hands, his lips drifting over her neck and up to capture her mouth in a gentle kiss.
“I hoped, Nina. But I didn’t think…”
He trails off, then kisses her again, harder this time.
“You’re so beautiful,” Damien murmurs.
She flushes a little and bites her lip against a smile. “So are you.”
His hands wander softly over her skin as they move toward the bed, and Nina thinks she’s never been more grateful for her persistence than she is in this moment.