Page 68

Trust is a two-way street.

Vince was asleep on top of me. The sun was high and wind fluttered the sheer curtains that framed the two tall windows on the back wall of our bedroom, bringing in a fresh scent every few minutes. I shook my head. Our bedroom. And it truly was. He’d changed it some since I’d last been here.

The large four-poster bed covered in vines and flowers was the same, but the covers were now a dark yellow with a subtle geometric pattern, and the sheets were crisp white.

The terrace outside the windows was filled with colorful flowers like usual, but there was a chair, with a back, on it for Vince.

Even the walls, which had been bare, now had art hanging on them. My mate had made himself comfortable.

My mate. I smiled as I ran my hand down his thin back, and he grunted, nuzzling closer to me. I cradled the back of his head, tail coiling around his leg.

He’d wanted to clean up after we’d fucked, but I’d needed to hold him.

I couldn’t bear the thought of him out of my arms even for a moment.

Besides, there was some primal instinct that was satisfied by feeling his seed leak out of me.

I needed it, as much as I needed to have my seed on his skin, even though it would be difficult to clean off later.

I wanted his smell coating me.

My touchstone pulsed. Someone was attempting to reach me. I stared at the glowing blue stone, holding my mate tight in my embrace. I grabbed it, and Hallonnixmin’s voice filled my ears. My fingers squeezed the stone, and I chucked it across the room. It hit the wall with a crack.

Vince snorted, eyes fluttering open. I smoothed a hand down his back and pressed a kiss to his hair. “I have you, Mate,” I whispered. He burrowed his face into my chest, and his thoughts fell into a sleeping pattern.

NAID appeared. “Prince, Crown Prince Hallonnixmin would like to speak with you.”

I held my mate tighter. I wanted to linger in this moment of isolation with him. Vince and me—no one else was welcome, not even my brothers. “I’m unavailable to everyone, no matter the reason. Disconnect now,” I ordered before it could come back with Hallonnixmin’s response.

NAID wouldn’t bypass the privacy laws, which could be overridden for a true emergency, but Edith would. Hopefully, with Seth and Kalvoxrencol on the Admiral Ven , she wouldn’t be in a mood to prod around in my system, but one could never tell with her.

I pushed the thoughts from my mind. All that mattered was Vince. Everything else could wait.

I grunted as the water sloshed around me. Vince chuckled, beads of water running over his pale skin, clinging to him. “It’s your own fault, Sweetheart,” he commented as he scrubbed my scales. “You refused to clean my cum off you, and now it’s dried onto you.”

He’d insisted on cleaning me. I couldn’t say why, even though I could hear his thoughts on exactly why he liked washing me, but Vince took pleasure in simply caring for me, and I adored it.

Once he was satisfied, Vince settled on my lap as we soaked in the warm water.

His head rested back against my shoulder as we simply remained silent.

He was content, and so was I. Even the bathroom around us spoke of his comfort here.

The stone shower and tub were the same, but I could see his products and new drying cloths and even more artwork in here.

Drakcol, in general, weren’t a creative species. We didn’t value art in basically any form, which was why all of our clothes were the same style, no artwork or decorations covered our walls, and we rarely wrote our own novels or created our own experiences.

But humans were different, and it pleased me to no end that Vince had placed his touch on our space in my absence. It spoke of his desire to stay. I swallowed as my tail curled around his ankle. He would stay, wouldn’t he?

Vince didn’t notice my tension. His mind was peaceful with little thought, basking in my warmth. He played with my hand and stared out the window, watching the curtains flutter in the never-ending breeze.

I trailed my fingers through his hair, adoring the way the black strands slid around my scales. My mate was here, and I could hardly believe it.

Vince kissed my palm, and I tensed even further as his thoughts began to change.

“Relax,” he whispered. “Just relax, Sweetheart.”

My breath rushed out. I was terrified of scaring him away. I knew what it was like to live without him, and I could never do it again. Never again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and he wasn’t meaning my current tension. Vince was thinking of my rough appearance. When I didn’t say anything, he turned around to face me. “What if I promise not to get mad?”

His thoughts shifted to wondering if I cheated on him, then felt guilty for even assuming that. I growled and said, “I did not fuck anyone else.”

Hooking his arms around my neck, Vince asked, “Then what? Something’s wrong?” Before I could lie, he continued, “If you came home and saw me looking as bad as you do, wouldn’t you want to know? Wouldn’t you demand I tell you?”

I pushed my forehead against his. Vince was, of course, right.

I would’ve insisted on knowing what was wrong with my mate.

He loved me as much as I loved him. I’d promised myself that I would be honest with him about my needs, and now was the time, but I feared Vince would be angry, even if he promised not to be.

I knew my mate well, and he would be furious.

“I won’t ask you to not be angry, because that will not be possible,” I said.

“Are you dying?” he asked, voice barely audible as a terror so visceral ripped through him that my soul spasmed in pain.

“No,” I replied instantly, holding him close. “No, I promise.”

Vince kissed my neck, tightening his hold. “Talk to me. Trust me.”

Was that what this came down to? Trust? I’d worked so hard to gain his trust, but had ever given him mine? No. I’d hidden —afraid he would hurt me in the end. I cupped his cheeks so I could look into his blue eyes.

“I love you,” I said.

He lifted his eyebrows. That wasn’t an answer.

“When you left me to go to the station,” I started, mouth dry and muscles tensing, “I thought that would be the last time I would see you.”

“But I told you we were still together.”

“I didn’t think that meant you would wait for me. I thought you were going to return to Earth.”

He closed his eyes. “Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me that all the times we talked?”

“I was afraid.”

“Of what?” Vince asked.

“That you would only choose me because…” I couldn’t get the words out.

“Because I’m your mate.”

Pain stabbed my soul as a gasp escaped from my lips. “You knew?”

“Only afterwards. Kal informed me.”

“I told him not to. I told them all not to,” I growled.

Anger rolled through him like storm clouds. “What was your plan, Don? Are you telling me that you were going to let yourself die while I went home?”

“Yes.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Dontilvynsan?” Vince shouted, slapping the water.

It splashed me, and I looked away, unable to hide from his thoughts like I could from his eyes.

“You were going to let me travel all the way to Earth when you needed me here? Didn’t you know I would stay for you?

I love you, you… I don’t even have a word, that’s how frustrated I am! ”

“Vince—”

“This is why your brothers hated me. They thought I was killing you. Did you think they would’ve held their peace? Let me get all the way to Earth, and not one of them would have told me? They would have, and then I would’ve come back, pissed. Fuck! I'm pissed now.”

I was unable to stay a word.

He took a deep breath. “I’m so furious right now.”

I kept my eyes down, so when he touched my chin, I started. Vince nudged my face up. Stars, I flinched from the heat in his gaze. “Tell me what was going through your thoughts, Don. Did you want to die? Is that it?”

“No,” I whispered. I didn’t.

“Then what?” Vince’s fingers refused to let me go.

“My happiness doesn’t matter. Yours does.”

Something broke in Vince. I could feel it, but I didn’t know what it was. Tears slid down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He shook my chin, gentle despite how angry he was.

Vince snarled, settling on my lap and fisting my hair, “Listen to me, Dontilvynsan. Your happiness matters. Of course it fucking matters. You think only your gift matters, and that is a lie. You matter. You . Do you understand me? You matter. And so does your happiness.”

Tears burned my eyes.

“You want me to be happy? Well, shocker, I want you to be happy too. Do not ever sacrifice yourself like this again. Talk to me. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” I whispered, snuggling my mate, who in turn pressed against me like he was never going to leave my side again.

I held my mate close. Having Don tell me about his plan had made me so angry again, even though I already knew. It was… heartbreaking to realize how little he valued himself when I would literally give up everything for him. He was the most important person in my life.

Don nuzzled the top of my head in response.

God, I was furious still, but I held Don tight in my arms. We were lying on the rug I’d added to cover the wood floor in the living room, naked. After he’d confessed, part of me had wanted to leave so I could blow off steam, but that would’ve hurt Don more than my thoughts.

He had his arms and wings around me, his leg thrown over my hip, and his tail coiled around my calf.

Don was trying to get as close as possible.

I brushed my hand through his hair, and Don grunted.

He knew how angry I was, and I was glad for once, he wasn’t sharing his thoughts with me. I didn’t want to feel his pain.

Taking a deep breath, I kissed his chest, so fucking relieved he was fine. What if he’d gotten worse while he was away from me? I couldn’t imagine him leaving me behind.

Don kissed the top of my head. “My apologies.”