Page 16 of Demon's Heart

Dante had never considered that possibility. He had a picture of what mates were supposed to be in his head. But romantic lovers might not be the only pairing mates formed.

Was it possible to be something else? Shit, of course, it was possible. How could it not be? Every Eternal being had a fated mate.

Dante would be honored to stand at Ollie’s side as a friend, to be part of his life, share memories and platonic affection. He loved Ash and Onyx, and the prospect of another friendship like that was a good thing.

But could they still bond and cement the mating connection? Would Ollie want that?

He might not accept. Maybe mating would seem like a relationship to a human. Would Ollie choose to grow old and die and pass into his human afterlife in the Eternal Realm, leaving Dante behind forever?

No.

Ollie would reincarnate, as human souls naturally did. Dante would find him again, and their time together wouldn’t be over. Unless the Eternals held his soul back, as demons suspected they’d done to punish them, keeping their mates from being found on Earth. Then Dante would never see Ollie again.

But even if that were the case, he’d still treasure what they had.

Being someone’s friend could be a powerful connection and wasn’t lesser than romantic love. Dante hadn’t lied to Ollie. He’d needed a minute to catch up.

“We don’t have to forget about an awkward moment,” Dante said, a steady calm flowing through him, so powerful that even his demon sense was accepting. “I want you to be yourself around me. If I’m making you uncomfortable, you can tell me.”

Ollie blinked, his lashes fluttering. “Sure, okay. But I don’t know if you made me uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure I did that all on my own. I’ve been overthinking this. I was so sure I gave you the wrong idea. But I didn’t?”

“You mean by flirting?” Dante rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to be honest even if he couldn’t bring up their fated connection. “I felt something between us and wondered if you did too. But you’ve made your position clear, so if flirting isn’t you coming on to me, and it’s something you do with friends, well, I know that now. I won’t take it any other way unless you tell me to.”

“Okay.” Ollie sounded almost skeptical, but he hurried on. “Want to get a drink? Then we should probably look at the art.”

6

OLLIE

Wow,that went better than Ollie had imagined.

He set his empty wine glass on a passing server’s tray and grabbed two full ones, handing one to Dante. “The gallery host, or docent, or whatever, said to start with that painting over there and move clockwise.”

Dante raised his glass. “Lead the way.”

Ollie guided Dante to a painting at the front of the room.

Was Dante telling the truth when he said being friends was great? He’d accepted so easily and hadn’t asked any prying questions about why Ollie didn’t date. That never happened.

A hollowness settled in Ollie’s chest, and he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t possible to be disappointed. Even if he’d read Dante completely wrong and he hadn’t been interested or about to ask Ollie out, that wasn’t a bad thing. It was what Ollie wanted, or at least what he needed.

Dante stood shoulder to shoulder with Ollie, looking at the painting. “It’s very dark.”

A waft of fresh peppermint filled Ollie’s nose. Was that Dante’s cologne? Fuck, it smelled good. So soothing…

Right. Art. He had to focus on the bold black and gray brushstrokes. But the butterflies in his chest hadn’t calmed since saying his piece. The damn things battered his heart, and something pulled deep within him.

Was he sick?

No, it was more like Dante had him on a string, tugging on his chest and reeling him in.

Which confirmed Ollie had made the right decision. This level of attraction wasn’t healthy. It was a recipe for disaster and codependency. Ollie wanted nothing more than to please Dante. He burned with it. But he wasn’t a people pleaser anymore. He wasn’t getting sucked in.

Ollie forced his attention back to the painting. “I feel like the artist was angry at the canvas.”

Dante hummed in agreement before moving on to the next display.

Ollie followed, sipping his wine. All the paintings were black and white. He preferred a bit of color. If he were going to buy art for his apartment, this wouldn’t be it.