Page 21 of Devil May Hunt (The Devils of Vitality #8)

It felt good being honest. Refreshing. Like a weight was lifting off his shoulders, and there was a chance he really could come up for air.

That was probably why he pressed forward, despite the danger. Despite knowing if he took one wrong step and pissed the alpha off, he’d be dooming himself to a punishment he most likely didn’t want to endure.

He’d realized something since waking though—a few somethings.

Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he’d initially thought.

Maybe Gunho was right, and they had more in common than either of them knew.

“You chose a mate who can’t procreate to stick it to your grandfather,” he surmised.

“But you get anxious and annoyed whenever I’m not speaking my mind.

” He knew he was right when Gunho’s brow dipped low.

“Really, you want the same thing I want. A partner. Someone who will have your back. It’s that. That’s your weakness.”

“How so?”

“I can exploit it.” Brennon took a single step closer but then stopped. “Give,” he retreated the same distance, “and take.”

He’d thought the alpha had acted on impulse when he’d made a claim on him, but he could see now there was more to it than that. Gunho wanted him, and not just for his smell or his hole. The alpha truly wanted to make this work, to form something lasting between them.

Set his own terms? No one had ever cared about Brennon enough to offer something like that before. But, even though that was what he’d always wanted, to have someone care about him, Brennon realized why it’d been so easy for the people he’d taken an interest in to not reciprocate.

The alpha was phenomenal in bed, easy on the eyes, and an interesting conversationalist.

But Brennon didn’t care about him the same way he did. He hadn’t spent thirty-plus years longing for a mate the way Gunho had. He’d sought out understanding and interest, sure, but if the situation with Rin had taught him anything, it was that Brennon had never yearned for romance.

The alpha had tricked him, trapped him, and used him.

Why couldn’t he return the favor?

Gunho was quiet for a moment and then drawled, “I give you Cree Cosmetics, and—”

“You take me.”

“I already have you.”

“On paper.” He shrugged a single shoulder nonchalantly. “On paper, I’m the run-of-the-mill boy next door type. Non-threatening. Vanilla.”

“I’ve had you in bed,” Gunho stated appreciatively. “There’s nothing boring about you, pretty lover. Do you dim yourself on purpose? Whatever for? What are you hiding from?”

“Inadequacy?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.

Sure, you’ve technically got me right where you want me, and if you were only interested in pissing off your grandfather and appeasing those alpha instincts that are attracted to the fact you can smell me, that might be enough for you. But you’re like me. Greedy.”

Brennon had practically made it an art form to want things he couldn’t have. To want the unattainable. To reach for the stars, so to speak.

To hide that fact and act nonchalant about it all.

Instead of getting angry and fighting against them whenever his parents said he couldn’t do something, he’d gone along and proven them right. His stubbornness meant cutting off his nose to spite himself, just for the fleeting burst of satisfaction that came from knowing they were disappointed.

Cree Cosmetics was never going to be his, despite his last name.

He’d overheard that part as well. They’d been planning to pass it off to one of his cousins.

The fact that they’d changed their mind and ended up selling it to a member outside of the family meant Gunho had made an offer they couldn’t refuse.

But that offer had nothing to do with Brennon.

He’d given up on his childish dream of following in his grandmother’s footsteps. Helming the company had always been her plan for him, but she’d died before he’d finished his teen years, taking with her the only person who’d ever had any sort of faith in his abilities.

Instead of arguing, he’d pivoted, enrolling at the Academy.

How pissed would mommy and daddy be when they found out the company had landed in his lap anyway?

This might be a good thing after all. A thing he could use to his advantage, instead of shying away from. It was obvious he wasn’t going to be able to escape the alpha, not when the older man had his mind so set on the two of them being together.

“Here are the terms.” He’d thought about them long and hard.

“We remain mates on paper. I’ll be your Royal Consort.

I’ll attend the events you need me to attend to help sell it.

I’ll show up when you call, and I’ll even spend my weekends in this house you impulsively purchased—though I prefer the opposite side of the city, just to be honest.”

“Honest and spoiled.”

“That too.” He smirked. “You hold onto the company for me until I decide I’m ready to take over, and when that time comes, you help me integrate.

You help me rub it in my parents' faces. I stake a public claim on you and help ensure your grandfather gets the message. You get what you want, and so do I.”

The problem was, what the alpha truly wanted was something Brennon wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever be able to give. The only upside was that there was a very good chance Gunho wasn’t yet aware of his own desires, as cliché as they were.

Family.

It’d been written all over his face when he’d talked about his grandfather’s betrayal, and when Brennon had spoken about his issues with his parents.

Gunho wasn’t angry over his grandfather’s antics; he was hurt.

He didn’t like that he had to guard himself against a blood relative, which could only mean one thing.

He felt distanced from the people who were supposed to be close to him, and that closeness meant something that it never had to Brennon. That’s where they differed.

Was it pathetic that as a grown man he’d still rather spite his parents than prove them wrong? Sure. But at least he was honest with himself about that fact. Gunho wanted his planet to see him in a new light. He wanted them to know he wasn’t the broken alpha they’d wrongly believed him to be.

Brennon had given up on his parents ever seeing the real him a long time ago.

To Bren, family was a task. A to-do list. Show up when summoned.

Act the part. Wave at the cameras. Family meant people treating him however they pleased, with the excuse of being relatives as good enough reason not to hold it against them.

A chain around his neck, tugging him down beneath the surface.

Clinging to him. But for Gunho, it was something to be coveted. Cherished. Yearned for.

Brennon could be his Royal Consort, easy.

But becoming the man’s family in any sense of the word other than on paper?

Not a chance.

He wasn’t capable of that.

Rin had seen through him from the start. That’s what he’d lacked that Kelevra Diar hadn’t. Owning a person was simple, but consuming them? Turning them into oxygen needed to breathe? To exist?

He’d never allow anyone that type of power over him.

Not even a sexy as sin alpha Imperial.

Gunho Idris could take him. But he’d never have him. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

And one Brennon needed to keep close to his chest, because the very moment Gunho realized, was the moment he started to demand more.

“Aside from knowing if I was ever forced to settle down, I’d want to at least get along with the person, I had no hopes,” he admitted.

“I guess if you were going to choose someone, at least you settled for someone like me. I’ve never dreamed of marriage or true love or children of my own.

I would actually prefer not to have any of that. ”

“I’m with you on the children part,” Gunho said, “and weddings aren’t traditionally celebrated on my home world the way they are here. But love? You will love me, Brennon.”

He grunted. “Unfortunately for you, that’s one thing you can’t take.”

“Then I’ll earn it.”

“Good luck.”

“Haven’t you been in love before? Didn’t you love that friend of yours?”

“It was a crush.” Stronger than any other feelings he’d ever held for another, sure, but a crush nonetheless. “If it hadn’t been, if it’d been something stronger, I wouldn’t have gotten over it so easily.”

Gunho snorted at him. “You didn’t. You got wasted the night we met because of that crush.”

“I got wasted because the one true friend I had in the world no longer felt comfortable around me,” he corrected.

“It wasn’t romantic.” When Sila, who he’d stupidly believed to be Rin at the time, had suggested he get under someone else in order to forget about his feelings toward Rin, Brennon had agreed, but only because he’d figured it wouldn’t hurt either way.

He’d been wrong.

“If I’d taken the time to explain to Sila what his brother really meant to me, that it wasn’t romantic or sexual, we wouldn’t be here.”

“Are those all of your terms?” Gunho watched him closely, and Brennon gave a curt nod of his head.

“It’s my turn then. I’ll agree with everything you’ve asked for.

For now. You can stay at the Academy since that’s what you want, but if you still have plans to take over the company, I’ll need you to intern there during the summers.

I want to see for myself how much you actually know. ”

“Enough.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He tapped his fingers on the countertop. “You can’t shove me out if, in two years, when you graduate, you still want it. I won’t put in all the hard work to better Cree Cosmetics just to end up with nothing in the end.”

“Deal.” It’d be better to have someone on his side anyway.

Brennon wasn’t na?ve enough to believe it was going to be easy to step into a leading role in the company, even if it still had his last name attached to it.

There was always the chance his parents had already soured him to the rest of the higher-ups, and nepotism, though common on Vitality, was still frowned upon.