Page 24

L achlan didn't like the haunted look in Apollo's eyes one bit. Once they reached the apartment, Apollo headed straight for the bathroom.

"Don't worry about him. He likes water to process things," Valentine said, noticing Lachlan staring after him.

"Can I do anything for him?" he asked.

Valentine frowned thoughtfully. "Food helps? I'm going to go upstairs to sort out my rescued treasures and go to sleep. After what we found in the lab tonight, I doubt we will be going home any time soon."

Lachlan ran his hands through his curls. "I'm going to make some food. Do you want anything?"

"I ate at the party. You two were too busy to notice how good the food was." Valentine paused on his way up the stairs. "Don't fuck on the couch."

" Good night , Valentine," Lachlan said with a roll of his eyes.

The eldest Greatdrakes gave him another warning look before he went into his room and shut the door behind him.

Lachlan took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

There wasn't much left in the fridge, but he had the ingredients for croque monsieur, so he got to work.

He didn't know how to cook much, but the fancy toasted cheese sandwich was something he had learned to make when he was a kid, and he always seemed to fall back on it when stressed out.

Apollo appeared fifteen minutes later when Lachlan was sliding the tray into the oven. He was in pajamas and smelled like citrus as he collapsed on the couch.

"You okay?" Lachlan asked.

"No. I just need to lay here for a minute," Apollo replied through the pillows he piled on his face.

"I'm going to have a quick shower, then I'm going to feed you," Lachlan replied.

Apollo grumbled something in reply, but Lachlan didn't catch it. He showered quickly, needing to scrub off the creeped-out feeling the Sanguis Vitae building had left on him.

Lachlan threw on some pajama pants and headed back into the kitchen.

Apollo lowered a pillow, and his eyes danced over Lachlan's bare chest. He pretended not to notice as he got the tray out of the oven and plated up Apollo's sandwich.

He cut it into fours before putting it on the coffee table in front of him with a glass of water.

"Eat something, Apollonius. You will feel better," Lachlan said before going to get his laptop. He needed something to calm him down and knew what to do. He plugged his laptop into the TV and turned it on.

Apollo removed the pillow from his face and stared at the sandwich. "You made me croque monsier?"

"Yeah. You have a problem with cheese?" Lachlan asked, getting his own plate.

"No, it's just... My mom used to make it for me when I had a bad day," Apollo replied, still looking at the plate. "You even cut it into squares."

"I notice you do that at breakfast because you don't like getting food on your face," Lachlan admitted. It was like Apollo had no idea how obsessed he was with him. Well, he was going to learn. He sat down on the couch beside him and fiddled with his laptop.

"Thanks for the food," Apollo said, barely a whisper, and nudged Lachlan with his knee. "What are we watching?"

"You have a choice. Highlander or Shrek 2 ."

Apollo groaned. "Never going to live Shrek 2 down, am I?"

"Nope. I know it's your favorite now. It's in the vault," Lachlan said, tapping his temple.

"I'm starting to worry about what's in that vault if you know how I cut my toast."

Lachlan grinned. "I'll never tell. They are my secret seduction weapons. Now, which movie?"

Apollo snorted. "Secret seduction weapons. You're such a weirdo. You know, I've never actually seen Highlander. I only researched the sword for your present," he admitted, and Lachlan let out a horrified gasp.

"Then we need to correct that straight away. It's an '80s fantasy masterpiece, despite the bits that have aged badly," Lachlan replied, turning it on.

Apollo bit into his dinner and made a happy sound. "You used nutmeg in the bechamel sauce, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. That's how you make it."

Apollo sighed. "Please stop being so perfect."

Lachlan didn't have time to ask further questions because the movie was starting, and he didn't want to talk over it.

"Oh my god, is that Queen singing?" Apollo whispered, eyes glued to the screen.

"Sure is. They did the entire soundtrack."

"You're kidding! How did I not know this?" Apollo said and settled in to watch.

Lachlan wanted to pinch himself. Never in a million years did he imagine that he would get to be eating grilled cheese in his pajamas with Apollo Greatdrakes while watching his favorite movie.

The situation with the alchemists was beyond fucked, but it had also brought them here to this moment, and Lachlan's heart had a weird gratitude over it.

Watching Apollo watch Highlander was almost as good as watching it himself.

He made small comments constantly like 'Well, that outfit is a statement, Mr. Connery,' and 'Damn, look at that '80s perm,' but it only made Lachlan smile so wide, it hurt.

When it got to Connor's first love dying of old age, Apollo actually sniffled.

"What the fuck is this movie?" he grumbled and put a pillow on Lachlan's lap before laying his head on it.

"It's epic, is what it is," Lachlan replied.

"Pet me. This is hurting my feelings," Apollo insisted.

Lachlan tucked a throw blanket over him and stroked his golden curls.

Petting you is hurting mine , Lachlan thought but didn't stop. He didn't know when Apollo's mood would shift. Was this just a Paris fling? He didn't want to think about it. For the present, it was all he had ever wanted, and he had to focus on that.

He had texted Ciara and Layla about the facility but hadn't looked at his phone again.

This fragile situation with Apollo was more important than another crisis for the family to handle.

There would always be another crisis, but Apollo wouldn't always be curled up in his lap watching his favorite movie with him.

After the movie was done, Apollo rolled and rubbed his face over his pillow. "That was way more romantic than I thought it would be. I had no idea you were so sappy, Lachlan. It makes no sense that this is your favorite movie when you clearly don't do relationships."

"I've never thought I could have one with my line of work. Hunting isn't a normal profession. Not many people understand it," Lachlan admitted, feeling like he was treading on uneasy ground. "There's actually only ever been one person I wanted to have a real relationship with."

Apollo tensed. "Oh? And who was this mysterious unicorn."

"You mean, who is my unicorn? I still want the relationship."

"Fuck, Lachlan, are you seeing someone? And I've... We've..."Apollo demanded, sitting up.

Lachlan put a hand over his face. "You can't be this clueless. You are the unicorn, Apollo."

The outrage on his face changed to confusion. "What do you mean I'm the unicorn? I'm a dragon, for a start."

"I feel like you make this all way more confusing than it needs to be, but if I need to spell it out for you..."

Apollo was up off the couch and moving toward the bedroom. "Nope. Feelings gross. Nope."

Lachlan snapped. They had an entire cult of blood mages after them. Apollo had already been kidnapped once, and Lachlan almost lost him forever. He was going to have this conversation. Apollo could eviscerate his heart afterward. He didn't care. He couldn't hold it in anymore.

Lachlan caught the bedroom door before Apollo could shut it on him. He backed up, and Lachlan shut the door behind him and turned the lock.

"I've tried to be patient and let you figure this out on your own, but I'm done. So fucking done," Lachlan said, trying to get the words out without raising his voice.

"Don't do this to me, Lachie…"Apollo tried to move around him, but Lachlan ducked under his arm, lifted him over one shoulder, and dropped him down on the bed. He pinned Apollo's hands above his head and held him down.

"Stop. Moving. You're going to listen to me. Hate me afterward if you need to. I don't care. I almost fucking lost you, Apollo, so you are going to hear me out even if I have to sit on you to make it happen," he snarled.

Apollo's eyes flashed with the brilliant gold of his dragon, and Lachlan knew that he had the strength to throw him off if he wanted to.

Lachlan had never been great with words, but he didn't need to be for this. He just needed to get it off his chest so that he could fucking breathe again.

"You're a pain in the ass, Apollo Greatdrakes," he said, and Apollo's eyes narrowed.

Shit. Bad start. "You are. You crashed into my world and blasted it to hell.

You've done nothing but confuse the shit out of me for years.

I thought it was a crush, so I hooked up with blonds to try and get it out of my system, and it was all fucking pointless. "

Lachlan's grip on his wrists tightened as he took a breath and continued, " Nothing has worked to get rid of this fucking ache for you.

All you do is ignore me, and I still want you.

I haven't been with anyone for over a year because none of it is worth it if it's not with you.

You are my fucking unicorn dragon, Apollo.

Do you get that? I just want a chance to fucking love you.

You deserve more than being a party boy hook-up.

You deserve everything, so let me give it to you. "

Apollo's eyes were filled with tears, and Lachlan suddenly felt like a brute, pouring his messy heart over him and not letting him go. If he did let him go, he was sure he would never get to touch Apollo again.

"Are you done?" Apollo asked, blinking back the tears.

Lachlan's heart hung in tatters, but he let Apollo's wrists go. "Yeah, I'm done." He went to move off him, but Apollo wrapped his legs around him.

"Where the fuck do you think you are going? You can't just say all that and leave me," he said.

Lachlan frowned in confusion. "I don't know what I'm meant to do now."

"You're meant to kiss me and make it a good one," Apollo insisted.

Lachlan brushed his fingers over Apollo's cheek before leaning down and gently kissing him. His lips tasted of heartache, but Lachlan still didn't stop.

Apollo threaded his fingers through his hair and tugged him down, his soft mouth hungry and searching. Lachlan was shaking, and he couldn't hide it. Apollo's legs tightened around him, and it was the only thing that kept him from feeling like he was going to fly apart.

Lachlan swallowed back the lump of emotion in his throat and lifted up. "Is this a kiss goodbye before you poison me or something?"

"Would you like it to be?" Apollo asked, his fingers trailing down Lachlan's back. "Because after that big speech, I don't think that's the case."

"Always so confusing," Lachlan sighed and kissed the tip of his nose.

"You love it. You love me. You said it just now."

Lachlan tickled his ribs, making him squirm. "Don't mock me, you dick. Just tell me you love me back and be done with it."

Apollo tugged his dark curls until Lachlan lowered his head. "You better not be doing all this just to fuck me in Paris and toss me aside when we get home."

"I'm not."

"And you better be really prepared to give me everything you promised you would because I'm not good at rejection or being ignored."

Lachlan's lips twitched. "I've noticed. You're high maintenance in all the ways, and I love that about you too."

"Yeah?" Apollo asked, voice small.

"Yeah," Lachlan replied, kissing the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know how good I'll be at a relationship. I've never had one."

Lachlan kissed him again, feather soft. "Neither have I. We'll figure it out as we go along. One day at a time."

"Then, okay. This is me laying at your feet and giving in to us like you wanted." Apollo sighed like he was in physical pain. "I…love you."

"So dramatic." Lachlan was laughing as he kissed him again, needing more of those lips on him. He kissed Apollo like he'd always wanted to, with his heart stripped bare, and he didn't know how anything could hurt so much and feel so good at the same time.