Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“How could you ever feel I might not feel the same?” Clive whispered.
“But what I did was so violent. I shouldn’t expose you to that.” He had to curl his hands into fists to keep from touching Clive. “Being with me, it could happen again. We’d live a long time, and you’ve seen that not all preternaturals are good.”
“But a lot of them are. Right?”
Bain couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, there are mostly good ones.”
“Like humans. You all aren’t any different than humans in that respect.” Clive wrapped his fingers around Bain’s biceps. “You opened my eyes to a truth I needed to hear my entire life. I spent that life afraid because I didn’t understand. No more, Bain. I don’t want to live in fear. I want to live. Really live. And I want to do that with you. The sex is like nothing I’ve ever felt and—”
“Sex shouldn’t be the only reason we stay together.”
“I wasn’t finished.” Clive gave him a fierce frown. “But tell me it’s good for you, too, first.”
Bain’s heart thumped hard in his chest. “It’s never been better. I touch you, and it’s like I come to life myself. And it’s so much more than sex. So incredibly much more.”
Clive tightened his fingers on Bain’s arms. “It is for me, too. God, Bain, I’m so wildly into you, I can’t breathe sometimes, and other times I have to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. I know that in living a long life with you, we’ll face other dangers at some point. I understand we’ll have to move eventually so people don’t notice we don’t age. I’m in it for all of that. Every moment of excitement or change, and especially for love. I want to be there for every single moment, and I want all those moments to be with you. Always.”
Bain had stopped breathing throughout Clive’s heartfelt speech and now had a hard time making his lungs work. It took him awhile to not only get his air back but to try and tamp down the joy burning through him like a wildfire out of control.
“Now’s the time you speak, Bain.” Clive said as he let go and started wringing his hands. “You’re scaring me.”
“Now I’m scaring you?”
“Yes!” Clive nearly yelled. “I just laid my heart on the ground, and you can either stomp on it or take it as yours. What’s it going to be?”
He’d always known this little human had fire. Had felt it when they’d had sex, had seen glimpses here and there, but having him demand Bain take his heart fired hm even more. He couldn’t not hold Clive then.
He wrapped his arms around him tight and buried his face in those soft, dark curls. “It’s mine. That heart is mine,” he growled. “I want it.”
“It’s yours. Oh, my god, I want you so much.”
“You have me because my heart is yours, too. Everything I am is yours and will be forever.”
When Clive suddenly let out a sob, Bain pulled back and stared down at this man who had changed his world. He wiped the one tear that had escaped.
“Thank you for giving me another chance,” Bain said softly, his voice ragged with emotion.
“There’s no ‘another’ here. You had a chance from the moment I opened that hotel door the very first day. That chance never went away. Yes, you killed the demons after me with more violence than I’m used to, but I never saw you as a monster. I find your other form beautiful, especially because it’s you. It’s who you are, and I love all of you.”
Bain looked around at his messy apartment and chortled. “You may not love everything about me.”
Clive glanced around, paused, opened his mouth, then closed it. He bit his lip, then grinned. “I was a little shocked when I first came in here, and I want to say this is okay, but how about it’s something I’ll get used to?”
“I’ll work on my neatness.”
“We’ll both work on things. Learn to compromise on some. That’s what relationships are all about. I’m pretty sure anyway. You’ll be my first.”
“Your only,” Bain insisted.
“My only. So this soulmate thing… I’m really not going to age? How long will I live?”
“No way to know. Probably hundreds of years, but it could be even more. Millennia. I have a feeling Xavier has been around that long. He won’t ever say. And speaking of Xavier, is that how you got into my apartment? Because it’s warded.”
“I don’t have evil intent, but yes, he gave me a key.” Clive frowned. “And don’t you be mad at him because he was only looking out for our best interests.”
“So he not only told you about soulmates, he actually gave you the way into my home. It’s completely out of character for him.”