He still didn’t know if he believed it, but he couldn’t stop the smile spread across his face.
“You don’t have to look so pleased with yourself.”
“I am very pleased.”
Ruger snorted. “I see that.”
“You could have. Covered me with the tablecloth, that is. I would not have stopped you.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Without warning, he bowed up from the cushions, move with effortless grace as he brought his lips to hover a breath from Luka’s. “Or maybe, next time, I’ll make sure everyone knows your mine.”
If Ruger wanted him to wear a hood over his head every time he left the cabin, he would. If he wanted him to wear nothing at all, he would. Whatever his mate asked of him, he would give it without complaint.
His current solution, however, was definitely his favorite.
So, it baffled him when Ruger suddenly pulled away, his handsome face twisted into a mask of pain and regret.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, placing his hand gently atop Luka’s arm, right over the glowing fetter. “After everything you’ve been through, I’m sure the last thing you want is to belong to someone.”
“But I do belong to you.” Taking his mate’s hand from his arm, he brought it back to his face and held it against his cheek. “Not as property. Not as a pet or something to control. I belong to you the same way you belong to me.”
“As a mate,” Ruger finished for him.
“As someone to cherish.”
Cradling the back of Ruger’s neck, he pulled the male to him and slanted their mouths together. Passion instantly flared between them, that little spark of desperation that never seemed to fully fade.
Ruger moaned and arched against him, pushing his tongue between Luka’s lips to delve inside. He licked and tasted, teasing him with slow glides and shallow plunges.
Growling, Luka dragged him even closer, holding him steady as he pillaged his mouth. Gods, he couldn’t get enough of him. Every touch, every taste only had him craving more.
So, when Ruger jerked out of the kiss abruptly and tilted his head, Luka couldn’t help but growl in disapproval.
“Wait, is that why you haven’t left the cabin?” his mate asked, quite conversationally, all things considered. “Because you think people won’t approve of you?”
“You have a brilliant mind,taavi.” With another low growl, he dipped his head and nipped his bottom lip. “Sometimes, though, you think too much.”
By the gods, he loved that laugh. Deep, throaty, and completely genuine, the sound of Ruger’s amusement flooded him with pure joy.
“Come on.” Grabbing him by the hand, Ruger shoved up from the sofa and dragged him to his feet. “Let’s go do something.”
“We were doing something.” Something that didn’t require leaving—or clothes.
“Aww, poor baby,” Ruger teased, arching his neck to brush a kiss across his lips.
While welcome, the gesture did little to convince him that they should depart from the cabin.
“Taavi,” he growled in warning.
“That’s really sexy.” Still holding him by the hand, he began backing toward the door, pulling Luka with him. “Why do you call me that?”
“Do you not like it?”
“I don’t know.” Ruger shrugged. “What does it mean?”
“My heart.”
He didn’t know what language it came from, some ancient fae dialect, but he had heard it in a marketplace once from a tiny faerie. Her kindness that day had left a lasting impression.
