“You’re right. Obviously, I won’t be revealing much about my past, but I can skim over the unnecessary details.”
“No. To do this right—for it to be beneficial, you need to trust the therapist—be completely honest. Open.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Let me talk to Izzy, see if maybe there’s someone who understands our world who’s in the profession.”
“Thank you.” I reached out to pull him into a hug. After a moment, he returned it. “It seems I’m saying that a lot.” The words muffled into Theo’s shoulder.
He released me, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll see you soon, lad.” He used the old term of affection. It was rare that Theo called me son, and I had never useddadorfather,except in jest on occasion. But we knew what we were to each other.
I waved as they drove off. Reentering the house, I stood in the tiny foyer, listening as Hunter finished loading the dishwasher. Such pleasant domestic sounds coupled with little sleep the night before had me listing and half asleep by the time Hunter was finished.
“Come on, let’s get you into bed.”
I nodded but stayed where I was. “I need to sleep, but…I can’t.” I had to resolve this, or I’d think about it all night. “Hunter, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the hotel. Or what I was feeling when you woke up from the necromancer’s hold on you. I should have. I honestly cannot tell you why I didn’t.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s really not okay. I admit I have issues. I’d thought if I just always press forward, things would get better. And they have.” I reached for his hand. “So much better but still not good enough. I told Theo I’d like to try talking to someone. He’s going to see if he can find someone who knows of our strange little world. Maybe that will help. I want to be better.”
“You’re perfect.”
I chuffed out a laugh. “Far from it. But I want to be easier. With you. With everything. Including sex.” I chided myself for whispering that last part.
Hunter squeezed my hand and pulled me closer. “Sex with you is amazing. So don’t go thinking there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. You are my dream come true inthe bedroom, and we’ve barely started. There are guys who are strictly tops and that’s completely fine.”
“Yes, because it’s a preference, not because one of them freaks out over childhood memories. No. Whether that happens or not, I think reconciling my past self with who I am here and now will be good. Maybe I won’t be so—” I searched for the proper word.
“Guarded?” Hunter supplied.
“Yes.” I leaned to kiss him.
Hunter simply gave me a peck and said, “We can talk about this later. You’re exhausted.”
“But—”
“No buts. Bed. Now.”
I grinned. “Yes, sir.” I trotted up the steps. As exhausted as both of us were, we couldn’t sleep right away. The possibilities of a future together all jumbled into my mind. But it was nothing a couple of orgasms couldn’t remedy.
I was drifting off when Hunter’s voice sounded beside me in the dark.
“I can tell Mom, can’t I? About you being a fancy hotel owner and all?”
“Of course. Though I’m a little bit afraid she will caution you going into business with someone such as I. I’m a risk.”
He laughed. “I’ma risk. Mom’s been after me for years to grow up. I’ve never had a career or a full-time job in my life. And yet you want me to quit my high-paying side gigs? Not to mention the elite position of part-time bartender at Pinkie’s. All to run a haunted hotel with you?”
“It’s not haunted.”
“It had a ghost for a night clerk.”
“Gods, now we have to bloody hire someone for the front desk.” I ran my hands through my hair. He pulled me in closerto him. His low chuckle settled somewhere under my heart and I slept.
The sun had risen fully before I blinked awake and turned toward my love. Hunter’s profile was deep in concentration as he frowned into his phone. Yawning widely, I ran a finger down his bare chest. Just because I could.
“Good morning,” he said, before going back to his phone.
“Itisgood, isn’t it?”
I recalled an interlude in the middle of our night where I’d woken up wanting to touch him. I hadn’t meant to wake him, merely assure myself that he was here and real and mine.
