“So you admit it! Ha!”
Sammy decided it was time to save his dessert. “Guys, stop! It doesn’t matter who won when you smash the goods. Now calm down, both of you, and let’s go back to the dining room and have our sweets. Please?”
Two pairs of glowing red eyes swung in his direction. If anybody had told Sammy only two weeks before that he would stand in the house of a demon, chiding two of them in order to save his food, he would have laughed his head off. But here he was, giving them his best stern look—which, he feared, wasn’t much—in hopes of calming the beasts.
Dre was the first to relent. “I’m sorry,mo grah thu. I didn’t mean to ruin your dessert. I was provoked.” He shot a nasty glare in Barion’s direction.
“It’s not my fault you’re getting slow in your old age.” Barion huffed but retracted his claws. “Come on. Let’s have dessert.”
They went back to the dining room, the tension slowly leaving the air between the brothers. By the time they all had their sweet treats in front of them, Barion and Dre were joking again. They enjoyed their food in relative silence, only broken by appreciative moans now and then until they were almost done. When there were only a few spoons of ice cream left on Barion’s plate, he looked at them with a determined gleam in his eyes.
“Let’s talk about the huge elephant in the room.”
Dre narrowed his eyes. “What elephant?”
Barion huffed. “Please, brother. Any idiot can see how close you and Sammy are. What I want to know is why haven’t you claimed him yet?” The challenge in Barion’s voice was clear, and if Sammy hadn’t seen the longing in his eyes before, he would have felt threatened. As it was, he understood why Barion was asking so blatantly. Sammy looked at Dre, saw the question in his eyes and nodded. It was okay with him for Dre to talk about it.
“I haven’t claimed Sammy yet because we gave ourselves a two-week period to live our dream. At the end of those two weeks, I’m going to give him my bite and hope he’s my mate. But we both agreed we wanted something beautiful to hang on to, should it not be the case.”
Barion made a face. “BS. First of all, if this isn’t a hidden mate-bond humming between you two, I’ll eat my tail. Second—”
“You don’t have a tail,” Dre interrupted matter-of-factly. Barion rolled his eyes at him. He sounded annoyed. “IfI had a tail, I’d offer to eat it, but I wouldn’t have to, because you two are definitely mates. And second”—he held up his index finger, claw out to prevent Dre from interrupting again—“even if you aren’t, it doesn’t change the fact of how you feel about each other. Granted, you won’t have an eternity together, but still…” He looked at them so full of longing that Sammy immediately felt bad. “You’re good for each other. Any idiot can see that. Why not enjoy it while it lasts? You said yourself, Dre, that you’ve never felt like this. And you seem to be happy, too, Sammy. Embrace it. It’s more than many of us have.”
“That might be the case, but it’s still our decision, brother, and I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of it. By the way, this is the reason why I hesitated to bring Sammy here.” Dre sounded more exasperated than annoyed, which was probably a good thing. Barion shook his head, his eyes gleaming redder than the rubies on the stag. “Nothing’s ever sure. You know that as well as I do, Dre. The way I see it, you’re cowards, both of you. Stop deceiving yourselves and at least own it!”
Dre’s fangs started sliding down again, which caused Sammy to interfere. “You’re right, Barion. Weareafraid. I’ve never loved anybody as much as I love Dre. The mere idea of him not being my forever chills me to the bone. I’m constantly torn between finally finding out and never wanting to know. Don’t you get it? Even if we make it work should I not be his mate, it would never be what it is at the moment, that blissful ignorance, the pure love untainted by the realities of the world. That’s what we’re clinging to. And since we’re both mature adults, we decided to put a limit on it.”
Dre slung his arm around Sammy’s shoulders, pulling him close. Only then did Sammy realize that he was shaking. It felt good to be comforted, to be held like he was the only thing in Dre’s world that mattered. Dre surely was the only thing that mattered to Sammy, especially in this moment.
“I’m sorry, Sammy. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Barion sounded a bit contrite. “It’s just that seeing you two together gives me so much hope for finding my own mate. I understand why you’re hesitant to find out, but from my point of view, you’re wasting the gift Fate has given you. Don’t be afraid. You were made for each other. Even if you should not be Dre’s mate, which I highly doubt, you will find a way and it will be perfect for you two. Staying in this limbo won’t get you anywhere.”
Sammy sighed and snuggled closer to Dre. “It’s okay, Barion. We know that as well.” He twisted his head to look at Dre. “Perhaps we should go home and talk about it?”
Dre nodded. “Seems like a good idea. Thank you, Barion, for the invitation. I’ll give you a call as soon as we know.”
“You’re not angry?” Barion sounded meek.
“No, brother, we’re not angry. I, for my part, am just not sure what to think.” Dre smiled a bit sadly.
Sammy touched Barion’s hand briefly. “It’s the same for me. We’ll talk soon, okay? Especially about the abysmal order you have to your library.” He winked.
Barion huffed in relief, and with a last wave goodbye, Dre brought Sammy back to his kitchen.
Chapter Twelve
“Wow. That was intense.” Sammy turned in Dre’s arms to snuggle his face against Dre’s pecs, something they both enjoyed immensely.
“Yeah, it was. I’m sorry. Barion can be a handful, and he has zero respect for other people’s personal space.”
“Really?” Sammy winked. “I got the impression that he’s the picture of restrained and collected…not meddling at all.”
“Which is why I waited so long to introduce you. If I had done this sooner, you’d have run screaming.” Dre kissed him lovingly.
“I like to think I would have never run from you, Dre. There’s something about you that draws me in. Perhaps I would have made you work for it a bit more, though.” Sammy played with Dre’s fingers while saying this, clearly teasing him.
Sensing Sammy’s inner turmoil, Dre decided it was time to stop with the pussyfooting. “Do you really want to talk about what just happened at Barion’s or are we sticking to the initial plan?”
Sammy sighed deeply. “I want to stick to the initial plan. I really do, but it just doesn’t make sense, does it? Barion’s right. We’re just procrastinating.” He leaned back in Dre’s embrace, meeting his gaze full on. “Let’s grab the devil by the horns and do this?”
