“No, son, you won’t.” His father stepped around, one arm still on Sammy’s shoulder, while the other was now draped over Stella’s back. “You’re the chosen mate of a demon. Your life will be a wonderful, great adventure, and we want you to enjoy every second of it, just how your mother and I enjoyed every second of ours. We will always love you, never forget that, but it’s time for you to truly move on and embrace everything Dre has to offer.”
“I don’t want to lose you again.” Sammy looked at them pleadingly. Stella reached out to sweep a strand of hair from Sammy’s face.
“We don’t want to lose you either, sweetie. But we have to move on, just as you do. Life doesn’t stop with death, you know, and your father and I? We have places to be.” She looked up at her husband, a bittersweet smile on her face. “There’s so much to see, and you know we always loved to travel.”
A sob escaped Sammy. He understood. He really did. It still hurt worse than the venom Dre had pumped into his system. “At least this time I can say goodbye properly.” His voice broke. There were no words to describe how he felt, no words to say farewell to the people he had loved most in the world. Luckily, his bond with his parents was so deep that words were not needed. They embraced, leaning their foreheads together, reveling one last time in the bond they’d had. Then they straightened and Stella and Moses each pressed a kiss on Sammy’s cheeks.
“We love you, son.”
“I love you, Mom, Dad. I wish you a good journey.”
Stella smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you, baby.”
Sammy watched as the glow surrounding them started to fade, taking his parents with him. He was still sad, mourning for all the things he could never share with them, but having seen them one last time, happy and whole, gave him a sense of peace that he would have never thought possible. Letting them go was one of the most difficult things he had ever done, though instead of being crushed by it, he felt empowered. They had given him their blessing to be with Dre, and Sammy had every intention of taking this gift and making the best of it—as soon as he had a word with Dre about the unpleasantness of mating bites.
Chapter Fifteen
When Sammy finally opened his eyes, Dre felt as if an entire mountain was lifted from his chest. His sweet mate had been unconscious for almost twenty minutes, which was longer than Dre had expected, and he had started crying at some point. Knowing that he couldn’t do anything to help Sammy had driven Dre nuts. Sammy groaned and tried to sit up. The movement tugged on Dre’s knot, which was still fully swollen inside Sammy’s hole. They both whimpered when flashes of arousal went through them.
“How long was I out?” This time, Sammy only moved his head, careful not to jostle the knot again.
“About twenty minutes. I was getting worried.” They were still lying on their sides, with Sammy as the little spoon, so he couldn’t see Sammy’s face, but the mate bond between them was already strong enough for Dre to feel the sadness in his lover.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would be that bad.”
Sammy sighed. “It hurt like a bitch, Dre, and we’re going to talk about your way of selling me this whole mating thing soon enough.” He hesitated for a moment. “I saw my parents.”
“Oh.” That was all Dre could come up with. He knew Sammy’s parents were a difficult topic, one that always made Sammy sad. The cross between a sniffle and a laugh Sammy made didn’t help Dre to determine what his mate expected of him.
“They gave us their blessing. Mom thinks you’re almost as fine as Dad. I’m pretty sure she didn’t take a good look at you, because you’re better looking than my father.”
Dre was relieved to hear the playfulness in Sammy’s tone. There was still a tinge of sadness, one that would most probably never go away, because Sammy had loved—and still loved—his parents dearly, but he seemed to have found some kind of closure, for which Dre was grateful.
“Of course I look better. I’m a demon prince. It comes with the territory.”
Sammy giggled then groaned. “This knot of yours… How long till the swelling goes down?”
“I haven’t got a clue,mo grah thu. Do you want to get rid of me already?” Dre nibbled on Sammy’s ear.
“No. I was just thinking… Why waste a perfect opportunity?”
“Why indeed? Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Yes, more than sure.” Sammy rotated his hips to emphasize his words. Dre groaned and gripped him harder. This was going to be a long night. He couldn’t wait.
* * * *
The next morning they were woken by a steady pounding on the door as well as the ringtone from Sammy’s cell. Whenever voice mail took over, there was a short pause, then the ringing started again. Groaning, Dre reached for the annoying device while he cradled his mate close to his chest. Sammy was slowly waking up, but clearly not able to deal with whatever was going on yet.
“What?” Dre did nothing to keep the irritation from his voice. Whoever it was had disturbed their first morning as a mated pair and could go to hell for all Dre cared.
“Ooh, someone’s a grumpy ass this morning. Where’s Sammy?” Dre wasn’t sure if it was Declan or Troy on the phone and he didn’t really care.
“Still asleep. What do you want?”
“Who pissed in your cereal? Never mind, it’s already past nine, and the shop’s still closed. Troy and I need our coffee fix.”
Dre took the cell off his ear for a moment to stare at it with his mouth hanging open before he put it back. “You’re waking us up because you need Sammy to make your coffee? Are you nuts?”
