Quin took Kit’s face in his hands, meeting his eyes. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep my word.”
Kit held his gaze, then nodded.
“And this changes nothing between us, you hear me? I love you. So, so much. Your past will never make me feel any differently about you, okay?”
Kit let out a sob that was more animal than human.
Quin grasped at him, pulling him further up his body so that they were face to face. “Hey, hey, I’m here. I’ve got you. I’m never leaving—not unless you want me to.”
“I don’t want you to.”Ever, he didn’t add. Because talk of forever might just break him at that moment.
The corners of Quin’s eyes crinkled with tenderness. “Good. Because I’d struggle to stay away.”
“You’d totally stalk me like a creep,” Kit said with a wobbly smile.
Quin nodded, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “My beast wouldn’t be controlled.”
Kit took the opening Quin had offered, needing the lighter turn in the conversation. “Kinda sounds like you’re talking about your penis.”
“And here I thought you considered dick jokes beneath you.”
Kit shrugged one shoulder. “What can I say? You’ve corrupted me.”
Quin nuzzled his nose against Kit’s. “You’re perfectly corruptible.”
Kit kissed him, long and deep. They only broke apart when Quin reminded Kit that he needed to breathe. Such a pesky requirement.
Kit curled into Quin’s side, grasping hold of him and tangling their legs together so that not an inch of space lay between them. With the summer here, the nights were short and their hours limited. He stayed awake until the sun was up, even though unconsciousness beckoned.
He wanted every hard-won minute with Quin that he could get.
Kit woke up the following night to a passed-out Quin lying next to him, snoring. It really was a good thing Kit went into a coma when he slept, because there’s no way he could’ve fallen asleep naturally beside the chainsawing of Quin’s snores.
Kit pushed himself up on one arm, studying Quin. His eyes appeared puffy. Kit stroked a couple of fingers down Quin’s face, tracing a line down from the outside corner of his right eye and down his cheek.
Quin’s eyes cracked open, a sleepy smile appearing on his face when he saw Kit. “Morn-uh-night, baby boy,” he said around a yawn.
Kit hummed a low response, continuing his physical exploration of Quin’s face. Between the tips of two fingers, he plucked at one of Quin’s grey beard hairs. There weren’t many greys, but they stood out starkly against the black.
Quin’s half-lidded eyes shot wide open. “Ow!”
“You’re ageing,” Kit observed.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“Me neither, but I can’t do much about it.”
Kit narrowed his eyes. “Can I recreate you as a vampire?”
“Theoretically? Or do you actually want to do it?”
“Both.”
“Kit, I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but I’m a werewolf.”
It hit Kit all at once. That he’d finally found someone, and in the blink of an eye he’d be ripped away from him. Through the red haze that filled his eyes, he could see the alarm on Quin’s face.
