“I’m not particularly interested in you being sweet,” he admitted. “Now, yes, but once I’m healed?” His eyes narrowed. “Not interested in sweet.”
“I can live with that.” Corbin gave him an arch kind of grin and then fed him a spoonful of soup. “So that means you need to start getting better pretty quickly. Because I can be impatient.”
He chuckled, utterly tickled at the surety in Corbin’s voice, the teasing laughter.
Thank the goddess this was the one who had rescued him. What if it had been someone else who was simply willing to kill him to be rid of any possible taint. There had been— He swallowed, his mind pushing away the memory of the vampires.
Corbin’s expression softened. “Be at peace. You and Tisi are both safe. Both of you.”
“Tisi. The little pegasus? Is that his name?”
“Yes. My brother and his mate, a unicorn, have adopted him.” Corbin fed him more soup.
Evander gaped. “A dragon and a unicorn?”
“Oh, a fae dragon and a unicorn.” He chuckled. “And they have a baby. You’ll get to meet her soon. Serena is her name, and she’s like a little butterfly dragon. With a horn.”
Holy mother, maiden, and crone! He couldn’t even imagine the combination between a fae, a dragon, and a unicorn producing a baby. But with magic, all things were possible, and he did know that.
“I bet she’s beautiful.”
Corbin beamed at him. “Absolutely. She’s amazing. All the babies are.”
“There are more babies?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Yes. Hawk and my brother Cosmo have them too.”
“But not you?” His heart would break if Corbin was mated.
“No. No, I’m… I haven’t.”
“Oh, good.” Maybe that was wrong of him, but he felt this intense connection. This deep need to be with Corbin that couldn’t be denied.
“Yes. I’m… I’ve found my mate.”I found you.
Yes. And I’m here now. Awake and aware. At least until I finish this broth.
He had a feeling he would be sleeping soon. A real sleep, not an unnatural one.
“The broth will make things so much better, I just know it.”
“It will. I’m just not used to sitting up now. I’ll get better fast now that whatever thrall I was under is done.”
“You needed to recover. Now you can heal.” Corbin searched his eyes, almost reaching for him.
He held out his hand. It shook a little, and the veins still stood out too much, but he wanted to hold Corbin’s hand.
“If I take it, I’ll never let go,” Corbin whispered.
“Then do it now.” He begged Corbin with his eyes, desperate for the touch of his hand.
Corbin slid his hand over Evander’s, twining their fingers together. Evander took a deep breath as if he was being dunked into a deep cold pool, as if he knew that this was the last breath that he might get for a while.
He heard a roar, a sound of victory that echoed in him, and he knew that in the Land of Summer, the Lord of the Hunt was celebrating for him.
Or maybe it was a chorus of dragons making all that noise.
Or both.
