Dex opened his mouth, and Luc hurried on. He couldn’t allow Dex to talk him out of this. “I want to get to know you, to know as much as I can about you. Sex has too often been an empty pleasure for me. I don’t want that with you. I’m greedy—it’s one of the things you should be aware of—and I want more from you than bodily release.”
Dex’s pupils blew wide, and he gripped Luc’s shirt. “Saying stuff like only makes me want to fuck you more. You being openand understanding is why I want to skip dinner. Though your looks don’t hurt.”
Luc chuckled, a smoldering heat building inside him. “I promise the anticipation will make it better when we finally give in.”
“Ugh, fine. If that’s what you want, I won’t push. I respect wanting to wait. But to be clear, I’m good to go the second you are.”
Luc hummed in appreciation. “Noted. I love that you say what you want and aren’t shy about it.”
Dex opened his mouth once more, hesitated, and abruptly closed it, his smile faltering. “I like that you aren’t afraid to want more than sex and stick to your convictions.”
Luc had the impression that wasn’t what he’d originally intended to say. Perhaps there was something Dex was shy about.
Before he could ask, Dex’s voice dropped back into that sultry tone. “Most guys would take a sure thing and put the get-to-know-you stuff second.”
“Oh, you tempt me to,” Luc rumbled, letting Dex’s moment of hesitation go. There was plenty of time to discover his secrets. That was the whole point of taking it slow. “But I’ve learned that temptation isn’t everything. I mean it when I say you won’t be another of my regrets. And I don’t want to be one of yours.”
Dex laughed. “Not possible.”
Was that true? Luc hoped so; his desire for Dex burned from the inside out.
Would a sweet man like Dex go to bed with the Devil? Would a man who’d known pure love find anything to love in him? Luc was a terrible person. Not flawed, but rotten. He’d known it for a thousand years, but maybe he didn’t have to be rotten forever. Maybe he could change.
Luc tilted Dex’s chin and kissed his sugar-sweet lips. He’dguard Dex like the precious soul he was. Luc’s demon senses flared, hidden wings scorching his back. Dex was his mate, and Luc never wanted to let him go.
But he had to.
Luc let that truth wash over him as they kissed.
He could never mate Dex. If he bound them together, he’d regret it more than anything else in his life. Mating would prevent Dex from ever entering the Eternal Realm, where his parents waited. Luc knew he would never be allowed to return, no matter what he did, and refused to drag Dex down with him.
Dex deserved to see his beloved parents again. He needed to complete the sacred journey of passing from one mortal life to the next, healed of all the hurt this lifetime had caused him. Luc would not rob him of that.
Letting Dex go would be the first truly selfless thing Luc had ever done. It seemed there was something redeemable in him after all.
He should be raging at the unfairness of not getting to keep his mate—of being denied the eternal connection that he’d fallen to Earth to find—but how could he? What Dex needed was more important.
Luc wanted to give Dex everything. He wanted to love Dex, take care of him, explain the nature of who he was and what magic meant for Dex, and do anything he asked of him. If Dex wanted him, Luc would be his partner until the day he died.
But hewoulddie.
Perhaps Luc would find Dex again after he reincarnated. Not if the council held his soul back, but even if they did, after his death, Dex would heal from this life and experience all the magic of the universe, and that was what mattered most.
The time Luc had on Earth with Dex deserved to be treasured, starting now.
Luc withdrew from their kiss. Dex’s gray eyes were hazy, hislips plump and shiny. Luc ran a hand through Dex’s hair. “Would you like to go to dinner?”
Dex cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
An invisible string wrapped around Luc’s heart and pulled tight, as if his yearning had manifested into a physical force. Knowing Dex would be wonderful, even if it wasn’t forever.
Luc brushed a thumb across Dex’s cheek. “Perfect.”
And he was. Luc’s sweet, delicate human was perfect, flaws and fears and all.
Dex slipped his arm around Luc and turned toward the street. “So, what’s the long story? I’m dying to know more about you, and?—”
“Dex!” someone shouted.
