“That's kind of sad.”
“I suppose. I never saw it like that. My childhood was happy, and I enjoyed the support of my parents far into adulthood.”
“Yeah, but what about friends?”
“I had friends. I still do. I just don't live with them.”
“Except for Juri.”
“Yes.” Cyn went to get two mugs out of a cabinet, then set them on the table.
I finished the pancakes and took them to the table too. As I did, Cyn went back to the larder and returned with a bottle. I got butter and cream out of the cold cabinet, and he got the sugar. We did it all unspoken, finishing with Cyn fetching the coffeepot from the stove, and then we sat down together. He poured the coffee as I dished out pancakes. While I added cream and sugar to my mug, Cyn opened the bottle and poured a thick amber liquid over his pancakes.
“Is that maple syrup?” I asked.
“Yes.” He handed me the bottle. “Would you like some?”
“I've never had maple syrup before.”
“What? Why not?”
“It's not cheap.”
“Well, you shall have all the maple syrup you want, Mate.” He motioned at the bottle. “Maple syrup and strawberries and whatever else your heart desires.”
I poured the syrup over my pancakes, set the bottle aside, and quickly cut a piece to shove in my mouth. A sweet taste unlike anything I had before burst over my tongue. And then came the buttery delight of the pancake. I groaned, then hurried to cut another bite.
“This is amazing. It's like sugar, but darker. Spicier. I don't know how to describe it, but I love it!”
“Thank you,” Cyn said.
“For what?” I asked around a mouthful of deliciousness. “I should thank you.”
“For making everything fresh. Even maple syrup becomes a marvel when I see it through your eyes.”
“Is that your way of saying you're jaded?” I smirked.
“I hope I'm not jaded. I've taken some things for granted, but I'm not bored with my life.” He took a bite and sighed. “You're right. This is wonderful.” Then he looked around the kitchen. “Thislifeis wonderful.” Then he looked back at me. “Now that you're in it.”
I grinned, my lips sticky. “I love you too. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
“There is no sharing. All I own is ours now. Mating is even stronger than marriage. We are one.”
I sucked at my sweet lips as I tried to come up with something romantic to say back. But I wasn't that guy. I didn't know how to spout words that would make Cyn swoon. I didn't even know if I wanted him to swoon. That would be weird. But I liked that he was that guy.
I ended up going with, “Thank you.”
“Finish your breakfast,” Cyn said. “I want to show you around the garden.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Later that day, after making love (yeah, I said making love, not fucking, cause that's what it was) under a pear tree, I laid on a blanket and stared up, through the branches, at the glass roof above and the wintry sky beyond it. Snowflakes fell on the panes only to melt and slide down them. The water droplets blurred the forest, making it feel even more as if we were in our own world.
I was floating in bliss, my body and heart sated. Cyn's thick arm pillowed my head, his naked magnificence stretched out beside me, and his sated cock finally at rest on one muscled thigh. I absently brushed my hand over that glorious piece of flesh as I breathed in the scent of sex and ripe pears.
“Don't start something you can't finish,” Cyn rumbled as his cock twitched.
I jerked my hand away.
