Patrick let out a surprised sound that never escaped their mouths before sinking into the kiss. His hands found their way to Jono’s hair, gripping tight, and Jono would’ve leaned into the touch if he wasn’t so focused on trying to breathe for the both of them.
When air became a necessity, Jono broke the kiss with a ragged gasp, pressing his forehead to Patrick’s, staring into those green eyes he’d missed so much. “You came back.”
Patrick’s hands slid down his face to cradle his jaw, fingers shaking. “I told you I would.”
Jono nodded jerkily before pulling away enough to look at him. He drank in the sight of the man he loved, searching for wounds and finding none. Patrick stared back at him with a tired smile on his face, looking somehow lighter than he ever had before, as if all that had dragged him down over the years had finally set him free.
“Hey,” Patrick said, his thumbs framing Jono’s mouth, eyes searching his. “I love you.”
Jono didn’t think love should ever hurt, but it gutted him right then—the best kind of pain, the ache that saidI’m here, I’m alive, I’m with you.Jono blinked wetness out of his eyes that he’d blame on the salt water he could taste on his lips.
“I love you too,” Jono rasped out before kissing Patrick again and again and again.
“You can stopanytimenow,” Wade said loudly, the rapid tap of his foot against the ground reaching Jono’s ears. “It’s my turn to hug him.”
Jono reluctantly stopped kissing Patrick, loath to let him go, but Wade looked about one second away from tossing Jono aside on his arse if he didn’t get his hands on Patrick. Jono let go of Patrick’s shirt and grabbed his hand instead, refusing to let go completely. Wade threw himself between them, wrapping both arms around Patrick and squeezing him so tight Jono thought he heard a bone pop.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Wade said, sounding almost giddy, which was at odds with how hard he clung to Patrick.
Patrick wrapped his free arm around Wade. The hug went on for nearly a minute before Sage pointedly cleared her throat. “My turn.”
Wade wriggled out of Patrick’s hold but didn’t go far. Sage eased down to her knees beside them, and Jono saw the moment Patrick realized Sage was pregnant. Distress lanced through the bitterness of his scent, and Jono gently squeezed his hand.
“You’re pregnant!” Patrick said, reaching toward her stomach and the soft curve there. “How long have I been gone?”
Sage grabbed his hand and pressed it against her baby bump, smiling brilliantly despite the tears in her eyes. “Six months, but that doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”
She folded Patrick into a sideways hug, and Jono could see how gingerly Patrick touched her, a raw look in his eyes now that he knew how much time he’d lost. Sage didn’t care, kneeling on the wet ground to hug him as tightly as Wade had. Patrick couldn’t hold out against that, and he stopped trying, though his grip in Jono’s hand was tight enough to hurt if Jono cared about things like that.
When Sage shifted away, Marek was there to help her to her feet. Jono used that brief lull to stand up and pull Patrick with him. Patrick shivered a little from the cold, and Jono wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, burying his nose into wet ginger hair, taking a moment to breathe him in and listen to that missed heartbeat.
“Where did you go that I couldn’t follow?” Jono murmured.
Patrick’s hands dug into his back, a ragged breath gusting over Jono’s collarbone. “Hell, then heaven. I brought Macaria home, and then I laid my sister to rest.”
“And your soul debt?”
“Paid in full.”
The soft confession had Jono holding him even tighter, squeezing his eyes shut. The disbelieving wonder in Patrick’s voice came through in his scent as well. Jono basked in the knowledge that the gods could ask for whatever they wanted now, and Patrick could finally say no.
Patrick pulled back with a hard sniff, the wetness in his eyes making the green there brighter. “What did I miss?”
All the words jumbled together on Jono’s tongue, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure where to start. He just knew he didn’t want to let Patrick go ever again.
“I’ll tell you when we get home,” Jono said.
Patrick’s face lit up at that. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. Let’s go home.”
“I’m going with you,” Wade said quickly.
“I’ll drive Sage,” Marek offered.
Jono nodded, barely listening, refusing to take his eyes off Patrick for longer than necessary. He had an irrational fear that if he looked away, Patrick would disappear again, even though he knew that wouldn’t happen here. The tear in the veil had closed, and when Patrick left this time, Jono would go with him.
Sage got everyone sorted, though Jono could see Patrick’s confusion at Linh’s presence and her deference to Sage. A proper introduction would have to wait until later—so many things would have to wait until later—because right now, Jono just wanted to get Patrickhome.
They stumbled out of Tempest, Patrick shivering in his soaked clothes as they walked the half block to the car. Wade nicked the keys from Jono’s pocket to get the doors unlocked. He climbed into the back seat, and Patrick half collapsed into the front passenger one. The second Jono was behind the steering wheel and pulling into the street, he reached for Patrick’s hand, unsurprised to see him reaching back.
