Leon made a strangled noise. “I swear to God—”
“I’m kidding.”
“Jesus.” But Leon was laughing now, the tension bleeding out of his body. He reached for Karl and tugged him down into another kiss, slow and grateful.
When they broke apart, he lay watching Karl, the ring warm against his chest.
“So,” he said, “what does the fated-mate life entail in wolf-world, exactly? Don’t tell me you expect me to start wearing flannel. Because that’s not happening. Not now, not ever.”
Karl snorted. “I think you in flannel might break the world.” He ran his fingers down Leon’s cheek, looking seriously into his eyes. “You know this is your home too, now, if you want.”
Leon lay there for a moment, stunned speechless. To Karl, it was so simple. And when he thought about it, maybe it was. Luna had given him her blessing to try something else. He didn’t know what he wanted next, but he knew he wanted a change.
“Luna let me go,” he said, before he knew he planned to. And it sounded… if he were honest, it sounded small and hurt, even though he knew it was a good thing.
Karl’s brows drew together.
Leon continued, “She said I didn’t have to keep protecting her. That I’d been doing it long enough. Said it was time to do something for myself.”
And this was getting way too serious. He hadn’t even figured out what he wanted, other than to be with Karl. He smoothed his hair back. “If I everwereto move in, my skincare routine would need its own medicine cabinet.” He kept it light, committed to nothing.
Karl rolled his eyes fondly and tugged him closer. “Yeah, well. I’d survive.”
Leon melted into the warmth of him, his head tucked under Karl’s chin, the slow beat of his mate’s heart against his cheek. And for once, that voice in the back of his mind—the one always waiting for rejection, for the other shoe to drop—was quiet.
It felt good, nowhere else he’d rather be than lying here like this, drifting peacefully.
So of course Karl, wolf that he was, broke the silence. “We should start a business.”
Leon tipped his head back. “You’re proposing capitalism now? Romance isn’t dead after all.”
“I’m serious,” Karl said. “You wanted something new. How about security consulting for private clients? High-risk profiles, high-value assets. You and me. We’ve got the skill set.”
Leon tilted his head to one side as he thought about it. “Uniforms are non-negotiable. There will be epaulettes. And maybe velvet.”
Karl grinned at him, fond and exasperated all at once. “Notquitethe first impression we’d want to make.”
Leon gave a lazy stretch that was more calculated than it looked, showing off long lines of bare thigh, the flex of his stomach. “But so pretty.”
Karl groaned, and it definitely wasn’t in exasperation. “I would pay actual money to see you stalk through a club in velvet. Full honeytrap mode. Guys wouldn’t know what hit them.”
“Oh, honey.” Leon straddled him in one smooth motion, slitting his eyes as he looked down at Karl. “You couldn’t afford me.”
Karl’s hands dropped to Leon’s hips, holding him there. “I think you’ve forgotten I’ve already got you.”
“Got me?” Leon echoed. He leaned in close, their noses almost touching, his voice a velvet purr as his hair fell in a sleek curtain around them. “That soundssuspiciouslylike something a wolf would say about their mate.”
Karl flipped him.
Not hard—just fast enough that Leon let out a breathless oof and ended up sprawled smugly on his back, having gotten exactly what he wanted.
Karl hovered over him, pinning him there. “That’s because I’m a wolf,” he growled. “And you’re mine.”
Leon tilted his head like a cat eyeing a bird, letting his lips part in a wicked, satisfied smile. “Then claim me, wolf.”
Karl didn’t need a second invitation. This time, the kiss was heat and hunger again, less desperate than before but no less intense. This was them, learning each other. Learning the shape of the rest of their lives.
Chapter Thirty-nine
