“Not if you don’t want to. But yes, I’d prefer that. I do have a spare room you could use, though of course I’d want you in here with me.” He kissed him. “Soulmates come along once in a preternatural’s lifetime, and I never thought I’d find mine. I just knew, at first sight, that you were mine.”
“It’s like one of my books actually happening to me,” Rowan said softly. “Like it’s coming to life.” He thought of the other preternaturals with their human partners he’d met at that dinner. “So your friend, Dax—is Everett his soulmate? And the others, too?”
Ivor nodded. “For some reason, a lot of my friends have recently found theirs, too. I thought it was just coincidence, but Xavier has somehow made this happen for us. Or knew it was supposed to happen and orchestrated our situations to see it through.”
“And he doesn’t have one? That hardly seems fair.”
Ivor was quiet a couple of moments. “There is a story there, but it’s not mine to tell.” He tugged Rowan’s hips to bring their groins closer together. “I’d rather be focusing on us right now. Will you consider moving here? With me?”
“I don’t even need time to mull that over, Ivor. I want you pretty fucking badly.”
“Then I think you should look into opening that bakery you want. I could help you fund it.”
Rowan frowned. “I don’t want you doing that. That’s too much. There is something I’ve been thinking of doing. Talking to my mother. I know she’s gone along with my father in disowning me, but I don’t think she truly feels the same way he does. She would probably help me. The family has a lot of money, and if I hadn’t been disowned, I would have come into a huge trust. Asking for enough to start a business shouldn’t be hard.”
“You think she would?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s the reason I knew to call Protective Solutions. She actually called to check in on me. Maybe she’s changing her mind. Maybe she’d give me access to money that was supposed to be mine. If not, there are other ways. I just need to do some research to see what options I’d have.”
“My offer still stands. I tasted a lot of your desserts, so I have no doubt a bakery would be a success. Especially here in the city with access to so many more people. Not to mention the huge concentration of preternaturals, a lot of whom have a sweet tooth like mine.” Ivor reached down and wrapped his fingers around Rowan’s cock. “Now, speaking of my sweet tooth…”
Rowan placed his hand on top of Ivor’s to keep it still for one more question. “Can you, as an incubus, really be satisfied with just one person for that long?”
Ivor let go of his cock and cupped his cheeks. “I love you, Rowan. Truly love you. And I feel in my heart that this is for life.I will want no others from here on out. This is a promise I can make to you with complete confidence.”
“You’re saying all the right things. It’s definitely like one of my books happening for real.”
“This is very, very real. You and me, Rowan. For life.”
Rowan searched his gaze, finding nothing but love and desire shining back at him. Absolute and stunning joy filled his entire body, flushing him with warmth. He wrapped his arms around Ivor and buried his face in his neck, loving the silky slide of all that black hair on his skin. He held tight, with Ivor hugging him back just as strongly. He was about to start a new future, one straight out of his fantasies.
And he couldn’t be happier.
Epilogue
Rowan
His mother had come through with a final gift, and managed to get some of the money from Rowan’s trust fund. It had been plenty to keep him comfortable and pay for everything he needed to get his own bakery up and running. He’d found the perfect location not too far from the bay that was still in a heavily populated area. He already had regulars who came in daily for coffee and whatever specials he posted, and he’d only been open for six months.
Rowan stood in front of the display case, looking over today’s selections. Everything in there had been taste-tested by his husband, who had the biggest sweet tooth Rowan had ever seen. All had gotten his thumbs-up approval. Rowan liked nothing better than seeing Ivor’s happy smile when Rowan surprised him with a new dessert.
Well, there were a few things he liked better, one of which they’d done early that morning—which had made him late. He was normally in the bakery by six a.m. but he’d awakened with Ivor kissing the back of his neck and rolled over for some pretty spectacular sex.
Ivor had been right all along—they were fire together.
They’d bonded in a small ceremony in Xavier’s office, and though they hadn’t legally married, he still referred to Ivor as his husband. It made more sense to people rather than mate. He still marveled that he had a mate. A soulmate. Something he’d always loved reading about but hadn’t thought was real. His relationship with Ivor was living proof that the bond was real because he sometimes felt Ivor’s emotions. Ivor had explained that with some preternaturals, the bond worked that way. It was wild, but he loved it.
He walked back into the kitchen that he’d designed himself. It was compact but he’d kept plenty of space for paths. It had the perfect flow of storage, preparation, mixing, baking and beyond. All the equipment was state of the art.
If things kept going as well as they were now, he’d soon be able to afford another chef to help out. Right now, he had two employees. Rachel, who worked the counter, and Jimmy, the barista who took care of the coffees and teas. Often, Rowan helped out behind the counter because he loved greeting the customers. But mostly, he worked in the kitchen, which made him happy. He had carte blanche here, everything that went to the customers his own creations. He got to experiment to his heart’s content.
The back door opened and Ivor stepped into the kitchen. As always, Rowan’s heart picked up beats as he gazed at the beautiful incubus who belonged to him. The years they’d have together stretched out in a wonderful dream of possibilities. They planned to live here for as long as they could. At some point, their lack of aging would become noticeable, and they’d have to move on. Even with his mother coming through financially, she still wasn’t willing to mend their relationship further, so he supposed being disowned was actually a good thing. His family would never see him stay the same age.
“I thought you were taking on a new client today,” Rowan said as he rounded the kitchen island and put his hands on Ivor’s chest. He’d found that with his life being a real live romance, he was not drifting into his fantasy worlds as much. Probably a good thing now that he was running his own bakery.
Ivor grasped his waist and leaned down to drop a kiss on his mouth. “I am. Had a little time before I’m meeting him.”
“So you just had to see me?” Rowan teased. “Even though we saw each other plenty this morning?”
