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“Are you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“What happened. You seem different.”

“Different bad or different good?”

“Always good.”

He smiled. “Smart man.” Then he nodded to the bed. “Though, you know, if you were really, really smart, you might be trying to lead me over there. It looks comfy. And once we’re both under the covers, who knows what could happen?”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

We grinned at each other like a couple of lovestruck fools. Then I took his hand and led him over to the bed.

“Kiss me,” he suggested, wrapping his arms around my waist.

And I did just that. He melted against me perfectly. And it was just the sweetness of him and me together, the way it was always supposed to be.

After that, we stripped our clothes off and made love. It was even sweeter this time than before. Quinn’s fangs dropped again, halfway through.

He froze up for an instant, touching his tongue to his canines.

“No,” I told him. “Please. Stay with me. Be who you are and stay with me.”

Quinn nodded, his eyes searching mine. The pain in them hadn’t gone completely, but something had changed in him. His gaze wasn’t quite so haunted anymore.

“I love you,” I said, moving inside of him, my breath quickening. “I love all of you.”

When we came, we came together. The sweetness and perfection of it was enough to convince me, all over again, that true love was real. And somehow, I’d been lucky enough to find it.

Quinn was my person.

“Derek,” he whispered, as we held each other in the dimness of my apartment. “I’m ready.”

I froze.

“Ready for…” I let that hang there.

“I trust you,” he said. He swallowed, something in his gaze darkening. “And I don’t know if you’ll be able to feel the same way, once you see—once you know everything—but I don’t want secrets. I don’t want to hide from you. Not anymore.”

“Quinn, are you sure? This seems fast.”

He nodded, his eyes wide and filled with fear. “Yeah. I am. You should know me.”

“I want to.”

He grimaced, looking away from me. “I know you think that, but—”

I cupped his jaw, turning his gaze back to mine. “I want to. You can trust me, Quinn. I promise.”

“I know.”

But I could tell he didn’t quite mean that yet. That was okay. I had time to show him. To prove it to him.

“Give me your hand,” he said.