Page 25 of Unwanted
Kyrie nodded again. He knew Fen could reach into his mind and scoop out his life’s details. Kyrie appreciated Fen allowing him to skip the ugly bits. “One night, during the full moon run, everyone else was laughing and whatnot in the woods. I could hear them in the distance, and I was lonelier than ever. I thought hard about using my curse again.”
“Curse?”
“That’s how I’ve always seen this half of me that destroys everything.” Kyrie swallowed. He didn’t want to cry anymore. “Anyhow, I was kind of pouncing, playing with frogs at the edge of the stream, and a snake appeared. The way the air popped, I knew he was more than the serpent he pretended. No sooner than I had that thought, he turned into this beautiful man.” Kyrie winced at his own words. “Sorry.”
Fen kissed the top of his head. “Don’t be. I’ve seen him. He’s literally a god. I’d say that’s as close to the epitome of perfection as a being can be. It’s no reflection of his soul.”
Kyrie took a deep breath, trying to let go of some of the stress still stiffening his bones. “For the first time in a long time, I had a friend. He’s the one who told me who I am and to stay hidden. I believed him because why wouldn’t I? The only peopleI ever considered family were dead because of me. So that was definitely validation for me that I had been right to live as a lone wolf.” Kyrie had only meant to touch the bare bones of his history with Monnie.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop trying to justify every decision he had made. “Plus, Monnie is a god. Of course, he knew better than me. He told me about my father and gave me roots I never felt as if I had. As I said, he was my friend… until he wasn’t anymore. His requests for favors became demands and then moved to abuse when I didn’t comply.”
Fen tensed as if he fought the urge to fight on Kyrie’s behalf.
Kyrie stroked his stomach and kept talking. If he didn’t get this out now, he never would. “He wanted information on Lucifer, but I had no way of getting that. Then Yuri became Riku’s guardian wolf and Monnie hatched a plan.”
“He wanted you to seduce Yuri straight into his clutches under the nose of Celeste.”
“Exactly. Of course, there was no chance of that and the punishments broke me. One way or another, I was done. When I tried to break away from our friendship, he simply stole me in my sleep, pulling me into the dreaming anytime he pleased. I didn’t know my body was being left behind lifeless until you took me to Frost.” Kyrie paused and cleared his throat. They were coming to the part he hated the most. “When the whole showdown between Lucifer, Celeste, and Monnie went down, things quieted for a minute. I thought I was free. Of course, as itturned out, chasing you had lit a fire in him, and he found a new fixation.”
Kyrie tilted his chin up and met Fen’s stare. “I swear I never wanted you to get hurt. After you took me to Frost that first time, I tried to pick a fight and run away. I decided to let Monnie kill me. But then you said I was the reason food tasted good again and fuck. My needy heart took control. In a flash, I had never wanted anything more than to be with you. I thought I could just play along and maybe we could figure things out when I got brave enough to tell you everything. Then Monnie disappeared again, and I let my ridiculous, greedy soul pretend he had found a new game elsewhere. There was no way I could’ve known you saying you loved me was the spring of his trap. Well, you know what happened after that.”
“Love.”
“What?”
Fen held him tighter. “You said loved—like it’s in the past. I swear my love is very much present.”
Kyrie drew a shaky breath. “I love you too.” He held his breath, wondering if they would magically drop again.
Fen rolled, tucking Kyrie beneath him. His beautiful eyes stared down at Kyrie with nothing but honesty and love shining in them. “It’s my turn.”
Kyrie had no idea what that meant, but he was onboard.
Even though Fen knew everyone colored stories in a way that made them look the least guilty, he didn’t care. The solid facts were Monnie was a full fledge true blue from nearly the beginning of time god. Kyrie had never stood a chance of freeing himself from Monnie’s plotting. Truthfully, he should kiss that fucked-up god right on the mouth for orchestrating the greatest pairing in the history of the world. But Kyrie needed to hear Fen’s side of the story so he could let go of the ugly bits.
He skimmed his lips across Kyrie’s mouth before settling his weight so Kyrie couldn’t get away while he talked. “That night you realized Yuri already had a mate—as I’ve told you—I desperately regret not going on that full moon run with you. I thought about you a lot afterwards, and I tried to organically run into you all the time, but you were never around.” Fen cleared his throat. Things were about to take a turn. “When I showed upat your job, I knew you worked there. More than that, I knew you were working that night. I purposely didn’t come in until the end of your shift.” He didn’t give Kyrie a chance to ask. “Yeah. I knew what time your shift ended because I was sort of kind of stalking you.” Fen winced.
Kyrie chuckled.
The sound spurred him to keep going. “I was honestly taken aback by your age. Your eyes have always looked like they’ve seen too much, even when you’re smiling.” He swiped the hair away from Kyrie’s face, savoring Kyrie’s beauty. “Something happened to me that night by the fire. Your smile snapped something to life inside me.” As much as Fen didn’t want to make all the confessions, Kyrie had earned them. “I’d been dangerously close to choosing a warrior’s death for a while before you came along. You just smiled. That was all it took. I knew I wanted to wake up to that smile for the rest of my life.” He shook his head. “Please don’t ever consider taking that away from me again. I need you to learn how to talk to me and not run away. There was no life in me before you. I won’t choose to cling to it if you’re gone.”
Kyrie cupped his face. “You have my word.”
Fen felt and heard his honesty. “I believe.” He lowered his head and kissed Kyrie.
Kyrie moved just enough to speak. “You should make love to me to seal the deal.”
“Have no doubt. That’s exactly my plan.” As he kissed a path down Kyrie’s body, Fen realized—once again—they were in a position where there was no lube.
A bark of laughter burst from Kyrie. He obviously heard Fen’s disgruntled thought. Kyrie snapped his fingers. Not only did he hold a bottle of lube, but their clothes disappeared.
Fen accepted the bottle. “Nifty trick.”
Kyrie flipped, easily stealing Fen’s position. A wicked-looking smile stretched Kyrie’s lips. “I’ve got more where that came from.”
Fen’s groan was out of his control. He had a feeling it was about to be a long night. His suspicion was confirmed when the lube ended up used on his asshole.
“Well, this is a position I have nae been in, in a verra long time.”
