Page 40 of Sweet Surrender
“Thank you,” he rasped. “Thank you.”
Knight stared into his dark eyes and felt like he was drowning. He had to swallow before he could speak. “It was no problem at all.”
The dog was finally asleep, curled up on a brand-new dog bed. The brief contract he’d had to save the animal’s life had gotten rid of any potential ailments it might’ve had thanks to Saint’s specificity, along with whatever injuries had been inflicted on it before they’d found it. Knight had given it a thorough clean with his magic, before duplicating a smaller version of Saint’s bed for it to lie on.
Saint had stared at him, lips slightly curled at the corners, gaze intense. Knight had felt self-conscious.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Saint grinned, taking his phone out. He’d first taken a picture, then he’d shown Knight an example of what an actual dog bed looked like, and Knight had altered it to match.
“Could’ve said something,” he grumbled.
“Why would I do that?” Saint said with a soft laugh. “That miniature version of my bed was so fucking cute.”
Saint sighed, looking down at the dog. The adrenaline rush was finally beginning to crash; he looked like he could fall asleep right where he stood. “I wonder if this is the first safe, comfortable place Knight the Dog has ever had to sleep. Since I’ve met him, he’s always been houseless.”
Knight glared at Saint with mock outrage. “What did you just call him?”
Saint’s expression was playful. That little smirk was doing awful things to Knight’s insides. “Knight the Dog.”
“Is the epithet supposed to make a difference?”
“I can start calling you Knight the Demon, if you prefer.”
Knight’s lips twitched, despite himself. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about this.” He pretended to cross his arms, frowning deeply.
Saint nudged his shoulder against Knight’s arm. “It should be an honour.”
“For him or for me?”
“For you, obviously.”
Knight couldn’t help it, he laughed. He pulled Saint into his arms, unable to resist any longer, hugging him tight and wrapping his wings around him like he could shelter him from all the hurts in the world. Saint let out a shuddering breath.
“Are you all right now, little rabbit?”
His scent still held a trace of fear and panic, but they were gradually reducing with each breath.
“Yes,” Saint murmured into his chest. “I’m fine now. Thank you again.”
“Stop thanking me.”
Saint laughed softly.
Knight gently began to stroke his hair. “Are you finally ready to tell me the full truth about what’s going on here?” he whispered.
Saint took a deep breath. Then another. He pulled out of Knight’s embrace. Knight reluctantly let him go, tucking his wings back to his sides.
Saint took a seat on his bed. Knight sat beside him. The dog was by the wall in front of them, next to the bed. It was sleeping so deeply it looked almost still. Lying on its side like that, legs spread out in front of it, mouth slightly open, apart from the slow rise and fall of its ribcage, it almost looked dead. Maybe that was why Saint was watching it so intently.
“So,” he began, his voice low, “Remember when I told you about my zealous upbringing? My community and my ...church? Well, they’re a church but they also ... might be ... a cult?”
Knight sucked in a soft breath. “Is that a fact or speculation?”
“Fact? Maybe? Okay, yes; it’s a fact.” Saint inhaled again. “To everyone else—even to myself, once upon a time—they’re like any other church. Then, like I told you, I was sent off to university, which had me questioning things, one of which was my sexuality, which led me online, which led to me stumbling onmorethings that ... opened my eyes to my reality, basically.
“Like the blatant, violent queerphobia. The obsession with “purity”, both sexual and not. The obsession with converting people. How we can’t marry outside the “community”. We’re not even allowed to havefriendsoutside the community. How we aren’t allowed to question anything the pastor says; how they treat him like a god. How we, as a community, were always giving and giving, but only a select few seemed to be reaping. How we aren’t allowed to leave.”
