Page 101 of Stubborn as a Shadow

My mate had searched his whole life for answers, and now he had them, except they weren’t anything like what he’d been expecting. I didn’t know how to help him, so I just pulled him into my arms.

He resisted. “You should go.”

“I want to hold you.” I whispered against his hair. “Will you let me?”

“But…” He swallowed. “I think I’m going to cry.”

“So? Cry. I’m not leaving.”

“But… Unicorns aren’t supposed to cry.”

“Says who?”

“When I cry, bad things happen. You saw it downstairs. I only let a few tears go, and the whole table was bawling.”

I squeezed him. There was zero chance I’d let him cry alone. “I’ve been with you when you cried before.”

He stilled and looked up at me. Tears glistened in his pretty eyes. “I forgot about that.”

“So, let’s just strip off all these clothes we’ve been stuck in for the last few days and crawl into bed so I can hold you. Unless you want a shower first.”

His gaze darted to the bathroom door. From where we stood, we could see the large shower through the open door. He let out a shuddering breath. “Shower. Definitely a shower first.”

“Okay.” I reluctantly stepped away from him. “There are clean towels in there. Use whatever you want of my soap and shampoo and all that.”

Morgan frowned at me. “You aren’t coming?”

“I can... If that’s what you want.”

“Yes.” He nodded sharply.

Then he started yanking off his clothes and throwing them to the ground as he walked to the bathroom. I itched to pick them up and throw them in the hamper. In the years I’d workedon Gage’s team, I’d learned not to leave things thrown about. Clothes tossed to the floor were trip hazards in the dark. It was the same with my shoes. I put them in the same place all the time, so I knew exactly where to find them when I had to run out the door in an emergency.

But then I caught a glimpse of my mate’s bare ass, and I forgot all about the trail of clothes.

Our time in the cabin had been nice, but I truly appreciated having better lighting so I could see every bit of my mate’s gorgeous body. And I couldn’t wait for him to find out about the extra shower nozzles in the oversized shower. Why hadn’t I remembered earlier how he liked to be clean? I should have insisted we come up here to shower as soon as we arrived.

He turned on the bathroom light and gasped in delight.

“Nelson! Your bathroom!” His sadness wasn’t gone, I knew that, but at least getting washed up would distract him for a few minutes. He spun back to grin at me as he waved toward the bathroom like I’d never seen it before. “Look at it.”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said.

“I love it. Come on. We have to try it out.” He hurried over and turned on the shower.

I followed him, stripping off my clothes along the way. But unlike my mate, I tried to at least throw them in the direction of the hamper.

As soon as the water was hot, Morgan pulled me into the shower. Then he stood with his eyes shut and his face tilted toward the water. I stepped up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned in to my embrace, and we let the water wash away the panic and worry from the last few days.

I don’t know how long we stood there. Not moving. But I could have stayed there forever, just holding my mate.

Eventually Morgan’s body relaxed against mine. This was exactly what he needed.

And truthfully, I needed it too. To feel him in my arms. To know he was as real as I was, despite his origins.

I didn’t understand what it meant for him to be the son of the Eternal Magic. Were all unicorns born of pure magic? Or had they once upon a time lived and reproduced like all the other creatures on Earth? But did any of that even matter?

She’d given him life, but she wasn’t his family. Not really. He’d been raised by his uncle. He had his cousin. And he had me…