Page 28 of Inevitably Yves

“Gods, Yves. I went through the same thing. I wondered how fate could be so cruel as to tease me with a love like yours, then tear it away and tell me it was meant for another.”

Searching his eyes, I nod. “Your return has awakened something in me again. Perhaps it’s hope, but it’s unusual for my brothers to feel that from me.”

“Feel what, Yves?”

“The connection we share. The intensity of it.”

“And they don’t like it?”

“They want it for me, be assured.”

“Ah, but they are protective. I felt that.”

“Because of…” Even in my thoughts, the name tastes bitter. “Because of what happened in my past. After I met Marcello.”

“I have a feeling I will not like this story.”

“No one does.” I drag my hands down his chest. “But tonight is about us. Our love deserves celebration. The past will confront us soon enough.”

“Yes. What will we do to celebrate?”

“We’re going to Lair. After all, we’re still celebrating the Festa del Sangue.”

Damiano smiles. “A celebration fitting of us. A feast of flesh and blood. How wonderful that I’m with you.”

I search his eyes for a second, silently pleading with fate to let it be him. Haven’t I waited long enough?

After composing ourselves, we return to the common to find my brothers, their mates, and our two sisters waiting for us. They continue their conversation without disruption, which pleases me. They are obviously going to try to give Damiano and me space to figure out what this is between us.

“Drive or fly?” Thorn asks, tossing the SUV keys in the air and grabbing them.

“Drive,” Syn says. “But I’ll be behind the wheel.” He snatches the keys mid-air when Thorn tosses them up again.

Thorn scoffs. “We won’t all fit in one car, dear brother, so I’ll just take the other SUV.”

“As long as my mate isn’t with you,” Syn retorts, pulling Bowie closer.

Bowie laughs softly, patting his mate’s chest. “It’s not like he can hurt me.”

“I don’t like it, just the same.”

Thorn rolls his eyes. “Kyson and I don’t mind a brisk run through the night air. I was trying to show our guest how civilized we are.”

My eyes flicker to Damiano, who watches the interaction with an amused smile. “Please, do what you would if I weren’t here.”

“Don’t give Thorn that kind of free rein,” Eros says, and his mate, Justice, giggles. “He does enjoy a bit of exhibitionism.”

A shy smile teases Kyson’s lips as he pushes his glasses up his nose.

“We are vampires,” Damiano says. “The allure of exhibitionism is part of our DNA, is it not?”

Thorn grins like he just found a new best friend. “That’s what I’m always saying. They just suppress theirs.”

“But have you learned to fly in the centuries since we last met?” Damiano asks.

“That’s just Thorn exaggerating,” Haven says. “I wish we could fly like bats, but really it’s just fast leaping.”

“Ah, that I’m familiar with.”

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