“Me too. It’s fate.”
Maltin nodded and stayed still so he wouldn’t hurt his mate. Jack’s breath on his cheek as he turned his head was everything, just like Jack himself.
They lay together even after Maltin could pull out of Jack, and he held his mate in his arms silently and sweetly. Jack was the one to get up first, padding across the floor to the stairs, and Maltin couldn’t take his eyes off that sweet ass. “Damn, you’re so pretty naked.”
“So, I’m ugly with clothes?” Jack yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
“Definitely horrid!”
When Jack returned a few minutes later, he crawled onto the bed, then on top of Maltin. “I guess I’ll just have to stay naked all the time.”
“Like I’d argue with that!”
“Go ahead and tell me now.”
Maltin’s breathing stopped. His mind halted along with it. When he did speak, it was after swallowing a thousand times. “Um, what?”
Jack’s smile made his entire face glow. “Tell me you love me now.”
“How…?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a fated mate thing, but I heard your thoughts. You didn’t want to tell me during sex. I’ll start if you like.”
Maltin shook his head and stammered, “No…no, it should be me first, at least I think so. I mean, I wanted to say it, but yes, we were being intimate.”
“Are you going to say it?”
Jack’s hands rested on Maltin’s chest, and Maltin took his left hand, kissing the palm as he calmed himself. “I love you, Jack. I…I love you with every single part of me.”
Nodding slowly, Jack’s voice absolutely purred. “I love you, Maltin.”
“We’re insane.”
“Why? Because we met and fell in love? It’s an old story, you know? A million, trillion love stories, songs, poems, all talking about this. And we’ve found it. If you question it, I’ll lose my cool.”
“I’m not questioning my feelings, Jack. I guess I just didn’t really think that anyone could love me.”
Without blinking, Jack said, “Yeah, you’re so ugly! You’re poor and wretched and not hot at all. Old! Like you’re really old, right? And you have this tiny dick.”
“Excuse me! Play all you want about my age, my looks, and my money, but not the dick.”
Jack laughed loudly, and Maltin enjoyed that sound. He’d been so down after finding out his parentage. “Let’s, uh, get something to drink. You dehydrate me.”
Jack hopped off the bed and held his hand down to Maltin. “Need a hand, old man?”
“You are asking for a spanking.”
“Do not threaten me with a good time.”
Hand in hand, naked, they walked down the stairs and drank two glasses each, quickly, then Jack stared over at the papers on the coffee table. “I guess we should get this planned. I need to tell the Pengroves to fuck off.”
“Jack…”
“No. I’m serious. They treated me like shit for not being powerful, and it turns out I am,” he said, then stopped and looked back at Maltin. “I think. What do we do exactly? And when do we shift?”
Maltin stared back, searching his mind and finding nothing. “I don’t know! I’ve never met one, never given them a thought. I guess maybe we should start with that. How will you rub your identity in their faces if you don’t know what we do?”
“Exactly. And I know just the place to research.”