Page 58 of The Baritone's Rival

Trent and Oscar sang.

Dio che nell’alma infondere

Amor volesti e speme,

Desio nel core accendere

Tu déi di libertà.

A lot had happened since the last time Oscar and Trent had sung this together. They’d been attacked multiple times. They’d had sex. They’d been betrayed. They went to Maine and came back home again.

Trent’s eyes were buried in the score that rested in his hands. He was avoiding eye contact with Oscar, but Oscar knew the man. Trent was an artist. Singing activated the parts of his heart that he walled off. So Oscar waited.

As the music swelled, Trent raised his eyes, his blonde lashes fluttering, beautiful in the shimmery lamplight of Anthony’s studio. Oscar felt privileged to stand there as that powerful, rich, luscious tone poured out of Trent. He basked in the beauty of the sound.

He’d heard Trent sing before, of course, and in the cabin, Trent had even sungforhim. They’d practiced this duet before. But Oscar was getting to singwithhim, now with full knowledge of what they were together, and the possibility of the mate bond stretched between them. Oscar could almost see it shimmering in the air.

Oscar stepped closer as the end approached, the harmony and counterpoint building the tension between them. He couldn’t look away. Trent was sexy, of course, and incredibly handsome, but more than that, he wasbeautiful. His soul opened up when he sang, and Oscar was able to bathe in the pure feeling that he exuded. Finally, the duet reached its climax.

Insiem vivremo, e moriremo insieme!

Together we will live, and we will die together.

As they cut off that final note, Oscar couldn’t hold himself in anymore. He lunged for Trent, crashing his lips against those of the handsome baritone, devouring him. Trent gave as good as he got, his need as powerful as Oscar’s own.

Somewhere in the back of his head, Oscar was aware of Anthony and Julie sneaking out, but his mind was a blazing pulse of white, synapses failing to fire as he was consumed with feeling.

It was perfect. And then it ended.

Trent pushed Oscar back with a gasp.

“Please…please…I can’t…I can’t do this…”

His words hit Oscar with such a force that he staggered away from his mate. How could Trent not recognize how special this was? Oscar had done his best to stop it, but he’d failed. They were made for each other.

Trent was shoving his music into his backpack as fast as he could, avoiding eye contact, fumbling as he rushed. He was almost out the door when Oscar couldn’t hold in the words any longer.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Oscar heard his voice crack as he spoke. “Trent. Please. What is wrong with me?”

Trent stopped suddenly, as if hitting an invisible wall. Oscar waited as Trent stood frozen in place. When he finally turned back, tears ran down his face.

“I don’t…I can’t hate you…I…”

He was breathing hard, unable to get the words out, and it was getting worse. Oscar went to his side, hugging Trent and whispering in his ear.

“I’m here. You’re okay, everything’s okay. Slow breaths, honey. You can do it.”

“I want to trust you. So badly. I want to,” Trent sobbed. He was holding on tight now, his strong arms locked around Oscar, leaning against him as if he couldn’t stand on his own.

“Shh, you’re okay, you don’t have to talk.” Oscar ran a hand down the back of his neck, petting him, calming him, doing anything he could think of to relieve the pain radiating off his mate.

“I…I do. I do.” Trent pushed back from Oscar, using the nearby wall for support. His face was red with tears, and there was real fear in his eyes. Oscar’s stomach clenched at the sight of it.

“I have to say this.”

Oscar nodded silently. Whatever Trent needed to do, he would be here.

“My mother is dead because she was my stepfather’s mate.” Trent started to shake, the tremors threatening to overwhelm him, but he took several deep breaths, encouraging them to subside. “Worse. It was so much worse…”

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