Page 50 of Free Me

“You do?” Linus looked briefly panicked before it melted into mild suspicion. He quirked an eyebrow high. “Since when?”

Time to go all-in. He’d held this in for a month. They were as alone as they could be with Isa lurking somewhere downstairs, but he was respectful enough to give them as much privacy as possible. “Since the night of the accident.”

Linus scowled. “What happened the night of the accident? You said we left the party before you went fully into heat and that nothing happened.”

“We did. Mostly.” He took a chance on clasping Linus’s nearest hand, and his frazzled nerves soothed slightly whenLinus didn’t pull away. “When we were dancing together downstairs, things got really intense. We were both hard and enjoying it, and I’m sure my heat pheromones were egging things on a little, but when we went upstairs together for privacy…” Miko swallowed hard. “I asked you to kiss me.”

“Really?” Linus studied his face, his nostrils flaring several times. Miko watched invisible tumblers fall into place for Linus. “We kissed?”

“Almost. You were thinking a bit more clearly and you hesitated, even though I know we both felt something.”

“And then what happened?”

“You were the one who stopped before we actually kissed, because you recognized my heat symptoms. After that, all you could think about was keeping me safe and getting us home. I was nervous, but I knew I was safe as long as you were beside me.” His throat tightened. “The first time I visited you after the accident? I scented you, Linus. I felt the mating bond.”

The wonder on Linus’s face melted into sweet surprise, followed by squinty annoyance. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because of how hurt you were. I didn’t want to put any pressure on you about being my mate when you had your recovery to focus on, and then when your senses of smell and taste were all wonky…I needed to wait until you scented it, too. Or remembered the moments leading up to me asking you to kiss me. I needed you to feel it somehow first, so it didn’t seem like I was putting the idea in your head.”

Miko braced for Linus’s temper, to be scolded for not telling Linus the truth before today, for being selfish with what he knew. He’d deserve it, too. But Linus had never been quick to temper. He sorted through things, weighed the evidence, and then made a judgment call. Those traits would have made him a great constable, if he’d chosen the same career path as his sire.

Linus stared at him with a blank expression for a long time before glancing toward the kitchen. When he relocked gazes with Miko, his face still gave nothing away, and it unnerved Miko. Linus was usually easy for him to read. “Our parents knew, too, right?” Linus asked.

“Yes. I told my parents first, because they could tell something was different, and I told Liam and Isa the truth about why I needed to see you so badly before you woke up. I had to know if what I’d felt before my heat was real or just hormones, and it was real.” Miko cleared his throat, his eyes burning but no actual tears spilling. “Liam wasn’t happy about me not telling you right away, after you woke up, but he let me make the decision. I needed you to get better, Linus.”

Linus pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. “So you didn’t want to admit to feeling the mating bond with a broken alpha?”

“Fuck no! You know me better than that, Linus.” Anger overrode some of Miko’s anxiety and blood rushed to his face. “Do you know how much it hurt me every day to not be close to you? To not tell you the truth? To want to be there as your mate, and not just as your best friend? But after a while, we didn’t need to say the words. Did we? We’ve loved each other our whole lives, and we’ve been bonding during your entire recovery, and I’m sorry I didn’t bring this up first.”

“Not that you didn’t bring it up sooner?”

“No. It came up when it was meant to. You spoke about us getting pregnant like it was the most natural, obvious thing in the world. That’s the mating bond, Linus, whether you can smell it or not.”

“I know.” His facial muscles twitched, as if unsure what expression to settle on, because Linus wasn’t sure how to feel about all this. “And I believe you, Miko, that you thought waitingwas for the best. You weren’t trying to control me, you just…needed me to know things for myself.”

“Yes, I did.” Relief unfurled the tension knot in Miko’s stomach. “I wasn’t trying to manipulate you or to make a unilateral decision about your life, I promise. As your bondmate, I did what I thought was right.”

Linus nodded and let his arms fall to his sides. His posture was more relaxed but he still wasn’t reaching for Miko. “Thank you.”

“For what? Coming clean?”

“Yes, for that, but also for not telling me sooner. I did need to understand it for myself.” Linus finally smiled and raised his right arm. Miko slid closer and pressed against Linus’s side, so happy when Linus draped that warm, comforting arm across his shoulders. He inhaled Linus’s familiar scent, desperate to kiss his bondmate, but also determined to go at Linus’s pace.

“This feels so right,” Linus whispered.

“It does. The goddess has an interesting sense of humor, huh? Our older brothers are bondmates and in love, and now we’re bondmates and, well, we’ve always loved each other but not romantically.”

“Not yet. But that comes with time.” His hand gently tilted Miko’s head up. “And this.”

Miko barely had a moment to understand before Linus’s hot mouth pressed to his, a gentle pressure that detonated inside him like fireworks. The best, brightest, most explosive fireworks imaginable, and Miko lit up inside and out. He kissed Linus back with all the emotions he’d been carrying this entire past month, putting his love and need and joy into that kiss. Into caressing Linus’s hair and neck, his shoulders and chest, half of him wishing they were alone in a bedroom so he could see bare skin. Touch and lick and claim his alpha.

He barely noticed his back hitting the sofa cushions or the way Linus spread out on top of him, a firm weight he adored. The kiss went on and on, an ebb and flow that never quite crashed to shore, despite them both being hard. Linus’s erection, hot and firm against his hip, thrilled Miko. He wanted Linus to claim him, to take off his clothes and press inside, to finally join them as one.

A creak, slam and startled gasp shocked Miko’s entire body into jerking. Linus tried to sit up but couldn’t quite manage because of the positions of his leg and right thigh. Liam stood in the entry with a shopping bag in one hand, his mouth agape. In that instant, Liam’s phone chimed with a text. Before Miko and Linus could sit up and adjust themselves, Isa crept in from the kitchen.

“I tried to warn you, little one,” Isa said to Liam.

Linus released an adorable squeak. Miko’s face flamed with mortification.

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