Page 30 of Purple Protector

Birch quickly dashed that hope. “Aaron,” he murmured as he settled next to Aaron in the nest.

Their bodies brushed together, and Aaron bit his lower lip hard. “Yes?”

Birch didn’t say anything. Aaron supposed they should go to sleep after all of this, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to lose all of this. Was it really too much to ask for him to be allowed to stay with Birch? To feel safe? To spend time with the person he liked and who he’d thought liked him?

Maybe he hadn’t been wrong. Maybe he just needed to be brave and honest. It was terrifying, but it wasn’t the first time he’d done something that scared him, like climbing onto a dragon’s back and allowing them to fly him all the way here. If he’d done that, talking to someone about his feelings for them should be a piece of cake, right?

He sucked in a breath and decided to say the words and hope for the best. “I don’t want to leave.”

At the same time, Birch said, “I don’t want you to go.”

For a moment after that, neither of them spoke. Aaron rolled toward Birch, needing to know what was happening. “You don’t want me to leave?” Birch hadn’t turned off all the lights, so Aaron could see him. He saw how Birch shook his head and how he reached for him but didn’t touch him—not yet.

“I don’t,” Birch confirmed. “I like having you here. I’m happy with how things are now, and I don’t want them to change, especially because you’re still in danger.”

“So you want me to stay here because I’m in danger?”

“Not only because of that. If you really want to leave, though, we can find you somewhere else to stay. Maybe Marlin could take you in.”

Aaron shook his head. “I don’t want to stay with Marlin. I like him, but he’s not you.”

Birch stared. Aaron wondered if he’d said the wrong thing.

“What do you mean by that?” Birch asked.

Aaron had decided to be brave minutes earlier, but now that he was supposed to be, he was kind of scared. Birch had said that he didn’t want him to leave, though. Surely he wouldn’t kick Aaron to the curb even if he confessed to being half in love with him. “I like you,” he confessed.

“I like you, too.”

Aaron huffed in frustration. “Not as a friend, or not only as a friend, I guess.” Why wasn’t Aaron smoother? He was in bed with a hot dragon shifter, for fuck’s sake. He was already halfway where he wanted to be.

He opened his mouth to make how he felt even clearer, but he didn’t have to. Birch was suddenly plastered against him and hooking a hand around his shoulder. He pulled Aaron against his chest, and their lips met.

Aaron blinked and didn’t move, but just for a second. He wasn’t going to waste whatever this was. He’d wanted to kiss Birch since the first time he’d seen him, and Birch was kissing him.

He continued kissing Aaron when Aaron wrapped his arms around his neck. He continued even when Aaron pushed his body closer, wanting more than he knew how to ask for. Birch never hesitated. He moved as if this was something they did every day, giving Aaron what he needed.

Aaron wanted this to be something they did every day. He never wanted this to end.

Birch’s tongue was slick as it explored Aaron’s mouth. Aaron let him take the lead, happy to relax and be taken care of. Unfortunately for him, that meant that Birch decided when the kiss was over.

Aaron chased his lips when he leaned back, but Birch only kissed him once more, pressing their lips together quickly. “We should talk about this,” he murmured.

“Do we have to?” Aaron whined.

“Not tonight, but tomorrow?”

That was fine with Aaron. Tonight, he would enjoy all of this and the dreams he hadn’t thought would become real. He snuggled against Birch’s chest, and Birch kissed the top of his head. He thought that was it, but Birch wasn’t done yet.

“I meant what I said,” Birch said. “I don’t want you to leave, ever.”

That was a good thing because Aaron wasn’t planning to.

Chapter Eleven

AARON WAS WALKING ON clouds. There was no other way to say it—he couldn’t stop smiling and thinking about Birch. He’d even whistled earlier. People kept staring at him as if they didn’t know what to think of him, but it just made him smile wider. He was too happy not to.

He and Birch had officially moved in together. It had taken a few weeks, mostly because Birch was overprotective and still wasn’t happy with Aaron leaving their rooms, but eventually, they’d moved all of Aaron’s stuff into Birch’s place. Aaron was almost done unpacking, but then, he hadn’t brought a lot. Since he was leaving his life behind, he would have to go back and pack up his apartment, but for now, he was happy ignoring all of that and focusing on Birch and their new relationship.

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