Page 120 of Heart of the High King
“Less than a hundred years between us. That’s not much. Why are you wiggling like that? Am I hurting you?”
“No, I’m squishy.”
“You’re swollen because you had massive healing. So what? This better not be you thinking that you’re fat again. You might want to look up body dysmorphia.”
“More like you need glasses.”
Aleksander’s expression was unamused, so Rafe brought their lips together. “This is dangerous.”
“What?” Rafe murmured between kisses.
“How good you are at distracting me.”
There were no words for several long minutes as Rafe put all his concentration into pleasing and being pleased by Aleksander. Their tongues swept against each other, and Rafe simply melted in his arms. For so long, he’d dreamed of moments like these, and he wanted to take each sensation, each gentle caress, and imprint them on his memory for eternity. When he had no choice but to appease his straining lungs, he stared into a set of lust-filled orbs in the handsome, smiling face of his mate.
“I want to tell you something before I chicken out,” Rafe whispered.
“You can trust me with anything.”
“I know. It’s one of the many reasons why I love you.”
Shifting to capture Rafe fully in his arms, Aleksander held him securely but not tight enough to hurt his still-healing body. “There were so many times I thought I’d never hear those words from you because I convinced myself that what we had wasn’t real. I’m so glad I was wrong. Rafe, I love you too.”
“You’re my best friend.”
Pulling away, Aleksander cupped his face in his hands and kissed him hard. “I will cherish you and your friendship for the entire eternal life we’ll share together.”
“One thing I’ve always been sure of is that I can trust you.”
“Yes, you can. I will take care of your heart, and I know mine is in the best hands too.”
“I’m kind of out of flowery stuff to say. I can’t say it like you can.”
Aleksander leaned their foreheads together after dropping a kiss above his nose. “I don’t need fancy shit, Rafe. All I need is you.”
“You gave me hope when there should’ve been none.”
“Now you’re just trying to make me cry.”
“Is it working?”
When Aleksander lifted his head, there was indeed wetness in his eyes, but Rafe couldn’t deny that he had it too. “One more kiss, then I need to buy you a bunch of night-lights.”
“See, that’s the kind of shit that gets you points from me,” Rafe said and was given no choice but to savor another beautiful meeting of their mouths.
Aleksander released him, climbed onto the bed, and stretched out. “I’m hoping I can accumulate enough to coax you into a make-out session later.”
Bemused and floating on a cloud of happiness, Rafe plucked the tablet from the coverlet and cozied up next to Aleksander. “It’s been a long time since we did that. I vote yes.”
“I got a text message from Dr. Suricata. She’d like you to call her office to schedule a follow-up appointment for next week. Want me to take care of that for you?”
“If you want. I’m thinking about buying one of these tablets. Are they expensive?”
“Babe, we have plenty of money. Buy whatever you want. Are you okay with Dr. Park attending? Apparently, he wants to apologize to you for storming out.”
“I’m not going to burn through all your money and yeah, he can come. I understood his point of view. I wasn’t convinced this healing shit was going to work either.”
“And yet, here you are. Healthy as a horse. Do we need to get into the argument about it beingourmoney?”
