Page 19 of Heart of Glass

Resting his hand on Lachlan’s hip, Xeno began tracing little circles on his skin with his forefinger. “What else do you want to know?”

Lachlan had a million questions. He wanted to know everything, all the way back to the truth of the reality and the origins of the fairy tales. “How old are you? Are you immortal?”

“I’m six hundred and twenty-one. My family led a group of Lykós over from Spain in 1812, and my grandfather helped colonize Shadow Hills.” Pausing, he watched Lachlan closely, as though looking for a reaction. “As you guessed, we’re immune to disease and heal quickly from injuries. Our blood can even heal humans and other supernaturals, but we can be killed. However, in the loose sense of the word, I suppose I am immortal.”

Lachlan had assumed as much, but he wanted to back up to the part about the blood. “You can heal…” Glancing down at his hip, he brushed his fingertips along the map of scars while his thoughts strayed to earlier that morning. “You know, I’ve been taking painkillers for months, and they’ve never completely taken away the pain.”

“I’m sorry,” Xeno mumbled. “I couldn’t stand how much pain you were in, and I had to do something. So I put a couple of drops of my blood in your orange juice earlier.”

Maybe Lachlan had lost his mind, because he found the confession sweet rather than creepy or disturbing. Rolling to his side, he cupped Xeno’s cheek and pressed a chaste kiss to his swollen lips. “Thank you.” He wanted to hear more about the dreamwalking, to know if Xeno was responsible for his recent erotic fantasy, but he wanted to know about this “mating mark” more.

“Why did you bite me, Xe? What does it mean?” The intense, instantaneous attraction, the deep, consuming connection, and the almost desperate need to be together made a hell of a lot more sense now, but he wanted to hear Xeno say it. He needed to know everything involved in being the “mate” of a werewolf.

“I can see it in your eyes. You know what it means.” He tugged on Lachlan’s earlobe, pulling him closer for another kiss. “It means you’re mine, but it also means I’m yours. I know you’re afraid sometimes, but you don’t have to be anymore. No matter what it is, I’ll always be here to protect you.” He stroked Lachlan’s cheek and traced the curve of his jaw. “Cherish you.” His lips rubbed back and forth across Lachlan’s, and Xeno sighed happily. “Love you.”

His heart pounded and his cock twitched in renewed interest, but Lachlan pushed through the desire, forcing himself to focus. Xeno couldn’t love him. It had just been a figure of speech. After all, they’d only known each other for a few days. “If we’re b–bonded, does that mean…does it…what does that mean?”

“You’ll never grow old and you’ll never be sick. It’s a gift, Lachlan, a promise that we’ll be together forever.”

Lachlan’s head spun as he began to hyperventilate, and it felt like the room had suddenly grown smaller, oppressive. Having sex with a werewolf barely rated on his fucked-up-o-meter, but talking about spending forever with said werewolf sent him into a panic of epic proportions. “I have to go.”

“Breathe, baby, just breathe. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you’re not alone, okay? I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Not helping. He had to get out of the room, find a safe place to be alone and break down. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Lachlan—”

Holding up his hand to stop Xeno’s protest, he slid down from the bed and marched naked to the bathroom. “If you mean what you say, if you really care about me, l–love me, then you’ll give me some time to process this.” Right then, he couldn’t be sure of his feelings, and he needed to know he hadn’t been manipulated by some omniscient matchmaker. Was anything he felt for Xeno real? Or had everything been an elaborate fabrication brought on by pheromones and animalistic instinct?

A loud bang on the door stopped him in his tracks, and Lachlan jerked toward the sound. “What, Grady?”

“Dry your dick off and get out here. You have therapy in half an hour.”

“He’s not going today,” Xeno yelled back.

Growing more frustrated by the moment, Lachlan threw a filthy glare at Xeno and continued on to the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes.” If he wanted to find answers, he needed to get his head on straight, and he could only do that by getting a little distance from the situation—also known as Xeno.

Chapter eight

Lachlan spent a lotof time by himself over the course of the next week, holed up in Xeno’s office typing away at his manuscript. At least, he hadn’t left, though. There had been a minute, just a brief moment where Xeno hadn’t been sure he’d return after his session with Grady.

When he’d walked through the front door with a huge grin on his face, Xeno had stupidly believed their fight had been forgotten. Once their eyes met from across the room, and Lachlan’s happiness deflated, he knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

In all the ways he’d imagined telling his mate about werewolves and the paranormal world, he’d never thought Lachlan would be so calm and understanding. Riding a current of relief, he’d pushed too hard, been too overbearing in his presumptions. Not once had he stopped to consider that maybe Lachlan didn’t wantto be with him. He’d only thought of himself, his own happiness, which made him one selfish bastard.

“I screwed up.”

“Yeah,” Grady agreed as he kicked back on the sofa, “you did. Just give him time, man. He’s confused, but he’s still here, right?”

“Did you tell him about you?” Talking to his best friend about Lachlan didn’t come easy, not like it should. While Lachlan had been ignoring him for a week, he’d been very chummy with Grady.

“He fuckin’ smart, Xe. He guessed, and I just didn’t lie to him.”

“Weren’t you the one who was just lecturing me about the rules and saying I was going to get us all killed?” His jealousy, which always seemed to simmer just below the surface these days, came roaring to life. “It’s okay for you, though, right?”

“Oh, get over yourself. He already knew, so I’m guessing you told him. Besides, as your mate, the rules don’t apply anymore. No laws have been broken, I talked to Lachlan about keeping quiet, and that’s that.” Digging the remote out from between the cushions, Grady snorted as he flipped on the television. “Relax. You’re tighter than a virgin’s asshole.”

“He won’t talk to me.”

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