Chapter 42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

MIKO

F aery's recovery ran smoothly. Dorian wrote to us weekly once a cross-realm postal service was established. One day we'd have an audience with the prince when things weren't so complicated with his brother. Apparently, the prick was throwing his toys out of the pram over everything, and Orion and I were banned from the palace. No matter the unpopularity of that decision, he still had the authority to make it happen.

Fuck him.

Anyway, it was best to stay away from the palace. I'd only hunt him through the lavish corridors and end up ripping his guts out for hurting my mate. King or not.

There were much bigger things to worry about.

My stomach was tangled in some serious knots as I sat at the dining table on the beach under a canopy of twinkly fairy lights outside Orion's beach hut.

Face to face with his mum and dad.

Shit.

Ori served Vodka Flowers to each of us, nervous as hell but looking hot as fuck in white. The tightest trousers ever showed off his perfect arse, and a tight top threaded with silver sequins caught the light like a disco ball. His hair was styled to perfection, and he smelled ready to pluck from the cherry tree.

If his parents weren't here, I'd be throwing him onto the table and spreading his legs. Wide.

Ahem.

We hadn't had sex in nine months. Crazy, I know, but we'd not got around to it. We'd been too caught up in the rebuild, too tired, and dealing with a lot of emotional baggage.

Surviving an apocalypse would do that.

We cuddled and kissed, but never seemed to muster the energy to fuck. God, we wanted to, often talking about it. But the right time never seemed to find us.

That might change here in Faery. The vibe shifted the moment we crossed the border, the air lighter, sweeter, carrying an arousing aroma I couldn't quite pinpoint—Ori's cherries aside. I don't know, it just moved me from dim to blazing, showing me the traumas we carried didn't have to stop us from living.

We were together, no longer under the threat of being torn apart.

I was ready for all of him. Ready to be naked for hours and hours and hours.

Was he on the same page yet?

But first, meeting the parents…

"We're sorry it's taken so long to arrange this," Jasper Bloom said.

Ori's dad shared the same skin tone as his son, but had raven black hair and brown eyes, half-moon spectacles sitting on the tip of his nose.

Nova, his mum, had the same scarlet hair, the curled tresses brushing her shoulders, but her complexion was a lighter shade than her husband and son's. She kept her green eyes on the table, less friendly than Jasper, having only said hello to me so far.

"It's alright," I answered. "We've all been busy. Time just gets away from you."

A frosty Nova sipped her equally frosty Vodka Flower while Ori went to get the food from his hut.

God, what a pretty spot. Right on the beach, facing the ocean, gentle waves licking the shore. A little way out in the water was a tall rock, about twenty feet tall, palm trees growing from the top of it. Apparently, you could swim out to it and climb a natural staircase inside to the summit.

We'd have to climb that at some point.

For now, I tried breaking the ice. "These are so good." I sipped my Vodka Flower.

True. Cold, smooth, and with a slight sweetness that hit all the right spots.

Nova glanced at me, giving me nothing. I suppose saving the world didn't give her son a free pass at being with a man.

I kept a lid on my anger over that . For Ori's sake.

"Tell us about your life as alpha," Jasper said, trying his best.

We spoke about my life, my family. Nova didn't respond, only looking up when Orion brought some light Faery nibbles to the table. He didn't want to do a full dinner party in case shit kicked off.

It better not…

Ori finally joined us after his dad finished discussing Faery politics with me.

I stroked my man's back as he sat beside me, catching his mum's attention. No outward reaction on her face, per se, but if her jaw were any tighter, she'd be spitting teeth.

"These look lovely, son," Jasper praised the colorful picky bits—cheese, salad items, puffy pastry things resembling vol-au-vents, and various canapés.

"Thanks, Papa. Enjoy."

"You're the best, cherrypie." I kissed his cheek.

Jasper smiled, while Nova made no effort to pick up her cutlery.

"You good?" I asked my mate.

"Not really."

"Shouldn't have kissed you."

We were the only bonded mates to have this special form of mental communication.

"I'm not ashamed of us or myself," he returned. "Kiss away."

He really did make me proud every single day.

I went for another round of Crack the Ice. "What about you, Mrs. Bloom?"

She looked at me. "What about me?"

"Do you?—"

She sighed. "Enough. You don't have to appease me with small talk. I'm well aware I'm creating a bad atmosphere. And I'm sorry."

Orion leaned forward. "Mama?"

She took Jasper's hand, her eyes glistening as she addressed Ori. "We've missed you so much, sweetheart. Every day I…I thought I might hear of your death or of your return. I couldn't… I still… I'm so happy you're here." She caught her escaping tears with a serviette.

"Mama…"

"Your papa and I have talked through a lot of things. My terrible attitude to your sexuality, how it must have felt to be rejected by me. And I did reject you, at least that side of you. I didn't want to believe it, to imagine my son with another man. I struggled, resisted, behaved like a fool. A selfish fool. When we lost you, I… It took a terrible event for me to confront my ridiculousness." She dabbed her eyes again.

This was amazing and unexpected. I really thought the evening would end with distressing tears, my mate broken by hate.

Ori sniffled. I held his hand through his mum's words.

She turned to me. "I can see you love him very much."

"Words can't describe it," I replied.

"Good. Please take good care of him."

"Until the end of time."

Jasper nodded his approval at me. "You make a handsome couple. Orion gets it from me."

My mate giggled lightly. "Oh, Papa…"

"I'm sorry, Orion," Nova continued. "I'm sorry for hurting you, for not giving you the unconditional love you deserve. But you have it now. You always have. I don't expect forgiveness, but can we go back to how we were before? Start afresh?" She gave him a hopeful look.

"Friends again?" Ori answered.

"Yes. Friends again."

"Like we used to be before I pooped on everything." Her shoulders sagged. "I'll never not be sorry. My beautiful son… I let you down. I let you down. I let you down…"

Orion whimpered, scraping his beach chair back through the sand as he got to his feet. His mum stood at the same time, the two of them letting it all go, hugging and sobbing together.

Rebuilding.

Jasper lifted his drink to me. "To better days."

I toasted to that.

His parents left at midnight, just after the family shared in a thanksgiving ceremony to the stars. With his mum's reset, things took a lighter turn with laughter, stories, and celebration.

I was so happy for him. He finally got to be free from that bullshit.

"You're a great cook," I told him as we waved his parents off into the night.

"Thanks."

"This spot is amazing. But is your place a shack or a hut?" He'd called it both, but it seemed more like a hut to me. Built from sandstone with a pointed, thatched roof.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "It's whatever you feel like calling it."

"Cute."

"Don't you like it?"

"Course I do. It's as cozy as you are." I pulled him into a hug.

It had one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living area. A pretty big hut, really; the only one on this stretch of beach, bought at a shockingly cheap price.

And it also had a veranda with a swing bench.

Nice. Really nice.

Ori kissed me. "Thanks for being so amazing."

My dick twinged in response to his lips on my mine, loving how he traced his little finger down the side of my face.

We were alone.

Alone and…horny.

I couldn't wait to see how this played out.