12. Hernan

Chapter 12

Hernan

“No.”

He froze.

“I mean… don’t leave, please.”

Silence. How had I managed to mess this up so spectacularly in such a short period of time? Not that I knew what this even was. The entire situation was so confusing, but the one thing I was sure of was that the second he mentioned leaving, my stomach dropped, my dragon got pissed at me, and I went into panic mode.

“I’m messing this up.” That was saying it lightly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to relieve some of the pressure that was building up there. My beast was so close—he wanted to just take his wings, grab Merry, and bring him someplace far away. As if that would do any good. Even if it wasn’t wrong on so many levels, it was definitely impractical. He’d magically appeared in the first place. For all I knew, he could magically disappear the same way.

“I don’t want to,” he confessed.

My beast rumbled in agreement with Merry. He didn’t want him to either. But just because Merry didn’t want to, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to. He’d been careful when choosing his words.

“Listen, I’m not going to pretend to understand what’s going on. All I know is that this is confusing. All I can think about doing is holding you, hugging you, kissing you, and—my beast—he just, he wants you here.”

I’d never been drawn to someone this way before and that was scary and exhilarating all mixed together. If only I knew what to do with it all. At least I was finally talking it out. Already I was saying things out loud that I hadn’t allowed myself to process.

“For a little while, I thought... maybe you were mine.” I closed my eyes, unsure I’d be able to get it all out if I was watching his face. “But I’d always heard that I’d know. Like it would be a flashing neon sign and our beasts would communicate, and like, there’d be no doubt. The second I saw my mate, I would know. Only you aren’t a shifter, and I don’t know the rules now.”

If only I did. Then all of this would make so much more sense. Or any sense, for that matter.

“And now I’m trying to replay every second we’ve had since you appeared in my studio because maybe I do know but I’m talking myself out of it. And I don’t know what to do.”

My babbly mess of words barely made sense to me. There was no way it was making sense to Merry, but when I opened my eyes, braving looking him in the eye once more, he hadn’t turned to leave. That was a good start. But his eyes were unreadable.

I stood there for a few seconds, allowing him time to say or ask what was on his mind, but he watched me, his mouth closed.

“Every time I get a little closer to understanding what’s going on, all I think about is you again—your lips and how much I want to press mine against them. To feel your body flush with mine, to taste your lips, and... and this isn’t making any sense, I don’t know.”

“I want that too.” His voice hitched.

His cheeks flushed, his bottom lip pulled in with his teeth. He was sexy as fuck.

“I-I keep thinking about kissing you.” He stared at my lips.

There was no more thinking to be had. I grabbed him by the hips and pulled him close, brushing my lips against his, gently and tentatively at first. But it didn’t stay that way. Passion ignited between us.

Our lips, teeth, and tongues danced together as if they were made for one another. He tasted like cinnamon, and I wanted more and more and more. I didn’t think I could ever get enough of him.

He reached around me and grabbed me by the ass, pulling me to him so that our hard cocks were pressed together with only the stupid fabric between us.

I groaned into his mouth, the sensations too perfect. And just as I began to let my hands wander, my stupid fucking phone alarm went off. And worst of all, it wasn’t one I could ignore.

“Shit.”

I pressed my forehead against his. “I need to go. There’s a festival meeting on one of the chairs, and I can’t?—”

The last thing I wanted to do was leave him, especially after he’d said he might leave earlier. I couldn’t imagine coming back and finding him gone. But the fear that he’d do exactly that ran high. If he did leave, I wouldn’t begin to know where to find him. It wasn’t as if there were trains to the North Pole, and I was pretty sure that there weren’t the best cell towers there if I did figure it out.

“Hey.” He intertwined our fingers and gave my hand a squeeze. “Maybe... maybe I could come with you?”

“You want to come to a boring meeting where they pretend we have a say, but at the end of the day, we don’t?” I’d been conned into joining a few years back and had instant regret, but the extra-fun part of the job was that you needed to nominate your replacement and they needed to say yes. It was a nearly impossible feat.

“Please? I’d love to see you in action.”

I would too, but not that kind of action.

“Yes.” I let out a long breath. “Please come with me. My dragon doesn’t want me to leave you. And I don’t either.”

I pulled him in for another kiss, this one not as long but still somehow better. It was almost as if it was a promise, one that said he was going to stay and we were going figure this all out. There was so much still left to say, and we’d say it, but first, it was time for local politics.

Yay us.