Chapter Sixteen

“I can’t believe?Prince Loren has been found,” Dane whispered, thunderstruck by the day’s events.

Meals had been sent to the conference room as everyone in the Royal Court held silent vigil, praying to the Goddess for their rescued brethren to awaken. The meadow sprite and brownie were revived first, then reunited with family and others of their kind. Penelope and Keenan, delighting to add one more water sprite to Pride’s numbers, waited patiently for their new friend to wake up. It had been quite something to see their joy when she finally awakened.

Since Prince Loren still remained unconscious, the king dismissed his Court. The king, his consort, and Linda—a healing witch—remained by his bedside.

Night had fallen when Dane and his mate returned to Marcus’s cabin, sitting at the tiny table by the porthole window and sharing a couple of well-deserved beers.

“Did you know him?”

“Our mothers were sisters, so he is my cousin. All the Fae Lords are related somehow.” Even bitchy Kevin was technically Dane’s cousin. “But I cannot say I knew him, other than in passing.”

“And the other three? Did you know them too?”

During the chaos, Marcus and Dane had stayed back, leaning against the wall with the Magus and his mate, while the healers worked hard to care for—hopefully—the newest members of the Pride’s crew.Elation and relief were palatable things on the air, sending the entire ship into a spirit of celebration.

Dane didn’t know if he’d ever seen His Majesty and his husband so happy.

“No, I did not. Sprites and brownies are among the weakest of the Fae,” Dane explained. “A perfect prey for these monsters. Their blood isn’t as potent as ours, but they’re easier to catch.”

His mate scrunched up his face in disgust. “What the fuck is wrong with people?” Marcus, swallowed some beer, his Adam’s apple moving up-and-down sensuously. “At least you got that bastard’s gargoyle.”

“I almost destroyed it.”

“Why the hell didn’t you?” Marcus demanded.

“If I have the statue, I have control over all of his powers.”

Marcus offered a small smirk. “You’re a vengeful little thing, aren’t you?”

“Is that admiration I hear in your tone?”

Marcus gave him a shrug. “Yeah, I think it is.”

Thatpleased him more than expected. “I’m sure Lowrey will come looking for it, and when he does, he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws... which probably means he will be executed.”

“I could see wanting to go about it by the books,” Marcus concurred.

Dane studied the man across from him and a sense of awe fell over him. Followed swiftly by a sense of shame. If he had not been so stubborn, rejecting the other part of his soul, they may have been able to save the prince and the others sooner. It felt so natural and right, earlier today, funneling power into Marcus. As if the magic knew it belonged not just to Dane, but to Marcus as well.

It recognized Marcus as home.

The other half of his soul.

When he’d given his power to his mate, somehow the spirit world had opened. Dane couldn’t explain it because he had never dabbled in the dark art of crossing the veil, though it had been a popular practice among his people after the Great War. Dane had no desire to corrupt his magic and had no one he’d wanted to commune with, not even his sister, Renae.Both living and dead, his family had long ago tossed him aside.

Seeing the affection Marcus shared with his sister, and even the emotions his father was still capable of making him battle, left Dane wishing for something similar for himself.

Family and love were not things many royals longed for when Dane had been growing up.

The members of the Royal Court had only one priority. Finding their mate. Not for a love bond, but for the power and magic finding a mate entailed. Unlike his predecessor, King Raoul encouraged the Fae to love their mate above the power the bond awakened. Dane once thought it must be Fae nature, as their life was endless, not to be too emotionally attached, but perhaps it was just the way their previous king had wanted things. King Raoul was very different. He wanted his people not only safe, but happy. Perhaps because his own soul bond was one of love, the king wanted the same for all for his people.

Maybe the man across from Dane would make some of that possible for him.

Dare he hope?

“Why are you staring at me?” Marcus wanted to know, looking up through black eyelashes.

Dane should have felt embarrassed for getting lost in his head, but Marcus made him feel thoroughly at ease. And after everything he had done today? Dane was in awe of the man. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “I mean, I’m pretty stoked that you guys saved those people, and that I had a part in it.”

“You didn’t just have a part in it,” Dane assured him, reaching out to touch his arm. “It all happened because of you.”

Something electric and warm shimmered through his body at the connection of their skin. They had already been intimate, but somehow this gentle touch felt different, more important. Real. Their eyes caught and they shared a smile.

“Thank you for helping my people,” Dane whispered. “You have done something so very unbelievable.”

Though happy the prince had returned, along with the three more vulnerable sprites, Dane had concerns about the repercussions. Would Prince Loren try to bring back some of the old traditions of the Fae, things Dane’s brother and mother yearned for as they rotted their brains in Elysium? Would he wish to usurp the throne from his younger brother? Would the Goddess allow such a thing? His Majesty carried the magical mantle of leadership, every Fae could sense it even when he didn’t display the physical manifestation of that power—his golden crown. They had assumed Prince Loren dead because that power appeared on the second heir. Yet Loren had been alive all this time. Would the Goddess shift the mantle of power to Prince Loren since he was no longer prisoner?Or had She always intended King Raoul to hold the throne?

Dane would have to simply trust Her benevolence. She had Her people’s best interest at heart. Whomever became or remained king, She had been overly generous with an undeserving Dane, so he would not stress over it.

“If we’re bonded does that make them my people too?” Marcus questioned, his dark eyes bold yet guarded.

Dane sat back and released his touch on Marcus’s arm. “I suppose it does. Though I don’t really have people.”

“What do you mean?”

Dane was quiet for a moment, as he decided how to explain his family.

Sadly, Dane’s parents had not been mates. Mother had been lovers with his father, not that it went against custom to have sex with whomever one wanted until mated. From what Dane understood, she had loved Father, but he’d been a wastrel, a conniving low-born member of the court, exiled during Dane’s youth. Father’s brother had been far worse, as Kevin could no doubt corroborate. Shortly after Father’s banishment, Mother met her soul mate, a mountain fairy chieftain by the name of Callovian. Being Callovian’s mate meant power, not only with her own magic, but within the Court. They had two more children, a sister Dane had adored, Renae, and a brother Dane loved even more, Stefan.

Mother had ceased being Dane’s mother the day she’d met Callovian. As she grew up, Renae got swept up with court politics and became a deceitful liar who Dane soon discovered he never truly knew. When she was killed in the War, Dane had mourned the false memory of her friendship, not the woman she had revealed herself to be. Stefan had done the same as Mother when he bonded to that sneaky little meadow sprite, Betha. Before the unification treaty, Dane had been incredibly close to his brother, but Betha had not wanted to share her mate, not even with family, so Dane had lost his friendship too.

Often when he’d lain about, aching, cold, and starving in his cell, he wondered if they missed him, if they’d ever cared. Had they looked for him at all? The king had assured Dane they had been notified of his rescue and arrival aboard the Pride, but he’d not received even one missive. Their lack of enthusiasm to leave the Elysium realm hadn’t hurt as much as he’d expected, as he’d long ago determined they had no familial affection for him, nor him for them.

Not wanting to dwell on his asshole family or let the past shadow what he wanted to build with Marcus, Dane finally answered him with a simple, “I have been separated from my family many centuries. While the king and others have been welcoming, my own mother and brother have not even bothered to come see how I fare. I did not even expect them to. They have been dead to me a long time.”

“I’m sorry.”

He felt Marcus’s genuine concern, and while welcome, it was unnecessary. “I am used to it. I have made few friends over the centuries. Here, aboard the Pride, I have grown closest to Adam.”

Marcus straightened and, if Dane wasn’t off his mark, his mate seemed jealous.

“Adam is very handsome,” Dane said, delighting in the spark he saw in Marcus’s eye. But he didn’t want to tease him too long, so he added, “But we are simply friends.”

“Oh good.” Marcus took a sip of beer then frowned. “I wasn’t jealous.”

“I think you were,” Dane countered.

“You’re both very attractive. I wouldn’t blame you if you hooked up.”

“How many men have you been with?” Dane wanted to know.

“You’re not supposed to ask someone that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think it’s a healthy way to start a relationship.”

“So the number is that high.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“How many?”

“The only number you need to know is zero since the first time I saw you,” Marcus assured him.

Dane hadn’t expected such a heartfelt answer, he’d been teasing after all. At a loss for words, he picked up his beer only to find it empty.

Marcus set his bottle down and held it between both hands, thumbnails scratching at the moist label. “You probably wanna call it a night, huh?”

The mere thought of leaving Marcus’s side made Dane panic.

Yes, he’d been apart from him last night, but something had shifted between them today. Was it the fact that Dane realized his other half had a magical gift to help his people, or was it the man himself? Maybe the way Dane had combined them with his magic earlier had made their bond suddenly feel so... necessary.

Or had the Goddess simply gotten it right and Dane had ignored it?

He heard the unicorn’s words once more. “You must love and trust this human,” along with the echo of his promise to her: I will.

Wanting to be fair to the man he was bound to for eternity, Dane boldly placed his hand on Marcus’s again. A beautiful purple and red dreamcatcher adorned the back of his forearm, and Dane let his gaze drift up—ignoring the empty skin he’d eventually have to fill with a disgusting figure—to gaze into those dark, soulful eyes. “It was an eventful day. We accomplished great things together.”

Marcus’s throat bobbed. “We did.”

The connection tethering their hearts, what every Fae knew instinctively to be the tangible sign of their bound souls, seemed to contract, urging Dane closer to Marcus. He didn’t know how he controlled himself from not leaping into Marcus’s lap to ravage him with more kisses.

He wished they’d been given a chance to develop a true connection before the physical aspect had been ignited. But the Goddess had placed an incubus in their path, so perhaps She understood Dane needed something outside of his own head to force himself into opening his body for Marcus before he knew how to give him his heart.

But Dane wanted to do this right from here forward.

Though it defied everything his soul demanded, Dane released Marcus and stood. “I will bid you goodnight.”

Marcus blinked a few times, as if he’d woken from the same spell Dane had fallen under. “Yeah, okay. Goodnight.”

Without another word, Dane moved toward the door. He could have teleported, but it seemed unkind somehow. He made it four steps and movement behind him gave him pause.

“Dane?”

At the sound of his name on his mate’s lips, any semblance of control snapped. It was as if all the plasma in his blood had been replaced with fire, need, and want. His being no longer his own, no longer an individual identity, only whole with Marcus.

Dane whirled around and rushed his mate.

He threw himself into Marcus’s arms. “Please...”

Wordless, their lips found each other, reuniting once more.

Everything clicked together, snapping back into place as Dane became wrapped up in Marcus.The wrench on his heart eased, and his soul knew it belonged here, his body close to Marcus.

Passion ignited the fire in his veins, and his dick throbbed as he all but crawled up Marcus’s muscular body. When Marcus cupped his ass and smashed their groins together, Dane wrapped his legs around his trim waist in answer.

“Sorry, I know we shouldn’t,” Dane muttered around kisses. “But I need you again, so badly. Need you. Can’t control it.”

“Then don’t.” Marcus took two steps toward the bed and dropped Dane unceremoniously atop it. The hunger shone clear in his dark eyes and the tether uniting them tugged behind Dane’s heart.

“I’m sorry, I can’t control this,” Dane breathed as he yanked at his mate’s clothes. “It’s so much.”

“Shh, I know. It’s okay. I’m here for you. No more apologizing. I can’t bear it,” Marcus said and then he fell on top of Dane, crushing him into the bed. “If you need this, I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you anything.”

“I need you naked,” Dane said around kisses and used his magic for his new favorite spell. He removed all their clothing in one flick of a finger.

Marcus growled in approval. “That’s a nice trick.”

Dane grinned, staring up at the need straining his mate’s face. “I have more,” he promised.

Then he conjured oil, citrusy and sweet. He filled his center with it and used his power to stretch his hole, carefully avoiding his prostate. He groaned and arched up, savoring the sensation. It was better than before, because there were no more secrets between them. Dane cupped his face in his small hands and kissed him. He poured all of his passion, hunger, terror, and fear of this relationship into that kiss. He didn’t know what the future held, but he wanted Marcus to be a part of it.

––––––––

Marcus could barely breathe as Dane writhed beneath him, his slim naked body hot and soft, yet firm with strength. Thrusting and shaking his hips, Dane pumped up against Marcus’s groin.?He shifted his knee, making room for Dane to slip between his thighs. Dane squirmed beneath him, giving him enough friction on his hard cock he feared he might give in and blow his load before they even got started. The last time, Dane’s recovery time put his own to shame.

“Is this another trick?” he teased. “Wiggling under me?”

“I’m using magic to lube and stretch my ass,” Dane whispered and Marcus shuddered.“It’s pushing me too close to the edge.”

“Maybe I wanted to do that for you,” Marcus scolded.

Dane stilled in concern.

While?Dane had made a lot of mistakes and assumptions since they’d come together, Marcus brushed the back of his knuckles across Dane smooth face until the creases of worry faded. “I was only joking,” he assured him. “Stretch yourself good cause I’m gonna fuck you hard, just like you need.”

Dane groaned again and his back arched upward. “I’m ready, Marcus. Don’t keep me waiting. I can’t... I need...”

Marcus had never been with a lover who came so unglued, muttering incoherently while grabbing and kissing as if he couldn’t fixate on any one activity. Would it always be like this with Dane? So passionate and out of control?

He hooked his bigger arms underneath Dane’s knees and shifted his legs back, exposing his sweet pucker pulsing and dilating.

“Fuck,” Marcus muttered. “I can see you stretching yourself.”

“Less seeing, more fucking,” Dane ordered in that petulant, bossy tone that dove right under Marcus’s skin and all the way to his heart.

“Your wish is my command, my lord.”

Dane frowned. “Don’t call me that when we’re like this.”

Laughing, Marcus kissed his frowning lips. “Then don’t be so bossy.”

He harrumphed.

Marcus took hold of his aching dick and aimed it at his ready, wet hole. Despite the magical stretching,?his ring snapped tightly below the base of Marcus’s head once he slipped inside the warm wetness. Both men groaned and Dane arched up, exposing his long creamy neck. Marcus couldn’t help himself as he pushed deeper into his hot channel. He bit down gently where Dane’s collar bone and neck came together.

Dane hissed and his legs coiled above Marcus’s ass, fingers clutching his back, short nails digging in.

“Oh Goddess,” Dane moaned. “Faster... I need you all the way in... I can’t take it any longer!”

Their first time together had been incubus driven, yet Dane had the same desperate air about him now. Marcus forced himself to cup his hands around Dane’s back and slowly work himself into his mate’s lush entrance.

“More, Marcus, I need...” Dane whimpered, helplessly thrashing his head side to side, the heels of his feet digging into the small of Marcus’s back.

Marcus claimed his swollen lips in a kiss that took them to another plane of existence. Like their souls were truly bound, a pull behind Marcus’s heart ached to be pressed to the same area on Dane’s chest. He tugged the smaller man closer, until every inch of their bodies united, his cock all the way inside, face in the crook of his neck, arms and legs wrapped tight around Marcus.Heart pressed to heart.

But still it was not close enough.

It might never be.

Marcus’s heart was gone. It had been from the moment he’d laid eyes on this man, but now he was so lost he would never be found. Music seemed to fill his mind amid the panting and shuffling of their bodies against the sheets. Everything in his life realigned itself the moment he pulled out and thrust back inside.

Marcus thrust again, crushing Dane to him, yet still not close enough. He could feel the slide of Dane’s hard cock gliding across his abdomen, slick and wet with pre-cum.

Dane buried his face in the crook of Marcus’s neck and bit down, whether in passion or reprimand. Those blunt nails dug into his flesh. “Faster, I need it, baby.”

Powerless to deny this man anything, and loving the little endearment, he began to pound him, taking no mercy. Dane cried out, throwing his head back and arching up. They became a single passionate, writhing entity, thrusting and moving, grasping for purchase, seeking nirvana, bound for paradise.

Marcus used the strength in his legs to shift, sitting back on his knees and feet, pulling Dane with him so the man sat on his lap, completely wrapped around him. Dane let out a shuddering high-pitched wail, and his body trembled as Marcus pounded up at the same time he yanked Dane down. He fucked him with everything he had, filling him up. That decadent ring stroked up-and-down his shaft, driving him to mindless passion.

It didn’t take long to climax, the tingling in his balls, want coiled around his middle, the spot behind his heart binding them tighter. In the back of his mind, he feared the bruising grip on the smaller man, but he lost himself to ecstasy, that slender dick pressed tight between their bodies.

With a roar, Marcus heaved up, cock kicking as he emptied wave after wave of cum deep into Dane. Dane convulsed once, bowing up as hot wetness smeared between their bodies.

We’re coming at the same time.

Blackness swirled behind his eyes, as if he left his body for a moment. Dane’s hard breaths pounded against his ear and sweet euphoria filled him everywhere his skin connected to his mate.

Mate.

Somehow that word held mastery over his soul, penetrating deeper, and more significant than trivial words husband or partner or boyfriend.

Dane was his.

Finally.

When the blissed-out sensation faded, Marcus became aware of his throbbing body, his spent cock deep in a warm channel, slick wetness oozing onto his thighs, and pressed to his stomach. He ran lazy fingers up-and-down Dane’s spine, loosening his tight grip, kissing his shoulder and his neck before bringing their mouths together.

The franticness melted right out of the smaller man as he held on loosely while Marcus delivered slow, love-drenched kiss.

“Is it always going to be like this?” Marcus whispered. “So out of control?”

“I can’t control it,” Dane whispered, his arms draped lazily over Marcus’s shoulders and keeping his face close. “I’m still hard.”

Marcus shuddered.

Dane’s moist lips tickled and teased the space below his ear lobe. “I need you to jerk me right now, while your cock is still my ass. I’m not finished with you.”

Chuckling at his stamina and wondering if it was a para thing, Marcus reached between their bodies and found him rigid, as promised. One arm tightened around Dane’s back and torso, and the other stroked his slender pink cock.Copious amounts of cum made the perfect lube as he fisted the hot length.

Their eyes met, the intimacy and intensity almost more than Marcus could bear. He’d never stared into a man’s eyes as he jacked him with his cock still buried inside his ass. Said cock was getting harder too. Marcus felt like he was falling head first into a swimming pool, drowning in those lavender irises, his hand gripping the steal-like slick length of Dane’s dick. Hot and sticky, it seemed molded of his own very hand.

Dane did not look away from his face as he braced himself on Marcus’s shoulders, body undulating with the rhythm.Marcus didn’t know if he could come again so soon, but the way Dane’s hips rolled up-and-down on his dick, the stickiness of his own cum gliding the way, had him firming up. That stiffness seemed to be enough to give Dane what he needed. He pressed his palm into the small of Dane’s back and pulled him close as he thrust and drove his hand down his shaft.

“You’re beautiful,” Marcus murmured, relishing the tingle in his own balls and the hot, snug ass gliding up and down as if pumping him back to full hardness by sheer will.

A half smile, full of wicked promise, crossed Dane’s face and he sped up, no doubt grateful for Marcus’s growing erection. Marcus pumped his cock, loving how the head caught on his thumb and slick pre-cum trailed down the side. Hot and needy, wet and hard. And fuck! The feel of welcoming hole, stroking across Marcus’s naked cock?

Pure fucking paradise.

Still gazing into each other’s eyes, Dane’s face contorted, lips curled, and his nose scrunched in an adorable way as he strained toward another orgasm.

Marcus kept studying him, staring deep into those eyes as he jerked his cock with purpose, up-and-down, his free hand spreading apart his ass cheeks, questing to where their bodies were joined. Squeezing Dane’s shaft, he rolled the foreskin up over his head while snaking his thumb inside the edge to tease the leaking head.With his other hand, he traced the base of his own cock against Dane’s stuffed hole.

“You like that?” Marcus whispered, his cock like a rock again, hopefully giving Dane the ride he needed. He began to roll his hips with Dane’s gentle waves, and they moved together, eyes locked and lips so close they shared the same breath.

His thighs strained from the pressure, but nothing would stop him from giving this man—his Fae Lord exactly what he wanted.

What they both needed.

“Fuck, you feel so good inside me,” Dane moaned.

In answer, Marcus thrust up harder and squeezed his dick. But the cum was drying on Dane’s shaft and Marcus’s hand dragged. Dane hissed and then suddenly a gush of slickness filled Marcus’s palm.

“Magic?”

“It’s all magic,” Dane whispered, hand still gripping his shoulder.He bounced a little harder and Marcus stroked him faster. “Everything is magical tonight.”

Dane’s back curved and arched, his hips moving faster now as he speared himself on Marcus’s dick to hit the sweet spot inside. Marcus rocked up, abs doing all the work while his fist tightened, desperate to pull another orgasm from deep inside Dane’s soul.Suddenly Dane’s ass was wetter than before, and Marcus took it as a sign to slide a finger in alongside his cock. Dane was so small in his arms, the angle was easy to achieve.

“Oh yes,” he cried.

So when Dane slid back down, Marcus slid a second inside him, stretching his hole to the max. His fully hard cock and that extra penetration had Dane moaning and bouncing faster.

Dane’s head dropped back and his eyes closed, mouth gaping he began to bounce on Marcus’s dick and fingers, hanging on loosely. Marcus continued running his fist over Dane’s cock, trying to milk another orgasm out of him, all the while pushing those digits deeper into his greedy ass, the act stroking across his own cock too.

Everything felt exquisite, but Marcus missed the intensity of their eye connection. “Open your eyes,” he demanded. “Look at me when you come.” Authority in his tone, he squeezed the cock in his hand harder, the lube making his fist slide and pull his foreskin. “Look at me, Dane. See me.”

Miracle of all wonders, Dane lifted his head, pouty lips gaping, and his heavy-lidded gaze captured Marcus’s. His body trembled and the fingers on his shoulders clenched and seized. With a grunt and a growl, Marcus gripped Dane’s dick harder, yanked faster.He slammed those two fingers in his hole, right along with his dick.

Dane gasped but never turned away.

As if gazing into a mirror, Marcus saw his own passion, his own need, his future and heart in Dane’s eyes. He moved faster, spine tingling as Dane bounced atop him, slamming down. Marcus gave him one last tug.With a cry and a contortion of his face and twist of his back, Dane burst, cock jerking in Marcus’s grip. Another healthy dose of cum sprayed between their bodies. When the wave passed, he gripped Dane’s narrow hips with both hands and slammed up, as a weaker but more intimate orgasm tore from his own body.

As he rode out his own ecstasy, not once did he look away from Dane.

He never could.

Flushed from head to toe, thighs aching from strain, Marcus pulled Dane close and delivered gentle kisses across his face, nose, and lips. Dane melted against him as they captured their breaths.

A faint chuckle against his chest surprised Marcus, and he pulled back to smile at the tussled blond with sated lilac eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“Us. Me, my pride. All of this.” Dane waved a hand and suddenly the stickiness on Marcus’s palm, between their bodies, and in his lap disappeared.

“Did you just use magic for a post-sex cleanup?”

“Yes. Magic makes sex so much better.”

Magic? Wait, what...?

“It’s all magic,” Dane had said. “Everything is magical tonight.”

Was Nathan...?

“I suppose the Goddess knew what She was doing after all,” Dane mused, smiling so sweetly Marcus dismissed that train of thought, blaming his paranoia on the post-sex brain fog.

No, this was real, this was perfect.

Holding on tight, Marcus shifted to straighten his legs, careful not to pull out yet. “Grab a couple pillows?”

Dane, perhaps wanting to stay connected, leaned back and did as Marcus asked. Placing them behind him, Marcus laid down, Dane on top of him and straddling his lap. Their heads at the foot of the bed, Marcus held Dane close. When eventually his cock slipped free, Dane shifted to snuggle a shoulder under Marcus’s armpit, his body still draped over him. Another soft tickle of magic swept away all remnants of the sticky mess.

With a sigh, Dane trailed his fingertips up and over Marcus’s chest, tracing his ink, toying with his nipple bars. “Why do you have so many tattoos?”

“Well, I have two less than I did the other day.”

“And I have apologized.”

Though still pissed about the whole erasing tats business, he couldn’t handle seeing Dane distressed—even if it was Dane’s own damn fault—so he ran a soothing caress down Dane’s milky skin.“I know you have, but tattoos are personal.”

“You have some personal reason for wanting a rotting monster on your arm?” Dane sounded cross.

Marcus liked his ever-changing moods, because he was beginning to make sense of them.He stroked his now unmarked skin. “Actually, yes.”

Dane huffed in doubt, but remained wrapped around him.

“I came from nothing,” Marcus began, his voice soft in the quiet room. “My mom came from a very poor family, and when she married my father, he didn’t have a pot to piss in. He never could keep a job either.”

“I imagine it would be difficult to maintain gainful employment with the undead screaming at you,” Dane mused, spinning his nipple piercing.

“Don’t give him the benefit of the doubt. He beat the shit out of me growing up. Drunk, sober, didn’t matter.”

“I am sorry,” Dane whispered.

“You don’t have to apologize for something you didn’t do, but I appreciate it,” Marcus said softly. “When we moved away from him, I was angry. I started hanging with some bad kids. Wound up in juvie for three months after stealing emblems off cars, spraying graffiti, and selling pot. I was sixteen and drinking a lot, dabbling in drugs too. But being trapped in juvie was awful. I had no privacy and those kids were there for worse crimes than any stupid shit I was involved with.”

A soft hand rested on his cheek, drawing Marcus’s gaze down to sympathetic lilac eyes. “That must have been difficult, being locked away as a child.”

He offered a sad smile. “It was, but compared to your experiences, it was nothing.”

“You are correct, but everyone has their own story, their own jailers, even ones in their mind. Some may have a more difficult path, but to each of us, our journey is what makes us who we are, and the trials along the way are very important in that development. You cannot compare your personal tragedies and path with the roads others have traveled. Please, continue your tale.”

For a man who could seem cold one instant and scared the next, then equally assertive, Dane possessed a remarkable serenity and wisdom at times. Then again, wasn’t he like four hundred years, or some shit?

Because he could, Marcus leaned down and kissed Dane, earning him a smile. Then he resumed his tale, staring at the ceiling, and loving the delicate weight of Dane atop him. “I guess juvie scared me straight. I was always good with art, and because there were some opportunities available, my mom had enrolled me in a high school for the arts. Thankfully they didn’t kick me out after my little time away. My mom made me see a therapist, and he said I needed structure and should join a club or play sports. Sports weren’t my thing. Sheri’s the one who loves to compete. She went to a regular high school and played everything she could sign up for—she’s very competitive. We both are, I guess. I’m just only competitive with myself.” He trailed his fingertips up and down Dane’s spine.

“My art school didn’t have any coaches badgering me to be a linebacker or anything, but even I knew I needed something to keep myself busy, to stay out of trouble. I signed up for the choir because I love to sing, and I decorated all the sets for the school programs and plays because I loved art. But money was tight, even with Mom’s two jobs and my Aunt Hannah and Uncle Jerry—that’s Josh’s parents—sending money to help out. I hated that we always had to take handouts, and that the only clothes I ever had that weren’t from the Salvation Army were the gifts Aunt Hannah sent.”

Marcus clenched his fists, remembering the arguments his mom would have with him, refusing to allow Sheri or Marcus to get jobs. “You’re kids and you’re gonna stay kids. I’m the parent. I’ll worry about the bills,” she would always say.

“Well, I got sick of it. So I decided to go and get a job behind my mom’s back.”

“She didn’t want you to work?”

He shook his head. “No, she knew my father already fucked up the majority of our childhood, so once we were in Florida, she wanted us to make friends and have nothing but fun. But I hated being poor. I resented my dad for not being able to hold down a job, and I hated seeing how hard my mom worked. She had a promising job as a plumber, but she had to start as an apprentice and still needed to wait tables to make ends meet. She worked at a restaurant every night she wasn’t in her classes. It wasn’t until we graduated that she became a journeyman and started making decent money.”

“Your mother is a plumber?” Dane asked in surprise.

“Hell yes, and she’s damn successful. She had nothing but a high school diploma and no real job skills. It was impossible for her to have a job when we were little because she didn’t want to leave us alone with our father. All her family was in Indiana and his decent relatives were too far away in Mexico or on the reservation. His brothers who lived in the States were worse than him, if you can believe it. So Mom had no babysitters. No help. She never had any opportunity to pursue a career until we were in our teens and away from him. I think he did that to her on purpose, so she couldn’t leave him. Uncle Jerry is the reason we got away from him in the end. Hector put Mom in the hospital and Jerry said enough. He flew down to New Mexico, got Mom a restraining order, a lawyer, and put us all in a U-Haul then drove us to Florida.”

It had been a whirlwind, Jerry coming in like a superhero to save them. Marcus would forever be grateful to him.

“Josh has a good father,” Dane remarked.

“The best,” Marcus agreed, but he was trying not to let things get too heavy. “I used to be so jealous of him and my other cousins. But you know, it is what it is, in the end. Jerry got us out and we were able to start over. Mom saw an ad about how much plumbers made and since she’d been the one reading books and scouring the internet when shit broke at home, she thought she’d go for it. She worked hard, and was gone a lot, so we were left alone, which was how I got myself into trouble. Also how I knew she wouldn’t know I had a job.”

“I suppose after breaking the law, sneaking around to earn a paycheck was an improvement,” Dane remarked.

“That’s what I thought,” Marcus teased back in the same dry tone. “There was this tattoo parlor down the street from our trailer park, and I saw a help wanted sign. I was a confident kid, at least when it came to my art, so I made a portfolio. I figured drawing on skin couldn’t be all that different than drawing on anything else. Ah, the arrogance of youth.”

Dane chuckled, snuggling in as Marcus held him close.

“The owner, Charlie, thought I was over eighteen because I’m a big guy, and assumed the drawings were my tattoo flash. When I explained I was only sixteen and wanted to learn, he laughed. But he was impressed with me and my ambition, I guess, because he hired me to answer the phone and clean, do inventory, that sort of thing. That day I became his apprentice, and I found my passion.”

“What did your mother say?”

“I didn’t tell her until I had a decent chunk of change. I walked into the living room and dropped fifteen hundred dollars into her lap. Honestly, she freaked the fuck out. She thought I was dealing drugs again. She wouldn’t believe me until I took her down to old Charlie’s tattoo shop and proved to her that I had earned every dollar of that money. She was annoyed I went behind her back at first, then nothing but supportive. Even started looking into potential schools so I could make a career out of it.”

“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”

Marcus smiled. “She’s pretty great. When I was young, I was so mad at her for staying with our father. Blamed her for not leaving, for ruining our life. But when we left, I was mad at her for taking us away. Uncle Jerry was my hero, but Mom was to blame for ruining our life. Stupid, right? She was a warrior and I blamed her for everything.”

“Children don’t think like adults,” Dane reminded him. “Their hearts are more developed than their minds. Logic can be hard for them to understand. That’s why parents are supposed to protect their children. It sounds as if your mother did the best she could. You are lucky to have a mother’s love. Not everyone does.”

There was probably a lot to unpack in that last comment, but Marcus wouldn’t push. “Truer words. Anyway, a few years of therapy and Charlie’s mentorship, I was back on the straight and narrow. Nothing had ever made me prouder than giving my mom that money I earned. I’ve worked my ass off ever since. With a little help from Sheri and Mom, I opened Ink Soul. That’s how I met Jeremiah and Lewis. Lewis owns the strip mall where my parlor is, and Jeremiah owns the saltwater aquarium store next door.”

Dane giggled. “A merman owning a saltwater aquarium store is highly amusing.”

Marcus chucked too. “Yeah, so crazy.” Then he sobered and rolled onto his side, arm tucked under his head. Dane slid partially off him, but Marcus didn’t let him get too far. “I worked damn hard to become the man I am today. About the time I was starting to look for a location to open my own shop, I went to Amsterdam for a huge international tattooing convention. There’s this guy Pedro Salazar, really huge in the biz. All over magazines, and even was on a few TV shows. I was talking to him at his booth. He was impressed with this piece,” Marcus pointed at the dreamcatcher on the top of his arm. “I did it myself. Well, one thing led to another, and then I was sitting in his chair and he was tattooing a badass zombie wizard on me. I’d made it, Dane. I was sitting there realizing that I was being inked by a master because he liked me and liked my work. I wasn’t just some spick half-breed living in the shitty part of a New Mexico border town. I wasn’t the trailer trash gang-banger on scholarship at an art school we could never afford otherwise. I wasn’t my past. No more handouts, no more free lunches, no more fists, no more used clothing, no more eviction notices. So you ask me if that tat meant something? Hell yes it did. I meant that I was finally the kind of man I wanted to be. All my hard work had paid off. I was a success despite everything thrown at me.”

Dane’s heavy eyelashes fell. “Marcus, thank you for telling me your story. I am terribly sorry. I will rectify my mistake.”

Marcus tightened his arms and kissed the top of his head. “I know you will. Thank you for listening to my boring life story.”

“It was far from boring.” Dane snuggled in, delighting Marcus. “Far more interesting than living in a palace with a mother who wanted little to do with you and a father exiled from the realm.”

“Exiled, as in fairy jail?”

Dane yawned long and deep. “More or less. He was exiled for plots against the king and selling things on the black market like dragon claws and goblin teeth to witches and warlocks for unholy spells.”

Marcus laughed. “Oh yeah, my little American dream story is far more interesting than the Fae black market.”

“It is,” Dane assured him sleepily as he maneuvered an edge of the sheet over part of his back.

“Cold?”

“Not in the slightest. You are very warm.”

“Should we turn around and lay on the bed properly?”

“No. I am content right here.” He burrowed closer, head over Marcus’s heart. “Now it is time to sleep. It has been a long couple of days. I would like to sleep in my mate’s arms, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.”