21. Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

M isty

I want to stomp my foot and blame Zylus for everything. Of course, I won't. Not only am I too mature for that, it's not his fault. Who knows how this happened? For all I know, it was a slip of my fingers, not his.

Either way, here we are. We can't afford to have a loud argument. I don't want our guests to hear. We just stand here, me tapping my foot, a scowl on my face, him glancing toward Vortex, probably hoping the cute chitza will distract us from the verbal brawl we both know is brewing.

"For how many days are we overbooked?" The look on his face is priceless. His eyes are closed and his shoulders are lifted as if he's expecting a physical blow.

"The next vacancy is in five days," I deliver the news, defeat in my voice. Five days sharing this room with him might as well be a year.

"I'll sleep on the floor. Don't worry. You don't need a locked door between us to keep me from touching you." His voice is clipped, gaze averted .

What's that supposed to mean? Is he insinuating he's not interested? I'd feel crushed if I didn't see the tent growing in his pants. Dammit, why am I even looking at his crotch?

But I am. Desire I've tried to repress for months floods through my system, bombarding me with pictures of him naked in the firelight. I'm blasted with memories of the kisses we shared, more passionate than anything I've felt before.

Though I've wrapped myself in anger these last three months, it no longer protects me from the emotions I've been hiding. Arousal, hot and deep, surges through me.

Shaking my head, I remind myself of my end goal. I didn't fly across the galaxy with high hopes of owning this place, only to wind up in a failed partnership. I need to keep my eye on the prize. The Interstellar Inn.

"No problem. I never did change my lock, and you've obviously never barged in." I don't know why, but I feel compelled to get in a jab. "Nor has your alleged brother."

"Misty." He says my name slowly, taking care to enunciate every letter. He swallows once, before forcing out his next words. "Let me apologize again. I should have immediately come clean about my—and my brother's—ability to become incorporeal."

"There's one way to apologize." My tone is bold, coldhearted. "Let me buy you out." For the first time in days, I give him a long stare, complete with bolts of fire shooting from my eyes. This is what I need to do. Force my attraction back to where I've buried it and keep nursing my anger.

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath that expands his chest and lifts those wide shoulders. Then he sags into the wooden rocker in the corner near the small fireplace, his huge frame dwarfing it. It's silent in the room for so long that I wonder if he's fallen asleep.

Is he considering my offer? This should make me happy, right ?

After leaning forward, elbows on his thighs, then sitting up and scratching the back of his head, he spears me with his blue gaze and nods. "Okay, Misty. You win. I'll sign the paperwork."

Although this is what I wanted, I never expected it would be this easy.

"I regret how I treated you. It obviously hurt you deeply. We've shared a house for three months and you've rarely spoken to me. Perhaps I don't understand the depths to which I've wronged you, but I'm a male of my word. You want the Interstellar Inn? I'll make it happen."

I stare at him, my throat tightening with a sudden swell of emotion. "Zylus, I… I don't know what to say."

He shakes his head, a rueful little smile playing at the edges of his mouth. "You don't have to say anything. I meant what I said, Misty. I just want you to be happy. Even if…" He swallows hard, something raw and painful flickering in his eyes. "Even if it means letting you go."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll sell you the inn," he repeats, "and perhaps you don't want it, but I've made you a present."

We've been working brutal fourteen-hour days. Where did he find the time to do anything extra?

He strides to his closet and pulls out a mailbox.

"It's an exact replica of the gazebo." His tone is defeated, as if he believes the work of art in his hands is a pitiful peace offering.

This isn't something he threw together in an hour. When he says it's an exact replica, he's not kidding. Every turned banister, every scalloped shingle, and every plank of wood are there, just tiny-fied. It's perfect and stunning and he made it for me. He knew how important the gazebo was to me.

"You made this for me," I say hollowly. My chest squeezes so tightly I don't know how I'm still breathing.

"In my spare time."

"We've been working practically around the clock. You didn't have any spare time."

"I made the time, Misty. When I wanted to tell you about my day or ask you how you were holding up under this ridiculous mountain of work we bit off for ourselves, I crafted this. When I wanted to talk to you, to put my arms around you, to comb my fingers through your hair, I threw myself into making this for you."

His voice is raw with emotion. This isn't the male I've thought was callously using me. This is a male who's been pining for me in the same ways I've been yearning for him.

And he offered to let me buy him out. Despite how much this place means to him.

It strikes me that when he told me in wistful tones about his time as a child reading in his grandparents' gazebo, he was talking about this gazebo. The one in the backyard. The one he just agreed to part with in order to make me happy.

Tears blur my vision and I blink them back furiously, determined to get through this without completely falling apart. "It's beautiful, Zylus. The most thoughtful gift anyone's ever given me."

His answering smile is so tender, so full of quiet affection, that it takes my breath away. "Yeah, well. You deserve beautiful things, Misty. You deserve… everything."

And that's the moment it hits me with all the subtlety of a plasma blast to the chest. He loves me. Truly, deeply, selflessly loves me. Enough to sacrifice his own happiness, his own lifelong dreams, just to ensure mine.

It's a revelation that rocks me to my core and leaves me reeling. Because how could I not have seen it before? How could I have been so blind, so stubborn, so damn terrified of the truth that's been staring me in the face all along ?

I've been so busy guarding my heart, so determined not to let myself get hurt again, that I failed to see the one thing that mattered most. The one person who's been here, fighting for me, for our shared dream, from day one.

"Thanks for the offer to let me buy you out," I say softly, reaching out to cup his face in my hands. "But no thanks."

His brow furrows in confusion, even as he leans into my touch, as though he can't help himself. "But I thought… I mean, you said…"

"I know what I said. And I was wrong." I take a deep breath, letting the last of my walls come crumbling down. "I don't want the inn if it means losing you, Zylus. I don't want any of it without you by my side. I was foolish and cold and hard-headed and I've stolen months of your peace of mind… and mine."

"Misty," he breathes, his eyes shining with a tentative, desperate sort of hope. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" Another shaky inhale, my heart pounding against my ribcage like it's trying to break free. "I'm saying I love you, you thoughtful, wonderful man. I'm head over heels, crazy in love with you, and I—"

But I don't get to finish my grand declaration, because suddenly his mouth is on mine, swallowing down my words and replacing them with the hot slide of his tongue, the intoxicating taste of his joy and relief and bone-deep adoration.

I cling to him, pouring every ounce of my love, my gratitude, my soul into the kiss. And for the first time in longer than I can remember, I feel truly, completely at peace.

Because I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. In the arms of the man I love, in the home we built together, ready to face whatever the future holds.