16. Silas
Chapter 16
Silas
S ilas stared down at the neatly folded paper, heart galloping in his chest.
Reaching out, he took Sammy’s hand and pulled him closer. “Sit with me while I read it.”
Sammy let Silas tuck him back into bed with his legs thrown over Silas’ lap, but he immediately buried his face in the crook of Silas’ underarm rather than look at him while he read.
His heart ached that Sammy actually thought whatever was in his note would be enough for Silas to reject him.
Never , his wolf snarled.
Never.
Looking down, Silas’ hands shook as he unfolded the paper and began to read.
Silas,
I love you.
I have a lot of things to share but that feels most important. I love you, and I’m sorry I have to tell you this way. I’m afraid if I try to say it out loud I’ll chicken out before I’m done, and you deserve to know everything.
He pressed a kiss to Sammy’s temple and wiped at the tears already forming.
Ok. Now, the hard part.
I’m the reason Jaime’s name was leaked to the media last spring.
Silas blinked, surprised. Of all the secrets he’d speculated Sammy was keeping, that wasn’t one of them.
I met a man named Derek in a bar two months after Jaime was attacked in Vera’s house. I don’t normally go to bars, and I hardly ever drink because I’m afraid I’ll become a fuck-up alcoholic like my father, so the few I had hit me harder than I’d expected.
I was lonely and very scared that Jaime would never get better, that he needed serious help that I couldn’t give after what he’d gone through, and I needed someone to talk to and feel close to. Those aren’t excuses, just… context, I think.
Derek and I hooked up, and then he let me talk, and I’m deeply ashamed that I accidentally let slip that my brother was the one who’d seen the murder.
I chose the wrong person to confide in, and I’ve regretted that every single day since. The next day, Derek asked me for money and threatened to publish Jaime’s name when I refused. I had no idea he worked for the local news station.
Silas forced himself to unclench his hand where he’d partially crumpled the letter.
Sammy had been scared and alone and needed someone, and Derek had taken advantage of that. When Silas found him, and he would find him…
His wolf’s answering growl rumbled low in his chest.
He pulled Sammy even closer and rubbed his cheek into his hair before continuing.
I ended up paying him every bit of my savings over the course of the year to keep quiet. But then, last spring, I woke up and saw the articles with Jaime’s name all over the internet, and I knew he’d published anyway after he realized I had nothing left.
The police had told us to be careful because they thought there were more people involved in the murder than the one they’d arrested, but when Jaime’s name was leaked, they weren’t going to offer him any protection beyond a cop car parked in his driveway.
I was scared and ashamed and didn’t know what to do. The detective gave me your security firm’s contact information, but I didn't have the money to pay for it.
I had already called Derek and demanded he give me my money back since he’d broken our agreement, but he refused. After we hung up, though, he texted me the phone number of someone I could call if I needed quick money.
A horrible, sinking pit settled in Silas’ stomach; he was so afraid he already knew where this was going. He soothed a hand up and down Sammy’s back and read on.
Please understand, I don’t regret that I met you, Silas. Meeting you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. In the five months we spent apart, I’d lie awake at night and imagine all the things I should’ve done differently, all the ways I could’ve been a better brother or friend, but I’ve always been grateful we met.
Even still, I do wish I could go back and just come clean to Jaime right then. I wish I would’ve admitted what I’d done, explained why I’d ignored him for the better part of a year, and begged for his forgiveness.
I wish I hadn’t called the number Derek gave me.
But I did. I called Cain and borrowed every bit of what I paid for Jaime’s security in exchange for a favor, any favor, that he could call in at any time. I didn’t realize who he was, what he’d done, and how involved he was in all of this until we were on our way to help Jaime and Finn at the safe house. By then, it was too late. I couldn’t go back, and I didn’t want to drag you or Jaime or anyone further in with me.
Sammy had been so upset after their phone call with Jaime and Finn. Silas had assumed it was his way of processing the shock, fear, and adrenaline they’d experienced waiting for Jaime to call back, but in retrospect, he could see that was when everything changed.
His own words came back to him. I’d do anything to keep him out of our lives.
Oh, Sammy.
I lied to Jaime—there has never been a stalker. The only danger in being close to me is becoming trapped in one of Cain’s twisted games. But it’s the lie I told you, Silas, that I don’t want you, that haunts me the most.
I do want you. You are good and strong and whole. You’re the funniest person I know and the only one who’s ever made me feel safe to be myself. You’re who I’ve been waiting for, without knowing I was waiting for anyone. I know you’ll be an amazing alpha. You’re the glue that holds all of us together, Silas. Me most of all. You deserve so much more than what I’ve put you through.
I’ve saved all the money from my insurance claim, security deposit, and work these past months. Double what I borrowed. The night we returned from your parents’ house, I sent Cain a message offering it all in exchange for leaving you and your family alone. Forever. I don’t know if he’ll agree, but it’s the least I can do for involving him in your life again. And if you’d like me to leave you alone forever, too, I will.
I’m so sorry, Silas. For lying, and keeping the truth from you for so long. I never meant for any of this to happen. I’ll understand if you need time to think or if you’d like for me to leave. Honestly, I still don’t know if I should have already. But I choose you, and that means I trust you to make that decision for yourself.
If you decide you’d like me to stay, I promise to love you as much as it’s possible to love someone every single day for the rest of my life. You are the keeper of my heart, and there will never be a secret between us again.
Always yours,
Sammy
Silas delicately refolded the letter and reached over Sammy to lay it on the nightstand.
Both of their hearts pounded in the quiet. Pulling Sammy up so that he straddled Silas’ lap, he cradled his face in both hands. “When did you write that?”
Sammy looked down, avoiding Silas’ gaze. “Two days ago.”
Two days.
Silas fingered a stray bit of hair at Sammy’s nape, curling from his sweat. “Why didn’t you give it to me then?”
Sammy’s shoulders curved inward. “Because I wanted one more day with you. With all of you. One more day where you wanted me before you knew.”
Silas lightly curved his hand around Sammy’s neck, gently possessive, and tipped his chin up with his thumb. “So you weren’t planning to leave me?”
Sammy shook his head, eyes finally meeting his. His voice was raw and pleading when he said, “I can’t . Maybe I should have. You were right, I thought about it in the beginning. I thought about leaving and never telling you the truth. But I just can’t, Silas. I?—”
Sammy’s swallow rolled along Silas’ palm. He continued, “I love you. I love you, and I need you, and I can’t go back to missing you. I can’t go another day without hearing you laugh. I don’t deserve to stay, and if you want me to go, I’ll respect that. Even… even now that I know I’m your, um, your mate.”
Silas gently shifted him from his lap and slid off the bed.
Wordlessly, he pulled Sammy forward so he sat on the edge and knelt before him, the position making it so he looked up at Sammy ever so slightly. Silas lost himself for a moment in his eyes, so deep and open he could dive forever and never mine all the emeralds they held.
They had so much to discuss: Sammy’s money, Cain’s involvement from the very beginning, Derek’s last name and home address… Except, out of all the things he’d shared, all he’d confessed, there were only two things that truly mattered.
Two things that shone in Sammy’s eyes so brightly.
I love you.
I want you.
“You should put something warm on,” Sammy whispered, filling the quiet and tracing along the goosebumps that had formed on Silas’ arms. “It’s snowing out. You’ll freeze.”
Silas blinked, just now noticing the snow falling outside through the window over Sammy’s shoulder.
A wet chuckle bubbled out of him, and the outline of Sammy momentarily blurred through his tears. “Stay. Stay with me forever, Sammy.”
Silas dropped hasty, tear-soaked kisses all over Sammy’s hands, his shoulders, and his face. “Stay with me and help me be the best alpha I can be because I’m not whole—not without you. Stay with me so I can tell you I love you every day because you deserve to hear it every day. Stay with me to build a family, if that’s something you want. Stay with me to build a pack . Stay with me so I can take care of you and let you be soft because you deserve that every day, too,” he continued.
They were both fully crying now.
Silas beamed through his tears, canines on full display. He’d never been good at hiding them from Sammy.
He’d never needed to hide them from Sammy.
Not once.
Grasping his mate by the shoulders, Silas finished, “Stay with me so that we fight our battles together. I need your claws and teeth on my side. Please stay with me, Sammy.”
Sammy ran a shaky hand under his nose to clear it, only to end up streaking snot across his cheek instead. Silas grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and gently wiped it away.
“Are you sure you want me? Did you read all of it? Do you know what I’ve d-done—” Sammy stuttered through hitched breaths.
“Shh,” Silas soothed.
He guided Sammy forward so his cheek rested against Silas’ chest and rubbed his back. “I read all of it. I know that you were lonely and dealing with an incredibly stressful situation while providing care for your hurting brother. I know you sought solace in a companion, that you were looking to trust someone, to lighten the heavy burden from your shoulders because you were carrying too much. I know he used that against you, blackmailed you, and emotionally manipulated you for months before selling you out to my uncle.”
Emotion swelled in Silas’ chest. “I know you did your best to deal with all of that on your own. I know you chose to protect your brother at a steep personal cost, and I know you put my well-being above your own over and over. Which won’t happen again, but we can talk about that later.”
Sammy was shaking. “It’s not—that’s not—you’re making me look better than I really w-was. I shouldn’t have d-done any of that.”
Silas shushed him again, gently rocking back and forth. “I know you made mistakes, but we all do. I’m framing what happened to you in the way someone who loves you would. You’ve been far too unkind to yourself, love. It’s not healthy to be so harsh. I wonder if talking to someone, a professional, would help you.”
Sam pulled back, wiping at his face with the used tissue. “I’ll think about it.”
Silas smiled. “Good.”
Sammy peered up at him through wet lashes, his eyes even greener from crying. “So… you want me to stay.”
“I want you to stay.”
“Even though I’m just another way for your uncle to mess up your life?”
Silas’ face hardened. “Come here,” he said, tugging Sammy off the bed so he was straddling Silas’ lap again. “You are mine . My Sammy. My love. My mate. And I am yours. Nothing else matters.”
“But—”
“No,” Silas cut in, kissing the words from Sammy’s lips. “None of that. Not tonight. We can talk about everything else in the morning. Let me just—let me show you you’re mine. Can I?”
There was so much relief and trust and love shining in Sammy’s eyes it nearly broke Silas to see it; he’d really thought he would be turned away. “Ok. Yes, show me how to be yours.”
Sammy’s hands began running all over Silas’ back, frantically pulling on his arms to get closer, like he’d finally let go of the fear anchoring him down and keeping him from embracing Silas fully.
Nipping and sucking at every inch of skin he could reach, Sammy consumed Silas like he wanted to crawl inside him.
Silas grew hard again at the attention, rallying even though they’d just had sex not even an hour ago. He growled, finding Sammy’s lips in a brain-scrambling kiss.
It wasn’t until Sammy ran his hands through Silas’ hair, fingers catching on his wolfy ears, that he realized he’d partially shifted at some point in their conversation.
Our mate.
Want to be with him.
He’s ours.
Make him ours.
Sammy gently massaged the base of his ears, and Silas melted, whining as he pulled away to catch his breath.
Fucking hell, that felt good.
“Sssammy—Sammy. I need to shift back. You’ve gotta quit that, or I won’t be able to,” Silas said, words slurring through his elongated canines.
“No,” Sammy said, gripping his shoulders. “I want all of you. Like this. Show me how.”
Drunk on Sammy, on everything they’d shared tonight, the part of Silas’ brain that thought beyond take mate now make him ours, knot him and bite him and keep him forever hadn’t caught up with his mouth yet. “You want to take my knot, love? You want my cock like this?” he asked, the low timbre of the alpha coming through.
He grasped Sammy by the hips and spun him around so he was on his knees, facing the bed.
“Shit,” Sammy swore, reaching back to grip Silas’ thigh. “Yes. Yes. So much, yes. Fuck me like this. I need it. Please, Alpha.”
Silas’ brain went completely offline, the alpha in full control now, and words began pouring from him unbidden, falling onto Sammy’s shoulders and neck between biting kisses. “You are mine. I won’t ever let you go. I’ll hunt you down if you try to leave me again. But you won’t, will you?”
Sammy huffed. “No, I won’t. Now show me,” he said, petulant and trying to grind his ass back into Silas’ cock.
Silas pushed him forward, so Sammy was braced against the side of the bed, his hands tangling in the sheets. “So greedy. I’ve already fucked you once tonight, and you’re desperate for it again. You need it, don’t you? You need my cock stuffing you deep. No one else can fill you the way I can. Say it.” He smacked Sammy’s ass for emphasis. “Say you’re my mate, and my cock is the only one you’ll ever need again.”
“Silas, please ,” Sammy begged, reaching between his legs to jerk himself fully hard.
Silas smacked one of his cheeks again, nearly drooling at the way it jiggled. “Not until you say it.”
Sammy whined. “I need your cock. I need you to fill me up. I’m yours, and you’re mine. All mine. Now fucking show me— Oh!”
His words were cut off in a high-pitched moan as Silas pushed two fingers inside him at once, remembering at the very last minute to shift his claws away first.
He twisted and probed, stuffing the cum that’d trickled out from their first round back inside. Silas stalked every one of Sammy’s hitched breaths, every facial expression, looking for any hint of discomfort or that it was too much.
Gauging his brows were pinched in pleasure and not pain, Silas stood just long enough to grab the discarded bottle of lube off the bed, slick his fingers back up, and push three in at once.
Sammy jerked and moaned when Silas massaged over his sensitive prostate, precum leaking from the tip of his cock.
Silas gripped Sammy’s lightly freckled hip with his free hand to keep him still and added a fourth finger, tucking his pinky in just enough to stretch Sammy’s rim in preparation for his knot while he scissored and wiggled the others around inside.
Sammy was a mess.
Completely uninhibited, he pushed off the bed, sat back on his heels, and rode Silas’ hand like it was the best fuck of his life.
The bond between them was a roaring blaze, a beacon lit on the mountaintop for all to see—bright and eternally fed. It would never go out. Sammy would never leave; Silas would claim him tonight and keep him always.
Blinking, some of Silas’ humanity returned with the thought.
He pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the duvet, and turned Sammy just enough so they could look at each other. Panting, he said, “Sammy, love. We should talk about this first. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have started before you were sure.”
Sammy stared up at him in a lust-induced daze before his gaze sharpened, eyes fierce and blazing. “I want you, Silas. I choose you, I choose this. I’m sure,” he said, cupping Silas’ face.
Silas nuzzled into the caress. “We can’t go back. If I take you right now, I’ll knot you, and if I knot you, I’ll bite you. We’ll be tied together forever. You’ll always feel me with you. You can’t leave after that. I wouldn’t survive it. We can wait, Sammy. Wait until you’re sure, until you’re ready?—”
Sammy turned his body further around to face Silas, his fingers digging into the hair at his nape. “Stop. I stayed away because I genuinely believed you were better off without me, not because I wasn’t sure about you. I have wanted you since the day we met. I wanted you when you asked me if I knew what a fucking moose was. Driving away from you that day felt wrong , and every day apart was like half of me was missing. This bond between us isn’t one-sided, Silas. It would be easier to chop off my own arm than leave you again.”
Sammy tucked the strands of hair that had come loose from Silas’ half-back bun behind his ears and continued, “If you want to stop, we’ll stop. I’ll wait as long as you need until you’re sure of me. But I love you. I want you, always. I’m not strong enough to keep away from you for another moment. That’s not going to be different in the morning, or tomorrow, or a year or lifetime from now.”
Silas leaned down to kiss Sammy before pressing their foreheads together and cupping his shoulders. “I want to do this with you. My wolf is clawing up my throat to make you mine. It’s just… There's nothing more sacred I can share with you than sealing our bond. There are mating ceremonies, sure, but this is the important part. This is what ties two fated people to each other forever. I’ve never been with anyone like this,” he gestured to his partially shifted body. “I just want to know you’re sure and that I haven’t pressured you into it. That you know what it means—for us both.”
Sammy took Silas’ face between his hands. Tenderly, he kissed his forehead, one cheek, then the other. He kissed the tip of Silas’ nose, nuzzling him there with his own, before delicately kissing his lips. It was chaste, probably the tamest kiss they’d ever shared.
And it would’ve brought Silas to his knees had he not already been there.
“I never thought I’d get married,” Sammy said quietly. “Never thought I’d find someone I loved enough to commit my life to—but then I met you. I would marry you right now if you asked. I would make you mine in every way I understand and every way that’s new to me. I’ll take you as my mate right now or in ten years. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy.”
Silas kissed him, and that gravitational pull settled, solidifying with a resounding click that felt final—absolute. He pulled back just enough to speak. “I love you. Will you be my mate, Sammy?”
Sammy’s smile was blinding. “Yes,” he breathed.
Unwinding Sammy’s arms from their fierce hold around his neck, Silas turned him so he was facing the bed again and pulled down several pillows to tuck under their knees.
“I think this angle will make it easier to take me,” Silas rumbled into his ear, dropping soft kisses along Sammy’s shoulder blades, his heart rate speeding up again.
Partially shifted, he really was a lot. Too much. Sammy would need to be open for him.
Sammy nodded, almost bashful at Silas’ fussing, a blush creeping up the back of his neck. “I want to be full of you, Silas,” he murmured.
Silas licked up his nape with the flat of his tongue in response, savoring his scent as he followed the blush into the soft stubble by his ear.
Toasted marshmallows and crackling embers .
Silas tasted himself, too. He tasted his own scent mixed in from their lovemaking and days of sharing space and a bed.
Together, they tasted like home .
Their cocks had flagged while they’d paused to talk, but Silas didn’t regret the interlude. He had more control over himself now; the alpha was still there, still ready to take what was his, but it didn’t feel like a frantic fuck spinning out of control the way he’d felt a few days ago when Sammy had called him Alpha. Silas had been seconds away from knotting him right then and there.
“You’ll tell me if I hurt you,” Silas commanded roughly.
“I’m stretched from the first time,” Sammy responded, rocking into Silas.
Silas reached around to stroke his erection back, palming his hip again. “Still. If I hurt you, tell me. We’ll take a break and try again some other time. There’s no rush, love. I want this to be good for us both,” Silas said.
Sammy turned and lifted his face, so Silas led him into a filthy kiss that was mostly tongue.
Then Sammy grabbed the lube and smacked Silas in the chest with it. Smirking, he said, “Come on, Alpha . I think I can handle it. Get yourself ready and show me what you’ve got.”
Silas growled, nipping and tugging on Sammy’s earlobe. “Careful what you ask for, brat.”
He did as he was told and slicked up his cock before tunneling three wet fingers back inside Sammy for good measure, savoring his surprised gasp and the noise he made when Silas tap-tap-tapped along his prostate.
“Fucking hell, I’m ready,” Sammy said, digging his hand back into Silas’ thigh.
Silas pulled his fingers out, watching as Sammy’s stretched hole gaped in his absence, slick and begging to be filled again.
He pushed on the small of Sammy’s back, coaxing his ass out with the other hand. “Look at how open you are for me, how filthy your hole is from the last time I was inside of you.”
Sammy exaggerated the curve of his spine even more and pushed, flexing his hole. A bit of Silas’ cum slipped out. “Alpha, please. Fill me up again,” he crooned.
Mate is empty.
Mate wants to be full.
Knot him. Make him ours!
Silas cursed—so much for keeping his wits about him.
Knocking Sammy’s legs wider, Silas shuffled forward so his knees bracketed either side of Sammy’s, rutting his cock through the cleft in his cheeks before resting it there.
His chest rose and fell in great heaving breaths at the sight, and he grabbed hold of Sammy’s hips to keep steady. In his partial shift, his hands were so large they nearly overlapped when he stretched his fingers to pull Sammy’s cheeks apart.
From this angle, the leaking head of his cock reached up to the dimples that framed his lower back. Silas pressed his thumbs into them, imagining himself tunneling all the way in there, snug inside his mate.
“Alright, love. Since you asked so nicely, I’ll give you what you want. I’ll stuff my knot nice and deep and make it so you feel me for days,” he slurred through his teeth.
Silas guided Sammy so his back was flush with his chest. Gently, he wrapped one hand around his throat—not to constrict, but to hold. He wanted to feel the sounds Sammy made when he opened for him.
Sammy whimpered at the touch.
Fitting his lube-slick cock right up to Sammy’s hole, Silas said, “Give me that noise you made the first time I put my cock in you. It’s mine,” and pushed the head inside.
Sammy made the punched-out gasp Silas craved. He swallowed the sound, high from it.
“ Shit, Silas. I don’t think it’s going to fit,” Sammy said roughly, clawing at Silas’ hip.
Unable to hold back his own groan, he released Sammy’s throat and pulled back just enough to watch his cock sink in a little more.
The initial stretch was easier this time, with Sammy still loose from their first round, but there was so much more of him left.
“Do you want to stop?” he asked, breathing like a freight train.
Sammy’s nails dug in more. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he snarled.
Silas chuckled. “Then we’ll take our time, work you open nice and slow until your hole swallows my cock like the needy brat you are.”
Silas was mesmerized by the way the tight ring of muscle clenched and gave way, clutching the head of his cock as he made a few shallow pumps. “That’s it, love, open up for me,” he said, pushing in deeper. “Fuck, you’re still so tight, even after you’ve already taken me once tonight. Your needy little hole is sucking me right back in.”
Sammy huffed and reached forward to fist the sheets.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from where they were joined. Sammy’s ass was presented perfectly for him to take; he wanted to savor the sight.
Mine. All mine.
Silas slapped one of Sammy’s cheeks. “All for me, yeah? No one else gets to see you stretched so wide.”
Sammy keened and rocked backward, taking more of Silas. “No one else. I want your cum. Come on, Si. I want to feel you so deep. Plug me up. Give me everything.”
Being inside Sammy was overwhelming; Silas felt more alive than ever before. Spurred on, he thrust forward in one long, slow push and fully seated himself.
They cried out together.
“Alright, love?” Silas asked through panting breaths, afraid he’d gone too far, too soon.
“M’fine,” Sammy slurred. “S’deep… s’good, Si. So good.” Sammy’s chest expanded in a heavy breath, and he swayed his hips from side to side, pressing back even more.
“I can feel you—here,” he continued, one hand releasing his white-knuckled grip on the bed sheets and cupping his lower belly. “Feels like you’re all the way in here.”
“ Fuck, ” Silas swore. He reached one arm around and fit his hand atop Sammy’s, pressing it into that soft pouch. He crossed his other arm around Sammy’s chest and shoulders, seating his ass further into the cradle of Silas’ hips.
He scooted his knees forward even more, and Sammy used the hand that wasn’t pressed to his belly to frantically scramble for purchase on Silas’ thigh, fitting them together so tight.
Silas pulled out and drove in again, hard, using his grip on Sammy’s upper body to push down as he thrust up. “There? Can you feel me right there?” he asked, pressing harder on Sammy’s lower belly at the same time he bottomed out.
Sammy made a small, choked-off sob. “Yeah.”
“Good?” Silas asked, grunting with another deep pump into his mate.
“Yeah,” Sammy repeated. “S’good. Don’t— hnnf— don’t stop!”
Setting a steady pace, Silas drove up into Sammy in short, brutal thrusts, holding him close as he made space inside his tight hole, cock lodged deeper than he’d ever been inside anyone else.
“D’you like it, mate? Feeling me so far inside you— ah, fuck— your tummy bulges?”
“ Uh-huh ,” Sammy choked out. “I like it, I like it—it.”
Silas would be worried he was hurting Sammy if not for the constant litany of husky sighs, moans, and jumbled pleas for more.
Still, they probably wouldn’t be able to fuck like this every day.
Every other day, his wolf growled, preening at doing such a good job of reducing his brat of a mate to a puddle of pleasure.
With his orgasm bearing down on him, Silas released his hold on Sammy and planted one hand on the small of his back, tipping him forward against the mattress. He gripped Sammy’s hips and powered into him, feeling his cock start to swell at the base, catching on Sammy’s rim.
“ Oh, oh, oh! Silas! It’s— hnngh —I’m so close!” Sammy shouted, using one hand to brace against the mattress and the other to furiously stroke his cock.
Silas couldn’t pull his knot out anymore; his eyes rolled back from the pleasure of locking into Sammy’s warm hole. He leaned over, grinding and rocking as much as he could.
Sammy shuddered and screamed beneath him, his orgasm painting their sheets, clenching with every pulse.
Silas’ teeth ached. “ Fuck, that’s it, love. I can feel you coming on my cock—milking my knot. I’m gonna bite you now—I’m gonna— fuck!”
Silas roared through his release, feeling like he’d just opened the valve on a firehose inside Sammy. Hips kicking, Silas turned his head and bit into Sammy’s neck, anchoring them together.
Tying their souls forever.
Fleeting sensations and feelings and memories that weren’t Silas’ flooded his mind.
The sound of his own laughter. A large, warm hand pressed against his back and around his throat. Floating weightlessly up the stairs, carried by a pair of strong, sturdy arms. A love burning so intense it brought tears to his eyes. The crackle and pop of a fireplace while he spun, spun, spun around their living room, smiling so wide his face hurt…
He was seeing himself, seeing them, through Sammy’s eyes.
The wave of realization swelled and broke. Silas wrapped his arms around Sammy’s middle, holding him close while they shuddered together from the profound intensity of their joining.
They were more connected now than they’d ever been, and with sharp clarity, he knew their bond would remain even after they left this earth together.
Together.
Mine.
Ours.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
Sammy was his; in this lifetime and in every other.
Finally releasing his bite, Silas rested heavily against Sammy’s back, panting, until he had enough strength to lift them together onto the bed.
Careful to hold Sammy’s hips close so his knot wouldn’t tug uncomfortably, Silas shuffled them up the bed, snuggling into warm flannel sheets and the scent of them.
“I love you, Silas,” Sammy whispered, holding tight to the arms still wrapped around him.
The rumbling purr in Silas’ chest surged to life, and he didn’t care at all that one of his arms was already falling asleep. “I love you so much, Sammy. You’re mine. And I’m yours. Always.”
“Always,” Sammy repeated.
The shimmery, bubbly feeling that had accompanied Sammy’s thoughts when Silas first bit into him washed over him again, like a final settling of the bond.
Silas listened to the soft sound of his mate’s breathing grow deeper, steadier, until he was certain he was asleep.
Silas followed quickly behind, and for the first night in weeks, he wasn’t afraid that Sammy would be gone when he woke up.