Chapter 20 Dex
DEX
“Dex,” a low voice hummed, sending shivers down his spine.
“Mmm,” he groaned and pressed his face further into the pillow.
“Wake up,” Luc taunted.
The covers disappeared from Dex’s back, leaving him exposed to cool air.
“Hey.” Dex reached blindly behind him, but couldn’t find the covers. He turned his head and peered at Luc.
“Good morning.” Luc’s red-lipped smile was as bright as the sun streaming through the windows. His wings were gone, but his horns still framed his face. “It’s time for breakfast.”
He sounded so damn excited that Dex’s heart clenched.
A buzzing sounded from the other side of the bed, and Luc turned away. “Someone sent you a text message.”
“You have my phone?” Dex rolled onto his side, rubbing a hand over his face. He was lucky his phone hadn’t been lost in the street, where Luc had shredded his clothes.
Heat flooded his body. God. He’d really done that. And he’d do it again. If Luc told him to run naked through the Sunday morning crowd, Dex would jump to it. No hesitation and no regrets.
“I grabbed it when I tackled you.” Luc handed the phone over. “It should be charged.”
“Thanks.” Leave it to Luc to remember the little things when he was giving Dex the night of his life.
Dex unlocked the phone. Fuck. He’d forgotten brunch with Ollie.
Ollie:
What time do you want to come over? I just woke up.
Dex:
Me too. Can I come by this afternoon instead? Lunch? Or we can do dinner?
Ollie:
For sure. Come by later this afternoon. We can game and get pizza.
Dex liked the message. Would he tell Ollie he’d canceled because he was with Luc? Before he could worry about Ollie’s reaction, a message from last night caught his eye.
Onyx:
Hope you had fun.
At least it was a private message and not in the group chat. Dex still frowned. Did Onyx mean at the club or with Luc?
He quickly replied, saying he had a great night, leaving things as vague as Onyx had.
“Is everything all right?” Luc asked.
“Yeah, I’m meeting Ollie later, and, um, your brother messaged me.”
Luc’s brows rose. “I heard you tell him what we were doing.”
Dex’s face heated. “He seemed happy about it.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Maybe Onyx had some idea of Luc’s preferences, but knowing Luc was the kind of man to hunt a lover through a club didn’t explain why Onyx had seemed happy to see him with Luc. Nothing but being Luc’s mate explained it.
Did everyone think they were mates? Was that why Ollie had encouraged Dex to talk to Luc?
Dex felt like Luc’s mate. How he knew what mates felt like, he couldn’t say, other than his connection with Luc was tangible, almost physical, as it drew them together. Not a physical attraction to Luc’s appearance, but something more solid.
“I’ve got clothes for you.” Luc stood from the bed, naked, back fully covered with tattooed wings, and headed for the dresser. His red tail hung over his ass, the thick base resting along his crack. The tip flicked back and forth near his ankles.
Dex’s insides tightened. Who’d have thought tails were hot? Damn.
Luc turned, holding a pair of shorts and a pair of jeans. “Which one?”
Dex pointed to the jeans. Luc put the shorts away and tossed the jeans on the bed, along with a pair of black boxer briefs.
Luc had gone out and bought Dex underwear. He’d done all this knowing he planned to rip Dex’s clothes to shreds. It was sexy, but also made Dex’s heart ache.
He climbed out of bed and pulled on the underwear and pants. Luc handed him a soft T-shirt, and he slipped into it. “Thanks for all this.”
Luc cupped his cheek. “You’re welcome.”
Dex sat on the bed and watched Luc dress. His tail disappeared, becoming a tattoo wrapped around his hips, the tip trailing down his left ass cheek. Dex’s fingers itched to trace the ink.
Luc pulled on underwear and a pair of dark gray slacks. He never seemed to wear anything casual. Another soft-looking sweater was unearthed from a drawer, and Luc pulled it over his head, catching it on a horn along the way.
As Luc emerged, Dex realized that his red lips probably weren’t due to cosmetics—he hadn’t put anything on and the color hadn’t smudged or faded—it had to be natural.
Dex rubbed his chest as an empty feeling opened inside him. Waiting for someone to get dressed the morning after sex wasn’t something he’d done since his early college days, before his parents’ deaths. Before everything had changed.
Even as he was in the middle of it, Dex missed this kind of intimacy. He hadn’t over the years, but now, looking back, he wished he hadn’t gone without it. If only Luc had found him years ago.
Dex had told himself to focus solely on sex, but after exploring his true desires, he wanted more.
Could he have Luc as a boyfriend? As a mate?
He didn’t want to lose this achy feeling or hide from connection, even if the two of them were doomed, and he couldn’t have forever the way the other mates could.
Luc ran a hand through his hair, his smile faltering. “What is it?”
Dex gripped the edge of the mattress. “Am I your mate?”
Luc’s eyes crinkled around the edges, and his smile returned in a brittle contrast to what it had been. He closed the distance between them and kneeled before Dex, pulling his hands from the mattress to cup them in his.
“Yes, Dex. You are my mate.”
Dex sucked in a breath, butterflies exploding inside him. He was right. He was Luc’s. His fingers dug into Luc’s palms. “How do you know for sure?”
“I felt our connection the moment I saw you. Before, actually. I bought one of your mugs and couldn’t figure out why I was so drawn to it until I followed you to Dorthy’s.”
“I felt it too. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Luc squeezed Dex’s hands. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we met. I can’t believe I found you. I was sure, down to my soul, that I never would. It didn’t seem real at first.”
Didn’t seem real? “But you were so calm when we met.”
Luc laughed. “Not on the inside. I hadn’t been genuine with anyone or free of my past in centuries, and it rattled me.
I was out of my depth.” Luc’s tone hardened, his eyes wide and pleading.
“I’m sorry I gave up on finding you and did such horrible things, and I’m sorry I used losing you as an excuse for my actions. ”
“You didn’t.” Losing Dex before they’d even met couldn’t have pushed him over the edge.
“I did.” Agony tightened Luc’s words, and his eyes glowed with the faintest hint of red as he gripped Dex tighter.
“I stopped caring when my quest to find you failed. My world was misery, and instead of finding hope, I clung to self-pity and indulged every horrible thought I had. I wish I was the kind of man you didn’t have to excuse.
One you could love without hesitation. I wish I’d never lost hope. ”
Dex wanted to say he hadn’t hesitated, but he couldn’t, and that was okay. Caution was natural. Luc’s past was a part of him and affected their relationship. But Dex’s conflicted feelings over what Luc had done weren’t nearly as strong as they’d been. He knew who Luc was.
Luc was plagued by the remorse he felt. He didn’t want to be that person anymore.
Ollie seemed determined to forgive Luc, and Dex wanted to give Luc the chance to be the best version of himself.
He still had to talk to Ollie and be honest with him, but finding some level of harmony between the three of them seemed possible for the first time.
Ollie was right. They had fate on their side.
Dex pulled a hand free from Luc’s grasp and traced one of his horns. “You can’t undo the past, but you’ve changed. I believe who you are with me is the real you. And I want all of you. You don’t have to be someone else.”
The glow faded from Luc’s eyes. “I’m glad. I like who I am with you.”
“Good.” Luc should like who he was, even if he didn’t like who he’d been. “You can have love in your life. Things can get better again.”
Life would get better for Dex, too. He wouldn’t always be drowning in grief. Coming through the other side was within reach. If he could believe in a better future for someone as flawed as his mate, why not for himself?
Luc stood, running a hand through Dex’s hair. “My life is already better.”
But was it enough? Dex swallowed. “What about when I die? I can’t… I’m not…”
“I know, my dear.” Luc’s fingers teased Dex’s scalp. “Don’t worry about me. I’d never ask you to give anything up, least of all the afterlife.”
Dex choked down a sob before it escaped. “There’s no other way?”
“I’ll find one.” Luc’s eyes flared red, his hand tightening in Dex’s hair.
“I’ll do everything in my power to create a world where we can bond and you can enter the Eternal Realm.
I destroyed everything looking for you. I can put it back together, make it better than it was, so you don’t have to lose anything. I’ll try my best. I swear.”
“Wait. It’s possible?” Dex’s voice shook. Nothing Luc had said before suggested there were options, but Luc’s grip was so secure that Dex’s doubts scattered.
Luc’s expression hardened. “I won’t lie, the odds are against us, but there is a chance. We can have hope, and nothing can take that away. I’ll do my best not to fail you again.”
“Fail me? You couldn’t. A minute ago, we were doomed, and now you’re saying there’s a chance. What else could I ask for?”
“You could ask for anything.” Luc tugged Dex’s head back and bent to kiss him, his tongue invading Dex’s mouth. “Anything, my dear Dex.”
He whimpered, mind straying to last night. “Make me yours.”
The scent of smoke filled the air. “You’re already mine. We’ll figure out how to make it last.”
Dex and Luc sat at a café by the river on a patio overlooking the southern end of the riverwalk. They hadn’t gone far from Luc’s loft, and the all-day breakfast spread was exactly what Dex needed.
Being awake all night, getting tackled and claimed in the street before being made a prisoner gave him an appetite. Who knew?
Dex was on his second coffee and contemplating a third as he considered Luc’s idea.