Epilogue
RILEY
Riley held Seth close as the cool water lapped at their bodies.
“Mm,” Seth hummed. He was sitting on Riley’s lap with his head thrown back on Riley’s shoulder, his face turned up to the sun. “The heat feels so good. It’s been horrible back home.”
Riley scoffed. “It was only a week.”
“A week of gray! In summer!” Seth gave an exaggerated shudder, though Riley could see him biting back a grin. “Horrible.”
“It rained here yesterday,” Riley pointed out.
“Psh. A summer monsoon. Totally different.”
“I didn’t realize you were such a desert baby underneath.”
“Me neither.” Seth let out a happy sigh. “It helps that this vampire body doesn’t get overheated.”
That was Seth, always focusing on the positive of their respective transformations. He’d even declared that his enhanced senses had made him a better baker and that he was now able to play around with subtle flavors he hadn’t had the palate for in his human form.
Riley didn’t know about that—he’d loved Seth’s pastries before, and he loved them now. But he liked that Seth saw it that way.
They drifted back into a comfortable silence, basking in the shallow lip of the swimming hole they’d found. Or, more accurately, the swimming hole Jamie had given them directions to.
Riley was almost as content as Seth, except he kept having to ignore the niggling, lusty urge to shuck off his swim trunks, lay Seth down in the dirt, and enter him in one smooth glide.
But while the area they’d found was secluded, hikers still came through every now and again, and—as Seth kept reminding Riley on occasions like these—exhibitionism wasn’t their thing.
Still, Riley let his hands wander over Seth’s sun-warmed skin, nuzzling at his mate’s neck.
Riley had kissed and licked every bit of skin there a thousand times over these past seven months, but it was still his favorite spot.
Although, Seth’s hands came in at a close second.
Also, his face. And maybe his butt. And his hair.
Maybe the neck favoritism was due to his voice’s preferences sneaking in, or maybe Riley would have had a thing for that slender throat even if he’d been human, but there was no way of knowing, was there? Riley was who he was, and so was his mate. Riley’s lovely, beautiful mate.
One of Riley’s wandering hands managed to find Seth’s burgeoning erection under the water. Aha. So Riley wasn’t the only one affected. Riley cupped the bulge over Seth’s swim trunks.
Seth’s lips curled into a smirk, his eyes still closed against the sun’s glare. “What are you up to down there?”
“Are you sure we’re not exhibitionists?” Riley asked, arching up to rub his own erection pointedly against Seth’s pert bottom.
Seth laughed. “I guess it depends on how willing you are to let another person see me all flushed and naked and moaning on your cock.”
No, Riley’s voice snapped at him. Fuck no. Ours. Only ours.
“You’ve got his hackles up,” Riley scolded, his pout only half-fake.
Seth’s smirk grew even more smug. “I’ll kiss them back down later.”
Riley reluctantly left Seth’s pretty cock alone and went back to holding him tightly on his lap. It was a case of good timing because a few moments later, they heard the telltale heavy tread of a hiker coming in on the path.
“Hand me one of those water bottles?” Seth asked casually.
Riley leaned back and grabbed one, handing it to Seth just as the hiker crested the portion of the trail overlooking their water hole. He was young and sunburned, his face creased in a friendly smile as he gripped his hiking poles. “Hello there! Do you know how much longer to the waterfall?”
“Not much longer!” Seth rose from Riley’s lap and scrambled up the hill to stand next to the hiker, pointing a finger in the opposite direction from where the man had come. “Just follow the path through those saguaros. It’s faint, but it’s there.”
“Perfect! Thank you!”
Seth turned to face the hiker, using a hand to shade eyes Riley already knew would be all black by now. “Don’t be scared,” Seth said, still in his same friendly tone, although his voice had lowered to a slightly deeper, rougher register. “And don’t move.”
He quickly lifted the hiker’s wrist and bit in, drinking in steady, patient gulps as the hiker stared bemusedly at him, his face flushed either with heat or arousal.
Seth dropped the hiker’s wrist gently back to his side when he was done.
“Forget I did that. We gave you directions and an extra water. You’ll drink it on your way. ”
The guy smiled dazedly at them both. “Thanks for the water. Sure you don’t need it?”
“Nope!” Seth grinned at him with a mouth full of blunt human teeth. There wasn’t a trace of red anywhere on his mouth—he was always a very neat eater. “Have a good swim!”
The hiker continued down the trail while Seth waved at his back.
He was so easy with it, Riley’s mate—the hunt and the feed.
He’d helped Riley achieve some semblance of the same, but Riley still didn’t like hunting without Seth.
Riley preferred to drink human blood from the source with Seth right beside him, usually with a hand on Riley’s shoulder, ready to pull him back if he lost himself to the hunger.
Some wounds took a little longer to heal—that was what Seth said when Riley was feeling feelings about his dependency.
Case in point: Riley wouldn’t be feeding from any humans on this trip. He’d made the decision before they’d left, knowing he would be too wired. Too…nervous. Instead, he’d gorged on an elk before their departure, and he and Seth had an emergency cooler of blood bags stashed back in Tucson.
“We should get going,” Seth said, glancing at the position of the sun above them.
“We could stay the night here,” Riley suggested, almost succeeding in pulling off an air of innocence. “Camp under the stars. It’d be romantic.”
Seth gave him a knowing look. “We don’t have to go at all. We could head back to Tucson, spend some more time with Colin and Jamie and their respective devotees.”
They’d already spent three days in Tucson visiting the den members that lived there. Seth had declared that he needed face time with each vampire couple Riley knew. And in the fall, they’d be heading back to Seacliff for Riley to meet the demons and their mates.
Seth was convinced that solidarity was the key to their future—building a network of friendship and communication so that if any of them smelled something fishy brewing, everyone would be on alert and available to help.
Whether it paid off or not, Riley had delighted in showing Seth off to the den these past months.
It was hilarious how everyone was so determined to be protective of Riley—apparently there’d been a kerfuffle about him bonding while still so young—but the second each of them met Seth, they were charmed out of any hesitation.
His wholesomeness seemed to confound them into complacency, as well as the contrast of his deep, sometimes vicious protectiveness over Riley.
It turned Riley into a smug asshole every. Single. Time.
Maybe he should draw on some of that energy now. Confidence was key, right? Riley rose from the water. “No. I want to go.”
Seth came over and stood on his toes, grabbing Riley’s face in his hands.
He pressed a firm kiss to Riley’s lips, then another, teasing at the seam with his tongue.
Riley opened eagerly. Despite his neat appearance, Seth still tasted like the coppery tang of fresh blood, and Riley licked it out of his mouth with all his usual greed.
Seth smiled at him when they broke apart. “So brave, baby.”
But Riley wasn’t all that brave. He never had been. He was only…certain. Of himself. Of his mate. Of the fact that, even if the worst happened—even if he broke all over again—Seth would be there to pick up the pieces, to put them back together with his tender, patient care.
They arrived in Bisbee at sunset.
Maybe they should have left the swimming hole earlier, after all—showing up for this visit just as night fell really wasn’t going to help Riley’s case. But, oh well. It was done. They were here.
Seth had typed the address into his phone’s GPS, and they followed the directions up the road where the houses stacked along the hills, dotting the desert landscape.
“It’s beautiful,” Seth said, peering out of the windshield at every house they passed by.
“Mm.” Riley tapped his finger on the passenger door. “My moms said a lot of artists end up here. There’s—there’s a community, I guess.”
“Is she an artist?” Seth asked. “Was she?”
Riley shook his head. Why his eyes were suddenly burning, he had no idea. He blinked them rapidly. “Not that I remember. Not professionally, at least. She was a phlebotomist.”
Seth didn’t remark on that particular irony. He continued driving slowly, then parked outside the house that matched the address they’d been given. Seth parked on the street—not in the actual driveway—and Riley was grateful for that bit of distance as he took everything in.
The house was charming; that was the word for it. It was a one-story wooden building painted brick red, with colorful wind chimes hanging over the porch and plenty of cacti in the front yard.
Seth shut the car off.
Riley was breathing too fast, which was stupid because he didn’t really need to breathe at all. It was muscle memory, or maybe another way their bodies camouflaged what they were. Another way to hide the monster inside from unsuspecting people who—
Seth’s not a monster, Riley reminded himself, drawing in a much slower breath. And we’re the same now. So that means I’m not a monster either.
Riley’s voice was quiet, other than a vague, silent wariness. Maybe he was remembering how much he had fucked up the last time they’d tried to do this.
“What if…?”
Riley couldn’t finish his sentence. There were too many horrible ways to end it—how could he possibly choose?
“If anything goes wrong,” Seth said, his words slow and careful, “then I’ll compel her, and we’ll be on our way.
It will be very sad, and probably painful, but it won’t destroy you.
I’m here, and your moms will come as soon as you call them.
Whatever happens, you’re not alone.” Seth slipped his hand into Riley’s, squeezing. “I promise. Never again.”
Riley swallowed hard. Seth’s promises were so easy to believe. He always meant them with his whole heart.
Riley slouched down in his seat and turned his head plaintively to his mate. “I need a kiss first.”
Seth smiled. “Okay, baby.”
He leaned over the console and pressed a soft, warm kiss to Riley’s lips. Then his cheek. The other cheek. Both eyelids, one by one.
Riley kept himself still, soaking in the affection. “And I—I need you to tell me you love me.”
“I do,” Seth said immediately, his breath ghosting over Riley’s temple. “I love you so, so much.”
Riley took another breath and let it out in a long, slow exhale. His heart was still beating like it was fit to break out of his chest, but that couldn’t be helped. “Okay. I’m ready.”
They got out of the car and walked up the drive. Side by side, they climbed a quaint wooden porch up to the door. It took an eternity. It took no time at all.
Riley’s moms had found the address. Or, more like, they’d had it for a while, after keeping track all these years. It was a promise they’d made him, when they’d first taken Riley in—that once he stabilized, he could look for her, if he wanted.
Riley hadn’t ever been sure he’d be stable enough. Or brave enough. But he and Seth had been making their plans to visit Tucson, and Riley had…wondered. For the first time, he’d asked his moms to tell him what they knew.
Seth hadn’t pushed or said a word about it until Riley had broached the subject himself. And then Seth had said that whatever Riley chose to do, he’d be there at his side.
And now they were here.
Riley knocked on the door.
It took her a minute to answer. Riley’s moms had told him that she hadn’t had any more children, or ever married. Riley didn’t remember enough to know why he hadn’t had a father in the picture—he only knew he hadn’t. Just his mother. He remembered it had felt like more than enough.
The door opened.
The woman in front of him had dark eyes and dark hair shot through with gray. Riley had forgotten the details of her face, but he knew her instantly. Her nose was strong, and her cheeks were round, although she looked thinner than he remembered. Older.
“Hello?”
It took only a split second, as she looked between them. Then her eyes locked on Riley’s face. They widened in shock.
And then she was crying, and Riley was being held tightly by arms he’d never thought he’d feel wrapped around him again. He hadn’t expected it, and he was sent back on his heels with the force of it.
“Ohh,” she moaned, and there was so much grief in that sound that Riley could hardly bear to hear it.
“I’m sorry,” his mother whispered, clutching Riley to her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I didn’t mean to scare you. Didn’t mean to—to say—”
Riley carefully—so carefully—reached up and patted her back, this woman he knew and didn’t know all at the same time. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m here. I’m here, Mama.”
She pulled back, placing her hands on Riley’s face. She was pretty, even with those deep grief lines around her mouth and on her brow. She had kind eyes. He’d known that. “Riley. Riley. My boy.”
Riley’s face was wet, his throat thick with emotion he couldn’t yet speak. She started pulling him by the arm. “Please. Please come in.”
If he’d been alone, Riley didn’t know if he could have done it. A strange, overwhelming mix of fear and love and hope and grief had him frozen, his feet stuck to the porch.
But then a hand clasped his, warm and calloused, and Riley felt it—Seth’s love, that beautiful blanket that never grew any less comforting, no matter how many times Riley wrapped it around himself.
Just like that, Riley’s muscles unfroze.
Whatever happens, I’m not alone.
With his mate at his side, Riley stepped inside the door.
The end.