Chapter 37
UNICORNS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO CRY
NELSON
I ignored Morgan’s tearful opinion about the Eternal Magic’s kinks. And thankfully, everyone else did too.
“No one says a word about this. No one.” I scowled at everyone sitting around the table. They all nodded, even the vampire. Then I urged Morgan to stand. “We’ll talk about everything else later.”
No one stopped us from leaving the dining room. Jeremy and Adrian, who had been sitting on the steps leading to the second floor, scrambled out of the way as I led Morgan by them. I doubted my mate even noticed where I’d brought him. He was still too caught up in whatever he’d seen in that crystal.
I wished we’d been alone for that. And I hated that so many people had heard his secrets and seen his shock. Particularly the vampire.
How had the vamp even gotten his hands on that crystal? How had he known Morgan wanted it? How did he know Morgan was Rudy Tada?
I had too many unanswered questions. I didn’t like it.
But for the moment, none of that mattered.
My mate had searched his whole life for answers, and now he had them, except they weren’t anything like what he’d been expecting. I didn’t know how to help him, so I just pulled him into my arms.
He resisted. “You should go.”
“I want to hold you.” I whispered against his hair. “Will you let me?”
“But…” He swallowed. “I think I’m going to cry.”
“So? Cry. I’m not leaving.”
“But… Unicorns aren’t supposed to cry.”
“Says who?”
“When I cry, bad things happen. You saw it downstairs. I only let a few tears go, and the whole table was bawling.”
I squeezed him. There was zero chance I’d let him cry alone. “I’ve been with you when you cried before.”
He stilled and looked up at me. Tears glistened in his pretty eyes. “I forgot about that.”
“So, let’s just strip off all these clothes we’ve been stuck in for the last few days and crawl into bed so I can hold you. Unless you want a shower first.”
His gaze darted to the bathroom door. From where we stood, we could see the large shower through the open door. He let out a shuddering breath. “Shower. Definitely a shower first.”
“Okay.” I reluctantly stepped away from him. “There are clean towels in there. Use whatever you want of my soap and shampoo and all that.”
Morgan frowned at me. “You aren’t coming?”
“I can... If that’s what you want.”
“Yes.” He nodded sharply.
Then he started yanking off his clothes and throwing them to the ground as he walked to the bathroom.
I itched to pick them up and throw them in the hamper.
In the years I’d worked on Gage’s team, I’d learned not to leave things thrown about.
Clothes tossed to the floor were trip hazards in the dark.
It was the same with my shoes. I put them in the same place all the time, so I knew exactly where to find them when I had to run out the door in an emergency.
But then I caught a glimpse of my mate’s bare ass, and I forgot all about the trail of clothes.
Our time in the cabin had been nice, but I truly appreciated having better lighting so I could see every bit of my mate’s gorgeous body.
And I couldn’t wait for him to find out about the extra shower nozzles in the oversized shower.
Why hadn’t I remembered earlier how he liked to be clean?
I should have insisted we come up here to shower as soon as we arrived.
He turned on the bathroom light and gasped in delight.
“Nelson! Your bathroom!” His sadness wasn’t gone, I knew that, but at least getting washed up would distract him for a few minutes. He spun back to grin at me as he waved toward the bathroom like I’d never seen it before. “Look at it.”
“I’m glad you like it,” I said.
“I love it. Come on. We have to try it out.” He hurried over and turned on the shower.
I followed him, stripping off my clothes along the way. But unlike my mate, I tried to at least throw them in the direction of the hamper.
As soon as the water was hot, Morgan pulled me into the shower. Then he stood with his eyes shut and his face tilted toward the water. I stepped up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned in to my embrace, and we let the water wash away the panic and worry from the last few days.
I don’t know how long we stood there. Not moving. But I could have stayed there forever, just holding my mate.
Eventually Morgan’s body relaxed against mine. This was exactly what he needed.
And truthfully, I needed it too. To feel him in my arms. To know he was as real as I was, despite his origins.
I didn’t understand what it meant for him to be the son of the Eternal Magic. Were all unicorns born of pure magic? Or had they once upon a time lived and reproduced like all the other creatures on Earth? But did any of that even matter?
She’d given him life, but she wasn’t his family. Not really. He’d been raised by his uncle. He had his cousin. And he had me…
He had all the people in my life too. We were a family of sorts. In our own way. I hadn’t always appreciated that, but it was true. I trusted them with my own life, and more importantly, I trusted them with Morgan’s.
Together we would keep him safe from anyone who might try to exploit him, because fuck only knew what people might do if they discovered he had a direct link to the Eternal Magic herself. But I knew the circumstances of his birth didn’t change anything.
The only question I had was why on earth the Eternal Magic chose me to be her son’s mate. She could have selected absolutely any other person in the world for him. And yet he was mine, and I was his.
I’d never have an answer to that, so I pushed the question aside. Besides, I had a mate to take care of… and that was much more important.
I reached for my shampoo. Even when his hair was wet, his curls shimmered with rainbow hues. He moaned and shuddered against me as I massaged the shampoo over his head. That sound. Fuck.
I’d been hard just holding my naked and wet mate, but when he moaned, I wanted more. More of his pleasure. More evidence that he had, even temporarily, found a bit of peace here, with me.
He pressed his ass back until my cock slid over his soapy wet skin. “Nelson…”
I moved my hips away from him. “Let me take care of you.”
“We take care of each other,” he argued.
“Yes. But right now, give me this. Please.”
It must have been the “please” that worked, because he didn’t make any other protest. Determined to pamper him, I ignored my erection and rinsed the soap from his hair. Then I lathered body wash over him.
After I cleaned his feet, I stayed kneeling before him. He blinked down at me. Water sluiced off the planes of his lean body. With our gazes locked, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth.
He sucked in a quick gasp. “Nelson.”
His fingers twitched, but he didn’t grab for me. So, I guided his hands to my head. His eyes widened, but he curled his fingers around my hair. His pupils were blown wide as he stared down at me and started mumbling nonsensical words.
I grabbed his ass and pulled him forward, taking him deeper.
He grunted. His fingers flexed. I pulled back a little, then did it again.
By the third time, Morgan took control. He was still so damn gentle, though.
Careful not to gag me. Only rocking his hips the littlest amount.
But the look of wonder on his face? That was everything.
When he came down my throat, I came too, spraying my release across the tiles.
“Flipping fireflies and frogs,” he muttered. He pushed his wet hair out of his face. “That was…”
I loved it when he started speaking nonsense. I grinned as I stood and pulled him into my arms. He was finally truly relaxed. Good.
When we got out of the shower, he grabbed a towel from the rack to dry himself, but I wasn’t done taking care of him yet.
“Let me…” I said as I tugged the towel from his hands.
I gently pulled the terry cloth over his body, then wrapped him in a fluffy robe Jake and Gage had given me when I moved into this room. I’d never used it before, but I was happy I had it to give to Morgan. I quickly dried myself.
Then I swept him up and carried him into the bedroom. Bubbles of laughter followed us all the way to the bed. When we were finally tucked beneath the covers, with Morgan safely in my arms, he sighed and snuggled closer to me.
Silence crept over us, and I knew he was thinking back to everything that’d happened.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head a little.
“You sure? If you want to talk, or cry, or scream, you can. I can take it,” I said. “I think being mates means that I’m not affected by your tears like other people.”
He stilled. “You think?”
“It’s like Ash and Dillon,” I said. “You haven’t met them yet, but Ash is a mage and Dillon is a hellhound. Only a mate can touch a hellhound’s flames without being burned. I think it’s like that. You’re my mate, Morgan. You could never hurt me.”
Morgan let out a shuddering breath. And then, as if my words had been all the permission he needed, he let go.
The tears started slowly. He didn’t talk, and I didn’t offer any platitudes. All I did was hold him as he sobbed. His body trembled, and I held him as tightly as I could. He hadn’t found what he was looking for, but he wasn’t alone. He’d never be alone again.
When his tears faded, I brushed a kiss to his still-damp hair.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I know it’s fast, but I do. No matter what. I’ll always be at your side.”
“My mo—I mean The Eternal Magic—she said that too.” His voice sounded wrecked. “That she loved me. Do you think it’s true?”
“Yes,” I said. I wasn’t lying either. And he’d know that.
We stayed that way for a long while, just holding one another in the darkness, listening to one another breathe. Then, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard him whisper, “I love you too.”