Chapter 26 #2
Opening his eyes, Hunter smiled, finding the bedroom bathed in late afternoon golden light and his mate still asleep.
Not that he was surprised since their last round of sex had been spectacular—and because both had slept little the previous night.
Hunter had been consumed with the need to mark his mate.
At first he chalked it up to Fionn’s disappearance, but as the night wore on, his desire to fuck never let up, driving him to take Fionn repeatedly.
Thankfully, his mate liked it, always pushing Hunter for more.
It was Fionn’s eagerness and openness to try new erotic things that really surprised him.
After learning his mate was just eighteen, Hunter wasn’t going to urge him to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with, wanting to make sure his mate progressed at his own speed.
But Hunter soon discovered his concerns were unwarranted; from the moment Fionn jumped into his arms in the kitchen, it was Hunter who had a hard time keeping up.
His mate’s exuberance about anything sexual excited and delighted Hunter.
There was a constant joy in their love making, something he never had with anyone else and Hunter knew he’d never get enough of it.
But there was something else about Fionn he sensed—his mate’s submissive nature.
This puzzled Hunter, especially since his mate was a dragon, but when Fionn finally yielded to him, their orgasms were explosive.
Burying his nose in Fionn’s hair, Hunter inhaled deeply of his mate, imprinting the scent in his heart and soul. Unable to resist, he tugged his mate closer to him, needing to feel Fionn’s dragon heat against his skin—something else he’d never get enough of.
“When do I get to meet your brothers?” murmured Fionn, his voice heavy with sleep.
“Whenever you want…maybe at dinner.”
“Sounds good. I was an only child and I missed not having any siblings.”
“Sometimes I missed not being an only child,” laughed Hunter.
“No you didn’t.”
Chuckling, Hunter said, “You’re right. I wouldn’t have traded my life for anyone else’s. Of course, the thought did cross my mind when I got blamed for something that one of my brothers did when we were younger.”
“Which one?”
“Which one what?”
Turning over to face his mate, Fionn said, “Which brother caused you the most problems?”
“Oh, easy…Sawyer. He’s a free spirit and made it his personal mission to break as many rules my parents made as he could.”
“But you love him.”
“I do…I love all my brothers,” Hunter said.
“Who are you closest to?”
“Probably Mason. He’s the nearest in age to me and always had my back.”
“Who’s the youngest?”
“Quin.”
“You’re protective of him.”
“Very much so.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs me the most.”
“Why?”
Laughing, Hunter responded, “You sound just like him.”
“How?”
“Quin has a knack of understanding what people really mean when they say something; he can suss out the motives behind their words.”
“And you think I do that?” asked Fionn.
“In a way, yes. But getting back to my brother…Quin’s a special soul; kind, loving, always seeing the world through rose-colored glasses that can lead to trouble if he runs across someone who uses his trusting nature against him.”
“Has that happened to him?”
“Yes, several times.”
“Do you think he’ll like me?”
“I think he’ll love you, my pet.”
“What about your other brothers…will they like me?”
“Absolutely. However. they just better remember you belong to me,” Hunter growled.
Giggling at the possessiveness in his mate’s voice, Fionn felt cherished and loved. “Can I ask you something else?”
“Go ahead, pet. What do you want to know?”
“Well…do you work?”
“I do. My company does investment management, trust services, financial and estate planning.”
“A numbers man.”
“Yup,” Hunter replied, puzzled by his mate’s tone. “Is that a problem?”
Looking down at his mate’s chest, Fionn thought about Hunter’s question, wondering how he should answer it.
Going with the truth, he said, “My father was always angry at me because I wasn’t interested in learning finance.
He’d yell at me that he didn’t give a shit whether or not I liked it, I had to learn it since I needed it to manage my hoard.
” Glancing up at his mate’s face and not seeing anything but love, he continued, “But I don’t.
I have more money than I could spend in ten lifetimes so why the hell should I have to manage it? ”
Hunter thought for a moment before saying, “Then why did your father push you to do something you obviously didn’t want to do?”
“Because he found out I wanted to be an…” Fionn stopped, not sure he was ready to tell his mate about his dream.
Seeing his mate’s hesitation, Hunter linked his fingers through Fionn’s, putting them against his heart. “Can you feel my heart beat?”
Fionn nodded.
“My heart beats for you…whatever you need, I will get you. Whatever you want to do…I will support you. Whatever I can do for you…I will do…because you are my everything and I want you to be happy…and only if you’re happy, can I be.”
Tears filled Fionn’s eyes. It had been a long time since someone loved him just as he was. The years of his father’s hatred fell away, pushed out by his mate’s love and, in that moment, Fionn’s heart finally opened wide, giving him back his ability to trust.