Chapter Fifteen Ren #2
“Just don’t say forever,” I muttered.
“Nope. For now. And tomorrow, it’ll still be for now.” He put the cap back on his bottle and set it on the floor, then stretched out beside me and pulled me into his arms. “I’d like to sleep here tonight.”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“Drink some water.” He touched the bottle I’d almost forgotten I held. “And then we’ll go to sleep. In the morning, I have to get up and keep an eye on things, but we can talk if we need to. Figure things out. Right now, it’s all good, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I said again. And I believed it.
For the next couple of days, with Dr. Gumendo’s pronouncement that I was able to get out of bed and move around the house, Xavier kept me close to him.
I didn’t mind it a bit. Apparently neither did Seth and the other guards.
I actually overheard Seth telling Xavier he was happy for us, though when Seth realized I was standing nearby, he simply winked and walked away.
Wednesday night, as we lay in my bed touching and stroking each other in a languid way that might lead to sex but might not, Xavier said, “I’d like to declare you.”
“Didn’t that…” No, it hadn’t happened. He’d claimed me, but claiming and declaring weren’t the same thing. Claiming was just us. Declaring would make it known to everyone around us, even though everyone in the house already knew. “It isn’t a big thing like at the hunt house, is it?”
“The wedding?” He laughed. “No. We can just go to the Anax and state that we’re mates and we’ve accepted each other. It’s another layer of strength to the bond, but it’s also another layer of…” He frowned, then gasped as I brushed my thumb over his cockhead. “Don’t do that when I’m trying to think.”
“Sorry,” I said, even though I was anything but. I loved his little reactions when I touched or kissed him just right. We were definitely learning each other’s bodies. “Another layer of?”
“Protection?” He frowned. “Bond. I don’t know, Ren, but it feels like the right thing. If you’re willing. Just with the Anax. If we declare to him, it makes it more…official, I guess.”
And it would mean my place in the household was secure. Xavier didn’t say that, but I heard it. Felt it.
This would be my home until I chose to leave, because no one else would force me away from my mate.
“Yes,” I said. I kissed the center of his chest, and he squirmed. “Are we finished talking now?”
“Yeah.” He flipped me onto my back and rolled onto me, holding himself up on hands and feet so he wouldn’t crush me. Not that I would have minded if he did. “We’re done talking. Let’s see what else we can do.”
And then his lips were on my neck, and my hands were on his ass, and we found a few other things to do besides talking.
The next morning at breakfast, Kyle told me to take the day off from working with him on the support group framework.
He wanted to poke around in the coding and other infrastructure on his own before I did anything more.
Surprisingly, I was fine with not working for the day.
I didn’t have to be useful every second of every day to earn my keep here.
The way everyone had looked after me while I recovered from Gregory’s attack proved it.
So I wandered into the den to find something to read, and was pleased to see that either the Anax or Kyle had accumulated a fair number of male/male romance novels, including the hockey series that had frigging exploded a while back and a collection of werewolf romances,
which I found hilarious under the circumstances.
For too long, I hadn’t had the opportunity to sit and make my way through a book.
Now I wallowed in the peace of it, my feet up on one of the coffee tables as I chose one of the werewolf romances so I could laugh at the details the author had gotten wrong about us.
After a couple of hours, Xavier walked in.
I smiled, then immediately tensed when I realized the Anax was behind him, followed by Kyle.
I dropped the book and quickly stood. The Anax’s demeanor was completely different from his casual attitude at breakfast.
Whatever was going on now was official business. “Anax.”
Xavier came over to me and took my hand. It’s okay. I told him we wanted to talk to him.
You could have given me a heads-up. I forced the smile back onto my face.
Sorry. He gave my hand a light squeeze. Sometimes it’s hard to catch him at a good time. I’ll make it up to you later.
You’d better.
“This isn’t formal, Ren. Use my name, please. You too, Xavier, if you can.” The Anax sat on the loveseat opposite my chair. Kyle joined him. “Xavier said the two of you have something to share.”
“Yes, Anax. Tobias.” Flustered, I squeezed Xavier’s hand. This was your idea.
I’ve got it covered. He let go of my hand and put his arm around me. “Anax, I have found my mate.”
Words rushed into my brain, and I spoke them without thinking. “And I’ve found mine.”
A broad smile broke over the Anax’s face. “You claimed him.”
I didn’t know which of us he was speaking to, but Xavier answered. “Yes, Anax. Unintended, at least at that point, but we both agree it was the right thing.”
“And this is a declaration.” Kyle’s grin was even broader than the Anax’s. “Cool!”
“Tobias, I know you said this is informal, but in a way it isn’t.” Xavier hesitated. “Ren is my mate. Where he goes, I go.”
“And I assume where you stay, he stays?”
The Anax studied us. “I told you, Ren, you’re one of my wolves now. Xavier’s, but mine in a different way. This is your home as long as you want it to be. Kyle said you’ve been a lot of help with the virtual region thing, or whatever you want to call it. You have a place here.
Even before this declaration, but especially now.”
“Thank you, Anax,” I mumbled. “Um, Tobias.”
“Of course,” the Anax said. “You two are mates. Anyone could see it, and I’m honored that you chose to declare it to Kyle and me. If you choose to share a room, just let Luz know so she knows where to clean, and let Seth and Laurits know where to find you, Xavier.”
“I think we’re going to keep separate rooms for now,” Xavier said. We’d talked a little about it that morning before we got up. “Just in case we need a break from each other.”
“Sometimes that happens with mates,” Kyle said blandly. Tobias shot him a glare over his shoulder, and Kyle laughed.