“Oh, baby, I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”
A few hours later,sated and relaxed on top of Wash’s chest, Peri broached the subject they’d touched on at the restaurant.
“Can you tell me about the demon mating ritual thing? What happens?”
Wash seemed a little reluctant when he explained, “It’s supposed to be a weekend long ceremony. The first day is an acknowledgement ceremony, where the two families come together and acknowledge the union. The second day is the ceremony itself. It’s long, from what I’ve heard, and has to be broken up with several meals because it takes all day. The last day is supposed to be about bringing the families together. There’s magic involved, but I’ve never been to one myself so I can’t tell you exactly how. I never asked.”
Lifting himself high enough to look Wash in the eye, he tipped his head curiously. “You keep saying ‘supposed to be’. Do you not want a ceremony?”
He considered that maybe that kind of attention would make Wash uncomfortable. He’d had to be coaxed into joining the company retreat and that was technically work related. Spending three days surrounded by family making nice might be a little much for his grumpy demon.
Something like pain flickered across Wash’s face, making Peri scramble up to his knees so he could cup Wash’s face. He had to be careful not to kneel on Wash’s wings, but his mate didn’t make any pained sounds, steadying him with his hands on Peri’s hips.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”
For a second, Wash’s expression shuttered. He didn’t want to talk about it. But before Peri could feel hurt about that, Wash sighed, his face a mix of resignation and old pain.
“You’re going to find out anyway, so there’s no point in hiding it from you. I don’t think we’ll get a ceremony like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because that ceremony is supposed to be planned and hosted by the demon’s family. Mine won’t do that. They wouldn’t even think to offer. To do that, they’d have to actually care.”
Peri’s heart ached just from the little furrow between Wash’s eyebrows, the way he couldn’t seem to look Peri in the eye anymore. This, he got the feeling, was the bigger issue. The thing keeping Wash from connecting properly with the people who loved him.
“You don’t think they care?” he whispered, swallowing hard around the lump already forming in his throat. He couldn’t imagine his family not caring about him. His parents weren’t mated, they were friends who’d wanted a baby, but they still put all their love into raising him, even when they eventually found their own mates and started new families. They always made sure he felt like he belonged. It broke his heart that Wash might not have received the same thing.
“I know they don’t. They’d never intended to have me. Our dad had a premonition that said they’d have a powerful son. They didn't plan for or want me.”
Peri frowned at that. Wash wasn’t weak, so he didn’t understand what he meant by that. They could have meant him.
Wash continued explaining, glaring at the wall. “Once Elijah’s powers came in, they forgot I existed. All their attention went into training him to control his magic and keeping him from going down the wrong path.”
“Wrong path?” Peri queried, confused. Elijah was a gentle soul, a total sweetheart. He doubted that had developed in adulthood. People that kind were usually born that way.
Nodding, Wash told him, “Most telepaths are lured in by criminal society. That seems to be the only place where they’re treated well, since criminals love having a telepath to change the narrative or mess with people’s memories so they don’t get caught. They were keeping him safe by training him so young.”
He got the feeling that part didn’t bother him so much. Wash loved his brother. If his parents were working to protect him, he wouldn’t complain about that. Which meant in order for him to be that angry, they had to have ignored him completely for it to still hurt him.
He almost didn't want to ask, but he felt the words leave his mouth anyway. “They forgot about you?”
Locking eyes with Peri, Wash said the worst thing he could have ever imagined. “They never saw me in the first place.”
Tears burned his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He wasn’t going to make Wash feel bad for telling him the truth. He scrubbed his eyes, sucking in a shaking breath, and when he looked down at his boyfriend again, he felt determination fill his chest. Wash spent so long protecting everyone else. No one had been there to protect him. Well, Peri wasn’t going to allow that to continue. He’d protect Wash’s heart. And he’d get help to do it too.
A flicker of a smile crossed Wash’s face, his warm hands running up and down Peri’s legs. “You look like you’re about to go to war, baby. You don’t have to. I don’t care anymore. I’vegot you, and I’m working things out with Elijah. I don’t need anything else.”
Peri stuck out his lip. “That’s not enough! You deserve more!”
The pain faded, and Wash’s smile grew, especially when several more soul blooms popped up, covering him all the way up to his shoulder. He did look happy, especially when he drew Peri down for a kiss, that contented hum in his chest as he sipped at his lips, teasing and distracting him. Peri allowed it because he could tell Wash wanted to be done with the conversation, and he didn’t want to push, but he definitely wasn’t going to let this go. He had people to back him up. He’d call in reinforcements and find a way to get Wash everything he dreamed of. He was going to make sure his mate felt wanted and loved.
Before they could get too carried away, Peri sat up with a gasp, wanting to put his first plan into motion before Wash distracted him completely.
“Will you move in with me?”
He hated Wash’s apartment. It was lifeless with no colors and no decorations. It wasn’t the right environment for his mate’s happiness to grow. He was ready to argue the point, list off every reason he could think of to get Wash to agree, including saving costs on toiletries, but to his surprise, Wash agreed without argument.
“Sure. I wasn’t planning on letting you out of my sight anyway. But do you want to stay here or find a house? The stained glass could be permanent in a house.”