Nylune shook his head. “Please.”
“Answer me.”
“No. I couldn’t.” Nylune buried his face in his hands and cried. “It doesn’t matter. You know who I am. Everybody knows what happened to me five years ago. You can’t…”
“I can’t what? I can’t love you…I can’t want you, because we’ll cause another scandal if we’re together?” Adew removed his hands off his face and made him look at him. “I don’t care about that. I’ve been through a lot to care what people think. I want you. I want my mate. I need to be your alpha. Life doesn’t mean shit when I’m not with you. I won my first match tonight, but all I could think about was you.”
Nylune’s eyes brightened. “You won!”
“See,” Adew said touching his face. “I needed that. I needed your beautiful eyes staring at me just like that. Don’t push me away, please.”
“But UA is your life. If you’re with me…”
“No, UA was my life, but then I met you. You are my life.”
Nylune shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Don’t do that. Please, don’t push me away. Not again.” Adew leaned down and kissed him softly. “Please, baby. Take be back. I need you. I know you need me too. No one matters but you and me. If my job is a problem, I’ll quit.”
“What? You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will if it stands in the way of us being together. It doesn’t matter to me if I can’t have you. Please don’t push me away. I’ll be good to you, I promise.”
Nylune nodded, tired of fighting. He’d fought with himself for eight long months as his body called to him. He thought five years of prolonged heat was torture. He’d never experienced losing a mate.
“I won’t. I need you,” he said. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I…”
Adew dragged him into his arms and held him tight. “I can finally breathe again,” he said. Tears prickled Nylune’s eyes, but he pushed them away. He’d cried enough. He laughed instead, with tears running down his face.
“I love you,” Nylune said.
“I love you, too,” Adew said. Nylune pulled back and stared at him.
“You love me?”
“I do. I’m crazy about you.” Adew leaned down and took his mouth with his. Nylune moaned and clung to him. It felt so good to be in his arms again.
Nylune turned to his cactus just as it started to bloom.
“Finally,” Nylune said as he stared at it in awe. It was gorgeous. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
“Really?” Adew said wrapping his arms around him, his chest to his back. Nylune leaned into him, enjoying the moment. He had thought he would be alone when this extraordinary moment happened, but now he had his alpha to share it with. “Tell me about it, you never got to tell me,” he said.
“That’s because you called it hideous.”
“Maybe I judged it too harshly. It’s gorgeous with those flowers.”
Nylune shook his head. “Next time,” he said taking his hand. “I think we have an experiment to restart.”
“This time is forever,” Adew growled, sending tingles down his spine.
“Yes, alpha,” Nylune said.
“I love it when you call me that,” Adew growled again. He picked him up and ran into the house. Nylune laughed happily, clinging to him. Calla ran after them, joining in the fun.
“I love saying it. Take me to bed, alpha,” Nylune whispered. And he planned to say it for the rest of their lives.
Epilogue