“What about you?”
There was so much longing and uncertainty in that simple sentence, and Dominic felt it like a blade.
“I’ve already made my choice.”
Sammy wasn’t Louis. He wasn’t his mother. Not once since they’d met had he tried to fit himself into a box or be something he wasn’t.
“I know who you are,colibrí.”
Sammy scoffed. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” Instead of a warning, he heard only a plea for acceptance. “I know you’re stubborn, and you never listen to me. You insist on staying in your own room because you’re afraid this is temporary.” With every revelation, he shortened the distance between them until he came close enough to reach out and take Sammy’s trembling hands. “I know you don’t eat nearly enough, and you probably sleep even less.”
“I mean, with an endorsement like that, how could you resist?”
Dominic smirked. “You’re also a mouthy little shit sometimes.” But that was exactly the point he’d been trying to make. “You’ve never changed yourself to make me happy.”
Tears welled in his mate’s eyes, and he sniffled wetly. “I already told you that I don’t know what you want.”
“And I already toldyou.” He slid a knuckle under Sammy’s chin and tilted his head up, no longer content to let him hide. “I want something real.”
“But fate—”
“Presented an opportunity. Nothing more.” Fate, destiny, the mate bond—whatever they wanted to call it—had opened thedoor, but it had been his choice to walk through it. “It made me look past old prejudices. It didn’t force me to love you.”
“Yeah, I know that, but—” His lips snapped together, his eyes flared with panic, and his entire body suddenly became rigid. “You…does that…are you saying…” He stopped again and shook his head. “What are you saying?”
Dominic thought he’d been clear, but if his mate needed to hear it again, he didn’t mind accommodating him.
“I love you, Sammy.” He slid his hand up along the curve of his mate’s jaw to cup his face. “Not because you’re a changeling, and not in spite of it. I love you for exactly who you are.” His lips twitched into a crooked grin, and he adopted a teasing tone. “Even if who you are drives me crazy sometimes.”
“You…you love me?”
He sounded so surprised Dominic had to laugh. “Isn’t it obvious?” Though worried he might not like the answer, he had to ask, “What about you?”
Sammy sniffled again, but his lips twitched at the corners. “Isn’t it obvious?” he echoed. “Of course I love you, Dominic.”
That was all he needed to hear.
Chapter fifteen
Sammy gasped when Dominic grabbed his face and dragged him into a blistering kiss that set every nerve in his body on fire.
It wasn’t hesitant or coaxing, not patient like the other times. The wolf took what he wanted, shoving between his lips in a scorching brand of ownership. Low and continuous, the growl that rumbled in his chest sounded almost like a purr as it spilled from his mouth to fill the room.
Dominic crowded against him, forcing him back a step, then another, walking him across the library. Sammy braced, but instead of the hard edges of the bookshelves he expected, his shoulders collided instead with the flat expanse of his mate’s bedroom wall.
Sammy had hardly noticed the jump. In fact, for the first time, it felt more like he had movedwiththe space instead of against it.
Or maybe he’d just been too distracted to notice.
Dominic leaned into him, anchoring him to the wall, every hard muscle pressed against him. His hand slid up Sammy’schest and over his collarbones, his fingers curling around his throat.
He held him gently, almost reverently, a gesture of possession rather than control. His other hand dipped below the hem of Sammy’s sweater, his rough palm spanning across his stomach. His touch burned, the fire spreading inward, igniting the embers that smoldered there.
Of desire, but also something more, something deeper.
Love.