Rafe raises a hand from the mattress and Josiah’s quick to gather his clammy fingers in a loose grip, to press his lips to the bruised skin of Rafe’s knuckles.
“You came for me. You got me out, Josiah. No one, no one’s ever done that before, no one but you. No one’s ever took my wellbeing into consideration before.”
Josiah stops, his mind ringing with Rafe’s words while the earlier whispered conversation he’d had with Marcel springs to the forefront of his mind.
“Rafe…there’s something you need to know.”
“W-What is it? Is it Frisch?” Rafe’s eyes are wide and Josiah curses himself for scaring him by being cryptic.
“No, no he’s gone. He’s locked up and you’ll never have to worry about him again. That’s what I wanted to tell you. You’re free now, well and truly free. Frisch and Jean Zweil are currently in custody and they’ll never be able to get near you again. It’s over, Rafe.”
Rafe stares at him uncomprehending as he slowly registers Josiah’s words.
“Over? The contract? It’s gone, dissolved?”
7“Beyond dissolved, Rafe. Marcel had every record of it sealed for your protection. Your family will be choosing a new Head of House soon, and you’ll never have to worry about being a bargaining chip again.
You’ll be able to form a contract with whoever you choose or you can continue your life in Zweil House.”
Rafe’s face clouds over in confusion and hurt as he stares up at Josiah.
“I thought, I mean, we had agreed…I thought there was to be a contract between us? Do you not want that, want me, anymore?”
Josiah takes a deep breath and puts it all on the line.
“I don’t want a contract with you, Rafe. No, wait, let me finish. Seeing you there, not being able to get to you through that wall, it almost broke me. I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you, wanted to own you, possess you, in all ways that I could. That’s not changed.”
“Josiah, what’re you saying?” Rafe’s voice wavers, hope building in his eyes.
Josiah lowers his forehead until it presses softly against the side of Rafe’s head, until he can whisper, breathless and rushed, into the shell of Rafe’s ear.
“Bond with me, Rafe. Bond with me and make sure that nothing will ever come between us again. Help me build a House of our own. Become a Marx and make a family with me. Please?”
Rafe sobs, an open sound laced with laughter and relief, and Josiah feels tears rising in the corners of his own eyes.
“You’ve got one hell of a sense of timing, Josiah. I’m looking forward to being surprised by it for the rest of our lives.”
“Do you mean it?”
Rafe raises his head as far as he can up off of the pillow and catches Josiah’s mouth in a sweet kiss. When he pulls back they’re both smiling, Rafe a small secretive curl of his lips and Josiah an actual full-blown grin.
“I’ve been a Zweil for far too long, Josiah, and Rafe Marx has a bit of a ring to it.”
Josiah reaches out and traces a finger lightly over the back of Rafe’s neck, fingertips seeking out the silver of his collar.
“Not yet it doesn’t, but it will. As soon as you’re out of here, as soon as you’re better, I’m going to sear my crest into this collar and nothing will ever come between us again.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Josiah’s the one who captures Rafe’s mouth in a kiss then, chaste and sweet, a promise for all of the years to come that they will spend together. After everything, after all that has ever happened in his life, Josiah has finally found someone, finally found that one person that he can make a home in and with.
He intends to never let him go.
The End
7www.rbrochu.blogspot.com
Other Books by Rebecca Brochu:
Lover Unexpected: Manlove Edition
7
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
7
Love in the Land of Fire Page 13
