Delevan

by Catherine Lievens

  Blair sucked in a breath as Dominic came up to them, but Dominic just grabbed Delevan and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you,” he whispered, and Blair knew he wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been right by Dominic and Delevan’s side.

  Blair looked around, trying to give Dominic and Delevan the space they needed, and noticed Adan smiling at him. He smiled back, unsure if the smile looked more like a grimace than anything else had, but grateful of the unspoken support.

  Delevan and Dominic moved, and Dominic clasped Blair’s shoulder. Blair fought the instinct to jerk away and got up. He faced Dominic, determined to make a good impression on his brand new father-in-law. He still couldn’t help the way his eyes widened when Dominic leaned forward and hugged him. That was the last thing Blair had expected would happen, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Should he hug Dominic back? Probably. He drew the line at patting Dominic’s back, though, and loosely hugged the alpha back.

  Nysys clapped, breaking the moment, and the tension in the room seemed to seep out. “Can we eat now?” Nysys asked. “I’m starving.”

  Shad laughed. “No matter what happens, we can always trust you to think of the important stuff.”

  Nysys flipped him the bird. “Shut up and eat, Shad.”

  * * * *

  The tension was broken, but it didn’t mean everyone around the table was happy. Blair certainly didn’t look like he was, and doubts already filled Delevan’s mind. Why did Blair look like he wanted to run? Was it only because of who Delevan’s father was?

  Blair had seemed enthusiastic when they’d kissed, but that didn’t have to mean something. Maybe he just liked kissing. What Delevan needed was to talk to Blair, but he couldn’t exactly do that right that moment. He’d have to wait until everyone left the kitchen.

  Of course, Nysys decided to take roots there.

  Delevan’s dad had paused next to him before going back to his office and had told him they’d talk later that evening. Delevan had hoped he’d have time to talk to Blair as they cleaned up the kitchen, but Nysys and Ani had decided to stay, and now the four of them were putting away bottles of water and soda and loading the dishwasher. The only one talking was Nysys, and Delevan made an effort to focus on what he was saying, only to regret it as soon as he did.

  “And I swear it’s in the shape of the Eiffel tower. I mean, how does that even work? Which part of it do you put in?”

  Delevan and Ani looked at each other. Delevan leaned toward his dad’s mate. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Oh, I’m not about to tell you. If you want to know, ask him.”

  “I’m afraid to.”

  Ani laughed. “And you should be.”

  Nysys was still talking, unaware—or more probably, uncaring—of Ani and Delevan’s conversation. Blair was silently washing the pot Delevan had used for the sauce, and he looked lost in his thoughts. Delevan decided to give him a while to get used to it. It wasn’t like they could talk about anything in front of Nysys anyway, not if they wanted to keep it private and didn’t want advice on it.

  “I don’t know, I think I like the golden one better,” Nysys said. “But the pink would go well with my hair.”

  Delevan bundled up the last of the dirty napkins and took the leap. “What are you talking about?”

  Nysys furrowed his brow. “Still about the dildos. Why? Did you miss something?”

  Delevan opened his mouth. He closed it again, unsure of what he could say. “Dildos? I’m pretty sure you were talking about the Eiffel tower.”

  Nysys brought the last plate to Ani, who took it from him. “Well, yeah. That was kind of the point. What color do you think I should get it?”

  “Wait. How can dildos and the Eiffel tower go together?” And did Delevan really want to know that?

  Nysys rolled his eyes. “You weren’t listening to me.”

  “Err, maybe I had other stuff on my mind.”

  Both he and Nysys looked at Blair, who was still scrubbing the pot, like he’d been for the past ten minutes.

  “Do you think he’ll eventually dig a hole in it?” Nysys asked. “Maybe we should take the poor pot away from him.”

  “Nah, let him scrub,” Ani intervened. “We can get the pot when we’re done putting everything away and you’ve explained about the dildos and the Eiffel tower.”

  Nysys’ eyes sparkled. “Oh, you’ll want to hear this.” He frowned. “Again. Well, obviously no one was listening to me. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut and my secrets secret.”

  Delevan snorted. “As if you’re able to do that.”

  “I am!” Nysys pressed his lips together and Delevan started counting in his mind. He’d gotten to ten when Nysys abruptly exhaled. “Yeah, okay, maybe I’m not. So? Morin doesn’t seem to mind my mouth.” He winked, and Delevan decided he wasn’t going to ask. He already had too many unwanted images of Nysys in his mind as it was.

  “Anyway, I was talking about this Eiffel tower dildo I found on a website.”

  “Eiffel tower dildo?” How could something like that even exist?

  “It’s French.”

  “The dildo or the Eiffel tower?”

  “Both.”

  “I... why would you want an Eiffel tower shaped dildo?”

  Nysys shrugged. “Why not?”

  “I changed my mind. I don’t want to know.” Delevan started to leave, but Nysys grabbed his arm to stop him.

  “No, no, you asked. This is, like, the first real conversation we’ve had in weeks.”

  “And it’s about Eiffel tower shaped dildos. How is this my life?”

  “Could be worse. We could be talking about politics.” Nysys shuddered. “At least Eiffel tower shaped dildos are made to brighten your life. So, which color should I get? Pink or golden?”

  “Why does it even matter? You’re not going to see it, not when you use it. And why am I talking about sex with you? The only person I want to talk about sex with less than you is my father.”

  “Maybe I could leave it on the dresser. It’s pretty. It’d be a nice decoration, and that way it’d be handy when I want to use it.”

  “Remind me not to ever visit your house.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” Nysys said, thumbing his phone screen. He screeched, and Delevan almost dropped the glass he was handing to Ani.

  “What?” he asked, looking back at Nysys. “Did something happen?”

  “Yes! They have other colors!”

  “Other... what the fuck, man? I thought something bad happened!”

  Nysys waved Delevan’s words away. “Look!” he said, thrusting his phone under Delevan’s nose. “I went to another website and they have all sorts of colors. How am I supposed to choose?”

  Delevan really didn’t want to look, but he figured Nysys would insist until he did, so he took the offered phone. He’d hoped Nysys had been joking, because who could even think about creating an Eiffel tower dildo, but he hadn’t been. His phone’s screen was filled with small colored Eiffel towers. Black, red, purple, even golden. There was even a picture of a waiter with a tray, glasses and a golden dildo on it.

  Delevan shook his head. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. Keep your taste in sex toys to yourself, please.”

  Nysys pouted. “You’re no fun.”

  Delevan looked at Ani for help, but Ani just beamed at him. “Come on, please?” he asked, but Ani shook his head.

  “I’m having too much fun listening to the two of you. Who knew Eiffel tower dildos could be fun?”

  Nysys’ eyes widened. “See? Ani understands me! Just for that, I’m buying you one!”

  He started typing on his phone and Ani’s eyes became scared. “Nysys, I don’t need one.”

  Nysys scoffed. “Who doesn’t? You’ll see, you’ll thank me when Dominic fucks you with the Eiffel tower. Or you could fuck him with it, whatever rocks your boat.”

  Delevan slapped his hands on his
ears. “I don’t want to hear about my father having sex. Ugh.”

  Nysys grinned devilishly. “Well, you know, you came from somewhere.”

  Delevan shook his head. He grabbed Blair’s arm, jerking him from whatever he was concentrating on. Blair dropped the pot in the sink, but the sponge he’d been using went flying and landed on the floor. Delevan gestured at it. “Ani, can you get that for me? I need to get out of here. Now.”

  Ani laughed. “Sure. Take Blair and go. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Blair looked utterly confused as Delevan dragged him out of the kitchen. “What happened? Is there something wrong?”

  “Yes, something very wrong. I don’t want to hear about my father and Eiffel tower shaped dildos.”

  That seemed to confuse Blair even more. “What? Dildos?”

  “Believe me, you don’t want to know. And you might want to stay away from Nysys.”

  “No, I have to bite him.”

  Delevan screeched to a halt. “You have to what?” Had the world gone crazy?

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Yeah, well, I want to know it.”

  “I think maybe we should talk about something else first.”

  Delevan sighed. “Yeah, of course. Sorry. Nysys tends to confuse people, and I’m not immune to him. At least Keenan wasn’t with us today.”

  “Where should we go?”

  “Do you have anything against going to my suite?”

  “Ah, no. Nope, nothing at all.”

  “Great. Let’s go.” Delevan had never released Blair’s arm, so he pulled on it and Blair came willingly. They walked up the stairs and took the hallway to Delevan’s room, but before they could get there, Blair asked, “So, about those Eifel tower dildos?”

  * * * *

  Blair didn’t really want to know about the dildos, because he didn’t think he could ever use one without laughing the entire time. He loved laughter and sex together, but it would be better to stop laughing at some point, and he didn’t think he’d be able to, not in the Eiffel tower dildos’ case. But Delevan looked adorably flustered, and Blair wanted to see more of that.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Aww, why not?”

  “Because we’re never, ever buying an Eiffel tower dildo.”

  “What about other dildos?”

  “I don’t have a problem with those, as long as they’re normally shaped. And by normally, I mean dick shaped.”

  “Good.”

  Delevan looked back at Blair, an amused glint in his eyes. “Have many of those?”

  Blair pressed his lips together. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “But that’s how it sounded.” Delevan stopped in front of a door and opened it. He stepped inside and Blair followed him, looking around.

  They were in a slightly messy living room. A huge TV took up most of the space on one of the walls, with a couch and armchairs clustered in front of it. The small coffee table was filled to the brim with joysticks, game boxes, opened cans of energy drinks and a full ashtray.

  Blair wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like cigarettes, and he hated the smell. He hadn’t noticed Delevan smoked when they’d kissed earlier, but it might have been because he’d still been shocked and enjoying the kiss too much to care.

  He wasn’t about to talk about that right now, though. Delevan closed the door and hurried to the table. He grabbed the ashtray and several cans, making a few fall on the floor, and Blair chuckled. “You can leave that stuff there. Well, except the ashtray. I’d be grateful if you took that one away.”

  Delevan nodded and walked through a door on the right side of the living room. Blair looked around the room, noticing more details this time. A blanket was bundled on the floor next to the couch, a sock poking from the bundle. The trash can under the coffee table was full, and Blair wasn’t surprised. The shelves around the TV were full of games and DVDs. There was a console on one of the shelves, not a hint of dust on it.

  There was another door on the left side of the room. It was closed, so Blair didn’t explore. He went toward the wall instead, and looked at the pictures hanging there. They had to be recent, because Delevan didn’t look any different from how he looked now, apart from his hair, which was longer now. Of course, it could be misguiding since he was a shifter, but Blair knew Dominic and Ani hadn’t been together for more than a few years as far as Blair knew, and Ani was in almost all the pictures.

  Delevan, Ani, and Dominic, sitting on the front steps of the mansion, laughing at the camera. Delevan cooking, a smear of red on his cheek, Dominic rubbing at it while Delevan tried to move away. Ani and Dominic, looking at each other as if they were alone. Delevan and a bunch of pride members, Nysys right in the middle, making faces at the camera.

  Blair’s favorite was the one of Delevan swimming, though. Not that he could easily recognize Delevan, since he was mostly under water, but it had to be him. Blair could see the passion in the picture, and he knew swimming was important to Delevan even without asking.

  There weren’t any pictures of Delevan’s childhood or of his mother, and Blair wondered why that was. He himself didn’t have the best relationship with his parents, but he knew they loved him. They didn’t understand him, but they loved him, and it was something he clung to.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” Delevan asked from behind Blair.

  Blair turned around and shook his head. “I’m fine. We just had lunch.”

  Delevan sat on the couch only to get up again, grab the blanket, and hurry through the door on the right. Blair peered through it and saw it was a bedroom, but Delevan came back out and closed it again. “Sit with me?” he asked, and Blair nodded.

  They sat, and Blair tapped his fingers on his thigh. He wasn’t sure what to say, even though he knew what they had to talk about. He cleared his throat, but before he could think of something to say, Delevan asked, “Are you really scared of my father?”

  Blair sighed. “A bit.”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “I don’t doubt that. I don’t know him well, but I work for the council, and he’s the one who created it.”

  “You don’t need to be afraid of him.”

  “It’s not that I’m afraid, more... intimidated, I guess. He’s my boss, and the shifter equivalent of the president. Anyone would be intimidated.”

  Delevan snorted. “The president. I’ll have to tell him you said that. He’ll find it hilarious.”

  Blair shrugged. “I’ve never really talked to him. He interviewed me when I applied to be an enforcer, and he talked to me when I got here, but that’s all.”

  “Yeah, well, you better get used to it. I see my dad and Ani almost every night, and you’ll come with me tonight.”

  “I will?”

  “At least tonight, yeah. Dad will want to talk to you.”

  “That doesn’t sound too good.”

  “He won’t do anything to you.”

  Blair didn’t doubt Dominic would do something to him if Blair ever hurt his son, and he couldn’t berate the man for that. It didn’t make it easier to look forward to meeting him as Delevan’s mate, though. “Does this mean you accept me as your mate?”

  Delevan cocked his head. “Did you have any doubts?”

  Blair shrugged. “I don’t know. We just met. I can’t know what you think of this, and my family has... precedents when it comes to unwanted mates.”

  “Oh?”

  “My sister’s mate didn’t want her when they met.” And he still didn’t. Luckily, Ava was a strong woman, and she’d shrugged it off, even though it couldn’t have been an easy thing to do.

  “Well, I do want you. I’ve...” When Delevan didn’t continue, Blair looked at him. Delevan was looking at his hands, playing with a ring he wore on his right hand.

  “You’ve what?”

  “I’ve wanted a mate ever since I found out about them,” Delevan answered without loo
king up.

  “You have?” That wasn’t surprising. Most shifters wanted to meet their mates. Some even actively looked for their other half, even though it could be very expensive.

  “Yeah. I didn’t know anything about shifters until a year ago, when I came here to find my dad. I’ve spent the past year watching, learning, and I’ve seen how mated couples work.” He finally looked up, and his eyes burned with something Blair didn’t know how to name. “I want that. I want someone who will love me for me and be faithful.”

  Something had clearly happened to Delevan. Blair didn’t know what, but he could promise one thing. “I’ll never cheat on you. I’m not a cheater.”

  “Good. And I guess the bond between us would stop you anyway.”

  Blair bristled. Delevan seemed to think he’d cheat if there wasn’t a bond between them, and he didn’t like it. “I wouldn’t cheat even if there was no bond. I’ve never cheated, and I never will. If it comes to the point where someone cheats, it’s obvious something isn’t working in the relationship, and the best thing to do is either to talk about it or to break up.”

  Delevan snorted. “We don’t all live in a perfect world like you seem to.”

  Blair leaned toward Delevan, his eyes narrowed. “I’ve been cheated on. I know how it feels, and I don’t want to do that to anyone. You don’t know me, so I can’t expect you to believe me just on my word, but you’ll find out I’m a man of my word soon enough.”

  Delevan took a few moments to look at Blair, then he nodded. “Fine. I know I’m not being fair, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

  Blair leaned back. “Jeez, you are too good to me.”

  Delevan grinned. “Someone has to be, because Dad certainly won’t be.”

  Blair blanched. “You said he wouldn’t hurt me.”

  Chapter Two