by Noah Harris
“I think he does it to torture us, you know that? I think he likes sending us to give Dean and Mikael the bad news that they’re once again needed for some life or death, world-saving crisis,” Dante griped.
“That or he just sends you because he knows it irritates Dean.”
Dante turned to him, frowning. “Why would it irritate him?”
“Because you have the most incredible and unfortunate timing known to any intelligent creature.”
Dante scowled at him, bending down, tools in hand. “That’s because the universe hates me.”
Apollo watched him work the lock. “Although you might not have such bad luck if you perhaps had the sense to knock. This is precisely why you always find them doing things you wish you wouldn’t have to see.”
“No, I see those things because they’re not actually a werewolf and a druid, but a pair of rabbits in disguise. It’s a good thing they can’t have kids, or Dean would have been knocked up ages ago,” Dante snorted.
“And just how do you know it wouldn’t be Mikael knocked up?” Apollo asked wryly.
“Because unfortunately, Dean is fucking loud,” Dante huffed.
Apollo chuckled, the sound low and throaty. “I don’t think either of us has any room to talk about being like rabbits. I do believe we’ve spent the last half of the summer inside more often than not.”
Dante smirked, clicking the lock open. “That’s not true. We went to the lake a lot.”
“And did the same thing.”
Dante opened the door, strolling forward as he glanced around. “Is that a complaint I’m hearing from you?”
He had only the movement of a shadow behind him as a warning before Apollo’s hands were on him. Dante spun around, caught up in Apollo’s arms and yanked close to him. A low noise escaped him as Apollo’s bulk wrapped around him, his lips pressing against his.
Forgetting what they were supposed to be doing, Dante clutched at Apollo’s shoulder, giving in to the intensity of the kiss. They might have had weeks to themselves, to get used to it, but Dante still felt his head go light and spin every time Apollo kissed him so soundly.
And Apollo always kissed him that soundly.
“No, no complaints,” Apollo said, voice rough.
Dante snorted, softly, pressing his forehead against Apollo’s with a smile. No matter how many times he felt his old fear, the old nagging doubt reared up in his mind, there was always Apollo. Just thinking of Apollo as his lover sent a thrill through him, the excitement and joy drowning out the yammering voice of doubt and terror. The fear was still there, but so long as he had Apollo, so long as he had The Grove, and his family, then maybe, just maybe, he really could get through to the other side in one piece.
“I love you,” Dante whispered.
Apollo closed his eyes with a smile, stroking Dante’s cheek. “And I you, always and forever.”
Dante let his eyes close as well, slowly remembering why they had come and stepping reluctantly out of Apollo’s hold. The moment was short-lived, just until his foot tangled around something hard and sent him stumbling backward. The coatrack he’d somehow missed seeing fell to the ground with a horribly loud clatter as it slammed first against the railing of the stairs, and then to the floor.
Dante winced as it shattered with enough noise to wake the dead. From above him, he heard a faint thump, and distant voices.
“Fuck.”
About the Author
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed For the Love of a Friend!
It was great being able to finally write Dante and Apollo’s story and I hope you enjoyed reading about them too. If you’d like to check out more of my books or read the rest of the Family Secrets series, click here you’ll be taken to my Amazon page where I have an entire catalog of books available in Digital, Print and Audio!
Also, allow me to say how incredible you are for supporting this small genre! Open-minded readers like you are special. You may be gay, bi, or straight, but you have good taste in books, and I love knowing you’re out there.
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