Macario's Salvation [Milson Valley 10] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Jo Penn

  “N-o…thank you.”

  “Let’s get you off the floor, brother.” Eber lifted Mac up.

  “I can carry him!” Fale exclaimed.

  The old mansion had been refurbished, rebuilt, and extended numerous times over the years and twice since the Aston’s purchased it twenty-two years ago, but to Mac, it still felt like it was made up of a labyrinth of halls and stairs. Finally, Eber laid Mac on his bed. He wasn’t expecting Fale to climb on next to him and adjust the pillows before crawling to Mac’s feet and tug at his shoes.

  “How do you feel?” Layke asked.

  “Tired.”

  “The tablet has helped?”

  “Hmm, feel kind of spacy.”

  “Yes, I was concerned that may be a side effect.”

  A light knock on the door had Mac sighing. He really did not want anyone else in his bedroom right now. He forgot about that a second later when skilled hands began massaging his feet.

  “Please don’t stop,” he begged.

  “I won’t. Promise.” Fale smiled softly at him. “There are pressure points in our bodies that can help elevate stress, discomfort, and even pain. This will help you feel better.”

  “You try the elixir, you see if work well with medication,” a heavily accented French voice murmured.

  Mac weakly opened his eyes and saw Prince mate Chane Taunton standing in his bedroom speaking to Layke. He closed his eyes. Mac guessed it had to come out at some stage that he had cancer, he’d just hoped it wouldn’t. At least the foot massage was taking his mind off the fact everyone would treat him differently now, they’d probably even be nice when he slammed them over their accounts and over spending in the Alliance.

  “Rest, brother, I’ll check on you in a few hours.” Vinn patted Mac’s shoulder. “Come on, Fale.”

  “No. I’m staying with my mate.”

  “My brother needs complete rest—” Layke snapped.

  “We do not interfere with mates, Layke. Leave Fale to take care of our brother,” Vicus said firmly.

  Finally, they all left, except Fale. The only problem was usually someone would help him out of his clothes and into sleep pants, but he was still dressed and really just wanting to sleep, which, if Fale kept massaging Mac’s feet, would happen very soon. He shifted uncomfortably and tugged his leg free of those very skilled, bliss providing hands.

  “What’s wrong? Did I get a pressure point that made you feel ill?” Fale hovered close.

  “No, you’re a great masseuse. I just…” He sighed and managed to sit up, though it left him short of breath and perspiring. “I’m just going to rest, Fale. Thanks for the massage, but I’m not up to talking tonight.”

  All he wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. Tomorrow he’d face the fact he was dying and had a mate.

  * * * *

  Fale wanted nothing more than to help his mate, but when he tried, Mac pulled away. It could be pride, but from what Fale was beginning to see, Mac wasn’t an alpha, dominating type. He was charming, considerate, and self-sufficient. If Fale had to classify regarding personality, he would place Mac in a beta position, but even that wasn’t completely right. River was more a beta personality. Macario was very much his own person, sure of himself, fine with exactly who he was and didn’t need to posture over his position. And right now, Mac was struggling to deal with the disease that was making him so ill and changing his life and also having a mate.

  Not wanting to push, especially when Mac was feeling sick and just so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open, Fale inched closer to his mate and lightly touched Mac’s arm.

  “I know you feel uncomfortable having me here and haven’t had any time to process that we’re mates, but I would really like to be close to you. And I would really like to be the one helping with whatever you need. We are mates, Mac, that’s what mates do for one another.”

  He waited, and waited some more, continuing to touch Mac’s arm and staying close.

  “I’m not up to talking about mating and sorting out the necessary schedules tonight, but if you want to hang around, perhaps you could help me get into my sleep pants?”

  Relief whooshed through Fale like a gust of wind blowing away miserable weather. He hurriedly, but as gently as he could, got off the bed and fetched the sleep pants from a shelf in the walk in wardrobe where Mac directed him. Returning to the bed, he helped take off the long sleeve dark green T-shirt, faded denim jeans, and underwear.

  He honestly did try not to stare at his mate’s naked body, really, Fale did, but he gave it up as a lost cause. Despite being ill and losing a bit of weight since Fale saw Mac at the spa, his mate had a freaking great body. Muscular without being beefy, solid, and his skin was pale and sensitive to the slightest touch.

  And holy magic was the mate’s package stare worthy! Mac wasn’t overly tall, just topping six foot, and he was a significant size in the groin department, even when not erect. He had a damn fine ass, too. Fale helped Mac lie down and get comfortable, then hurried into the spare bedroom of Mac’s suite where his own bags were. Eber insisted that Fale should be in Mac’s suite and if his brother disagreed, he could talk to Eber about it. Fale had just been happy to be let anywhere near his mate so wasn’t going to complain over sleeping right in the next room!

  Now he collected massage oils, a few candles, and towels, then headed straight back to Mac’s room. His mate hadn’t moved, and for a moment Fale thought Mac was asleep.

  “Massage?”

  “Yep. I’m going to light a candle, it will clear your airways and get rid of any lingering scent of illness.”

  Mac didn’t protest, so Fale got to work lighting a few candles and setting up the towels beneath his mate’s legs. Tomorrow he would do a full massage to help with the pressure points, but tonight he’d concentrate on hands, arms, feet, and legs for now.

  Fale worked for forty minutes, Mac falling asleep seven minutes into the massage. When Mac woke in the morning the massage would have loosened his tight muscles and hopefully reduced any lingering discomfort. Finishing, he tucked Mac in and blew out the candles.

  Climbing off the bed, Fale made an impromptu bed for himself on the floor from sofa cushions, a sheet doubled over and tied at the end to keep it all together. He dragged bed covers from the spare bedroom and turned off all the lights except a lamp in a far corner of the room which he turned down on the lowest dim setting.

  “Mac seems to be resting well.” Lacy came in and placed a mug on the bedside table. “Usually, unless Layke sedates him, he’s up for hours, tossing and turning and only manages a little sleep.”

  “Massaging helps. If he wakes, I’ll use the relaxing oils.”

  Lacy crouched on the bed and hugged Fale. “Thank you. If you need anything just press the black button on the bedside table. And get some rest.”

  After Lacy left the rest of the Aston’s all checked on their brother. Coming from a large family himself, Fale liked the closeness the siblings had. He was a little freaked by being in the presence of the most powerful creature in existence, Avenger Vicus, and all the alphas in Mac’s family, but at the same time, it was also pretty cool!

  After being apart from his mate so long, the emotional rollercoaster and now lying beside Mac, albeit on the floor and not exactly beside, tiredness hit Fale. He fell asleep with Mac’s T-shirt in his arms.

  Fale woke to the sound of someone being physically ill. His head felt fuzzy, and for a moment he had no idea where he was, then everything came back in a rush of memories and Fale was up and moving quickly to the bathroom, stumbling a little in his haste.

  His mate was weakly propped up beside the toilet, and the smell of vomit was strong. Fale grimaced a bit, fae—like most supernatural creatures—had an extra sensitive sense of smell, but he pushed it aside and got a washcloth and wet it. Poor Mac looked exhausted. He didn’t even protest when Fale wiped his face clean, helped him rinse out his mouth, then stand.

  Glad his mate didn’t push him away out of pride o
r machoism, Fale wrapped an arm around Mac’s waist and encouraged the man to place an arm over his shoulders. On the way out of the bathroom, Fale flushed the toilet.

  Vinn was in the bedroom and easily helped Fale return Macario to the bed, staying a few moments, possibly to reassure himself Fale could take care of his brother. Right now, Fale wasn’t upset or bothered by that, his only concern Mac. He quickly got out his oils, turned the bedside lamp down to dim and began massaging Macario’s hands, arms, feet, and calves. He didn’t want to disturb Mac by trying to take off his sleep pants and top.

  “Thank you,” Mac murmured.

  “I like Milson Valley and the city. I’ve only explored a sixth of it, I think. I want to see the aquatic center, go roller skating, and eat tofu dogs.”

  Mac chuckled. “Tofu dogs? I don’t even know where to get those. Ask Deakin, he’ll know.”

  “Deakin’s your brother Vicus’ mate, right?”

  “Yep. He makes Vicus happy. Him and Ran.”

  “Ran’s the strawberry blond? Wolf shifter? Who is he mated to?”

  “Vicus and Deakin.”

  “Oh, right. I did see Deakin kissing the heck out of him.” Yeah, he was sure he’d see steam coming from the pair.

  They talked about Macario’s family, who was who, what they did and a little about massages. It was quiet and easy but at the same time so hard for Fale not to cover Mac in kisses and promise to give the man everything.

  “You have the most amazing hands.” Mac was three-quarters asleep, his voice husky and barely able to be heard.

  Fale’s dick, already hard and standing up, aching to be touched, throbbed and a little pre-cum leaked. He tried to ignore his body’s urgent needs and focus just on his mate, how ill Mac truly was, how vibrant even in illness the human managed to be.

  “Thank you. I can, umm, relax you in another way,” he offered, so hoping his mate would agree because Fale wanted to get his hands all over Macario desperately.

  Mac opened one eye a little and fixed on Fale. “I’m really not up for that right now, but thanks. So, is that an option I haven’t been offered at the City Day Spa?”

  “What?!” Fale squealed, shocked and now horribly embarrassed his mate might think Fale was giving BJs as an extra when massaging clients. “No! I swear I have never done that at the spa! You don’t really—oh, you’re teasing me.”

  “Yeah, sorry—” Mac started coughing.

  Fale lost his humor and erection, focusing completely on his mate. He gently eased Mac’s sleep shirt off and, using the oils, put his massaging skills into action relaxing his mate’s tense, sore muscles.

  “Please let me claim you and bond, Macario.” Fale was practically begging. It hurt so much to see his mate in pain and ill. He pressed his palm to Mac’s cheek, hovering close. “Please. I can save you.”

  But Mac just shook his head and finally stopped coughing. He fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, Fale massaging for another half an hour and tracing the tattoos that covered his mate’s pale skin from collarbone to below the sleep pants. Fale felt magic beneath his hands, just as he had the first day they met. Now he was able to pinpoint which tattoo the magic came from, but what it was exactly, he wasn’t sure.

  Finally tired himself, he laid down beside his mate. Fale wasn’t satisfied he’d gotten any closer to knowing Mac in a real sense, but he’d begun to see bits of what made the man. Mac kept a cool, charming barrier between himself and others outside his family. It wasn’t a reaction or a defense mechanism—Fale had once taken a subject in psychology and found it wasn’t for him—just his mate’s way of differentiating between friend, foe, acquaintance, staff, and probably work colleagues. Thankfully, Macario wasn’t treating Fale like he was part of the staff, though he hadn’t progressed passed acquaintance stage as of yet.

  Three hours later, Fale was awake and repeating the process from earlier. This happened one more time after the second, though without Mac puking his guts up, thankfully. He had been having difficulty breathing though, and in a panic, Fale hit the emergency button and had the entire Aston house up and running to help.

  But each time he woke, Fale learned a little more about his mate and the barrier between them dropped. Fale went from acquaintance Mac probably felt he had to put up with, to somewhere between friend and possibly more if he weren’t so ill. Being in the friend category with his mate wasn’t exactly what Fale hoped for, but he’d take what he could get and hope for more really, really soon.

  They talked a little, Mac explaining about his job, what he liked and didn’t like, some places to visit in Milson City, and he even promised to take Fale to the Armstrong witch and wizard coven. Fale had been extremely excited to visit the coven but hadn’t felt he should just rock up without an invitation.

  The makeshift bed on the floor was long forgotten, and Mac didn’t protest whenever Fale laid down beside him while they were talking, so Fale happily stayed close.

  What Fale learned was, Mac didn’t share well. He hogged the bed covers, he stole the pillows and moved around so much Fale ended up right on the edge of the king size mattress. And he snored. Not a deep, loud noise that would keep everyone up, more a soft little sound every now and then that Fale found adorable.

  He also made a very lion like sound, sort of a quiet snuffling, and he sniffed at Fale a few times, even purring once. Fale just melted over that.

  After the third time, feeling like he knew his mate much more and begging Mac to let Fale claim him and being refused again, he felt so lost and sad, scared that he’d lose Mac before he could join them and make the man better. Just before Mac drifted off to sleep, he quietly said he wanted to get to know Fale before bonding.

  Mac kept surprising Fale. On the surface the man had it all worked out. He was charming and smooth, smart, driven, and seemed like he could do pretty much anything and didn’t need anyone, then Macario showed he had this whole other side that was unexpected. A deep thinking side that pulled Fale in and had him aching for more.

  Macario wanted to get to know him. That filled Fale with happiness. Then, of course, the happiness plummeted with the thought Macario was only going to bond with him because they were mates. Fale then mentally smacked himself for acting like an idiot! They were mates. It was the perfect reason to be together! The Fates made Mac and Fale for each other, they were meant to be together, and hells, Fale would definitely accept Mac bonding with him just because they were mates. It wouldn’t be long anyway before they were madly in love and never wanting to be apart. No one could resist the mating pull.

  Fale, the eternal optimist, believed that he and Mac would fall in love and be happy. He wasn’t stupid or caught up in fairy tales, Fale knew there would be hiccups, bumps, and explosions that rocked them. But he had the mate connection on his side and while he may not be able to seduce Macario, Fale had absolutely no seductive moves, he would be here for Mac and like Prince Luka said, he wanted Mac, so he’d go for it.

  He held onto Mac’s whispered words, falling into a deep sleep and dreaming of lions and magical tattoos, and being claimed by his mate.

  Chapter Six

  “Morning!”

  “Holy fucking shit!”

  Fale squealed as his mate suddenly reared up and scrambled back, nearly climbing the headboard. At the same Mac threw a punch that would have nailed Fale right in the nose if he hadn’t toppled backward off the bed in fright the moment his mate sat up swearing.

  “Okay, okay, my fault.” Fale sat up, rubbing his tailbone. “I thought you were awake but resting your eyes for a moment. Obviously, you were still asleep.”

  “Fale? What were you doing? Watching me while I slept?”

  Well duh, of course he was! Not that Fale was going to say that and look even more like a stalker.

  “I was checking on you.” Fale stood and smoothed the bed covers.

  He hated to see his mate so sick and wanted nothing more than to claim and bond to make the cancer go away, but even though he’d begged the
second and third time Mac woke up and was ill, Mac refused. Fale wondered what he’d have to do to convince his mate.

  Mac yawned and fumbled for his phone on the bedside table. “It’s past one in the afternoon.”

  “You needed to sleep. But since you’re awake now, and if you feel up to it, I’ll get you something to eat.”

  “Oh, sure…right. I’m just going to shower.”

  “Okay. I’ll go to the kitchen. Anything you feel like?”

  “Something simple—hang on.” Mac slid off the bed and stood. He looked much better than he had last night. “You don’t have to wait on me, Fale. Look, I’ll have a shower, and then, if you don’t have anything planned, I could take you to lunch.”

  “Y-you want to take me to lunch?” His face probably lit up like a little kids, but Fale didn’t care. He wanted Mac to know how excited he was to go on a date with him. Fale wanted Mac to know exactly how much he wanted to be mated to him.

  Mac smiled and ruffled his red-orange hair. “Sure, we’re mates, and we could both eat.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Fale deflated.

  “That sounded wrong.” Mac shrugged and gave a chagrined, adorable smile. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Fale wasn’t sure how to take what Mac said, but he wasn’t one to snap without having a good reason and understanding of the issue. He was sensitive, that was a trait of younger fae, so he internalized a lot. Now he nodded, nibbling his bottom lip, not really sure he agreed with his mate. Oh, Mac probably hadn’t meant what he said to sound so casual and even a duty, but he had said it so was thinking that way. Fale would stand up for himself and what he believed to be right though, just in his way, which was sometimes quietly, and sometimes with attitude.

  “Actually, no,” Fale whispered. “It’s okay, Mac, I get it. I’m not your type.” Fale gave a whisper of a humorless laugh. “I should know, I’ve been watching you for over a week and seen the people and creatures you date, and I really don’t compare, so.” He drew in deeply. “You’re human, well, mostly, so if I claim you and we bond, you’ll be healthy and immortal, but you won’t suffer the separation like a paranormal would after I go—”