by Joyee Flynn
“This isn’t you talking then, it’s them,” I said firmly as I grabbed his arm, keeping him from leaving. “I knew living with them was a mistake.”
“They’re the only thing keeping me sane.” He chuckled sadly, shaking his head as he snatched his wrist back. “They haven’t said anything I haven’t thought. Hell, if they knew even half of what I feel or think, they’d kick your ass. But this isn’t about them. It’s about us. And you’ve made it clear that you don’t care for me besides shoving your cock in my ass and talking dirty to me. So forgive me for thinking that’s not my dream mating.”
He walked out into the hallway, and for a shocked second I couldn’t move. No, I wouldn’t let the conversation end this way. Damian couldn’t leave thinking that was how I viewed him or felt about him. He’d leave me.
“Damian, wait,” I called after him, racing in the direction he went. I came up short when I saw he was having words with his brothers in the lobby of the clinic.
“I’m an adult, Victor. Stay out of it or I’ll kick your ass,” he shouted before shoving his eldest brother hard and storming off. This wasn’t good. As if of one mind, I had six sets of eyes turn toward me with such a look of hate that it almost made me shiver.
“Not in the clinic,” Riley said quickly and quietly as he walked toward me. “Let’s go out back and handle this away from other prying eyes.”
“There’s nothing to handle,” I growled as I headed toward my office. “This is none of their concern.”
“Well, I’ve got a few things to say as well, Cyrus. They’re not the only ones pissed off, so you won’t listen to your brothers-in-law? Fine. I’m pulling rank and you will listen to me because I’m your boss.” He was staring daggers at me, arms crossed over his chest as he blocked the door to my office.
“This isn’t work related,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at him. I was going to push past him when suddenly his mate had me in a headlock. I tried to struggle free, but his hold was tight.
“I’d advise against touching my mate in anger, buddy,” Micah growled in my ear as he dragged me, with the help of Victor and one of the other brothers that I had yet to meet, toward the back door. “You’re in enough trouble already.”
“I would never hurt Riley,” I said, the fight leaving me as I went with them willingly. Just what kind of monster did they think me? Were they hearing all this from Damian?
“Right, but you’d hurt our baby brother,” Victor growled as he shoved me roughly through the door Stefan was holding open. “Who just happens to be your mate as well.”
“Vete a la chingada!” I snarled and shoved him. Go fuck yourself seemed really appropriate right now. “You can accuse me of a lot of things, but I would never, never hurt Damian.”
“Really? Then why the fuck did we just witness him rushing away from you with tears in his eyes?” Remus yelled as he got in my face. “They sure as hell didn’t look like happy tears.”
“We had a misunderstanding,” I mumbled, still not sure what had happened either. “I was rushing after him to fix it. Something’s going on with him. He’s not himself.”
“Oh, that’s for sure.” Gabriel snickered, his eyes blazing with rage. “We were already coming to discuss that with you. We know what the problem is.”
“What?” I asked, glad for any insight no matter how annoyed I was that they were getting involved.
“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me!” he exclaimed, his eyes wide. “You! You are the problem. You’re crushing our baby brother.”
“Did Damian tell you that?” I asked, wanting to know what my mate had been blabbing about to his brothers.
“No, he won’t tell us anything,” Victor growled. “No matter what’s going on, he’s loyal and won’t bad-mouth you to his family. He cares, whether you don’t or not. But whatever you’re doing is killing him inside.”
“Wait, he might not get that,” Remus said as he pulled Gabriel and Victor back and eyed me over. “Does Damian ever joke around with you? Pull pranks or tease you?”
“No, why would he?” This conversation was getting weirder and weirder.
“Because that’s who he is, Cyrus.” Remus’s expression went from one of anger to pity.
“Did you even get to know him before you stuck your cock in his ass?” Victor sneered angrily. A few wide-eyed expressions from some of the brothers showed me that he’d just let the cat out of the bag on Damian’s preference to bottom. Idiot. “Damian’s a goofball. He’s open and loving and like being around living sunshine. Do you know anything about him outside of how he likes to be fucked?”
“Do not speak about your brother like that to me,” I growled. I didn’t care how upset they were. Damian wouldn’t be talked about like that in my presence. “He is my mate.”
“Then act like it!” Victor shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “Damian is nothing like himself since he met you. He’s become quiet, withdrawn, and obviously not happy. Sure, he seems sexually sated for once, but there’s more to being a good mate than fucking him stupid. You’ve broken his spirit.”
“Just because I don’t share my affection with him around his family like you guys do, does not mean I don’t love my mate!” I roared, tired of the accusations flying around. “He’s my entire world, and I love him more than I have ever loved anything!”
“Have you told Damian that?” Riley said gently, moving closer to me.
“He knows it,” I defended, suddenly not sure that my mate did after the way he acted in the supply closet.
“No, no he doesn’t, Cyrus,” Riley said sadly, shaking his head. “The man I’ve known for almost two years now is not the man Damian’s been. That man is barely holding on to a thread, and if something doesn’t change soon, you are going to lose him. And you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”
“How can you say you love him?” Micah asked, shaking his head. “You don’t show it. I can’t be around Riley and not touch him. It doesn’t have to be sexual or inappropriate when we’re around other people, just something that makes me feel as close to my mate as possible.”
“That’s not who I am,” I answered, my anger deflated and replaced with worry. Would Damian really leave me? “You know nothing about me.”
“That’s our point,” the man I didn’t know, Virgil, I was guessing, said. “You don’t know who Damian is and he seems to know just as little about you. You guys are like strangers from what I hear, and when I’ve talked to him on the phone, I can tell he’s not happy. So pull your head out of your ass, get over whatever issues you clearly have, and be a real mate to our brother. Or our next talk won’t be so friendly.”
“We will take him away from you and find someone who will love him the way he deserves, Cyrus,” Victor said coldly. “Make no mistake about that.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” I growled, my fangs and claws coming out at the threat. They, in turn, did the same. “I don’t care if I have to take all of you on, but you are not taking my mate from me!”
“No, you’re doing that all on your own,” Riley said miserably. “Damian was crushed when he ran out of here. I don’t know what you did or what’s going on, but that is not a man who wants to stay in the relationship he’s in, Cyrus. He’s miserable and you’ve only been together less than three weeks. This should be the easy, honeymooning part of mating. Instead he looks ready to run for the hills.”
Riley’s words sank in like a punch to the stomach. Suddenly I felt sick. “I’ve been loving him the only way I know how.”
“Then figure out another way because it’s not working,” Micah said firmly, wrapping an arm around Riley’s shoulders and turning to leave. One by one they gave me a last disgusted look and left.
And I finally saw their intervention as what it was… A last ditch effort to help me. Were things so bad that I needed all six brothers and my boss threatening to kick my ass for me to see what was going on? Hell, I still didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. I just knew that
all of them couldn’t have agreed that Damian wasn’t happy if it wasn’t true.
Just then, my phone beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket, hopeful that things could get better when I saw it was a text from my mate… Until I read it.
Going out dancing tonight since you won’t be seen in public with me and I’m tired of sitting at home doing nothing more than fucking. I’ll see you when I get home, tomorrow maybe.
My mate thought I’d let him be away from me overnight? Oh hell no. I growled and texted him back, my fingers flying across the touch screen.
Wait for me to come home from work. We obviously need to discuss what happened today. Do not stay out all night, Damian.
I shook my head, pissed off, mostly at myself, that the situation I didn’t even know was going on had spiraled so far out of control. I headed back to my office, unsure of what I would say to him when I did get home. I didn’t know how to talk about my feelings. What was I going to do? My phone beeped again, and I glanced down at it.
We’re not in the bedroom. You’re not the boss of me, nor my parent. My ass will be available for your morning fucking. That’s all you care about anyways.
Fuck! It beeped again.
And I tried talking to you, but you didn’t care about that. I’m going where people might actually want to talk to me. I can’t talk to my family about this, and I need simple human interaction. I’ll see you later tonight or tomorrow.
This was sooo not good. Was he going to a club to pick up another man? Would he really do that to me? Had our mating been that bad? I was confused, hurt, pissed, and several other emotions I wasn’t used to feeling. Crushed was a good way to state the main thing I was feeling.
Please don’t do this, Damian. I’m leaving work now and we can just talk, okay? If you want to dance, I’ll go with you.
I raced to my office and grabbed my things. Luckily everything was already packed in my briefcase, so all I had to grab was that and my jacket, which only took a few seconds. I shouted to Riley that I had to leave on my way out. By the time I got to my car, I still didn’t have a response from Damian.
Amante, don’t leave me, I thought as I started the car and threw it into gear. I peeled out of the parking lot, breaking every speed limit to get home. I had to catch him before he left or I didn’t know what he’d do or if our mating would survive it. And Riley was right. I had no one to blame but myself.
Fuck.
Chapter 5
Cyrus
Luck hadn’t been on my side. It seemed Damian had already been home and left again by the time he’d texted me. According to his very pissed-off madre, he’d packed a bag and wouldn’t tell her where he was going.
Fuck!
His brothers and Riley were completely unhelpful, stating I’d dug my own bed and now it was time to lie in it. I sucked it up and went to the one brother I least wanted to ask for help but who I knew would have the answers.
“Where would he go if he wanted to dance and have fun talking to people?” I asked Victor as I found him in the garage, tinkering with his car. He was underneath it when I came out. He must have heard my footsteps because he rolled out and sat up. I noticed he had a bit of grease smudged on his forehead.
“Why should I tell you?” he shot back, not even looking up at me, instead rolling the tool in his hand between his fingers. “It’s your fault this is happening.”
“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. “Yes, it’s all my fault. But I had no clue about any of this until he blew up at me today and then ran away. He’s not handling this any better either. It’s been not even three weeks. Nothing is perfect in that time. But if he goes and is with another man tonight, then he will never forgive himself and our mating will be destroyed.”
“Maybe that’s for the best then,” Victor said evenly as he turned to face me. “I’m surprised you care. Would you really go chase him down?”
“I’m here asking for your help when I know you want nothing more than to pound my face in, and I don’t like you any more than that either.” I took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. “Help me find him so I can fix this before he makes a mistake he would regret, whether I deserve it or not.”
“He’s starting to grow on me,” Victor’s mate, Malachi, said from inside the car. I hadn’t even seen him there. “But if Victor tells you, then Patrick, Riley, Noah, and I are going to make you go through how to be a loving mate training. Deal?”
“Sí, fine, yes, I obviously need it,” I agreed immediately, desperate to find my mate before I lost him for good. I put the desperation I was feeling into my expression as I turned to Victor. “Please? I love him. Please help me find him before it’s too late.”
“Richmond,” Victor said with a sigh after eyeing me over for a moment. “There’s a club in Richmond I know he likes to go dancing at when he needs to blow off steam.”
“Thank you,” I replied with a grateful nod before taking off. He’d given me the name of the club and directions before I left. I hopped back in my car and raced after my mate. I had no clue what I was going to do when I found him, but I just knew I had to find him. My insides twisted uncomfortably.
Paddling his ass for the rest of the night for running from me and scaring me was a distinct possibility. But I wasn’t sure he’d even let me get close enough to him to do that. It was already well after dinnertime before I got on the road, cursing that Damian had such a head start on me. For all I knew, he could already be in the arms of another man and it was still a few hours’ drive to Richmond.
The entire time I fought with my own mind, desperately trying to keep any images out of my head that involved my mate with someone else. By the time I got to Richmond and found the club, I was ready to pull out my hair in desperation. I quickly parked and changed out of my scrubs and into the clothes I had grabbed before speaking with Victor.
I was lucky anything even matched. I glanced down at my body quickly, taking in my sleek, black leather pants and red leather tank. Both fit like a second skin, but were surprisingly easy to move around in, and left virtually nothing to the imagination.
After I was ready, I got out of the car, locked it with the fob, and took a few deep, calming breaths. I couldn’t just go running in there like a madman or I’d push Damian even further away.
I walked right past the line and by the bouncer, using my gift of being able to hide myself from people’s minds. Normally I didn’t use it so blatantly, but desperate times and all that. When I got inside, I headed to the bar, scanning the people there. Nothing. Leaning up against the edge of it, I ordered a beer and checked out the crowd, trying not to jump out of my skin and race around shouting my mate’s name.
There. In the middle of the dance floor was Damian. My jaw dropped open in shock. Holy shit, could my mate dance. He was bobbing and moving to the music, sweat glistening on the skin of his arms and the slice of his chest made visible by his V-neck, tight T-shirt. It was also in his hair, making his curls slightly damp, and I longed to run my fingers through it.
I turned for a moment to accept my drink and pay the bartender before focusing back on my mate. For someone so tall, my mate moved with exceptional fluidity. I caught the song playing and rolled my eyes that it was the perfect one-night-stand, hookup song on top of everything else.
Granted, I liked Pitbull and Ne-Yo’s “Give Me Everything,” but I didn’t need the song playing to give the men around my mate any more ideas. Granted, it wasn’t strictly a gay club, so not everyone would be trying to jump him, but it was mostly gays there so at least half. And the way some of the women were eyeing up my mate, I knew they’d be all over him as well if given half the chance.
Just then, the man dancing closest to Damian leaned over and said something. My mate threw back his head and laughed, smiling widely, eyes shining. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d never seen him do that before. Victor was right. He was like being around living sunshine. It was amazing and painful to watch all at the same time. Had I really
squashed that?
No more. I would give him whatever he needed, no matter if I didn’t understand it, it made me uncomfortable, or it wasn’t what I was used to. I loved Damian. I would be whomever and whatever he needed to keep him in my life.
I pounded the rest of the beer down and made my way through the crowd, dodging the flailing limbs of people dancing around me. When I was almost to him, I saw him glance at me and felt something like a sharp knife slice through me as the jubilant look on his face fell to a look of despair. It almost had me turning and running for the door, dying inside that I was too late. No, I couldn’t give up. He was mine.
Now I simply had to show him that I was worthy of him. Fuck if I knew how.
* * * *
Damian
I swore I had seen Cyrus. I looked across the dance floor and there he had been. My face fell because I knew my fun was over, but when I glanced back up after cursing and staring down at my shoes, he was gone. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me? I did feel guilty for running off after what happened, but I just needed some air, some space, and to blow off some steam before I exploded.
Shrugging my shoulders when I couldn’t find him again, thinking I’d just imagined it, I went back to dancing with my new friend Emmett. We were a lot alike even if he was human and the cutest little twink in the world. Granted, I didn’t want him for more than a friend and a dance partner, but I could appreciate how gorgeous he was with his longish blond locks, enchanting olive-green eyes, and slender, lithe body.
We’d got to talking at the bar before the club picked up, both seeming intent on getting piss drunk and letting our worries go for one night. The more he talked, the more I saw myself in him, the me I was before I met Cyrus and he showed me what I wanted in bed wasn’t wrong. It made me think this little human might be mated to a vampire because according to him, biting was his thing. But as it happened with me, people hadn’t understood him and called him sick.
