by Zoe Perdita
Thank the moon it had a twist top. It slipped over his fingers and palm, heavy and thick. Quinn slid his hand over Tyler’s shaft, the sudden surge of pleasure unbearable.
Tyler groaned and kissed him again, hips pumping into that delicious grip.
“My ass is even better,” Quinn purred and rolled back, lifting his slender hips.
The muscles in his thighs and ass bunched with the movement, and the invitation was completely irresistible.
Tyler’s fingers were remarkably steady as he poured the oil over them and moved to Quinn’s sinfully pink entrance.
While the alpha howled at him to move, he wasn’t about to hurt Quinn. Slowly, he nudged the finger inside. The band of muscles squeezed, and Quinn took a sharp breath, but he smiled.
Tyler moved it gently, in and out.
“You’ll have to do more than that,” Quinn said, voice thick with lust.
It seemed to pour over Tyler’s flesh like honey. He tried a second finger, then a third, each with more slick oil, until Quinn’s ass gleamed with it and his chest heaved erratically.
“Now,” he groaned, and the only answer Tyler could give was to move forward.
Position his hips.
Press inside.
The blur of pleasure and heat surrounded him. Tight and slick and absolutely perfect. He gripped Quinn’s thighs, but the flesh slipped out from under him. He grabbed the man’s hips instead, pressed himself to the hilt and took great gasping breaths until he trusted himself to move.
“Fuck me,” Quinn moaned as he fisted the quilt, thighs spread and cock twitching.
Tyler leaned forward, pressed his mouth to Quinn’s and kissed, long and hard. Hands moved over his arms to his shoulders, leaving streaks of oil on his tattoos, and Tyler’s cock throbbed to move.
“No. I’m not fucking you. I’m claiming you, Quinn. You’re my mate,” he growled.
Quinn’s glass green eyes widened, and the gold flecks danced in the center.
Then Tyler thrust, and anything the unicorn wanted to say got lost in the passion engulfing them.
His hands grasped at Tyler’s shoulders and his hips rolled in time with every thrust. The sounds he made should’ve been illegal. The sensation of his body opening up to Tyler should’ve too—like they had no secrets.
No lies.
There was nothing but this moment—the friction between them.
Every second dragged into a blissful eternity, and the sharp stabs of pleasure crawled up his thighs and settled in his balls.
“I love you. I love you. Harder,” Quinn groaned and buried his face in Tyler’s neck. His legs wrapped around Tyler’s back at what seemed like an impossible angle.
Then Quinn stiffened, and Tyler growled—the height of the pleasure drowning them both. It felt like moving through honey, thick and sticky, and he collapsed on Quinn’s sweat slick chest and sucked in each musky, mint-scented breath like it’d be his last.
If it were, Tyler couldn’t bring himself to care.
With his body recovering, it took his brain a moment to make sense of those words. He took a deep breath. His chest felt close to bursting. Quinn loved him. That made what he needed to say even worse.
But he couldn’t keep it hidden any longer. It was Quinn’s life, and he had a right to know.
“I found out how to break the spell, but you’re not going to like it.”
11
Those words drenched Quinn in dread. He stared at Tyler, whose chin pressed into Quinn’s chest. The alpha tongued the lip ring absently.
“What won’t I like about it?”
Tyler let out an exasperated sigh. That meant he didn’t know how to explain something. His fingers twitched at Quinn’s sides. “It’s best if you read it yourself.”
Here he thought the only thing he’d have to deal with after this was Tyler claiming him as a mate, and Quinn’s own admission of love.
Both could be blamed on the passion of the moment.
But a mate was a mate. Quinn felt the power of that bond wrap around his heart and the truth of the words sink into his soul. He couldn’t deny either. But if Tyler knew the real truth, he might.
“Okay,” Quinn said softly.
They dressed, after wiping their messes on the ugly floral quilt (which Quinn would’ve done with more relish if his gut wasn’t twisted into a pretzel), and went downstairs.
Quinn took another sip of wine to prepare himself.
Tyler fingered through a red book and handed it to Quinn once he found the correct page. Then, Quinn read it twice—his heart threatening to stop at any moment.
It wasn’t like the conditions of the bargain weren’t bad enough; this was worse by a thousand times.
Because Quinn realized what he had to do. If they were mates, being selfish isn’t something he could hide behind anymore.
Not now.
And that was the worst truth of all—the most painful.
It cut a deep crack into Quinn’s heart, and he leaned into Tyler and breathed in his scent. If he did this, it may be the last time he got to smell him—touch him. But what would his freedom be worth if Tyler wasn’t around to share it with him?
“Hey. You okay?” Tyler asked and leaned back.
“Not at all,” Quinn said and frowned. “We can’t be mates, and I can’t hold you to the bargain we made. I’m releasing you from it.”
Inside, something cracked.
Broke.
His heart, he guessed. He was too numb to care.
“What?” Tyler said, squeezing his arms. “You can’t be serious.”
Quinn wished his bottom lip wouldn’t tremble, but it did. He took a deep breath to calm it. “I am. You know I can’t lie. I release you, and I never want to see you again. You found out what I am, so it shouldn’t be much of a shock. I’m designed to hurt people. It’s the only thing I know how to do.”
Tyler shook his head, and Quinn pulled out of his grasp. Feeling those hands made it so much worse. “I don’t believe that. I know it’s not true. You can’t lie. You said you wouldn’t hurt me. You said you loved me.”
“Well, you said we were mates, which is even stupider than love!” Quinn said and pinched his eyes closed.
The bargain still held.
Why wouldn’t he just let Quinn go!
He saw how futile this was. The only way to break the spell was for Quinn to go against who he was—that probably meant he had to fall in love with Bradley or something completely impossible. Not to mention, it would just end up with Tyler maimed or dead or actually insane, none of which Quinn could live with now.
Tyler didn’t relent. His fingers dug into Quinn’s arms, and a growl rumbled in his chest. “Why the fuck is it stupid? Are you too good to have a wolf as a mate?”
Quinn wasn’t too good for him, but in general, unicorns would think so. “Yes! That’s it. Being claimed by a wolf is—it’s unheard of. Especially someone like you.”
Tyler bared his fangs. “What the fuck does that mean?”
It sounded bad, so Quinn went with it. “You know! Your kind.”
Tyler released him and turned. His shoulders bunched with so much tension Quinn expected him to scream, and their hearts pounded like war drums, steady and uncomfortably loud.
Quinn stalked away as fast as he could.
Out of the house.
Out of that yard.
He heard the rustle of grass behind him, and the only thing he tasted in his mouth was wine and bile.
Merci leaned against the hood of the car and frowned at them. “Finally!”
“We’re going. Now, please,” Quinn said and swept into the car.
Merci stared at him. “What about the wolf?”
“Leave him,” Quinn said carefully. The words practically choked him, but what else could he do? How else could he protect Tyler from the mess he’d made? “He needs to stay away from me and let everything go! I don’t want to see him again. Ever!”
“I won’t,” Tyler growled, bu
t he made no move to follow.
Merci scowled at Quinn. “I’ll take you home, but I’m coming back for him. I don’t know what happened between you, but I’ll bet it’s your fault.”
She couldn’t have been more right.
Merci didn’t talk to him for the next two days. Quinn hoped she got over her annoyance eventually, otherwise he’d have no one to talk to. It’s not like he could properly apologize since he wasn’t the least bit sorry. And he couldn’t even give a fake apology since it was technically a lie.
Selfish. Brutal. Arrogant. That’s why your kind was hunted. For the good of the rest of us. Montgomery senior told Quinn that often enough when he was a boy. Even worse, when he asked the moon if that were true – if his own parents and siblings were dead because they did terrible things to humans and other shadow folk, she didn’t deny it.
All creatures have a purpose, even if it’s one you don’t like or can’t understand. That’s all she ever said, and it wasn’t comforting in the least.
Deep in his heart, Quinn knew it was true. He was all of those things. Look at what he did to the man he loved.
Quinn managed to avoid the meetings for the next week by pretending he was sick. Bradley didn’t bother calling a healer, but he did eye Quinn suspiciously.
That wasn’t good, and Quinn couldn’t bring himself to care.
The full moon was close now, much too close, and their bargain still stood. As long as Tyler stayed far away from him forever, they’d never have to complete it. At least, that’s what Quinn hoped.
At dinner that evening, Quinn picked at his salad.
“You’re quiet,” Bradley said and watched him across the table.
Quinn shrugged and leaned an elbow on the crisp linen cloth. He shoved a bit of lettuce around his plate. The moon was a sliver short of full tonight, and Quinn felt her cool light fall through the windows and the hum of her song on the breeze.
Bradley’s lips twisted. “Did something happen in that group therapy nonsense?”
Quinn wrinkled his nose and a dark pit opened in his gut. “No.”
“Really? Then how do you explain the waning of your magic, even this close to the full moon?”
Probably a broken heart, but Quinn couldn't say that. He couldn’t admit he’d spent the better part of two months trying to get free—coercing a wolf to help him—and like an idiot fell in love with said wolf.
He shrugged.
“Dr. Ross thinks the group therapy’s going so well you should really immerse yourself with others like you,” he said and snapped the shell of a crab leg. It reeked of the sea and death. Bradley sucked the fat chunk of white meat out of the bright red shell and a dribble of butter dripped down his chin. “It can all be arranged if you don’t perk up. The only time I’ll have to deal with you will be during the full moon. I couldn’t have you exposing yourself to anyone innocent.”
“Or guilty. You never wait around to face me because you know what you’ll see,” Quinn said and showed his white teeth.
A chorus of crickets chirped beside the lake and the steady beat of Quinn’s heart pounded with them like a drum. What did it matter if he ended up in the institution now?
Bradley swiped his fingers across a crisp linen napkin, leaving a greasy smudge on the white fabric. “Why should I have to face a monster disguised as a rose to prove anything to you? I don’t, because you’re mine – my burden to bear – my terrible secret. And you have no idea what I can do to you.”
Quinn touched the chain around his neck. It hung heavier than ever before, a great weight that twisted around the empty hole in his chest. “I know well enough. Get it over with, and then let me show you what I can do!”
Bradley smiled. “That’s just physical pain, but if you insist.”
The shock of agony shot up Quinn’s spine and shook every nerve in his body. He clamped his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help the trembling that overcame him. Or tumbling out of the chair and writhing on the thick carpet while his vision went blurry, and his chest heaved for relief.
“I can do so much worse. How would you feel if your boyfriend looked in your mirror, Quinn? What would that delinquent tattoo artist see?” Bradley said and stood up. His footsteps seemed to shake the entire world, and he loomed over Quinn, the sharp point of his toe inches from Quinn’s nose.
Quinn’s stomach heaved and bile rose in his throat as he fought to keep his dinner down. He wouldn’t get another meal until after the full moon. But he couldn’t stop the expression that crossed his face, and he knew it.
If Tyler found him – looked into the mirror – Quinn wouldn’t have a choice.
“No,” he choked.
“You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you? You honestly thought I wouldn’t know what you’d been up to. I know everything. You thought you were so fucking clever. Did you think he’d actually save you from me?”
Quinn shook his head and tried not to breathe too deeply. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks. The stench of rot overwhelmed him.
If Bradley knew everything then Quinn wasn’t the only one in trouble.
Tyler! He had to warn Tyler!
Another jolt rocked him—his nerves buzzed like they’d been struck by lightning, and everything went dark.
Quinn woke with a pounding headache and his cheek pressed into the soft carpet. He’d passed out from the pain so many times that he knew what had happened before he even opened his eyes. When he did, Bradley would know he’d recovered enough to do it again.
And Tyler – Tyler was in real danger now, and there wasn’t much Quinn could do to stop it.
If Bradley wasn’t in the room, perhaps he could get to a phone and actually make a call this time.
Slowly, Quinn blinked.
The room was dark. Moonlight spilled across the carpet and shone with the same silvery hue as his hair. Quinn listened. In the distance, he heard Bradley talking—hopefully on his cell phone—and Quinn rolled to his side and crawled like a mouse toward the hall.
Tyler’s life was at stake, and a cold stab of fear shot to Quinn’s chest. If Tyler died because of him, that was worse than anything else he’d done. Anything he’d said.
There were only two phones in the home, and when Quinn reached the one in the hall (on the antique side table that came from some castle in Bavaria), he picked up the receiver and stared at the numerical pad before he dialed.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“Hello?” Tyler said. He sounded tinny and far away, and Quinn’s heart leapt into his throat. “I’ve got business hours, you know.”
“It’s me. Bradley knows! No matter what he says, you can’t come to me tomorrow night. It’s too dangerous. If you look in the mirror you’ll—”
The phone cut out and Quinn frowned at it and tried the number again, but he was met with an angry beeping instead of the normal ring.
Then, before he got the chance to try a third time, Bradley’s stench filled the air.
Quinn set the phone down and stood up carefully. His legs shook with the effort, the ache from the last attack settled in his bones, but he shoved his shoulders back and tilted his chin defiantly nonetheless.
“There you are. We’re going to the woods early tonight,” Bradley said and turned.
Quinn didn’t have a choice but to follow. The necklace urged him, and the more he resisted the more bile rose in his throat.
They trudged outside and into the night, down the stone steps that led off the porch and over the neatly cut lawn that was more for show than anything else. Since Montgomery senior’s funeral, there hadn’t been a party at the house. Before that, they were few and far between due to Quinn’s curious presence. Beyond the grass, the yard gave way to bushes and the towering firs that surrounded Lake Orlando and Haven City.
Moss clung to the trees, bright green in the silvery moon’s glow. Ferns tickled his legs, and Quinn brushed the tips of his fingers across their lacy leaves and listened to the creatu
res that lurked in the forest around them. He smelled a few raccoons and an opossum. No bears, which was unfortunate since they might smell Bradley’s stink and want to rip him apart because of it.
Soon they reached the path that wound beside a stream, the water crisp and clear. Even though the moonlight filtered through the trees, Bradley still carried a flashlight, and its yellow glow darted around the woods as he grumbled under his breath.
The stream gave way to a small pool, perfectly round, and in it reflected a sphere of moonlight. A waterfall spilled into the pool at one end, but it left no ripples. At the edge of the pool, a pile of chains were embedded in the rocks, and they shone silver bright.
Platinum.
They were the only chains that could hold a unicorn. Well, actual silver could hold him, but it’d also slowly kill him.
Too bad Bradley didn’t use them and get it over with.
Quinn flinched when he saw them, and stood as long as he could before Bradley forced him down with a command. He knelt in the soft dirt and gritted his teeth as Bradley fixed the heavy metal collar around Quinn’s neck. It was long enough that he could reach the pool for a drink.
When he was a boy, Quinn enjoyed the full moon since it brought him to the place that reminded him of his former home – the deep forest and the cold, clear water. The only friend he had was the moon. However, she didn’t always speak to him because she had a whole world to watch, and he was just one creature.
Once the chains were fitted, Bradley stepped back. “You know what they say about your mirror. It will show those who gaze upon it the truth of themselves in a guise that will make them claw out their own hearts. Let’s see if that holds true, shall we?”
Quinn’s heart froze in his chest at that thought.
Please, Tyler. Don’t come, he silently begged the moon. For my sake and yours.
12
Quinn didn’t show up to the last two meetings, and Tyler still buzzed with too much anger to go see him. Another fight isn’t what they needed, and that’s what would happen. Even if he tried to convince himself Quinn didn’t mean what he’d said, his stomach still felt like a great empty pit.
