15
Anna
“Let me just freshen up and I’ll be right out,” I said, squeezing Sam’s hand.
He lowered his mouth and kissed me deeply. When he pulled back his eyes were as bright as stars. He looked at me in a way that nobody ever had, like I really was the most precious thing in the entire universe. It caused an ache in my chest. My face must have betrayed the sudden wave of sadness because he looked closely at me.
“What is it?”
I slapped on a smile. “Nothing. Just slap-happy. Go on.” I smacked his booty and ushered him out of the room.
In the bathroom, I closed my eyes and leaned against the door.
The last of his kind . . .
Not with humans . . .
This should all feel insane. None of it should be believable. I should be questioning everything and yet the overwhelming emotion tightening my throat was heart-aching sadness, not disbelief. He had to leave. He had to populate his kind. And it couldn’t be with me.
“This is your fault,” I said to my reflection. Tears shone in my eyes. “You fell too hard and fast.” I swore at myself.
Somehow, I’d had no choice. Everything I felt was like it was meant to be. I’d never even thought I believed in that sort of thing. But we had literally found each other across the universe. An ache so real in my chest caused me to gasp out in pain.
Could I let him go now? He told me we were mated. We felt closer than any marriage license could ever bring us. But could I be responsible for the end of his family line? His brother and sister were missing he was running out of time . . .
But.
I couldn’t let him go. I physically couldn’t. I knew it to be as true as anything. He said that we would die if we parted and I believed that deep in my soul. Whatever came next, I would be there with him. I would help him with whatever he needed to do.
We were one now.
I took a deep breath and nodded at my reflection. “You got this.”
Regardless of whatever came next, Sam and I would handle it together. I went to tell him just that. When I found Sam again, he was naked and staring at the Christmas tree.
“Good gravy man, why is it so hard for you to keep clothes on?” I stepped forward but stopped instantly when his head turned toward me sharply. My heart sunk to my stomach.
That was not Sam. It looked exactly like him. I meanexactly, and I was intimately familiar with my partner now. But I couldfeelthat it wasn’t him. Where was my Sam? What was going on? Could this night possibly get any weirder?
I should have known that the answer to that was always a resounding yes.
I stepped back toward the fireplace and grabbed the poker. “Who are you? Where is Sam?”
“Sam?” The stranger’s head tilted. He turned to face me fully. I kept my eyes firmly locked on his face. He may look like my Sam but I still felt weird about checking out his goods.
The longer I looked, the more I realized this was definitelynotmy Sam. Actually, his features seemed to almost shift as I watched. He was equally as handsome, but the shape of his eyes had a slightly different angle to it. The way his hair flopped was almost a mirror image of Sam.
“Faye?” He leaned toward me to get a closer look but then seemed crushed when he realized I was not who he was looking for.
I backed up, thinking about sprinting to the back door. Strong arms came around me.
I flailed and kicked, bringing the poker down. “Oof.” The man who had grabbed me moaned and fell forward.
“Oh God, Sam! I’m so sorry, but you scared me!”
“My fault.” He rubbed his shin as he straightened. “I see you met my brother.”
“Your brother?” I looked between the two men. “Twins?”
