“I am staying with you,” he says.
“When the tour is done.”
Slowly, he lifts his head to look at me, his expression soft. “Really?”
“Is that okay?”
He smiles softly. “Your feelings are always okay. But why do you want me to stay with you?”
The words aren’t difficult to say, and I don’t know why I haven’t said them sooner. Fear, maybe. I’ve been afraid that they would mean nothing to him. But after these last few days, I’m not sure how I ever thought that about him. My words will mean everything. I’m certain of that now.
“Because I’m in love with you, Leif, and I don’t want to be without you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Leif
Not for a second did Aliko look at me like he expected me to profess my love back to him.
But I should have.
Because I realized the first day being here with him that I love him. I was just scared to tell him, too. Now it feels like I can’t, even though I know that’s silly. I should tell him. He deserves to know.
I look up at him, cuddled close to his side in this large bed. He’s asleep on his back, in his half-kraken form, arms wrapped around me like they always are—that one tentacle is still holding my cock, keeping it warm as usual.
As masculine as he is, there is no other word that sums him up more thanbeautiful. Yes, he’s a monster, but not in anegative way. There is nothing bad about him, there is nothing monstrous. He is a beautiful creature that I am lucky to be with.
He deserves to know my feelings, despite my nerves or whatever else is holding me back. Aliko was brave enough to be vulnerable with me. I can give him that in return.
“Aliko,” I whisper, pressing my hand to the center of his chest. He doesn’t stir, so I call his name again. “Aliko.”
He grunts, and I throw a leg over him, straddling his waist. He thrusts up, a low grunt leaving his throat as his human hands come up to hold me tight. I kiss his lips, and it’s the second kiss that he wakes up more and kisses me back.
“Aliko,” I say, pulling back and resting my forehead on his. “I need to tell you something.”
He hugs me tighter, his mouth going to my neck. He kisses and licks, his dick hardening between us as he grinds against me.
“Aliko, I need to tell you that I love you, too.”
He pauses, his entire body just… stopping. I pull back to look in his blue eyes. He looks almost confused.
“You love me too?” he asks, his voice rough from sleep.
I kiss the corner of his mouth. “I do,” I whisper. “I wanted to tell you the other day, but I was scared.”
“Scared of what?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. It feels silly now.”
Because I know it’s just the shit in my head. The exact things I was telling him not to feed into. I do that sometimes too.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “All that matters is us.”
He hugs me tight, kissing me all over, then he rolls us so he’s on top, his giant body covering mine, his weight heavy but comforting.
“You love me,” he whispers, kissing down my neck and my bare chest.
“I love you,” I say.
