Page 48

Quinn whined, his grip tightening on our neck, and he rolled his hips against mine, enough to feel a hard length pressing against my thigh.

He desires us. We will give him pleasure.

The beast needed no further urging, nor did I. We would do whatever Quinn wanted, whatever he needed, to give him everything he craved.

Only because we were so focused on our mate’s body to discover what he wanted did I feel the change when it came.

He still held onto us, but instead of pulling me closer, his fingers dug into my skin. Tension shot through his body, erasing the loose, languid way he’d pressed against me. Breathy moans faded into a tiny, choked off whine that bordered on fear.

The beast wanted to pull Quinn closer, hold him to protect him from whatever he feared, but the human side of us won the fight. I immediately paused, my hands falling from his body to my sides as I broke the kiss and took a small step back.

“Quinn?”

“I-I’m fine. Don’t stop,” he panted, but it was a lie and we both knew it. In the dim light of the kitchen, I could see he’d gone pale. His eyes were dark, distant, focused on something only he could see.

Shaking my head, I took another step back, giving him room to breathe. With the distance between us, he had to release me and he let his hands fall. He closed his eyes and stood defeated before me, his misery souring his fresh, clean scent.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered because I didn’t know what else to say. Something we’d done had upset Quinn but I didn’t know what and I didn’t know how to fix it.

“No.” He shook his head but still didn’t look at me. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

That didn’t seem like the case, but he knew himself better than I did. “What do you need?” I asked, whisper-quiet, uncertainty settling deep in my gut.

“A time machine?” he chuckled bitterly, finally looking up at me. “I’m sorry. I’m such a fucking mess.”

“If I can’t apologize, you can’t, either.” I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but it wasn’t the time to ask, not when he looked so fragile.

“I wasn’t trying to tease you or anything. I… I enjoyed kissing you.”

“You didn’t tease me,” I assured him, still confused. “We liked it, too.”

“We?” he repeated, then he shook his head. “You and the chimera? He… he was okay with it, too?”

“Of course. We’re separate, but the same. To him, you are ours.”

I’d said it in the hopes of reassuring him, but instead, Quinn tensed again, curling in on himself.

“Is that a bad thing to say? It’s what he feels, but is it different to humans? I don’t remember enough to know.” Shame coiled within me. I’d scared him instead of calming him, the very last thing I ever wanted to do. The beast’s confusion tangled with my own, leaving us helpless in the face of Quinn’s fear.

Quinn shook his head, but it took him a moment to find words. “Aaron used to say that I was his,” he whispered. “My ex-boyfriend. It… it wasn’t a good thing, when he said it. He wanted to control me.”

Fury tasted bitter on my tongue. This human had hurt our Quinn, that much was obvious. I didn’t need details to know that.

“We don’t want to control you.” I hesitated a moment, reaching out to my other half, trying to fit his feelings into my stunted vocabulary. “It’s like that show we watched about the wolves. To him, you’re part of his pack. He wants to protect you. You’re his family.” It wasn’t enough, wasn’t anywhere near the depths of our emotions, but it was as close as I could get.

Quinn stayed quiet, but the fear scent faded. “I think that makes sense,” he finally murmured. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not like him. I just…” He trailed off into helpless silence.

“I should have explained earlier. I know now that we don’t always think the same as normal humans. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He flushed, a bit of color returning to his pale face. “You’re not upset that I freaked out?”

“There’s nothing to be upset about.”

Quinn studied me closely, but I was telling the truth. I was confused and a little worried about him, but I wasn’t upset. If that one kiss was all we ever got, we would still be the luckiest monster in the world.

He must have seen that in me, because he sighed and leaned closer, resting his head against our chest. “Why couldn’t we have met before I got this messed up?” he groaned. It didn’t seem like the kind of question that needed an answer, so I stayed silent, letting him pull himself back together. The beast was just as confused as me, but was pleased that Quinn was taking comfort from our presence.

“Would it be okay if we went back to sleep for now?” he finally asked. “Unless you were still needing to go outside?”