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I knew there was confusion all over my face. “Of course I do. Nico, Nico, Nico…shall I go on?”
He chuckled low and deep and pulled me closer to him, tucking me to his side. “When I was taken in, no one called me by my name…the name they gave me. It was like, oh, there he is. Where is he? I was just a he, like a male pet they had around.”
Nico only opened himself up to me when we were alone. I loved it. He trusted me. He trusted me with his truth and that in itself was an act of love.
“You deserved better.”
“You deserved better than the life you were given as well.”
I closed my eyes, letting the evening sun touch my face gently. “But look at me now. I’ve got three incredible mates, and I live in luxury. No more shining shoes or folding other people’s underwear. None of it.”
“I am looking,” he said so gently and soft that it made my heart stammer.
I opened my eyes. His ice-blue eyes stared at me so intensely that even with clothes on, he could see through me.
“You hated me not so long ago.”
He sighed. “I never hated you. I knew you would be the undoing of me. I was keeping you at a distance. I knew you would break me down and get under my skin.”
“Is that so bad?” I asked and put my legs on top of his. “I would never harm you.”
He nodded. “I know that now. I do. Now let’s eat. Jude worked hard on this.”
Out of the picnic basket came a wooden board and, before long, Nico and I had arranged the cheeses, meats, fruit, and breads perfectly. He pulled out a bottle of red grape juice and poured two glasses just as the sun was setting.
“You don’t drink alcohol?” I asked, realizing I’d never seen him do so. “Not that I want to. Just asking.”
He swallowed audibly. “My…adoptive father. He drank a lot. He didn’t beat his own son, but I guess someone had to take the brunt of his madness.”
I remembered the look of Nico’s back. The scars. The slashes. The silverish streaks of pain and abuse. “He did that to you?” I asked and gently put my hand on my mate’s back.
“Yes. I’ve never told anyone that before. I’m not even sure why it scarred the way it did. The first time I shifted after it happened, I thought it would go away and heal, but I guess some wounds outlive even the shifter in me. But when I was about thirteen, my dragon took over when he tried to beat me. Once he saw my beast, he never messed with me again.”
“Can I see them?” I asked in a soft voice. He didn’t hesitate to pull off his shirt and turn his back to me. I ran my fingers gently over the lines, the silverish-blue shiny marks. And we were called the lessers. Imagine that. Nico flinched, and I pulled back. “I’m sorry. I hurt you.”
“You didn’t. It just…I’m not used to being touched.”
I nodded. “But you’re okay with being touched by me?”
He turned and in seconds was on his back and I was on top of him. “You can touch me anywhere you want, mate. Anytime. Anywhere.”
Chapter Fourteen
You can touch me anywhere you want, mate. Anytime. Anywhere.
Did he realize what significance those words would have for a lesser like me? We were not allowed to touch the highers, except in the course of our work. So, of course those who performed ladies’ maid or maybe valet duties had to touch them, but it was in very proscribed ways and had little to do with the lesser’s desires.
And sex was wonderful, I’d learned with my first mate. Jude had been kind and loving and at the same time so exciting, teaching me things and making it fun. Like everything we did together, except with lots more orgasms. But until now, I guess I’d thought that it would all be similar. Oh, not precisely the same, but as I sat there looking in his beautiful eyes, I recognized that it wouldn’t be the same at all.
The body parts were, presumably, but lovemaking was about more than body parts. Wasn’t it?
I looked at him lying there below me, giving me permission to do whatever I wanted. A royal saying that to a lesser or someone who had recently been a lesser. My eyes filled with tears. He’d known so much pain, and it couldn’t be easy for him to make himself vulnerable to me. Bending, I reached for him and locked my arms around his neck, seeking out his lips with mine.
His kiss was so sweet, so warm, and I could tell he was holding back, continuing to let me lead. We were close but I wanted more, wanted him skin to skin with me in privacy. Not that anyone would be likely just to wander by and interrupt us, but still.
“Nico, can we go home?”
“Oh.” He sat up, taking me with him then set me gently aside. “Of course. I thought…I apologize.”
