Flawless by Evans, Gabrielle (icecream ebook reader TXT) 📗

hearts as one. I bind myself to you. Offer all that I am and the pledge of my eternal love.” Deciding that sounded pretty damn good to him, Kieran had just enough consciousness left to collapse to the side of his lover, and then everything floated away.

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Chapter Nine

“This stops now. I won’t keep doing this!”

“Please, sir. What did I do wrong? Just tell me what I did wrong.” Lynk knelt on the floor with his hands resting on his thighs and his head bent. He tried and tried, wracking his brain for some infraction that could be causing his Master to be angry with him.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Kieran sighed and dropped his head, pushing his hand through his waist-length hair. He was completely nude, his soft cock still shiny with spit from Lynk’s mouth.

The candlelight played over his muscles, highlighting their definition and making Lynk’s mouth water for just one more taste.

His eyes, however, were shadowed, hard, and maybe just a little sad. “I don’t understand,” Lynk whispered. “If you could just tell me what I did to displease you.”

“Do you love me, Lynk?”

Lynk tilted his head to the side, confused by the question. “I worship you, sir. You are everything to me.” Apparently, this was the wrong answer, because Kieran growled and slammed his fist into the wall of their little log cabin. “I don’t want you to worship me. There is more to life than me, Lynk. I shouldn’t be your everything. Don’t you want anything for yourself?”

“I want you,” Lynk answered honestly. What else was there?

He’d dedicated the last three years of his life to pleasing his lover, mate, and Master.

“What else?” Kieran asked almost pleadingly. “What else do you want?”

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He was growing more confused by the moment. “I don’t want anything. You are all I need.”

“No!” Kieran roared and his body began to vibrate. “What are you going to do when I’m not around anymore?”

“W–What? Where are you going?” Lynk resisted the urge to jump to his feet and throw himself at his mate. “Why won’t you be here?” Kieran dropped his head so that his chin rested on his chest and fisted his hands on his hips as he sighed heavily. “I’m not going anywhere, but we don’t know what could happen. What if I died tomorrow, Lynk? What would you do then?”

“No.” Lynk shook his head firmly. “You won’t die. I won’t let you. We’re bonded. Together forever.”

“I can’t keep hurting you, Lynk. It’s killing me. I don’t understand what you need, and you won’t tell me. I just know that I can’t do this anymore.”

“But I need it!” Lynk cried. “It’s the only way to make everything go away. It’s the only time I get any peace!” Kieran didn’t say anything while he pulled on his trousers and laced them. He didn’t even bother with a shirt or shoes as he crossed the room and paused in the doorway where he spoke without turning.

“I’m sorry, Lynk.” Then he walked away, leaving Lynk alone, still kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed while he sat there in numb silence. All he knew was that his life was over. If Kieran didn’t come back, nothing else mattered. While he stared blankly at the wall, a shiver raced up his spine as he was blasted with a wave of magic not his own.

Panic seized him, and he jumped to his feet, dashing out of the room, unconcerned with his nudity. “Kieran!” He ran as fast as he could through the house to the wide-open front door, but he wasn’t fast enough.

Lynk came awake with a scream, panting for breath while tears streamed down his cheeks. It had been years since he’d had that Flawless 77

particular dream, but it was still just as painful as though he’d lived it only moments before.

When his mate’s hand smoothed down his spine, he flipped over and burrowed into Kieran’s arms, clinging to his neck as though the big werewolf would disappear if he didn’t keep a strong hold on him.

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed against the side of his mate’s neck. “I wasn’t fast enough. I should have never let you leave like that. I’m sorry, Kieran.”

Kieran petted his hair, stroking it back from his face. It was only then that Lynk realized his lover was holding him just as tightly while his big frame trembled and his breathing came fast and shallow against Lynk’s temple. The fingers on his other hand dug into Lynk’s hip, gripping him hard enough to leave bruises.

“I was coming back,” he whispered shakily. How fitting that they’d been having the same dream. “I just needed air, needed to think. I was so young back then, and I didn’t understand. I get it now, Lynk. I know what I have to do. I won’t mess it up this time. Please forgive me.”

If anyone should be begging forgiveness, it was Lynk. He was the one who’d pushed his young mate too far. He’d been nearly fifteen years older than Kieran’s twenty-two years back in the 1600s. Lost in his own selfishness, he hadn’t seen what he’d been doing to Kieran then. He’d pressed too hard, asked too much.

Kieran had always been so much bigger and stronger than him, but it was Lynk’s job to protect his Infinity. Kieran was a treasure, a gift given to him by the fates, and instead of nurturing and cherishing that gift, he’d neglected it. That wouldn’t happen again.

His lover wasn’t the only one to have an epiphany about past mistakes. Lynk understood precisely where he’d gone wrong and what he needed to do differently this time around.

“You have nothing