Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (read a book TXT) 📗

eyes. So many emotions were expressed through the eyes, and it was much easier to tell if a person had honorable intentions or was just blowing smoke up his ass. “Will you please take off your sunglasses?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

There was that nervous tic again. The minute Oscar had mentioned the shades, Demitrius’s head dipped, hiding most of his face from view. His long, black hair fell down past his shoulders, obscuring even more of his features, almost as though he was trying to burrow into himself.

“I’m not so delicate.” He’d seen a collection of amazing things during his life in The Hive. “I don’t startle easily.”

Demitrius didn’t appear convinced. Behind his sunglasses, his eyebrows rose skeptically, and a disbelieving smile quirked one side of his mouth upward. “You’ve already proven yourself to be very capable, but everyone has secrets, Oscar. Please, allow me to keep mine.”

While he understood the desire to keep some things hidden, Oscar didn’t feel that it applied in this situation. Demitrius was his mate, and mates shouldn’t have secrets between them. It wasn’t as though he expected the guy to spell out his life story right away. Whatever Demitrius was determined to keep from him seemed pretty major, though.

Perhaps if he started off slowly, he could work his way up to the bigger questions. “What type of shifter are you?” It was a fairly important question, but still, a relatively minor detail in the forward progression of their relationship.

“Feline,” Demitrius answered in a clipped tone. He said nothing further, and Oscar couldn’t understand how the question had been offensive. His mate obviously didn’t want to talk about it, but that didn’t stop him from prodding.

“What kind of feline exactly?”

“You wouldn’t recognize the breed.”

Okay, now he was starting to get pissed. “I’m not stupid. Just because Cian found us in a cave doesn’t mean I was raised by wolves.” Sighing heavily, he rose from his chair and shook his head. “This isn’t working.”

“So, that’s it? Just because I won’t answer your questions, you’re leaving?” The sad part was that Demitrius didn’t sound as upset as he probably thought he did. He actually sounded a little hopeful.

“I’m not going to keep banging my head against a wall and wonder why I have a headache. When you’re ready to talk, you know where to find me.” With that parting statement, he exited the kitchen without a backward glance.

Oscar had baggage of his own and more than a few trust issues. He was constantly looking over his shoulder and always expecting the worst, but he’d open up to Demitrius if the guy showed even the least bit of interest. For most of his life, he’d been prepped and trained for a Master, and therefore, no one had ever taught him about what it meant to have a true and fated mate.

It was ironic that he would find Demitrius now. Before coming to Haven, Oscar hadn’t even realized that such things as bonded pairs existed. Watching all of the happy couples within the coven was shocking at first, especially hearing them argue. When Braxton had chewed Xander up one side and down the other shortly after their arrival, Oscar had been paralyzed with fear.

The first rule of being a Desirable was to defer to his Master in all matters. The punishment for disobedience was severe, ensuring all Desirables strived for perfection. To hear Braxton speak in such a way to the alpha of their pack was disconcerting, but even more confusing was the way Xander had smiled at his mate before lifting him into his arms and kissing the breath out of him.

Keeton seemed to have some type of meltdown on a daily basis, and usually over the minutest problems. Braxton called him a drama queen, and though Oscar had needed to inquire as to the definition of the description, once Braxton explained it to him, he had to agree. Logan took it all in stride, though. Not once had he shouted, lifted a hand in anger, or really done anything more than huff and roll his eyes.

It all appeared to be the pack’s natural way of life. Oscar, on the other hand, was feeling sick to his stomach about storming out of the kitchen the way he had. The only thing that saved him from sprinting back and begging forgiveness was the fact that Demitrius had honestly seemed relieved that he was leaving.

Keeton and Braxton had made their mission in life to teach Oscar to stand up for himself and not allow everyone to walk all over him all the time. Oscar didn’t view himself as a doormat, but he could admit that he had some problems asserting himself when it came to authority figures. As alpha, if Xander told him to strip naked and stand in the middle of the front lawn, he’d do it without question.

“Oscar!”

Stopping in his tracks and spinning around, Oscar was so shocked to see Demitrius jogging toward him down the hallway that his mouth fell open and started flapping like a guppy. “What are you doing?”

“Wait.” Coming to a halt in front of him, Demitrius took both of his hands and lifted them to his mouth. It was kind of funny given their height difference, but the gesture was sweet nonetheless. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have just left like that.” Having a mate was unlike any feeling Oscar had ever encountered. He wanted to please Demitrius, not because it was required of him, but because he really and truly wanted to make the man happy. Being in his presence was exhilarating, and it made his heart pound hard and fast against his sternum.

“Look, we can do the whole blame game later. You were absolutely right, though.” Demitrius looked up and down the hall before returning his focus to Oscar. “Is there somewhere more private we can talk? I’ll tell you everything, but I don’t really want an audience for it.”

“We can go to my room.” Oscar’s belly