Jaded [The Moonlight Breed 9] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Gabrielle Evans (the read aloud family TXT) 📖

Very carefully, very slowly, Spiro pulled him forward, holding him gently while their bodies molded together from chest to groin. “Is this better?” he asked. “Do you feel less like you’re about to fall apart?”

His pulse had quieted to a more reasonable pace, his skin no longer crawled, and even breathing was becoming easier. “Yes, it’s much better. What does it mean?”

Leaning closer, he skimmed his nose across Spiro’s collarbone where it peeked out from his shirt. That tantalizing scent was so much stronger up close, a mixture of warm peaches, honey, and fresh cream. Suddenly, he couldn’t get close enough. Gripping the man’s shoulders, he pressed more insistently against Spiro’s chest, soaking up his intoxicating warmth.

Spiro didn’t stop him, either. His arm tightened around Zuriel’s midsection, cradling the back of his head with his other hand. He held him so close, and Zuriel could feel the answering bulge in Spiro’s jeans pressing against his own, but the contact didn’t feel sexual. Spiro held him protectively, almost reverently, as though he was precious and priceless.

“It means I am yours, and you are mine,” Spiro finally answered, resting his cheek on top of Zuriel’s head. “You are my chosen—my sienota—my mate.”

“Yes,” the chanting voice in his head breathed with satisfaction, and Zuriel realized it was his fox who’d been fighting him this whole time.

Unfortunately, Zuriel wasn’t so convinced. Sure, he believed that Spiro was his mate. The doctor had no reason to lie to him about that. However, he seriously doubted his ability to fulfill that role. Once Spiro learned of all the things he’d done, all the things that had been done to him in that lab, he’d regret this conversation for the rest of his life.

It was probably best to get it all out in the open right away. Then Spiro could leave, and Zuriel could go back to pretending to be the coven’s happy little slut. It hurt. Fuck, it hurt like hell. It would hurt a lot more to see the disgust in Spiro’s eyes when he wasn’t expecting it, though.

Easing away, he adopted a cocky grin and popped one hip out to the side. “Look, big guy. I can fuck you in a hundred different ways, and then fuck you again in another hundred ways you didn’t even know existed.”

“Zuriel…”

He couldn’t be distracted, though. This was for the best, so he kept talking as though there had been no interruption. “I can be your every fantasy come to life, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face. I can be your booty call and your dirty little secret. We can screw like our lives depend on it, and then you can ignore me when we pass on the street.”

“Zuriel, stop it.”

He couldn’t, though. He was almost finished. There was just one more thing left to say. “I can be your naughty assistant, your playful nurse, your slave, or anything else you can imagine.” Ducking around his mate, he sauntered toward the front door and knocked on it to request entrance. The smile never slipped, but inside, a little piece of him was crying in agony.

The door opened, and his twin stood there with a disapproving glare. “I’m not letting you in until you settle this.”

“Okay,” he replied easily. Glancing over his shoulder, he brightened his smile a notch and wiggled his fingers. “I can be anything you can dream up, handsome.” He pressed his fingertips to his lips and blew Spiro a sultry kiss. “Anything,” he repeated, “except your mate.”

He tried to push past Zavion, but his brother continued to block his escape route. “You don’t have to do this, Zuri. You don’t have to be so scared all the time.” Zavion’s words flitted into his head as clearly as though he’d spoken aloud, accompanied by scenes of him and his mate, Cian, smiling and laughing. “You can have that, too, if you give yourself a chance.”

He was happy for his brother, but he wasn’t Zavion. Not only did he have to live forever with the consequences of what The Hive had done to him, but he’d created a reputation for himself within his home that he’d never be able to live down. Maybe if he’d met Spiro sooner it would be different, but he couldn’t change the past now.

“It’s for the best,” he murmured, pushing past Zavion and disappearing to his bedroom. In a couple of days it would be like none of this had ever happened, and Spiro would forget all about him.

Stripping down to his boxers, he crawled into bed, pulled the blankets up around his shoulders, and buried his face in his pillow as hot tears streamed down his cheeks. When he woke up in the morning, he’d be himself again, present his mask to the world, and no one would have to know the hurt he felt inside.

For now, though, he could allow himself this one weakness while no one was watching.

Chapter Three

In the two weeks since their disastrous conversation on the front porch, Spiro had kept his distance, giving Zuriel the time and space he needed to work out his feelings. While he had a tremendous amount of patience when it came to his work, he’d never been the type to sit back and wait for what he wanted in his personal life.

It might have been different if Zuriel had given him any indication that he was torn about his decision or hurting a fraction as much as Spiro. From the moment he’d walked into the cabin, however, there was no trace of the scared and vulnerable man who’d clung to him in the darkness.

Watching him parading around the coven, shaking his ass and flirting with anyone and everyone, ate away at Spiro until he wanted to hit something. There was absolutely nothing he could do about it, though. Zuriel had clearly made his choice, and Spiro had no claim to him, no right to say anything