Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

fluttered a little at the idea of having the gorgeous shifter alone in his room, but he pushed away his anxiety, kept a firm hold on Demitrius’s hand, and led the way toward the staircase.

Neither of them spoke as they navigated the long and winding corridors to the west wing located on the first floor. Once inside his room, Oscar closed the door quietly and linked his fingers behind his back as he turned to face his mate. “Well, this is it.”

Easing down on the end of the bed, Demitrius held his hands up when Oscar started toward him. “Stay right there.” When Oscar did as asked, he nodded curtly, took a deep breath, and reached up to pinch the earpieces on his sunglasses. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“You can’t scare me. Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ve seen something even stranger.”

Demitrius mumbled something under his breath that Oscar couldn’t hear and removed his shades. His eyelids remained firmly closed, however, and it took a lot of self-control for Oscar not to laugh out loud. He knew this was a big deal for his mate, and he didn’t want to mock the trust Demitrius was offering, but the man was acting as though he was going to shoot laser beams from his eyes or something.

Shuffling across the carpeted floor, he was pleased to note that Demitrius didn’t try to stop him this time. Insinuating himself between the man’s massive thighs, Oscar fluttered his fingertips over the delicate skin below Demitrius’s eyes and smiled. “Open up.”

Huffing as though he was completely exasperated with the entire process, Demitrius opened his eyes with excruciating slowness. The eerie glow was the first thing Oscar noticed, but after only a second, he found it beautiful rather than frightening. His vertical pupils were fully dilated, but the part that really caught Oscar’s attention was the lack of white around the burnt-orange irises.

Okay, so he hadn’t actually seen that before, but it still wasn’t shocking enough to send him screaming from the room. Demitrius’s eyes were actually very pretty once he got over the surprise of seeing cat eyes staring back at him from a human face. “They’re stunning. Why would you hide all the time?”

Demitrius snorted rather rudely and shoved his sunglasses back on his face. “Don’t patronize me, Oscar. I know what I look like, and I wouldn’t use ‘stunning’ to describe my appearance.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I have you around to tell me what I think. I would hate to make decisions on my own.” That was partly true in a way. Oscar still had the damndest time even deciding on what color of socks to wear. Still, his sarcasm button was fully engaged, and he didn’t appreciate Demitrius’s snotty attitude.

“Are you always so mouthy?”

Stepping back to put distance between them, Oscar squared his shoulders and steeled his courage. “Not usually, no. Braxton says that I need to speak up for myself and let people know when they do something I don’t like. It’s not easy, but I’m starting to see that he’s right.”

His face was probably six different shades of red, and he could feel the heat emanating from his cheeks, but he pressed on anyway. “I can understand that life hasn’t been easy for you simply because of the way you look. It’s my experience that most people don’t take the time to look beneath the surface. I was not patronizing you, however. Please don’t treat me like a child who doesn’t know his own mind.”

His heart was pounding up in his throat by the time he finished speaking, making his voice a little wobbly. His stomach twisted painfully, and his palms were drenched with sweat. The short monologue had been polite, but that didn’t make it any easier to know that he had said such things to a superior.

Anyone other than another Desirable was considered a superior according the teachings of The Hive. After ten years of living that way, it was going to take longer than a couple of weeks to reprogram. The first step had been escaping—the ultimate act of rebellion. Hopefully, everything else would come with time.

“You’re going to shake right out of your clothes.” Demitrius reached toward him, and Oscar reacted on instinct by flinching away and throwing his arms up to cover his face.

Again, it was standard protocol. Any act of defiance was dealt with swiftly and brutally. Since a Desirable’s face was the first thing potential Masters saw, they were taught to always protect their heads when receiving punishment. Failure to do so landed them in the isolation block, and bad things happened to Desirables in that dark part of The Hive.

Demitrius didn’t strike him, though. Instead, his hand landed gently on Oscar’s elbow, and he tugged, encouraging rather than demanding. “It’s my job to protect you, and not just because I’m your guard. Now, come here.”

Sitting in Demitrius’s lap and being surrounded by big, powerful arms was another new experience for him, and one he hoped to repeat frequently. A quiet voice inside his head told him that his mate would never do anything to bring harm to him, and Oscar suddenly felt ashamed of his earlier reaction. “I’m sorry.”

“You spend a lot of time being sorry, and there’s no need for it. Someday when you’re ready, you’ll tell me about it. For right now, let’s just agree that we’re both going to make mistakes.”

His gentle giant was being incredibly sweet, and Oscar could get used to the treatment with very little effort. “Would you like to go for a walk and see the sunrise?” It was one of the things on his very simplistic bucket list, and he’d like nothing better than to share it with his newfound mate.

“I would love to go for a walk with you.”

Smooth lips brushed over his forehead in a chaste kiss that sent tingles right down to Oscar’s toes. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get a real kiss before