Chapter 234: In your dreams.
Lucas kissed him like he had something to prove. Like the rest of the world could wait, had to wait, because this was his now, his husband, his mate, his insufferably patient alpha with hands too warm and eyes that saw too much.
He felt the heat of Trevor’s skin even through the fabric of his clothes, the strength of him coiled beneath the restraint he wore so well. Trevor tasted like the remnants of tea, black and faintly sweetened, and Lucas pressed in deeper, parting his lips and coaxing him open carefully. A slow nudge of tongue, a soft exhale against Trevor’s cheek.
Trevor responded with a low sound in his throat, pleased and indulgent. One of his hands slid up to cradle the back of Lucas’s head, the other firm at his waist, holding him steady as if Lucas might change his mind and flee the moment things turned serious.
He deepened the kiss until Trevor yielded fully, mouth opening beneath his with that rare, quiet reverence that made Lucas dizzy. And then Trevor’s pheromones came, soft at first, then stronger, lacing the air between them with heat and affection and the thick, amber weight of devotion that could not be faked.
Lucas inhaled sharply, and Trevor’s hand stilled.
The scent had always done something to him. Something rooted and unwilling. It crawled through his chest and threaded into the gaps between thought and feeling, where resistance went to die.
Trevor tilted his head and let Lucas lead.
And Lucas did.
The kiss turned slow again, reverent now, with the unspoken edge of Lucas’s love for this man. His fingers tightened slightly in Trevor’s shirt, and when he pulled back just enough to breathe, their foreheads brushed, eyes half-closed and lips parted as if neither had finished anything, just paused.
"You always do that," Lucas whispered.