Chapter Six
Waiting All Kinds of Sucks and Not in the Fun Way
“What about you?” Snuggling in bed, half-asleep, was a beautiful place to be. It was also dangerous. Adrian had been thinking about his plans, and then boom, the question fell from his lips.
“What about me?” Justin sounded as if he, too, were halfway to slumber.
“What are your plans? You know, for after the estate is settled.”
“Is that what you were thinking about? I thought we were having brainless snuggle time.” He was behind Adrian with his arm wrapped around the bear’s middle, and he pulled him in a bit closer. Not all of him was in slumber.
“We were, but then my brainless snuggle turned into replaying the rest of the day over again in my mind. And we started this conversation and…” Adrian rolled over so he could look at Justin as they spoke. “Boom...hormones, so we never finished.” He put his hand on Justin’s cheek. Some stubble had started to grow in, and his stomach clenched as he imagined the roughness on his inner thighs then brushing against his stomach as Justin brought him to orgasm.
Yeah, they would need to try that.
“And?”
“Sorry, I got distracted.” Justin moved his cheek against Adrian’s hand before dropping his gaze down between them to Adrian’s twitching, hardening cock. Oh yeah, Justin knew exactly what he had been thinking. “And, I guess what I want to know is, where are you staying?”
“Here.” Justin brought his eyes back to Adrian’s as his hand moved down to cup his ass. “I hope.”
“What about your home? What about your job?” They had never discussed his home, but those Oregon plates wouldn’t leave his mind. Not at all close to Indiana. Not. At. All.
“Eh, Oregon was just a stopping ground. I was only there for a few months.”
“And the job?” He had no idea what Justin did, but the truck was nice enough. He seemed to have no interest in his aunt’s money, so he must have a semi-decent career.
“I can do that anywhere.”
“What are you, a tech millionaire?” Adrian teased.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
At first he thought Justin was playing along, but then he saw the seriousness in his new lover’s eyes. Holy. Crap. He wasn’t kidding.
“For serious?” Adrian knew he was, but he was at a loss for what else to say.
“Yeah, for serious.”
“But you drove here?”
“I’m not a fan of flying. My unicorn likes to be close to the ground.” That made so much sense. Unicorns were not climbers.
“So this house is basically a shack to you?” He looked around the tiny bedroom. If he was even a thousandaire, this was shack-like.
“A bit small, yes, but a shack, not at all.”
“And you’re going to give up a life of luxury to live in the middle of the woods in a tiny invisible cabin with someone you just met?” It sounded too good to be true.
“I lived in the middle of the woods in Oregon.”
Adrian didn’t miss his use of the past tense. He was serious. “In a cabin?”
“Define cabin.” Oh yeah, it was no cabin. It probably belonged in one of those television shows where people are trying to find their perfect home with a budget of only four million dollars and nothing decent was in their budget.
“Made of logs?” Adrian queried. He’d always loved log cabins, and as much as he called this place cabin, it was more of a home in the woods in his mind. A true cabin needed logs.
Justin nodded, but didn’t meet Adrian’s eyes.
“How many?” Adrian held his gaze as he asked. The builders had probably cleared a whole forest the way he was being so unforthcoming. It made sense, though. A young hot guy was probably used to hiding his wealth if for no other reason than to avoid the gold diggers.
“About ten times as many as this place would have used.” Justin looked almost embarrassed.
“A log mansion?” He rolled Justin over onto his front and began to explore his back, massaging as he did. The conversation was getting too serious, making him need to touch him.
“Yeah, something like that.” Adrian straddled him to get a better angle. “That feels amazing.”
He was not wrong. Justin’s muscles under his hands did feel amazing. “And you want to live here?”
“For now.”
It was like a bucket of cold water was dumped on his head. He kept his hands moving, happy Justin couldn’t see how much his words crushed him.
“I understand.” Adrian struggled to keep his voice firm and confident. He failed.
“I don’t think you actually do.” Justin somehow managed to roll them over in one movement, and Adrian’s back was now on the bed. Justin’s weight settled on him, eyes boring a hole through Adrian’s.
“Explain.” Adrian more mouthed the word than spoke it. He was so quiet he didn’t even hear it himself.
“I want to live here for now as we figure out what is going on with us.” He rubbed his thumb below Adrian’s eyes.
Dammit, he’d actually shed a tear. His emotions were a hot mess of hormonally induced insanity. “If we find I am right and this is more than a lust-induced delirium, then we will decide together where we want to live—be it here or in Oregon or on a deserted island somewhere.”
“And if we are just in a lust-induced stupor?” Adrian’s biggest fear in all of this. He wanted it to be real so badly. Why couldn’t true fated mates be more than just lore?
“Then I will leave you be and head on my way.”
“Leave me be?” His bear popped up for a second. He didn’t seem to like that, not one bit.
“That was him.” Justin nodded. “Did he come out for me?”
“I…I don’t know. He doesn’t ever come out. He has emerged more since I met you than he has in the past twenty years.”
“What did he seem to be telling you? That he didn’t want me to let you be?”
Adrian nodded, still trying to process it all.
“My unicorn did the same thing.”
“He did?” Could their animals truly be on the same page?
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’m trying to wrap my head around all this. First, are you saying my staying here is not contingent upon us sleeping together?” Adrian never felt like it was conditional, but in the back of his mind he had wondered. Hormones and lust had a way of making people promise more than they meant to. It was just how it was, and he wouldn’t have judged Justin for it.
“Of course. Did you think it was?”
Crap, he’d hurt Justin’s feelings. That was not what he wanted to do. “Not at all.” He reached up and caressed Justin’s cheek, once again enjoying the feel of his stubble. “Just trying to lay this all out in my mind. It is kind of a lot.”
“It is.” Justin rolled them over until they were both lying on their sides, face-to-face. It was somehow more intimate than only moments ago.
“Second, are you saying your unicorn wants me?” He wished he understood what a healthy connection with a shifter’s animal felt like. Hearing people talk about it wasn’t the same.
“Heck yeah, he does.” Justin leaned forward and kissed Adrian’s cheek before whispering in his ear, “He wants you as badly as I do. Possibly more.”
“Does he want omegas often?” Adrian felt Justin stiffen up beside him. Leave it to him to say the wrong thing. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “My bear is MIA, so I don’t completely understand all of this.” That seemed to relax him a bit.
“Never be sorry for making sure you understand where I am coming from.” Justin rested his hand on Adrian’s hip. “To answer your question, he has never wanted any omega before. He never seemed to care either way. He just was there. With you, though, he is always close to the surface.”
Adrian wanted that with his bear. Why did he have to be so broken?
“As far as staying here, the cabin is the location of the business, so, really, it is yours to do with as you will. You deserve it.”
Oh crap, he’d forgotten how this conversation started. No wonder Justin was slightly on edge.
“Rosemary was sad when no one in our family seemed to have a knack for healing,” Justin continued. “I’m guessing that was why she moved here. She must have been excited when you picked it up.”
“I think you’re right about her being happy. She mentioned several times how quickly I learned and how easy it was making her life.” The buzz of the dryer was glorious. “Your clothes are ready. Did you want to take a quick shower while I get them?”
“Or you could take a quick shower, and I could get them and then take my shower.” They both sat up.
As much as Adrian would have loved to spend the day snuggling with Justin, they needed to get to the store so they could buy condoms they weren’t going to use. For some reason, that amused him to no end. “Fine, be stubborn. You’ll be sorry you were.” No use fighting. He would pop in and take the world’s fastest shower and hope there was enough hot water left for the unicorn.
He left Justin on the bed and cleaned up as fast as he could. They had places to be, after all.
“Shower is all yours,” he announced, standing there in a towel.
Justin’s jaw dropped. Oh yeah, he liked what he saw.
“Give me three minutes.”
Adrian could have sworn he heard him mumbling the store was too far away for his liking. He couldn’t agree more.