My Forever (10 page)

“Can I have some time to think about this?” Kyle muffled, keeping his face concealed.

“Of course. I’ll, um…I’ll be in my study if you need anything.” He collected the supplies and gave his mate privacy, willing himself with all that he had not to turn around and disregard Kyle’s request.

Chapter Five

The anxiety had been building in his chest for the past twenty minutes, letting him know it would come soon. Kyle halted his writing and held his breath. Like clockwork, the faint caress of Lucas’ deep voice sounded in his head.

“Kyle?”

He smiled secretly and released his breath, trying to dispel the butterflies that swirled in his stomach. “
In the bedroom doing paperwork,”
he replied.

The anxiety instantly eased, as Kyle knew it would, and with it he felt his own angst fade. It had been unnerving at first, the way their emotions not only infused one another, but also played in tandem. The moment Lucas began to feel a strong emotion, such as stress, Kyle’s body would involuntarily react, and vice versa, he suspected. It gave new meaning to the word ‘empathy’. Thankfully, weaker emotions could only be felt as a low humming sensation in the background.

It had also been extremely annoying, and frightening, to put up with Lucas constantly contacting him through their mental link simply to check up on him. It reminded him of the kind of possessiveness Craig had been quick to reveal and take pride in, but there was a difference that Kyle wasn’t sure how to deal with, though impossible to ignore.

After the fifth brief enquiry by Lucas, Kyle had not bothered to hide his irritation and the answering flare of abashment from Lucas has taken his breath away. Even though it had faded almost immediately, it’d been just enough to make him realise he wasn’t the only one affected by this…connection they had. Since then, he’d noticed a subtle hesitancy behind the anxiety when Lucas contacted him every other hour, which made all the difference between the relationship he’d known with Craig and what he was discovering now.

“We have company, sweetness. Would you like to come out here?”
A flare of panic surfaced and Lucas amended, “
It’s only Amanda. She wants to say hi to you.”

Relaxing a bit, he jumped up and ran to the bathroom to inspect his reflection. The last of the stitches had come out this morning, allowing him a little more freedom of movement, and the discolouration of the bruises had finally disappeared. His appetite had waned since he’d learnt about Lucas’ secret and found himself in an undesired bonding, but then again, the habitual dark circles under his eyes were fading.

He’d slept better over the past few nights than he ever had in his life. Though Lucas kept his promise of distance during the day, Kyle still needed his presence at night to keep the nightmares at bay, but it was so much better now. Even in sleep, he could feel the man’s strong, soothing comfort. Whispers of contentedness would enfold him in a sheltering embrace that kept him in a peaceful state from the moment he closed his eyes until the morning sun woke him.

Stacking the papers onto the dresser and slipping on a pair of socks, he padded out to the living room where he saw Amanda leaning close to Lucas, whispering quietly. A sense of foreboding went through him as he took in the grim expression on Lucas’ face. The moment Amanda caught sight of him, though, she smiled widely and rushed over to squeeze him in a tight hug. Lucas darkened and took a step forwards.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

The big man hesitated but backed off. Kyle decided the pain of her embrace was definitely worth the knowledge that Lucas wanted to protect him, even from friends. Amanda stood back and looked him over, touching his face and hair as a mother would a child who had been away for too long.

“Oh, you’re looking so much better. Have you gained weight? And there’s actually colour in your cheeks! My, my, my, what have you two been doing up here away from everyone?” At Kyle’s deep flush, she laughed and gave him another hug. “I’m just kidding. I had to bring over more spreadsheets and thought I’d see what you were up to.” She glanced at Lucas who apparently took that as a cue.

“I need to go out back and check on my firewood supply. There’s supposed to be a cold front coming in soon.” After setting the stack of papers in his hand onto a side table, he walked to the sliding glass doors that led outside. “Call if you two need anything.” With that, he was gone. Kyle frowned at Amanda but she paid it no mind, leading him to the couch to sit next to her.

“So how have you really been doing? You don’t have to tell me anything specific, I’m just worried about you. Jay told me you were here but not why.”

He smiled at her roundabout way of getting information. For all her nosiness, she truly did care about others and never pushed a person’s boundaries. Admittedly, she did gossip, but only to her husband who was about as grumpy and antisocial as any old man could get.

“I’m doing good. Lucas is helping me through some…problems.”

“Oh honey,” she said, her look of sympathy matching the consoling touch of her hand on his cheek. “I’m so proud of you. Everyone needs a little help at some point in their lives, and I’m sure this is what you need right now. You look so much happier than before.”

It was easy to be around Amanda. She was a no-nonsense woman of the earth—a lot like his mother had been—but he couldn’t talk about his reasons for being here. Not yet at least. She seemed to sense that and let the subject drop.

Her face grew serious and Kyle’s foreboding returned. “There’s another reason why I came here. Your brother stopped by the store yesterday asking about you.” And the topic went from bad to worse. “Demanding, actually. He came in raising all kinds of hell. I told him that you quit a week ago and I haven’t seen you since, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had to resort to threatening him with calling the cops if he didn’t leave.”

The slight tremor in his hands spread throughout his body like wildfire. He’d known Craig and Jake would search for him, but the confirmation of it terrified him more than he’d expected. Despite the stress of his newfound connection with Lucas, staying here with the man had lulled him into a false sense of security.

He’d been deluding himself. They would find him. It was only a matter of time before Craig figured out that he was living with his boss, if he hadn’t already. He barely registered the slamming of the door before Lucas was kneeling at his feet, taking his shaking body into his arms and rocking back and forth.

“They will not get you. I won’t allow it!”

Amazingly, the vehemence in Lucas’ mental voice calmed him a degree. Wetness smeared his face as he slid it along the fabric of the man’s shirt and burrowed deeper, ashamed of the tears he hadn’t known were there.

“You are mine, and I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you again. Do you hear me?”

He shuddered once then melted into the solidity of Lucas’ body and emotions. They were fierce and rife with savage certainty, but they also gave him strength. When he eventually pulled back, Lucas was reluctant to let go, which brought an unexpected grin to his lips. His feral, protective hero.

“I’m good now. It just took me by surprise.”

Lucas framed his head with both hands and stared into his eyes. Using both thumbs, he brushed away the tracks of Kyle’s tears then leaned in to press their lips together lightly. “Never again. I won’t let it happen. Not for as long as you live.”

In a quavering voice, Kyle asked, “You’ll find me no matter what, huh?”

Lucas grinned. “I have my wicked ways, remember?”

Laughter bubbled up in Kyle’s chest and he let it out, grateful for the relief of tension. “Really, I’m all right.” When Lucas refused to budge, he switched tactics. “Steak dinners in front of a cosy fire?” The man seemed to finally take the hint and left them alone again. When Kyle thought he was ready to bear the disapproval in Amanda’s eyes, he looked up at her, but there was no censure there.
           

The robust woman merely smiled with a contemplative expression. “I had a friend once who was being abused by her husband. For years she hid it from everyone. Told me she had occasional bouts of depression and wouldn’t leave the house for days because of it. One day, I went to visit her and she was gone. She and her husband had moved without a forwarding address or notice to their landlord.

“It wasn’t until I talked to her neighbours that I found out about the abuse. By the time they were done telling me of the numerous times they’d felt compelled to call the cops for fear her life was in danger, I felt like the worst friend in the world.
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How could I not have seen the signs? She was such a sweet little thing when I met her. Atrociously happy all the time.”

Her eyes welled with tears but she blinked them back. “I’ve been searching for her for more than two years now. Granted, it’s partly because of my guilt. Never once did I suspect… Well, it makes me wonder what might have happened if someone had offered her a permanent way out. My husband is forever reminding me that abuse happens all the time, but for that one person that it’s happening to, there’s nothing common about it. And there shouldn’t be.”
 

Kyle fidgeted, wringing his hands together, not sure how to respond.

“Do you know I have never seen or heard of that man having a significant other, or even going out a date, since I’ve known him?” Following her gaze to the glass doors, he saw the bare-chested form of Lucas hefting an axe high above his head and bringing it down in a graceful arc. “Not in the four years I’ve been working for him.” She snorted. “Come to think of it, he hardly socialised with any of his employees until you came along. Guess that makes you special indeed, doesn’t it?”

Flushing at her innuendo, he said, “We’re not dating. He’s only…”

“Helping you through some problems,” she threw back at him. “Well, whatever his reasons, I’m glad for the both of you. Just remember, people show their loneliness in different ways. Some clam up, others go about their lives as though nothing is wrong until someone comes along and turns their perfectly ordered world upside down.”

She glanced out the window again, compassion glowing in her eyes. “Anyway,” she said, patting him on the leg, “I have to go unglue my kids from their X-Box so they can do their chores. I swear, whoever invented those things should be dragged out into the street and shot. And don’t worry about your brother, dear. Lucas gave me permission to call the cops immediately if he ever sets foot on store property again.”

She stood, then leaned over to place a hand on his cheek. “You’re a sweetie. I don’t blame Lucas in the slightest. Tell him I said ‘bye, will you?”

He frowned at her cryptic words but nodded. “Sure, Amanda. Thanks for the warning.” He walked her to the front door then returned to the couch to mull over their conversation. Lucas’ lean, heavily muscled build drew his gaze outside and he began to wonder what other secrets lay behind the man’s normally cool façade.

He would never have suspected his boss of being insecure, and yet he felt it every time Lucas checked in on him. Then there was the secret of his race and abilities. Lucas had also divulged that it took both partners to create the kind of bond they had, which meant that he must have cared for Kyle as much as Kyle had him during their brief moment of passion. Or had it been all along like Amanda suggested? Several people had witnessed Craig hurting him, yet none of them had raised their voice in opposition, let alone taken action against it as Lucas had.

The idea that such a large, confident man was lonely struck him as a little unbelievable, but then, he’d gone for years without anyone suspecting the same of him. Suddenly, his reasons for shutting Lucas out seemed selfish. Amanda was absolutely right about one thing. Lucas had turned his life upside down to help him while asking for nothing in return. The least Kyle owed him was an explanation for his reticence towards him.

Kyle slipped on his sneakers, went out back and slowly approached Lucas. Long, sleek lines covered in a light sheen of sweat gleamed in the sunlight. Form-fitting jeans rode just below his tapered waist and hugged his rounded ass nicely. There was a stylised, circular tattoo between his shoulder blades that drew attention to the sinuous muscles that flexed and bunched along his back.
 

Pausing to admire the sight, Kyle felt his heart skip at the realisation that this gorgeous man wanted him. Maybe not for a relationship, but the fact of their bond had to count for something.

Lucas turned then, as though sensing him, and Kyle’s eyes roamed as if of their own accord over the planes and angles of his body. Scars he hadn’t noticed before stood out in pale contrast to his tanned flesh. They were faded and appeared to have been made by weapons, which only added to his rugged appeal.
 

Kyle’s mouth went dry and blood pooled to his groin, pushing his engorged cock painfully against the teeth of his zipper. When his eyes rose to meet Lucas’, the lust he saw in them fuelled his own, burning him with its intensity. What gave him the courage to act on his arousal, however, was the hesitancy he felt in the man’s emotions.

Lucas would never hurt or rush him. He knew it then without a single doubt in his mind or heart. Memories of Craig’s cruel abuse vanished in the face of that knowledge. Kyle nodded, giving Lucas the permission he was waiting for.