Heart of the Warrior

by Donya Lynne

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Sev twirled spaghetti on his fork then held it out for Ari. They were sitting on bar stools at the kitchen counter, facing each other. Sev had his ankles crossed around one of Ari's as if he was loosely restraining him.

  "This is excellent sauce." Ari leaned forward and took the forkful of offered food.

  Sev was enjoying feeding him. And it was clear Ari enjoyed it, too, as he offered Sev his own forkful of spaghetti. Sev accepted it and pulled the pasta into his mouth.

  This was how it had been for the past twenty minutes after they had finally pulled each other up from the floor and made their way to the kitchen. Sev hadn't wanted to continue thinking about Ari's hesitation to open up to the others about his sexuality. He only wanted to enjoy the day with his mate.

  Sev dabbed his napkin against his lips. "Do you have questions?"

  Ari's topaz eyes sparkled. "A few, but they can wait."

  Apparently Ari was enjoying their intimate dinner too much to want to dwell on the issue that had briefly separated them. All in good time, Sev supposed.

  Sev lifted his wine glass and held it out for Ari, who leaned forward and sipped as Sev tilted it for him.

  "Are you always this romantic?" Ari smiled and licked wine off his upper lip as he sat back.

  "Here, let me get that." Sev leaned forward and kissed him, letting his tongue sweep out and run the length of Ari's lips. Then he leaned back with a crooked, self-assured grin on his face. "And, yes, I am." He picked up his fork again and twirled up more spaghetti.

  "Well, aren't I the lucky one then?" The smile on Ari's face was filled with warmth and wonder, and it made Sev fall in love with him just a little bit more.

  He held out another bite of food for Ari and caressed the back of his fingers down Ari's neck and chest as he took it. "No, I'm the lucky one, babe." He gazed into those marvelous eyes and shook his head affectionately. "You make me want to be this romantic."

  Ari set down his fork as Sev did likewise, and they took each other's hands and huddled just a little closer together, barely seated on their respective stools.

  "When I left earlier," Ari said, "the ache I felt was unlike anything I've ever experienced."

  Sev knew what he meant. He had felt it, too. The suffering had gripped him fiercely after had Ari rushed out the door and driven off. Sev had never known such horrible pain.

  Ari lowered his head and looked at their joined hands. "That's when I realized what was happening between us. The suffering was what woke me up and made me realize we were mates." He paused. "How is this going to work, Sev?"

  Sev stroked his thumb over the back of Ari's hand. "We'll figure it out."

  "But the calling…." Ari looked up. "Even now, I want you. I'm hard for you. I've been hard for you for days, and it's only getting worse."

  Sev understood his concern. He had been hard since Ari had returned. His body demanded contact and release. It was the way of things with a newly-mated male. The calling moved in, made itself at home, and forced the male to fuck often and hard for at least a week…usually two. It was why newly-mated males had to take time off from work and just about everything else. They couldn't be far from their mates during the calling phase, because when the urge hit to plant his seeds, he had to be able to answer. Immediately.

  "We'll work it out," Sev said. "We'll find a way."

  "It will be harder for us, you know." Ari looked tense and concerned.

  "I know."

  "The calling is stronger when two males mate." It sounded like Ari was talking more to himself than to Sev.

  "I know." Sev tried to reassure him. "But we'll make it work."

  But it would be tough. Ari was right. Two males who mated each other had extremely powerful calling phases, because not only were they answering the call of their own bodies, they were always responding to the call of their mate. The effect was a compounded kind of need that multiplied exponentially.

  In a heterosexual calling phase, the female reacted to the male, feeling aroused and receptive, but she didn't have to also wrestle with her own body's demands to mate. The male sent the message, she received it, and then she replied.

  On the other hand, with two males, they were both sending, receiving, and replying simultaneously. The effect was almost supernatural.

  Even now, Sev felt his body responding to the invisible waves of heat pouring off of Ari. He imagined the same was happening to Ari. It made for a volatile environment.

  Put up the breakables. This could get physical.

  "Are you worried?" Sev squeezed Ari's hands.

  Ari nodded as he looked up. "Yes."

  "Why?"

  "What if we aren't together when we need each other?"

  Sev shrugged. "You might have to tell Tristan what's going on between us."

  Ari visibly trembled. Sev felt the tremor in his hands. The thought of telling someone that he was gay and that he and Sev were mates obviously terrified him. Sev had to feel for the guy.

  "Don't get me wrong, Sev. I want to. I want to tell him. But I'm scared as hell."

  "I know. Believe me, I know. I want to tell him I'm half dreck, but I'm afraid he'll kick me off the team."

  Ari chuffed then broke into outright laughter. "We are so perfect for each other."

  Sev loved the sound of Ari laughing, and he adored the way his face shone as he did.

  "How do you figure?" He smiled uncontrollably.

  "Well, look at us. Both with secrets. Both scared to tell anyone about them."

  "Well, you've told me." Sev dipped his head down and lifted Ari's hand to his mouth to kiss the back of it. "And I'm someone."

  Ari's face flushed and he sighed. "Well, yeah. That you are. A very important someone to me, so it seems." He scooted a little closer to Sev. "And now I know your secret, too."

  "And you're someone very special to me."

  "Maybe for now it's enough that we know even though nobody else does."

  Sev nodded. "We can figure out how to tell the others later."

  "No one else needs to know you're dreck, Sev." Ari's voice grew concerned as he linked his fingers around Sev's. He looked down, appearing guilty.

  "But they need to know we're mates. That's what you're thinking, right?"

  Ari met his gaze and nodded. "Yes."

  "And eventually they will. Because you know we won't be able to hide it forever."

  It was hard for a male to keep it a secret once he had mated. Look at Micah, for Christ's sake. You couldn't get five feet from Sam without him getting in your grill and puffing up his chest like Sam was his property, and no one could lay a hand on her without his permission. That's how it was. The motto was, touch a male vampire's mate, and it was the same as touching the male vampire. So, best touch carefully or not at all. And the first time a female came on to Ari in public, Sev wouldn't hesitate to go all he's-mine-bitch on her ass. And, oh yeah, that would definitely let the cat out of the bag, wouldn't it?

  Ari sighed again. "I know. Just the thought of seeing someone touch you makes me want to bite you and stake my claim."

  Fire shot through Sev's loins at the visual image, and he actually growled in approval. Ari sucked in his breath in response, and he looked positively glorious with arousal.

  "I was just thinking the same thing," Sev said.

  The heat between them suddenly ramped up a thousand notches. The calling gripped them full force and in a blink, they were off their bar stools and clamoring to get through each other's clothes to the skin beneath.

  The fucking was hard, fast, and furious as Ari bent Sev over the counter and claimed him. And it was perfect. Utterly perfect, even as rough as Ari was with him. And after Ari had spilled his seed, Sev pushed away, spun around, lifted Ari up and slammed him against the wall as he impaled him. In a matter of minutes, it was over, leaving them both breathless and spent as Ari clung to Sev with both his arms and his legs, their bodies covered in perspiration, and their lungs pumping hard as they quive
red and panted against one another.

  "My God, Sev…."

  Sev could only tighten his hold on his mate as he purred against his throat. Making love to Ari was beyond incredible, even when the loving was hasty and frantic.

  After recovering, they took turns in the bathroom to clean up, making secret, sexy eyes at each other as they passed in the hall. Then they got dressed and poured two fresh glasses of wine.

  "Come on," Sev said, "I owe you some answers. Let's talk." Sexually sated for the time being, it was time to clear the air.

  Ari took his hand, and he led him to the living room couch, where they sat down facing each other on either end so their legs wove together and alternated Ari’s, his, Ari’s, his.

  Sev settled back, still in awe that he and Ari had come to this new place in their relationship. He had known right away there was something about Arion.

  "Remember when you and I met?" he said fondly, not quite ready to face the music about his dreck lineage.

  Ari grinned, obviously remembering. "Uh-huh."

  It had been his first team meeting with the group. His first night on the job at AKM.

  "I thought you were so sexy." Admitting it made Sev feel the butterflies all over again. "I couldn't take my eyes off you."

  "And I thought you were so quiet. You hardly ever spoke." Ari knocked their knees together playfully.

  Sev sipped his wine then chuckled. "And then that night at Four Alarm…when you found out I was gay?"

  Ari laughed. "Oh, yeah. I remember that."

  "You should have seen the look on your face." Ari had looked deer-in-the-headlights surprised at Sev's admittance he was gay.

  An introspective haze came over Ari's face. "That was the first night I really noticed you. As in, really noticed." He glanced down into his wine. "I started to suspect that night that I was gay, but I wasn’t ready to admit it." He looked back up. "I had this urge to take you in back and…."

  Sev perked up. "And what?"

  With a blush, Ari huffed as if he couldn't believe where his thoughts had taken him that night. "Wow…I, uh…I wanted to fuck you silly that night, Sev."

  "Really?"

  "Hell, yeah."

  Sev smiled to himself. "Well, here we are now."

  "Yep." Ari lifted his wine glass in a toast. "Here's to all our secrets."

  Sev raised his glass. "To all our secrets."

  And speaking of which, it was time to spill the deets about the rest of his.

  They sat quietly for a couple of minutes, Ari seeming to sense that Sev was getting ready to tell him all the sordid details.

  Finally, Sev took a healthy drink, smiling tightly at Ari. Confession time.

  "Okay. So, yes, I’m half dreck," he said out of the blue, getting the coming-clean conversation going. "My mom is dreck, my dad is vampire."

  "And it scares you that the truth could come out, doesn't it?" Ari settled back against a throw pillow as they covered territory already mentioned earlier. It got them back into the flow of the conversation.

  "Yes. I don't tell anyone. It's why I didn't tell you."

  Ari leaned forward and ran his hand over Sev's shin reassuringly. "I know. And I understand now."

  He looked into his wine. "I'm afraid of how I'll be treated." He and Ari really did have more in common than he thought. They really were made for each other, weren't they? So similar, and yet not.

  "Do you think Tristan would really ask you to resign from your job?"

  Sev looked back up and shrugged. "I don't know, but I worry about it, yeah. It's a concern. I mean, I don't show any favoritism to drecks just because I'm half one myself. But someone could easily infer it's a conflict of interest that my job is to maintain the peace."

  Ari arched an eyebrow and tilted his head. "I can see that, but how about this: Our job is to maintain the truce. Who better to do that than one who represents both sides?"

  "Hell, I never even considered that angle." Sev arched an eyebrow and grinned. "You sure you weren't meant for politics, babe?"

  Ari grinned and sat back once more. "Being around my father for so long, I can't help but think like that, but yeah, I'm sure I'm not cut out for politics."

  "You're good at seeing the diplomatic side. You know that, right?"

  "Well, you don't grow up around the life of a politician without picking up a few things."

  Sev chuckled. "True."

  "So, tell me about your mom. What's she like?"

  "She's sweet. Not at all like what we come up against every night. And I can't remember the last time she shifted into her dreck form."

  Ari grinned at him and sipped his wine.

  Sev continued. "She's an artist. She owns an art gallery here in Chicago."

  "Really? I'd like to see it sometime."

  And Sev wanted Ari to see it. He wanted his mom to meet Ari, too. He would be the first person to meet his mom and know who she really was to him.

  "You know, I've never been able to tell anyone she's my mother." Sev looked down again briefly then met Ari's eyes once more. "I've always had to keep her a secret because of who she is. It'll be really nice to introduce her to someone as, 'this is my mom.'"

  Ari's warm smile touched his soul. The universe had chosen a pure heart for his mate. Ari was good for him, and in that moment he knew he would never feel thankful enough to express in words his gratitude over Fate's selection for him.

  "What about your father? Are he and your mother still together?"

  Severin bristled and shook his head curtly. "No. I hate my father for what he did."

  "What do you mean?"

  Ari sat back and listened as Sev told him about how his father had raped his mother then bailed, leaving his mom to hide her pregnancy from everyone so she could keep him safe.

  Sev paused then gave Ari a grave look. "Remember when we went to Jackson’s apartment looking for Micah last month? Remember how edgy I was?"

  Ari nodded. "Yes, I remember. We talked later and you told me it was because you had lost someone once."

  Sev glanced at the glass of wine cradled in his hands. "Yes, that was part of it, but part of my anger over that situation also had to do with what my father did to my mom. She was innocent, and he used her and split, leaving her pregnant with me. What Jackson did to Micah, just walking away and dumping him the way he did, pissed me off. Reminded me of my dad. But, like I said, that’s only part of it."

  "What’s the other part?" Ari sipped his wine and squeezed one of Sev’s legs between both of his as if sending him encouragement.

  Sev smiled at the gentle gesture. "The part about how I had lost someone once? Well, I had a boyfriend just over a year ago. We had dated for several months."

  Ari stiffened, an automatic reaction of the newly-mated link between them.

  "Don’t worry, babe, we weren’t mates. But I did love him. I won’t lie about that."

  Ari cleared his throat and fidgeted. "Was he a vampire?"

  "Yes."

  "What happened to him?"

  "Gabe was killed in a raid. He was an enforcer in Atlanta while I worked as an agent with VDA."

  "You were with Vampire Dreck Affairs?" Ari sounded impressed.

  Sev nodded. "Yep, but my commander, Jonas, disavowed me after an AKM raid at a cobalt factory went way wrong. See, I was deep cover and Jonas and Gabe had been lovers before I came along. Gabe had split up with him when he realized Jonas was forming a bond. Gabe didn't feel that way toward him. It wasn't a strong bond, but Gabe didn't want to risk it. Anyway, Jonas sent me into that factory when no agents were supposed to be there. He knew enforcers were going to raid it. He knew Gabe was going to be involved in that raid."

  Ari watched him quietly, his fingers playing over his glass.

  "At any rate, my thinking is that Jonas wanted to get rid of me. He blamed me for taking Gabe away from him even though I didn't come along until months after they broke up. But his plan backfired. Two kingpins decided to pay the factory a visit for product th
at night. They were passing through or some shit and took a chance. I don't know. I wasn't involved in that side of it and shit went down before I could find out. Anyway, these guys brought their personal cavalcade of bodyguards with them. If you think what we pull off the streets of Chicago is bad, these guys were like Hell's Angels compared to guys on Schwinn ten-speeds. Top notch firepower. Body armor. The whole nine."

  Sev paused to take a deep breath. The memory was still hard to talk about.

  "What happened, Sev?" Ari leaned forward and placed his hand over his.

  Their eyes met, and Sev bit back his emotion. "Gabe and the other enforcers busted in. They were terribly outnumbered. I hadn't known about the raid, either. Gabe and I never discussed certain aspects of our work with each other. He didn't even know I was a VDA agent. My cover was so deep, I hadn't been allowed to tell him. I mean, listening to him talk about my boss when I had to pretend I didn't know him was brutal. So anyway, the enforcers busted in, the second coming of God let loose, and Gabe was shot. I couldn't get to him in time to save him, and then I had to split with the others so I didn't blow my cover…." Sev's face screwed up as he struggled not to break down. "If I could go back, I'd do it all differently. I would blow my cover in an instant if it meant I could save him."

  God love Ari. He sat quietly by to let Sev work through the pain before going on.

  After he composed himself again, he continued. "I returned to the factory as quickly as I could, and when I got there, Gabe's sister – she was an enforcer, too, named Gina – was cradling Gabe's head on her lap. It was obvious he had just died. I went inside and she turned on me. I don't know what happened or what was said between them, but it wasn't hard to figure out. Gabe thought I had betrayed him, and his sister had dug into his mind to get his memories of what had happened.

  "She took one look at me and I could tell she thought I had murdered her brother. She shot at me – and I'll tell you about that in a minute –" Sev didn't want to go into his iron skin just yet. He wanted to get this part out first. "But finally I got her to call in to confirm I was VDA, but Jonas denied I was an agent." Sev looked away and shook his head. "Can you believe that shit? He actually lied and told them I had never been an agent." He huffed sarcastically. "Jonas relayed back the message that he had no knowledge of me working for VDA. That's when I knew I'd been thrown under the bus." He paused and huffed again. "Not only had Gabe died thinking I had betrayed him and lied to him the whole time we were together, but then my job was stripped out from under me, too."