Page 66 of Trust No Alpha
“No. He wouldn’t have said a thing if he felt distress. He gave his all to me.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kris squeezed Thorne’s hand again.
“It might have been different if I could have called for emergency help.”
“But you couldn’t. And that’s not your fault.”
Thorne wanted to argue. “The cause of death doesn’t matter. His heart failed and I was not conscious so I couldn’t call for help. He died in my arms but I—I--” He couldn’t speak further.
Kris moved closer to him and Thorne felt the wonderful warmth of him flow around him. Softly, “Tell me again. How long were you together?”
“Four years.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kris leaned his head against Thorne’s shoulder.
They sat that way for a few minutes.
Kris spoke again. “So you put the label on yourself as dangerous. But you’re not violent.”
“He died from neglect. That’s dangerous!” Thorne insisted.
“But Father neglects his Omega servitors all the time on the farms. And he’s not labeled that way.”
“I insisted on the label. So it would be on the public record for all to see. So it would never happen again.”
“You insisted?” Kris sounded surprised.
“Of course I did.”
“Your grief is great. Ian was very lucky.”
Thorne tilted his head to look at Kris leaning against him, his golden hair twisted to one side. “Why would you say that? He’s dead.”
“I meant lucky to have someone who loved him so much that he would go to such lengths to ensure he would never have another mate.” Kris’s chin nearly touched his chest and his lovely brown eyes closed. “To be loved that much—wow.”
The discomfort in Thorne’s chest spread to his stomach and he felt a sudden urge to be sick. If he had loved Ian enough, he wouldn’t have put him through such uncontrolled Burns. He had been self-serving. Cocky. And Ian had insisted he’d grown used to Thorne’s routines but Thorne should have ordered him to see a doctor after each one. He should have known better. It made him sick to think he’d been so selfish. What happened wasn’t right. He was indeed a dangerous Alpha.
“Father taught me a lot of things. But in the short time I’ve known you, I think you’ve taught me more,” Kris said.
Disbelief flooded Thorne’s system. He could take no more. “I have to get up.”
Kris leaned away. “All right.”
Thorne stood and headed for the bathroom without looking back. Once inside he shut the door and ran cold water into the sink, splashing it onto his face. He still thought he might be sick, but as he stared into the mirror over the sink the moment passed. What he saw there was a frazzled and rumpled looking dark-haired Alpha still in his prime at fifty, and facing a future of more loneliness if he pushed Kris away. The corners of his eyes were down-turned. He had not noticed this look on him of weariness and mistrust but it must have been there for a long time, much like the look on Kris’s face when he’d first brought him in from the cold.
Kris had said his father taught him to trust no Alpha. It seemed Thorne had applied that lesson in his own life. He did not trust Alphas, most especially himself.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kris
I stood in the doorway of Thorne’s bedroom.
“You know you are welcome here,” Thorne said to me, the lamplight falling over him like a transparent, pale cloak. He held up the covers of his bed in invitation.
It was the second night after my Burn. I’d gone to bed early, so I went to my own room again. And again I couldn’t sleep.
In truth I couldn’t stop thinking about our kisses on the couch. And I’d also been thinking of Ian. I was worried Thorne was still upset about that talk we’d had that morning.
