Page 37 of Mating of Convenience
“I’m sorry,” Raph apologized. “That’s probably on the list of things I shouldn’t call you anymore.”
“It’s fine. I’m sorry I lashed out earlier.” Having him call me pet names was painful, yes. But even more painful than that was the idea that he might never call me by a pet name again.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Looking around, I found a light switch by my side, just over the headboard. “You okay if I shut off the lights?”
“Yeah, go ahead. I’m good.”
“Good.” I flicked the switch. “So we’re going to the dungeon tomorrow?”
“If you’re really okay with that.”
“I’m okay with it.”
“Then I would love to go.”
“Cool.” Now that the room was doused in darkness, I couldn’t see Raph anymore, but I could still feel his presence beside me. It wasn’t the first time we were sharing a bed of course--not even the first time we were doing so platonically--but somehow the simple act of being so close to him still made my heart race.
“Nathan?” he spoke up, the sheets rustling as he moved another few inches toward me.
“Yeah?” I asked, muscles tense in anticipation. He’d said he wouldn’t try anything, but then why was he creeping closer?
“Thank you for coming here with me. For marrying me and all. You’re a real friend.”
“Never mind. I’m getting something out of it too, remember?”
“But that’s not why you’re doing it.” I couldn’t see the smile on his face, but I heard it. “You’re the best, turtle. You really are.” By the way his breath whispered across my skin as he spoke, I knew that he was facing me--and that he was damn near within kissing distance. For three fast heartbeats, he lingered, but then he rolled away again. “Have a good night,” he said as if nothing was amiss, but I knew he’d felt the pull between us too.
He must have.
But he’d promised that he wasn’t going to make a move, so it was on me to take action, wasn’t it?
The moment was gone, though, and I still wasn’t sure if kissing the omega who’d broken my heart was the right thing to do.
But damned if I didn’t want to.
19
Raphael
Most people thought of the Eiffel Tower when they thought of Paris, but that wasn’t where we started our explorations. Because my alpha was the best alpha there was, he took me to the coolest part of the city--a place that wasn’t talked about as much. Probably because regular people didn’t think skeletons were romantic, but fuck that.
Skeletons could totally be romantic. Who knew how many of these bone-guys had boned each other when they still had their meat suits?
I wish I could say our day had started at the catacombs, but sadly, we had to get there first. My grandma had paid for air fare and the lodging, but she hadn’t given me any extra spending money, so after a day of feeling like spoiled rich kids, we had to join the rest of the plebeians and ride the Paris subway--the metro.
It was… cozy. And like an extremely uncomfortable group hug with people you’d never met before and who you never wanted to see again.
“Can’t. Breathe,” I joked, looking at Nate who looked about as uncomfortable as I felt. “Not quite as romantic as you thought it would be, is it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think this is my favorite part of Paris.”
“Next time we’ll come here when we’re actually rich so we can ride around in cabs and limousines.”
“I’m just glad we didn’t have to get on here with our luggage.”
I could only agree with him there.
