Epilogue

 

 

 

Michael was hot and sweaty and so happy he could have purred. He wiggled, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. Alli made a nice weight on top of him.

Wild, passionate sex was really the only way to say hello.

Michael wound his fingers in Alli’s hair, too sated to move. He’d pounced on Alli the instant the man had come through the door. They’d never even made it to the bedroom, but that was okay. Alli had a pretty comfy couch.

“Lucas came into the shop today,” Alli admitted quietly.

Well, that just shattered the afterglow.

Michael shot upright, glaring at his boyfriend. Alli looked suspiciously guilty.

“He isn’t due for another week,” Michael snarled.

“Well, thanks to you, he forgot his aconite and had to come back for it. And believe me, I think it was as awkward for him as it was for me.”

“His what?”

“Wolfsbane, monkshood, whatever you want to call it.”

“Oh, his plant.”

“Don’t look so grumpy,” Alli chided. “Tristan was with him.”

“What was Tristan doing with Lucas?”

“Making the poor guy apologize. Apparently, Lucas had a crush on me. We kept thinking Lucas was around because it was true. He watched me sometimes. Tristan made him promise to stop.”

“What about the claw marks at the store? How did he explain those?”

“That was Marandon. He was big on misdirection. Tristan explained everything to me this morning.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because you have this unreasonable dislike for Lucas,” Alli argued. “It’s ridiculous and unfounded.”

“The man kissed you!”

“It was only a kiss.”

“Only a… I should have ripped off his arms instead of just hitting him. Next time, you call me. I mean it.”

“He’s harmless,” Alli snapped. “He just gets a little amorous during the full moon.”

“Damn fucking werewolf,” Michael muttered.

Alli started laughing.

“Now what’s so funny?” Michael couldn’t stop the scowl. They’d been having such a nice evening, too. Michael reached out and snagged Alli before he went sliding off the couch.

“Werewolf,” Alli snorted.

Okay, Alli had officially cracked.

“I just never thought about it before,” Alli finally said when he could breathe again. “But if he’s a werewolf that makes you a…a…werebear!”

Alli cracked up again. Michael rolled his eyes.

“I’m a shifter,” he snapped. “Weres are a different species entirely.”

“Man and beast. What’s the difference?” Alli had gotten his laughter under control, but it had been replaced by bouncing. The whole couch jiggled as Alli stared at Michael, that fanatical light in his eyes, the one Michael had come to associate with the man’s voracious curiosity.

“Shifters change from human to animal. Weres have that half-man, half-animal form. And as far as I know, there are no…werebears.” Damn. He cringed just saying the word. Especially as it sent Alli off into another fit of laughter.

Michael pinned Alli to his side, grumbling under his breath about faeries with rotten senses of humor.

“Sorry,” Alli said. Since he was still laughing, Michael didn’t really buy the apology.

Michael tugged on Alli’s braid, wrapping the hair around his fist and bringing Alli in for a kiss. It was, after all, the most effective way to stop the annoying laugh.

It worked. Alli moaned, tongue sliding out to tangle with Michael’s. The kiss stayed light, sensual.

Michael’s stomach growled. His cheeks flushed.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“We should get something to eat,” Alli said.

“Emmaline’s?”

“Why not?”

“Tristan can’t join us.”

“He can’t?”

“Nope,” Michael said. “I want to ask you something and it’s best done without an audience.”

“What do you want to ask?” Alli propped his arms on Michael’s chest and his chin on his hands, staring with burning curiosity.

“Dinner.”

“Now.”

Michael smiled. “Fine. I want you to move in with me.”

“But then I can’t walk to work,” Alli pointed out.

“So I’ll drive you. I’ve turned your storeroom into an office already.”

“I don’t know, Michael…”

Michael wrapped his hands around Alli’s back and went for the kill. “You wouldn’t have to hide your wings.”

“You really have a thing for my wings, don’t you?”

Michael nodded. “They’re you. I don’t want you to have to hide any part of yourself.”

His hand kept wandering, halting between Alli’s shoulder blades. Michael scratched and Alli hummed in pleasure, moving back into the touch.

“I don’t know. I think your cabin might be outside the shield.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you think there are so many paranormals here? When the coven first moved in, they hired someone to put a protective spell around their sacred circle. Something went wrong and it surrounded the whole town. I think it’s why I’ve been able to live here for so long without self-destructing. The magic around the town is enough to take the edge off. If the cabin is outside the boundary…”

“Then we’ll deal with it. I want you close, Alli,” Michael urged. “I want us to be somewhere Bruce can roam and you can wander around being yourself.”

“I could do that here.” Alli didn’t sound so certain, though.

“Maybe, if you kept the windows closed up. Putman might be accepting, but I don’t think they’re quite ready for a winged man. And you know how Bruce feels about enclosed spaces.”

Michael kept his hands moving idly, stroking and petting.

“I’ll think about it,” Alli finally promised.

It wasn’t the answer Michael wanted, but it would do. He brushed a quick kiss across Alli’s lips and moved Alli off him.

“I’ll take it. For now. Come on, babe. Let’s get some food. Then we can come back and go to bed.”

“What, no movie?” Alli teased.

“Sure. The couch works just as well as the bed,” Michael teased back. “And nothing says we actually have to watch the movie.”

Alli laughed, light and happy. Michael clasped their hands.

Life wasn’t perfect and never would be, but it was good. Very good. And to Michael’s mind, good worked better than perfect.

Bruce rumbled happily, in full agreement.

Michael looked at Alli, the sharp features and bright hair so familiar now.

Yeah, he was a very lucky bear.