Page 22 of Relentless Touch

“I won’t let you break.” Rio leaned in. “I’ll just duct tape the shit out of the cracks.”

“You are the strangest man I have ever met,” Kevin said. “But your enabling skills are impressive. Are you sure you don’t have bodies in your basement? You’re a little too eager to use duct tape.”

And yet Kevin would willingly let Rio use it if that meant avoiding a past he’d barely survived the first time.

“Last chance.” He looked up at his mate. “You can still walk away from this unscathed.” The pull wouldn’t allow Rio to leave. It was a built-in failsafe no one could circumvent. So why had he given Rio an out?

Fuck if Kevin knew. He walked to the sink and grabbed a paper towel to give his hands something to do.

“That time has come and gone.” Rio scratched his chin. “I lost the choice even before I knew you were my mate.”

“But you knew right away.” He thought back to last night. Crashing through the door, flailing and making a mess, then finally sprawling on the floor. Rio had come into the kitchen, then crouched.

“It only took half a second to know I wasn’t walking away from this. Then I felt the pull and my snow leopard wanted to cover your impala in his scent.”

“Or eat him. I can’t believe my mate is an apex predator, and my enamored impala yeeted self-preservation into the nearest trash can.”

“Animal instinct.” He closed that last bit of distance, hands bracketed on either side of the sink.

Kevin glanced up at the mirror, caught both their reflections. His head only came up to Rio’s shoulders. Kevin looked exhausted while Rio looked like he could do this all day.

“What if your involvement bites you in the ass?” Kevin just could not stop thinking of reasons that might push Rio away. Even knowing that was impossible, his brain was not convinced.

Rio’s gray-green eyes flashed with amusement. “As long as you’re the one biting.”

“I’m discovering a lot of interesting things about you today.” He leaned back slightly, feeling the heat of his mate’s body through the fabric.

Rio rested his chin on Kevin’s shoulder. It was so domestic, yet everything he craved.

“Tell me again why you care. My brain, not me, still thinks this isn’t real.”

“Because you’re mine, Kevin. Because you’re a fighter. Because I see the vulnerability you try to shield with sarcasm. Because you make me want to be a better man.”

“Jesus,” Kevin whispered. The words were so simple, but the conviction in Rio’s tone kept surprising him. “Now I feel like I have to reciprocate and my mind is a complete blank.”

“Sorry I shoved you. That was very childish.”

“That explains why you hit like one.” Rio was definitely teasing him.

Kevin’s mouth twisted. “Have you ever wrestled an impala? Didn’t think so. My animal could kick your ass.” As long as Rio stayed in human form. If he shifted, Kevin was running.

“Is that an offer?” Rio’s lips curled into a wolfish…cat-like… grin.

Kevin tried not to be charmed, but a smile crept in. “You really are an asshole.”

“And you’re in my bathroom.”

“Technically, it’s the restaurant’s bathroom.” Kevin glanced around, ready to get out of there. “We’ll declare this a draw, pussycat.”

“I can live with that.”

“I don’t want to run anymore,” Kevin said in a softer tone. “I want to put in the hard work. Just don’t expect an overnight miracle.”

Rio slid his hand down Kevin’s arm. “I’m just glad you’re willing to stay.”

Kevin snorted. “There you go, saying things that melt me while I stand here with a blank brain.”

“I don’t expect you to reciprocate. I’m just speaking the truth.”