Chapter Twenty-Two

Skye landed atop the roof of his building in the hazy fog of dawn, and immediately knew something was wrong. The pale shadow that greeted him wasn’t the Garen he knew, in spite of the familiar shape of him in the growing glow. It took him a moment of studying Garen’s aura to grasp the difference.

Beyond even the determined set of Garen’s jaw and the flash of white light in his friend’s eyes, his aura glowed far too golden for Skye to deny the truth. They’d ~slipped~ again.

His stomach knotted. He was such a fool to start to hope Garen really would remain loyal only to him in spite of his wish for his friend to give in to temptation. And he’d left Melody in a fragile enough state to push her closer to Garen for her to give in, too. He’d cursed himself for being so abrupt and cold at the end, then spent the evening flying in circles over the city, halfway between going back to her and apologizing and confessing the truth of his behavior to her.

~I wanted him to have you, but I wanted you too much to give you up.~ If Garen were to have any chance with her, Skye would have to distance himself. Now he’d returned, hoping to find Garen and confess his true desire in the hope that they need not waste more time torturing Melody over it.

“You tasted her again,” he said softly, his voice muffled from the dense mist that surrounded them.

“I’ve done more than that, friend,” Garen said, his face clenched with anguish. “If you truly believe she belongs to you, then you need to take her away from me now.”

Skye finally understood the unusual difference in Garen’s aura. It wasn’t just filled with Melody’s energy, it was almost exclusively hers, meaning they’d done a complete exchange—he’d given his up, too. Only the tiniest bit of Garen’s glowing white energy was present, and none of the remnants of Skye’s blue energy left over from the last time they’d been together.

Skye’s head swam with the understanding. The plan had worked, and faster than he or Kol could have anticipated. He raked both hands through his hair and stepped toward Garen. “You don’t understand. I changed my mind. I want you to have her. I knew when I saw how her aura responded to you before. She should be yours.”

Garen grimaced. “You have no idea what being with her should mean to you, do you? You fuck her and then leave her, yet somehow in the middle of all that, she’s fallen for you. I may not be able to read her emotions the way you can, but I knew it the moment I found her last night after you’d deserted her. It’s always been your way. I’ve loved you for my entire life and tolerated it, but you’ve never changed. Women fall for you, but you are always too good for everyone except the woman your mother believes you should have. And now she’s within your grasp and you have the audacity to decide ~for her~ who she should love? What does that mean?”

“It means enough that I’m giving up my inheritance to make sure you are both happy. Mother’s fucking box is gone—I threw it into the bay the moment I learned how much you wanted her. You’ve taken her Nirvana twice now, and she’s able to take yours, too. Isn’t that enough of a sign that Fate wants you two together?”

“Fuck Fate. Melody is finally free of Kol’s bond. I am challenging you to agree to let her decide what she wants. I can’t let you give her away as though she’s your possession, but I can’t let you keep her for the same reason. A duel—once and for all, Skye. If I win, you let her choose which of us she will have.”

“And if you lose, you accept that Fate has sent her to you, not to me.”

Garen nodded, though Skye could sense a level of skepticism in him a moment before he shifted fully, his massive, winged shape lunging at Garen.

Skye barely had enough time to get his breath out to influence his friend with a dose of reason. Garen’s full Guardian bulk nearly engulfed his smaller, more efficient Blue dragon size. Skye’s own anatomy was meant for speed and agility, skills he rarely had to use anymore. Unlike him, Garen and every other Guardian had spent their young lives training. They trained with the Shadows while Skye learned to harness the power of his own breath for simpler purposes and was groomed to accept his Mother’s legacy once she was gone.

None of that mattered now with the huge white dragon toppling him over, twisting him around and clamping his teeth around the back of Skye’s neck.

~“Submit to me and it will be easier. And do believe I will take this to its traditional finale.”~ Garen’s voice rumbled through Skye’s mind. The words had less effect than the pressure at the base of his skull. His body responded to the flick of Garen’s tongue over that point. Skye’s tail flicked and he forced himself to shift again to avoid turning the rooftop to rubble while they got down to the true business of his submission.

Somehow, there could have been no other ending to their relationship. Garen had been Skye’s for so long without truly being his mate for reasons they both had left unsaid, but had always agreed on. A true mate was required to breed, and they’d spent their entire lives forbidden to mate within their own kind, they’d grown accustomed to the idea of never being together that way.

There was still one other way they’d never been together—not precisely.

Skye had always been dominant, and without Garen ever truly submitting. Garen’s pliancy had always involved a tacit understanding of their esteem for each other.

This was a fitting change to that dynamic, but Skye hesitated. The power shift between them would mean a major adjustment in their entire relationship, both personal and professional. He cursed and asked himself, ~What are you really afraid of? Enjoying it?~ Enjoying it and wanting more was precisely what scared him the most, particularly if Melody’s choice would hang in the balance. He feared he’d lose his edge if he gave in now, then remembered that he wanted Garen to win.

With that revelation, Skye relented, falling onto hands and knees and bowing his head when Garen resumed his human form, his teeth still clamped in the same spot on Skye’s neck.

“I submit,” he said. “I am yours, as I have always been in some fashion, friend.”

Garen let out a low growl without releasing his hold on Skye’s neck. Garen’s heavier body forced Skye’s flat onto the wooden patio of the rooftop pool deck, his cock a solid, thick heat sliding along the crease of Skye’s ass.

Abruptly Garen’s weight disappeared and Skye turned his head to see where his friend had gone.

“Turn over,” Garen’s gruff voice commanded. “I won’t be with you this way. I owe you that much consideration, at least, before we settle the Melody discussion.”

Skye thought it was settled. She would choose Garen—would have regardless of either of their plans to get her to choose Skye. Garen was right—Skye didn’t spend enough time with her, there was no way she would love him more. But if Garen needed to dominate him to prove a point, Skye would let him.

He rolled onto his back and gazed up at Garen’s tall, thickly muscled body, his shock of pale blond hair even whiter in the diffuse early morning light. Admiration filled him, and tenderness at how attentive Garen was being as he knelt down and gripped Skye behind the knees.

“You’ve never had anyone this way, have you?” Garen asked, reaching down to cup Skye’s cock and balls gently in one large hand.

“I can take you,” Skye said, not quite sure if he was telling the truth, but he could let his body accommodate Garen’s thick trunk of flesh if Garen could take his.

Garen smirked at him. “That wasn’t what I asked. Of course you can, and you will, but not until I make you ready.” With his other hand, he caressed between Skye’s ass cheeks, tracing small circles around the puckered opening.

Skye gripped himself behind the knees and closed his eyes, partly wishing Garen would hurry but also hoping he would go slow enough that they could both enjoy it.

“Open your eyes,” Garen said, and Skye did, staring down between his legs to see Garen bend and trace a long lick along the length of Skye’s cock with his tongue. He reversed direction, leaving a cool layer of saliva along Skye’s length before taking his balls into his mouth and sucking.

Sweet Mother, Garen always knew precisely how to make Skye’s need surge beyond the realm of comprehension, and it only grew more insistent when that glorious tongue plunged deep between Skye’s cheeks, teasing with deliberate wet strokes around his asshole and slipping inside once or twice. A moment later Garen rose again, bracing one arm on the floor at Skye’s side and staring down at him. With his other hand, Garen found Skye’s opening again and pressed a finger to the slick, sensitive skin, breaching the barrier and fucking into him. He refused to let Skye’s gaze wander, his expression intent and his eyes never wavering. The hot, hard weight of Garen’s cock rested on Skye’s belly, barely touching his own.

“I want to watch you when you come from me fucking you,” Garen said huskily. “I never get to see your face when it happens.”

Another finger joined the first, and Skye moaned at the stretching fullness of even those two digits when he knew Garen’s cock was easily six times as big. And fuck, did he want all of it now. But Garen seemed intent on taking his time, teasing as he slipped a third digit into the tight opening and pressed deeper, twisting and fucking until he found the sensitive bundle and prodded it gently.

Skye threw his head back and let out a guttural cry. “Fuck! You’re going to make me come like that. Let me feel all of you now, please. Every last inch.”

Garen’s fingers disappeared and were abruptly replaced by something far thicker. Skye pulled his knees tighter to his chest and forced himself to relax and open up to the invading flesh as Garen thrust hard and deep.

The bombarding, bruising weight of Garen’s hips pounded at Skye’s ass, each swift stroke hitting Skye just right until the blazing need built up so strongly he was sure he could hold back no longer.

At that second Garen paused, his cock buried deep and his chest heaving. He lowered his face to Skye’s and kissed him deeply.

“I made love to her like this, looked into her eyes while she called my name and came. Give me your gift, the way she gave me hers. Let me give mine to you, love. Let us all be equals for once in our lives. Let us all submit to love.”

~“Yes, I submit,”~ Skye sent to Garen, too breathless now to form words.

Garen’s hips bucked hard again, his cock instantly pulsing and the hot stream of his orgasm hitting Skye’s sensitive spot, pushing him past the brink of his own climax. Garen’s energy cascaded through him at the same second his own flooded out, seeking the void left behind.

How could he not have seen the truth that Garen had to fuck him to get him to understand? The act of submission had freed him to see it clearly, and the small gust of Garen’s breath in that final moment cleared his mind of everything but the truth.

Garen collapsed on top of him, his cock slipping free. Skye wrapped his arms around his friend and pressed his lips against Garen’s damp temple.

“I’ve been yours my entire life and never was it clear until this moment,” Skye said softly. “But I can’t lie anymore. I would have given her up if you’d been willing, even though I love her, too.”

“I love you,” Garen said. “But if you love her, and if she chooses you, you need to be with her fully—none of this ‘all there, all gone’ bullshit anymore. She deserves all of you or nothing at all.”

Skye slid his hands down Garen’s back, enjoying the ripple of pleasure he caused with his touch. “You’re very right, but somehow I doubt I’ll be so lucky. You’ve been there. You deserve her more than I do.”

Garen scowled down at him, then hefted his weight up and stood. “I’m not arguing who deserves her more. You agreed it would be her choice, and we’ll abide by that.”

Skye stood, and they walked silently to the elevator that would carry them back to her. He dared to let himself hope he was wrong. Perhaps he did have a chance after all.

He clung to the last impression of emotion he’d received from Melody before he’d abandoned her hours earlier. Dare he let himself love her and risk not having it reciprocated? There had been an overwhelming sense of the same panic in her when he’d looked into her eyes—he believed it only reflected his own awareness and fear of letting himself feel too deeply, yet the more he’d flown afterward, the more he wished to let himself feel all of it fully rather than holding back like he had with everyone in his life, including—and especially—with Garen.

And with Melody he could have everything he thought he always wanted—a lover whom he truly loved, a mate who could bear him children, and a way to satisfy his mother’s dying wish. Was sacrificing Garen worth the satisfaction in any of the scenarios he’d envisioned? He would have been forced to sacrifice Garen’s love, either way. There was simply no scenario that allowed him to have everything, and so he believed he’d made the right choice to give her up.

But the closer the pair of them got to her room, the more a chill of dread sank into his gut. Garen’s emotional state wasn’t much different.

She simply wasn’t there.

Faint residue of energy trailed around the place, more concentrated in her room, mixed potently with Garen’s strong energy, giving Skye another twinge of conviction that Garen was the one she would choose. They followed her energy into the dining room where Skye had so coldly abandoned her the night before, and there they found the note.

~Garen & Skye,~

~I am leaving. I no longer want the things I thought I wanted when I signed the contract. I thought I had more worthy goals when I met you both, and I believe you did before you met me. ~

~You love each other, and a love as old as yours should not be set aside, not for anything. ~

~I’m going back to the beginning. The ~true~ beginning for me, to try to understand why I ran to begin with, to try to figure out how I can move forward being in love with two people who had no business making me love them as much as I do, and then leaving me. Because you did, both of you. You drew me in, showed me wonders I knew existed in the world but couldn’t even imagine could be so amazing. You showed me who and what you really are, even though you never actually revealed yourselves. I know, and so I had no choice but to fall in love. ~

~But I have a choice now, which I think you gave me, somehow. You both left, and your leaving was what released me, gave me the choice to find the path I was meant to follow.~

~Please find each other again. If you ever loved me, or if you still do, please try to love each other first and to give each other the happiness my presence only seemed to distract you from. ~

~When I find my own true path, perhaps it will lead me to happiness, too.~

~Love Always,~

~Melody~

Skye let the paper flutter back to the table and turned to stare helplessly at Garen.

“How can she leave?”

Garen’s anguish was plain on his face, but mixed with resignation. “She wasn’t a prisoner here, in spite of the contract. She could leave anytime she wanted to. Her commitment to the contract was the only thing keeping her, but it seems we’ve succeeded in fulfilling Kol’s wishes if she’s gone now. Kol will be pleased, at least.”

Skye tried to remind himself that the bond had been their primary purpose in creating the contract to begin with, but the satisfaction of knowing it had been broken felt as empty as the apartment without her presence.

Then it hit him that she said she’d known what they are.

“Did you show her your true form?” he asked.

Garen shook his head. “No, but she told me she knew what I was. She didn’t say it outright, and I didn’t confirm it, but I believed her.” His eyes widened when he looked at Skye. “We won’t know for certain how potent her blessing is until we track down Alec, or his legacy.”

He trusted her—he had no reason not to—but their laws required them to take action if an unmarked human knew their secret. He had to follow protocol. He was at least thankful that as a senior executive he could take the issue to the top without involving the lower level security teams in locating her.

“I will help Kol look for him. You should go find her,” Skye said, turning with the intent to dress and get moving.

“No. We stay together. Otherwise this letter of hers means nothing to you,” Garen said, pulling him back with a tug of his hand. “She wants us to be together. If we aren’t together when we go to her, she’ll know we didn’t even try. If you want her, we have to prove to her we tried.”

Garen’s eyes held Skye’s, searching. His friend’s emotions were heightened and uncertain, the question lingering just beyond the barrier of full articulation. ~Do you love me enough to try?~

There was no question in Skye’s mind. He loved Garen too much to let his friend give up the chance of being with a woman who loved him. He stared down at Melody’s letter again, focusing on the words. ~Try to love each other first.~

“We will go see Kol together. The Shadows will be the best place to start if we’re going to find out where Alec hid away his treasure.”