Chapter 141 Love triangles
“I admit its madness to love more than one person.” He brushed my nose lightly with his. “But we all suffer from that madness, if the other two will be honest.”
My heart stopped, and then picked up again, beating faster.
Mordaine loved me? No, that could not be right. Hale had to be referring to Finn, just Finn. Mordaine had obviously come to care more about me over the last few days, but like dragon possession. He was protective and possessive of me the way he was with the other shiny objects he collected over centuries and stores in his vault. Not like a woman.
Hale pulled back an inch to stare in my eyes, tracing my jaw down to my throat with the pad of his fingers.
“I met Daine shortly after Nym died.” He whispered, and I shuddered at the heat of his touch. “Simultaneously, it was the height of the biggest tragedy of my own life.”
He moved his left hand then, and waved. I heard more than saw the listening barrier come up around us. We were now in a bubble of privacy.
Our eyes locked, and the pain carved into his features broke my heart. He grabbed both my hands then, and stared down at it.
“It was a horrible time, fairy. A long stretch of darkness I could not seem to get out of, and in the state I was at the time, it was illogical for anyone to love me. But that crazy dragon… he did, he fell in love with me.”
I smiled sadly. This was the first time he had talked about this. When we were together four years ago, he said as little about Mordaine as possible, and I respected that.
“He could be my brother…” His eyelashes fluttered as he exhaled out of his mouth, as if every word hurt. “Or my best friend. The love we share transcends sex or romantic feelings, or… “ He paused and muttered a curse. And even that managed to sound elegant coming from him. “I'll not hesitate to die for that man, and he has done… things that are more harrowing than giving his life for me.”
He tilted his head to meet my gaze again, and I saw he would not go deeper than that. This secret, this thing that he and Mordaine did, probably before Grandma was even born, he will not tell me about it. At least not today.
“So you can imagine how much it messed with my sanity to watch him chase another woman years later. Flore, Nym's reincarnate. It felt as if I had been living a lie. Like you, little wolf, it was difficult for me to accept that it was possible to love more than one person at the same time.”
I moved my thumb over his knuckles, nodding in encouragement.
“I came to the conclusion that if he had room in his heart to love someone else, he did not love me enough.”
A bell tolled suddenly, a lone echo from somewhere in the city. We turned immediately, our wolves alert. But there seemed to be no danger and our eyes locked again. “I loved them...”
“Who?”
“Flore, Astre…” he shrugged. “But it was a different kind of love. Nothing like I felt for Daine, and that only fueled my bias, my feeling of inferiority. And then I met this sweet boy six years ago.”
My shoulders jumped, and Hale's hands came up to rub heat into my arms, apparently believing it was the chill in the air. My nipples hardened at the contact.
“Tell me,” I urged him, even though it burned to know he met me last. That he knew Finn two whole years before he ever met me.
Hale smirked sadly, “You know what his father did right, using him as an attack dog?” Hale paused and I nodded. “I would later learn that it was their first robbery against supernaturals. But at the time, I did not know it. One look at the chap, and you could see he was an explosion waiting to happen, on the edge and shifty. It was a good thing Daine had just left, he likely would have killed him first and asked questions later. But as the robbery progressed, Finn moved closer to me, and our eyes met for the first time."
Hale inhaled, a wistful look in his eyes. "My world shifted, just from looking in those eyes that were now pleading silently with me, asking me for help that I would only figure out after he had left.” Hale winked, and my cheeks heated. “You know what I mean, you probably fell for those eyes too.”
I licked my lips nervously, suddenly shy.
Hale moved till I could feel his chest against mine, and wove his arm around my waist.
“I let them rob my office. But as days passed, I realized I was starting to think about the azure-eyed boy as much as I did my lover of two centuries. Finn was my eureka. The first shock of reality that I could fall head first in love with a person while deep in love with another.”
“And you…” he brought his face close, lips parted, just breathing against mine for a second.
“Hale,” I shivered against him, feeling warmth between my legs.
He brushed his lips lightly against mine, once, twice. My knees were knocked, and my hand gripped his elbow tightly. “You, my Luna…” his lips slipped between mine and a small sound escaped my throat. “You were my pinnacle.”
His lips moved mine, tracing a line of fire across my cheeks to the skin on my neck. “Even before I felt the pull of our mate bond, I fell for you.”
I was shivering against him at this point. His hand had traveled to the curve of my ass cheek, and his tongue was teasing my earlobe, stroking my earring.
“The storm in your eyes burned like fate. Your rage at me, my comeuppance. You stirred something in me that no one else had stirred.”
He caressed my cheek with the tip of his nostrils till he was back at my lips. We both stood still, breathing heavily. His erection was a pulsing bar against my hip.
“But again, like you, I was ashamed of the things I felt. And when I got home, I could not look Daine in the eye.” He moved his lips to my forehead. “I tried to avoid you, remember?”
I smiled. “I do. Abe would pick up my scent long before he saw me and already begin his rehearsed speech. Miss Grunder, the mayor has a meeting with the pharaoh, the Spartans, and some dead Vikings, and will be unable to grant you an audience till the year 3044.” I mimicked his P.A. voice, and Hale chuckled hard.
“That was my attempt to be a good man, a normal man who loved one person even though you were already a virus in my blood and I found myself stalking your social media pages during important meetings.”
“Even though I waited outside your office to tell you I thought you were a piece of shit and you and all your politician friends deserved to burn in hell?”
“Even then, my love.” He leaned in and pressed his closed lips against mine for several seconds. “Especially then. I could not get you out of my system." He winced now. "Like you did tonight, I told Daine I couldn't choose.”
I leaned my forehead on his shoulder and wrapped my hands around his waist.
“I cannot choose between you two was what I said, and the look in his eyes would haunt me forever.” Hale's fingers came under my chin and tilted my head to look in his eyes. “Do you see what a selfish man I am now?”
“Hale…”
“I, too, hate the idea of sharing you. I cannot stand the idea of you loving anyone else but me. But at the same time, I am happy you do, because it soothes my conscience while I love another. Because I know you will not resent me much for wanting the same thing as you.” He bit his lip hard. “Do you see how messed up that is?”
I was speechless now, just staring in his eyes.
“Let's be selfish together.” He lowered his head and started to kiss his way down. My eyes widened. “Let's be bad together, little wolf.” he went on one knee and pushed my skirt up.