Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Most of the pieces are distinctly feminine, but the palladium armor ring set with a large trillion-shaped ruby with tiny diamonds on each of its corners speaks to me immediately. I don’t need to ask Killian to know it’s the one, so I take it from the cushion it’s presented to us on and slide it onto his finger.
His eyes light up and I stand close enough to hear that he’s stopped breathing. It fits as though it was custom made for him and even goes well with the manicure he got earlier. He’s already gotten a few much cheaper rings and necklaces today, but this is the crowning jewel, and we both know it.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers as if talking louder could break the spell he has me under.
I sure hope the coolest thing he’s ever seen is my dick, but I don’t hold that word choice against him, because it is a pretty amazing accessory.
“Is it the one?” I ask, stroking his hand.
“Yeah, this is the one.” But he’s not even looking at it anymore. Our eyes locked, he rises to his toes and gives me a tender kiss.
Is this what being touched by an angel feels like? Because I can barely breathe in the glow of his appreciation. We also get a simple set of wedding bands, also in palladium before leaving the store as the final customers of the day.
As we step outside, dainty snowflakes are floating through the air, and I grin when one lands on Kill’s nose.
“There. I think we have everything now.”
He pulls out one of his new leather gloves. “With a ring like this, I’ll only ever wear one, even if my fingers are falling off.”
“I’ll just have to always blow on your bare hand, so they don’t,” I reply and lead him through a tunnel of illuminated wiring.
He stays silent for a while. We’ve got everything and will soon be leaving, but he doesn’t ask where and lets me lead. “How does it feel to be a married man?” Killian asks. “Limited to only one guy for two weeks.”
I don’t expect that question and slow down in a part of the passage shaped like a stylized carriage. “You think I’m the kind of guy who hooks up with a new person every other day?” It’s cute how he’s fishing to find out more about me.
Killian laughs and squeezes my hand. “I don’t know. You’ve got the looks for it. Why would you get yourself a ball and chain?”
I shrug. “There was a time like that in the past, but I think everyone wants someone they can count on, who’s there to share things with,” I tell him and push a lock of green hair behind his ear. The lights mounted on the frame around us make his eyes glint like diamonds, and I find myself cupping his face. “My brother’s married to this woman, and he worships the ground she walks on. I mock him for it, but only because I’m jealous, because I know my family won’t be thrilled when I come over with a man at my side.”
“Is that why you’ve waited so long to tell them?”
I swallow, watching snow shimmer on Kill’s eyelashes and hair. “Yes. The offer I made you was spontaneous, but it’s time for them to know I’m not going to marry a woman. They will recognize me as a married man and stop treating me like I’m somehow still a child.”
“So there was no one you wanted to bring home for real?”
I scowl, looking away when I remember my past dalliances, even those, which I for a time had high hopes for. “The frustrating thing about being me, about… being a part of my family is the secrecy. I would meet someone, fall for them, but they’d always start poking at me. What do you actually do for work? Why can’t I meet your parents? Why do you disappear for weeks at a time? Questions I couldn’t answer without pushing them away, or putting myself at risk. Then, at home, I couldn’t tell anyone about the private life I lead when I’m away. My whole life I’ve been plagued with always having to lie in one way or another.”
Killian is the first man, my first lover to whom I can show the full picture. And soon enough, I’ll also introduce my family to him, closing the loop that has always had missing links.
“I hate lies, and always prefer the ugliest truth over them.” Kill says it with such conviction I know he means it.
“I know you’re younger than me, but do you have any strong feelings about marriage?”
His gaze drifts off to a shop window filled with boxes wrapped in red and green foil. “I’ve not actually expected it any time soon, but every time I fell for someone I felt we’d be together forever. When I feel things, it’s deeply. Like I’d follow them to the bottom of the ocean. But then invariably… they’d cheat on me, lie, then act all shocked when I dumped them. I can’t accept dishonesty.”