His Hunter

X | Reflections

"You're welcome?" Lionel answered. He leaned his head against Cole's, his heart lifting once again. None of this felt real. Everything he'd hoped for had come true. Well, not everything, but this was a first step towards everything. 

Lionel felt so safe, so perfectly comfortable with Cole's arms around him, his mate's head resting snugly on his shoulder. Lionel sighed deeply, happily, and was hit with another shockwave of awe and delight when Cole's cinnamon smell surrounded him. Lionel tucked his face into the crook of Cole's neck and reached up to touch Cole's beautifully curly hair. It was so soft between his fingers, and sometimes one of the curls would twist around Lionel's hand and hold on to him. Everything just made sense. 

Lionel's hand stilled, resting on the back of Cole's neck. "Hey," Cole mumbled. 

"What?" Lionel asked, hanging on every word Cole said. 

"Don't stop," Cole whispered. 

Lionel smiled, his heart beating faster again. A burst of excitement grew in his chest. "Ok," Lionel said quietly, reaching up again and twisting his fingers into Cole's hair. 

Cole sighed, his arms sliding up and down Lionel's back. "What's my dad going to say? Where do I even go?" 

"Sh," Lionel said, "Don't worry about it for now, ok? He doesn't need to know yet. All you should worry about right now is Kaia." Lionel pressed a tiny kiss on Cole's shoulder. He felt the perfect roughness of Cole's stubble on his neck. 

"I know," Cole said, raising his head slowly. It surprised Lionel how much it hurt to look at Cole's face now. Not in a bad way, but more like Lionel was so happy that his heart was too small to contain it all. It was heartbreaking, but only because Lionel felt so strongly that it--whether 'it' be happiness, excitement, love, or lust--couldn't be contained. Lionel loved the new cracks in his heart because they meant progress, change, emotions so powerful they exploded out of him. That was truly living, and though Cole had thanked him, Lionel felt like it was him who should be thanking Cole. 

"I told you, though, sometimes I can't think about anything else," Cole said, staring at Lionel. It made Lionel's face heat up slightly. Cole's expression contorted slightly, "Does that make me a bad person?" 

Lionel balked at the thought, "As if you could ever be a bad person." 

Cole smiled slightly, "That's a lot of faith you've got." 

"In you? I suppose. But I'm not worried about it," Lionel said, smiling back. Their bodies were still close, but it felt natural now. It didn't feel wrong like it had before, like Lionel was forcing Cole into something he didn't want. It felt like Lionel was stepping in the footsteps of fate. It felt ok. 

Well, better than ok, but Lionel didn't want to push Cole's limits. The guy had basically just accepted that he was both gay and mated to a lycanthrope. That was a lot for one day. 

But...

Shit. Shit. It was about to get worse. 

"Hey, you should go. No, I should go," Lionel said, a wave of nausea rolling over him. Lionel nodded awkwardly, "I should go." He slid down off of the counter, but before he could slip away, Cole grabbed his wrist. 

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" Cole asked, his voice fraught with panic. 

Lionel cursed and turned to look at him, "No, you didn't. Well, sort of you did. But it was good. It was great, actually. Mind blowing, I've heard stories about the first kiss but...damn." 

Cole smiled slightly, but his eyes were still afraid, "Where are you going, then?" 

"I'm..." Lionel felt embarrassed. He shouldn't have. This was his mate, the love of his life. This was Cole. But still...this was embarrassing. "About to have a really bad time."