Without Reservations

face. When he took it, Chay drew him out of the chair, sat down and pulled Keaton onto his lap.
    Chay kissed his nose and leaned back in the chair, holding him close. “I’m not going anywhere, Bit. You can quit waiting for me to leave, it’s not going to happen.”
    Keaton wished he could believe that wholeheartedly. He did believe it on some level, but there was still a little bit of doubt in the back of his mind. “I can’t help it. I feel like I’m destroying your life. I’ve already lost you a friend. God only knows how your parents are going to react.”
    Chay placed a hand on the side of Keaton’s head, holding him to Chay’s chest, and kissed him again. “It’s destiny, Bit. If my friends and family desert me, they didn’t care that much about me in the first place.
    It doesn’t matter to me that you are a man instead of a woman. To be quite honest, I don’t think I’d care if you were a wolf…I mean like a regular wolf not able to shift back and forth. And it isn’t just sex.”
    Keaton looked up at Chay, pulling back slightly to see his face. “Are you trying to tell me you love me?” He was shameless, but he couldn’t help it. Keaton wanted to hear it again, addressed to him this time instead of in an argument with Remi.
    Chay smiled. “Yeah, Bit, I do. But that isn’t what I’m trying to say.”
    “Huh?”
    Chay sighed. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m not going to run out on you. I’m not going to split, because my family and friends don’t like it.
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    You mean more to me than they do. I know it’s not going to be easy. But it’s something I’m willing to fight for.”
    Wow. He knew what Chay meant. He’d never felt the connection he had with Chay with anyone else. He knew logically that it was due to their genes, but he couldn’t help but think that he’d feel this way even if they weren’t mates. He still didn’t want to be the reason Chay’s life spiraled down the toilet though. He kissed Chay and smiled. “Okay. I’m here for you, but I’m warning you it’s not going to be easy.”
    Chay chuckled and squeezed him tight, squishing the breath out of him. “I know, I know. Everyone is going to hate me and want nothing to do with me. I got it. You sound like a broken record.”
    Keaton snorted. “I didn’t say everyone was going to hate you.”
    “What about you, Bit? Are you going to hate me?” Chay asked with a glint in his eye and a smug smile on his lips.
    Keaton grinned. The man was too smug. “Is this your way of trying to finagle a confession of everlasting love out of me?”
    Chay’s eyes widened. He tried to look offended, but it wasn’t working, with the wicked, knowing gleam in his eye. “Would I do such an underhanded thing?”
    Keaton laughed. “You would do whatever it takes to get your way. I have absolutely no doubt about that.”
    Chay stopped smiling, his eyes suddenly serious. “I love you, Bit. I really do.”
    Whoa. Keaton couldn’t breathe. His heart was about to pound out of his chest. Chay’d said it without Keaton even having to ask. Did he love Chay? He knew Chay expected him to say it back to him, but…could he trust Chay with that vulnerability?
    “You don’t have to say anything, Keaton. I just thought you should know.”
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    He nodded. In for a penny, in for a pound. It was going to kill him if Chay ever did decide he didn’t want him. Telling the man how he felt wasn’t going to change that, because he did feel it. “I love you too, Chay.”
    Chay’s smile became radiant. “You know coming from you that means everything. You stubborn shit.”
    Keaton’s jaw practically hit the floor. “I still hate your damned pheromones though.”
    Chay cackled, his eyes tearing up with humor. He grabbed Keaton’s head with both hands and kissed him.
    The last coherent thought Keaton had was that life with Chay would never be dull.
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    Without Reservations

Chapter Ten
    “Did you know there are gay penguins?”
    What? Keaton looked up from his book. “Excuse me?”
    Chay lay across from him, reading. He nodded and put his magazine—something to do with animals and vets and stuff—on his stomach. “Yeah, there is, really. There are all sorts of homosexual relationships in animal species.”
    Keaton blinked and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
    “There are monkeys and sheep—well rams