Chapter 74

Yuri left the market carrying food and treats for a dog he had not even rescued yet. The road home looked utterly different beneath the sunset, painted red as though it led into another world. Only then did Yuri realize how far his aimless walking had taken him, but the journey back did not feel burdensome.

By the time he returned to the familiar neighborhood, the sky had darkened completely. Stars emerged one by one, and the evening air had grown cooler. Yuri found himself hoping Cherriot had returned. Then, he remembered that he had left his phone behind.

He had expected to remain nearby, but the walk had taken far longer than planned. Cherriot might have tried to contact him. Alarmed, Yuri found the familiar wall and broke into a run.

When he approached the house, two guards patrolling nearby noticed him. Relief crossed their faces. They glanced at Yuri, took out a phone, and immediately called someone. The call seemed likely to concern him.

Yuri hurried through the door.

The first thing he saw was the back of a man standing rigidly in the entrance hall, clutching his phone. At the sound of the door opening, the broad, tense shoulders turned.

Cherriot’s bloodless face twisted at the sight of Yuri. He crossed the hallway in several long strides. “Yuri, you really…!” He reached Yuri and bent forward as though collapsing, throwing his long arms around him.

Most of the cologne had faded, leaving the rich, familiar scent of Cherriot’s pheromones. They felt rough and sharp, revealing how badly shaken he had been.

Yuri dropped the paper bag and stroked Cherriot’s back. “I’m sorry. I left my phone behind.”

Cherriot said nothing. His arms tightened. He pressed his forehead against Yuri’s shoulder and remained there for several minutes. As he slowly breathed in and out, the pheromones that had spread wildly through the house began to settle.

“I thought you had left me,” Cherriot whispered.

“That would never happen.”

“I thought you’d grown tired of me and didn’t want to stay beside me anymore.”

“Cherriot, why would you think that?” Yuri strengthened his voice, trying to calm him.

Cherriot’s hands tightened abruptly. His fingers clenched against Yuri’s back, then stroked him as though reassuring themselves that he was real. Slowly, Cherriot raised his head.

Yuri lifted his chin to examine the face he had finally revealed. His disheveled reddish-gold hair clung untidily to his forehead, while moisture shimmered in his vivid green eyes. The reddened skin around them looked so pitiful that Yuri raised a hand to touch it.

Cherriot spoke before his fingers arrived. “Because I waited too long to tell you I love you.”

Yuri’s hand froze. He blinked and slowly replayed the words.

Did he just say he loves me? “I thought you’d grown tired of a coward like me, someone who couldn’t even admit that I fell for Wolfie the moment I saw him,” Cherriot said, the confession pouring from him so suddenly that Yuri could not speak. “I should’ve told you the instant you woke up, but I was afraid you might resent me for getting shot…”

Though Yuri’s lips remained motionless, his heart began pounding wildly from the moment Cherriot said he loved him. His ribs tightened around it until breathing became difficult.

“Wolfie, go out with me. I’ll treat you better than anyone you’ve ever known, so please be my boyfriend. Please say yes.”

Too many words arrived at once for Yuri to process. Cherriot’s voice had rushed with impatience while he confessed, but the moment he asked Yuri to date him, it began trembling. His face had gone white with nerves. He gazed down at Yuri with desperate longing, begging silently for an answer.

Yuri stared at the hair plastered untidily across his forehead, the red skin around his tearful eyes, and the slight tremor in his jaw. Then, at last, he understood.

The man who had shown Yuri paradise… the first person Yuri had ever loved had said that he loved him in return. The fantasy that Cherriot might have changed his mind had become real. The signs Yuri had dismissed as foolish hope were true. Cherriot liked him enough to want a relationship. Yuri had not imagined it alone.

Am I allowed to be this fortunate? Is someone like me allowed to have this? Yuri had never heard news that brought him such joy. He did not know how to receive so precious and beautiful a moment. His heart had already begun spreading happiness through every part of his body, beating as though it might burst, but a mind unused to joy could not understand what was happening. It emptied into white silence.

“Wolfie…” When Yuri remained frozen, Cherriot whimpered his name. Apparently interpreting the silence as rejection, he pulled Yuri more tightly into his arms and began pleading. “Can’t you date me? I may not be your type, but my face isn’t so bad that you’d be ashamed to keep me around. I’ve earned plenty of money from working, and, well, you’ve already seen it, but my dick is genuinely huge. You won’t find many that size anywhere…”

At some point, the frantic confession wandered into territory that hardly seemed appropriate for the moment. Oddly enough, that brought Yuri back to reality.

“Cherry, calm down. I couldn’t speak because I needed a moment to think.” Yuri intended to soothe him, but the words had the opposite effect.

“Don’t call me Cherry while saying something that sounds like a rejection!” Fresh tears flooded the green eyes.

Yuri looked up at Cherriot’s ruined expression, cupped his cheeks with both hands, and spoke clearly. “Cherry, I love you.”

His river-blue eyes held Cherriot. The certainty within them made Cherriot press his lips tightly together. One tear escaped the overflowing green eyes and rolled onto Yuri’s finger. Cherriot’s tears were warm.

“I love you enough to do anything if it means seeing you smile,” Yuri said softly. “I want you to be happy. So don’t cry. It hurts me when you cry.”

Cherriot nodded without opening his tightly closed mouth. He lowered his eyes miserably and rubbed his face into Yuri’s hands. When he had finally swallowed the sob threatening to escape, he whispered, “And the boyfriend part? Will you let me be your boyfriend?”

A low laugh escaped Yuri. He should not have laughed in such a moment, but Cherriot was unbearably endearing for insisting upon a precise answer.

Cherriot gazed down at him with injured, mournful eyes. His golden lashes, clumped together with moisture, fluttered pitifully.

“Of course I want that too,” Yuri answered. “But I don’t want dating me to cost you the trust. We don’t have to begin immediately. Hearing that you love me is already enough.”

“It isn’t remotely enough for me.” Cherriot placed his hands over Yuri’s. His long fingers slipped between Yuri’s and wrapped them in warmth. “I want Yuri to want me. Then I can want Yuri as much as I like too. Am I the only one who wants to kiss you, hold your hand while we walk, and tell everyone proudly that I have a boyfriend? There are thousands of things I want to do with you.”

Cherriot’s request that Yuri become possessive struck him like a blow. Yuri had always assumed that wanting Cherriot would become a burden to him. It had never occurred to him that holding back might instead hurt Cherriot.

Alexei had told Yuri to want things freely, to hunger for them. Watching from a distance could never make him truly happy. Alexei had told him to live as everyone else did, because Yuri was neither saint nor sage and had no need to pretend otherwise.

Loving another person had seemed impossibly difficult. Yet perhaps it was simple. At least loving Cherriot did not require Yuri to endure silently or retreat.

The realization cleared his mind. The foolish blankness that had stolen every thought passed, and for the first time in his life, Yuri decided to voice exactly what he desired.

“I want to kiss you too. Of course I do, Cherry. I’m a man and an Alpha. How could I not want to touch the person I love?” His fingers tightened around Cherriot’s face. “I want everyone to know that I’m the one who gets to protect you. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

“You want me enough to call me the person you love?”

“Yes, Cherry.”

“I love Yuri too…” Cherriot slowly lowered his head and whispered against Yuri’s lips.