Partnership Reborn by Ariel Tachna

Author:Ariel Tachna [Tachna, Ariel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

SOMEONE POUNDING on Jean’s door drew him from his reverie. He wasn’t asleep. He hadn’t slept since Raymond died. He rested. He let his body relax and his mind drift, but without Raymond’s presence to settle his beast, he did not sleep. Even before he looked at the clock, his senses told him the sun had not yet set—which made the knock at his door even more unusual. Unless….

There was only one way to find out.

He pushed open the curtains on his bed and padded barefoot through the apartment to the front door. It opened onto a landing that the sun’s rays couldn’t reach directly at any time of day, so he had no fear of opening the door to see who was knocking. He could decide to let them in or slam the door in their face after he knew who was there.

He cracked the door open and peered outside. Sebastien stood there, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched as if he expected to be turned away. Given the hour and all that implied, Jean supposed it wasn’t an outlandish worry, but Sebastien was his best friend, the only tie he had left to his old life. He wouldn’t turn him away.

“Come in. Some of us don’t have partners to protect us from sunlight,” he grumbled.

“You don’t actually know that,” Sebastien said as he came inside and hung his jacket on the coatrack by the door. “You could have a new partner out there and not know it yet.”

“That would presume I wanted a new partner,” Jean replied wearily. “And I don’t, so it doesn’t matter if there’s someone out there who could be my partner. He wouldn’t be Raymond, and that’s not something I could forgive long enough to give him a chance. If there is such a person out there, he’s better off never knowing I exist. I’d only make his life a living hell.”

“You aren’t usually quite this bitter,” Sebastien said.

“You don’t usually show up smelling of sex and the blood of your new partner,” Jean retorted. “It’s good that things are working out for you, truly, it is, but it changes things.”

“First of all, I don’t know what you smell, but I showered after he left this morning, and I haven’t seen him since,” Sebastien said, “so if I really do smell of sex and blood, it wasn’t intentional. Secondly, it doesn’t change anything that truly matters. After everything we’ve been through, how can you believe that?”

“I believe you don’t want it to change things,” Jean said. “I even believe you’ll try to keep it from changing things, and I know it’s selfish of me, but for thirty years, I’ve been the most important person in your life. The most important one you can still be with, anyway. And now I won’t be anymore.”

“Then why did you work so hard last night to get him to come to me?” Sebastien asked. “If you hate the idea of me finding someone new that much, why

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.