Page 78 of Wreaking Havoc
Sascha considered Kai’s sharp teeth. “I’m a little worried you mean that literally.”
Kai huffed at that, and Sascha giggled again, his nerves making him a little loopy. “I’m just saying, we’re both too hot not to have professional photos of us in our matrimony finest. It could be small and still be fabulous.”
It wouldhaveto be small, actually. Kai came from another dimension, and Sascha didn’t have any real friends back in New York. It had been too difficult, with his family, to befriend normal people, and the other Mafia sons had all terrified him.
Oh God, he was almost thirty and he didn’t have friends. That was pathetic.Hewas pathetic.
Kai was in his face in an instant. “What happened?” he asked, brow furrowed in concern. “Why are you sad? We may have a wedding,” he rushed to say. “Whenever you like.”
“No, just—” Sascha couldn’t help his pout. “I don’t have friends.”
“You desire friends?” Kai asked with surprise. “Then we’ll procure some for you.”
Sascha let out a helpless laugh. “I don’t think that’s how it works. It’s not like coffee, we can’t just order a delivery with an app.”
“What of the round-cheeked fellow with the painted nails?” Kai mused. “He’s been friendly.”
“Seth? He’s just being nice.”
“And friends aren’t nice?”
“They are. But it’s—it’s complicated.” Even as the word left his mouth, Sascha suddenly wasn’t so sure they were true. Maybe itwasthat simple. He was starting a new life in a new place, with a new partner by his side. Maybe easy niceness was how it all began. Maybe people just…kept being nice to each other over a period of time, and then it became friendship?
Was there a YouTube demonstration he could watch about this?
Kai laid a warm hand on Sascha’s cheek. “We will procure you friends,” he promised again, apparently deciding to ignore Sascha’s explanation on why that wasn’t a thing. “And, in the meantime,Iwill be your friend.”
“You will?” Sascha asked, his voice coming out thick. He was unaccountably moved by the offer, which was ridiculous. They were about to bond souls, but Kai promising to be his friend had him on the verge of tears.
“I’ve never had a friend before either,” Kai told him.
“What about Nix?”
“Ach.” Kai made an irritated noise. “A pest. And soon to return to the Void.”
“Not back to the demon realm?”
Kai shook his head. “This is not his final contract.”
“What if he bonds with my brother?”
They stared at each other for a long moment, and then both burst into laughter at the thought.
When they’d caught their breaths, Kai grinned at him tenderly. “Enough jesting, zaychik. I’m making you mine tonight. My own, sweet Sascha Kozlov.”
“And you won’t regret it,” Sascha reminded him.
“And I won’t regret it,” Kai vowed.
Sascha let out a breath. “So what do we do?”
“You’ll repeat the words after me. Withintent.” Kai gave him a look, as if to bring that point home.
“With intent,” Sascha repeated dutifully.
Kai released his hold on Sascha’s face, turning toward the bed. But his words still came out perfectly clear, if very fast. “And then just the exchange of blood and we’re done.”
Sascha froze in place. “What?”
