by Jan Irving
“Yes!” Nick gave an excited laugh. He loved their games. Kain shifted one of his booted feet between Nicks thighs and raised an eyebrow.
Eyes saucered, Nick read his suggestion. Could he actually do it? Kains spend drying on his body, Nick wrapped his legs, his arms, around Kains leather-covered leg.
“Hump it.” Kain pressed against Nick, exerting pressure on his balls, his needy cock. Staring into Kain s eyes, it didnt seem wrong. Theyd talked about this and many other acts of submission. He wanted to be this way with Kain.
Moving, thrusting, head back, holding Kain s eyes, seeing that he was just as caught, anticipating, just as aroused by the forbidden between them.
“ You little slut,” Kain whispered, combing a hand through Nicks hair. “I want you to do this in public sometime. I want everyone to see you hump my leg and know you belong completely to me.”
Kain s comforting touch in contrast to his words, so wrong. Thighs clinging, grunting now, lost in a sensual dreamworld, needing to come, please—
Kains index finger circled his parted lips and then entered his mouth. Nick bit it, needing something inside him.
Penetration.
He spurted over Kains leg, crying out, not hiding his pleasure, white hot, flying.
Kain’s.
Suddenly Kain lifted him onto his lap where Nick wilted, satisfied, glowing. “ Say it again.”
“Say what?” Nick asked groggily, but he knew.
“You know. Nick….”
He leaned close to Kain and whispered in his ear, “I love you.”
“DID I pass the test?” Nick asked when he spotted Siren lingering
outside the club, smoking. He wondered if the black-haired fey was aware of what Kain and Nick had shared in Manticore. He was surprised that the thought didnt embarrass him because of everything theyd done….
But Nick had been a full partner.
And anyway, he was in love with Kain, even if Kain wasnt exactly ready to be loved. “ A first step,” Siren said.“Nick, I was relieved to see him here, but dont tell him that since theres no telling how hell react. If you want to know more about what you and Kain are experiencing, I can set you up with a bonded pair to foster you.”
“ Relationship counseling for feys? Im sure Kain would love that!” Nick agreed ruefully, folding his arms. It was fucking chilly now that it was November.
“ And Im sure that if you want to do it, youll find a way to bring him on board.” Siren raised a brow.“From the moment he met you online, he was obsessed. Id see him use the laptops in the club sometimes, totally lost in your conversations. His expression at times could be very… revealing.” Amusement warmed Sirens eyes. “As well as his scent.”
“ Um, I dont even know if I want to know!” Nick raised a palm. “I could feel his desire for you,” Siren answered simply.
Nick flushed, remembering how incendiary those chats had been. Hed loved it! He hadnt recognized at the time that it was foreplay. That Kain was wooing him. “Im not sure if or when hell agree to exploring more with your help. He doesnt like to bring others into our circle; hes a very private man.” Nick rubbed tired eyes. “A pain in the ass sometimes but I love him.”
Sirens eyes were serious, even a little wistful. “He is fortunate.” The green sports car growled at the curb and from the drivers window, Kain glared at the loitering Siren, talking to Nick. “ Nick, the revenant; we discovered someone did cut off its head.” Nick swallowed thickly. “Mark.” He let out a breath of grief.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to remove the remains, so the police will have questions.”
Nick nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I tried to get Kain clear.” BACK at the house, Kain put his hands in his pockets, watching Nick as he paused at the head of the stairs leading to Kains rooms, running his hand over the banister.
“ Do you feel a shoulder at Kain. Hed exposed so much of himself, given so much. Did Kain ever feel the same way?
Kain cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Share a brandy with me?”
little… self-conscious?” He looked over his
IN KAINS study, a fire crackled. Kain fed Nick a sip of brandy from a
shared glass. Nick was sprawled over his lap. Kain caressed his hair, pausing to lean close and sniff.
“I need a shower. I must reek of—” Nick flushed, remembering he was still sticky with Kains come.
Smugly, Kain said,“I like how you smell.”
“You would.” Nick covered Kains hand and took another healthy swallow. “Tell me about the blackouts. How often do they happen?” “My face…. Finn made up a mixture for the pain in the first days I came to live here and I lost days, nights.”
“Ummm.” Nick stroked the back of Kains hand.“What happened the night of the fire at your loft?” Kain s head sagged back against the wing chair.
“Kain, why does Ross hate you?”
“ He wasnt supposed to be there!” Kain growled, staring into the fire. “He brought Aaron over unexpectedly. Id been a shit, a total shit to both of them because he was my best friend and I couldnt—”
“You were afraid you were losing him.” “ Not afraid. I just didnt like Aaron. He was extremely territorial and I knew that.” Kain paused, took a deep swallow of his brandy. “That Id lose Ross.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I did anyway.”
Nick reached out and stroked Kains arm. “I think he still cares about you.”
Kains green eyes widened in surprise. “Why do you say that?” “Because hes so pissed at you. You dont feel that way about someone unless you love them.” Kain took a deep breath. “One of the men I was with made a pass at Ross. I intervened and it would have been fucking fine if only Aaron had left it alone but he insisted on sticking around long enough to tell me off. I was dizzy from losing blood, from… from drinking from Siren. I passed out.”
“The feys you brought home, they fed on Aaron?”
Kain gave a jerky nod. “I think so. There was a fire. I must have…. I dont remember how it got started. Ross was trying to get to Aaron, but I managed to pull him out. He told me he hated me, that it was my—” Kain swallowed. “He loved Aaron and I killed him. Somehow I killed him. I went back to the loft but it was an inferno. I couldnt find Aarons body.”
“ Thats how you were burned, wasnt it?” Nick smoothed a hand over the grooves and drawn, shiny skin of Kains scarred face. “Trying to give Aaron back to Ross.”
“It doesnt matter.” “ It does to me, and one day it will again to Ross.” Sensing that Kain was feeling raw on the subject, Nick changed the topic.“I should shower. Get some sleep so I can get to class.”
Kain nodded, bleak hazel eyes fixed on Nicks face. “Nick, Im not good with…. Ive been alone so long.”
Nick waited, feeling that something important, something hed wished for, was about to happen.
“I want you to stay.”
Nick meshed a hand through Kains, looking at their tangled fingers. “ Okay,” he agreed quietly.
WARM water dripping from his fingers as he raised his hand. He watched droplets fill, sparkle, grow, dangle… fall.
The moment stretched, like the water falling, and he wanted it to go on forever. Lips against his neck, nibbling lightly, gently.
Kain.
Soaping his hair.
Nick let his head fall back. This. This was what he d been craving for so long. A new ease between them. It had finally come when Kain had asked him to stay with him, seeming to know at last that Nick accepted him, was not afraid of trying to build a relationship with a dark fey.
He still wanted the words, but right now Kains touch made him live them.
A soapy hand slid down his chest, polishing one nipple with a bar of sandalwood.
“Like that?” Kain teased. “ Yes,” Nick breathed. “Kain, I know you worry sometimes about dragging me into your world, but I have no regrets. When I met you, I was in a safe rut. I wasnt satisfied or Id never have been so drawn to you.”
Kain
s cock slid naturally into the divide of Nicks ass, thrusting against slippery skin. His hand found Nick, curled around him, worked him.
Nick made a husky sound of pleasure, feeling as if his backbone was melting from Kains loving ministrations. And something clicked back into place, the void created by his breakup with Miguel, like grass growing over a scar in the earth. Now Nick was ready for another boyfriend. He hadnt been looking for it, but it had always seemed to him that life scattered rose petals when you weren’t looking for them.
Their hands slid over his body, meeting, tangling together, symbolic now that Kain had asked him to stay. Kains teeth in the tender groove between Nicks neck and shoulder—
As easy as a wave hitting the beach, Nick came on caught breath, dimly aware of Kain spilling against him with a growl of completion, before he slumped forward.
“ Dont fall asleep,” Kain scolded, still pressing his cock against Nicks skin as if he couldnt get enough of that. Well, neither could Nick. “You said you wanted to get cleaned up.”
Nick turned around, lazily watching Kain soaping his legs, kneeling so he could do a thorough job. He was becoming a very attentive boyfriend, touching Nick often, which suited Nick.
“I lied.” He quirked a brow. “ Oh, did you?” Kain came to his feet and nuzzled the bleeding spots on Nicks neck, sucking so the mark was briefly a live connection, sparking between them, channeling raw feeling.
“This feels so natural,” Nick said. “I love belonging to you.” “Well, its not.” Kain stiffened slightly, obviously still not comfortable with his darker side. Nick grabbed his hand, stubborn. “Different is not wrong!” Chiding, Kain said, “Nick, dont be naive.”
Nick kissed Kain s chin, accustomed now to the eyelid that sagged on the ruined side of his face. He hoped Kain would allow himself to be healed one day, but not because his appearance turned Nick off—just because he knew it would mean Kain had stopped punishing himself and was allowing himself happiness. “Ill keep repeating myself as long as needed.”
Gripping Nick s hair. Kain said,“Stubborn brat.”
“I dont believe you made Mark what he was.”
“Based on what?” Kain raised a cool brow. “Whats your evidence?”
“Based on the fact neither of us even knew what he was.” Kain s expression flattened into a mask. “Siren pointed out it could happen by accident as well as design. You dont want to believe, but it could have been me.”
“ How do you know that?”
“Because when he kissed you, I wanted to kill him.”
“Kain, you dont remember much about that night you became a fey, do you?”
Kain shook his head.
Nick chewed his lip. “Somehow this is all connected. What if one of the men you took home is our killer somehow?”
“WHERE did you find that thing?” Kain raised a brow when Nick
entered his bedroom wearing a brown and yellow kimono with large bronze-orange chrysanthemums. “ Finn lent it to me when I first came to stay here.”
“Hmmmm.” Kain ran a hand over Nicks skin.
“ It has a habit of falling off my shoulder.” Nick climbed onto his bed, onto Kain, secretly delighted to find him still here. He hadnt run away. That had to be a good sign.
Nick wanted to sleep with Kain all night. It was still new.
“So I see.” A palm slid over pale rounded flesh and Kain pressed a kiss to Nicks collar bone. Smugly, Nick said, “You think its sexy.”
“Apparently you can read my mind, little one.”
Nick pouted.
“You know very well how you look.” Kain reached for a mug by the bed, taking a sip.
Nick intercepted it, staring into the ruby depths. “Kain, what is in that shit Finn makes for you?”
“Pigs blood. And some herbs for the pain.”
Hushed, Nick asked, “Are you sure thats all it is? The other night when I found you, you were totally out of it.”
“Finn didnt turn away from me when I—” Kain put the mug down. “I had a blackout. It had nothing to do with him.” “ Turn away from you like Ross did, you mean?” Nick cupped the ravaged side of Kains face. “Kain, Im convinced that Ross still cares about you although hes obviously misguided about what a good man you are.”
Kain made a rude noise which Nick chose to ignore.
“But it concerns me, this almost innocent faith you hold for your friends. Even when they hurt you.”
“How the fuck do you know Ross still—?” Kain sat up, as if to leave.
Nick wrapped his arms around Kains tense neck. “Because how could he stop?” Kain s head fell.
“And Siren said that the fey dont suffer from blackouts.” “I dont want to talk about him.”
“You stubborn ass.”
“Speaking of ass,” Kain drawled, eyes glinting.
Nick combed the hair back from the scars. Kissed them. “Youre beautiful.”
“Youre delusional.”
But Kain was smiling.
One piece at a time, Nick was going to help Kain get back his life. Which meant he had to find a murderer.
LUKE closed his eyes and tugged again, ignoring his wrist, slippery with blood. He was weak since the creature who kept him locked under the earth didnt feed him.
A mere human wouldn t have survived weeks of captivity, but Luke being a shape-shifter had, though he would have to feast, have to hunt. Soon.
He caught the sounds of footsteps and paused, waiting to see if Finn would enter the tunnels. Finn. The pain and rage rose.
Patience.
He was an Alpha loup garou. He would endure, he would wait for his moment, and then he would kill. His left wrist popped free of the iron shackle.
ARMAND suppressed a smile when a hot apple cider with a Starbucks label was thrust in his direction. Perfect. He didnt even have to try, Ross was so easy.
But then, he knew all his habits, all his weaknesses. It had been so enjoyable putting him at odds with Kain. Almost as enjoyable as tormenting Kain, making him question his own mind and soul.
How the powerful had fallen.
“Ross.” He pretended wide-eyed surprise.
“Pretty cold out here,” Ross said, shrugging, obviously a little shy with the new man in his life. Savoring the irony of that, Armand took the hot drink, pretending to sip it to give himself some time to consider what buttons he would push. “Fancy running into you here at your favorite coffeehouse.”
“Uh-huh. But havent you been watching my apartment night after night? Or did I just dream that?” “ Uh, yeah.” Shit! He had sworn Ross couldnt see him. Had Finn spoken out of turn? Hed bloody him for opening his fucking mouth if he had.
“So youve appointed yourself my protector or something?” Ross shifted a bag with groceries and bicycle parts poking from the top. Armand shrugged. “You were so frightened of that black rose you received. Old boyfriend who wont leave you alone?”
Ross blinked. “No, worse. I thought it was my former best friend, but Finn said maybe I was wrong.”
Finn, you’ve been a very bad boy. Daddy will have to punish you. Armand pictured Finn, white-eyed, helpless and sweating on his bed. A rolled-up towel shoved in his mouth to keep him quiet so Kain didnt hear his cries for help. Pinching his nostrils and cutting off his air.
Going to behave now?
Finn nodding, frantic, face washed with tears. Removing the gag so he could listen to the hopeless choked-off sobs. Finn putting an arm over his face. Shame washing his cheeks. Broken again.
“Good boy, my good boy.” Licking the tears as Finn shuddered….
“Hey, whered you go?” Ross interrupted Armands reminiscence, cocking his head. “Looks like somewhere good from that smile.” Armand raised an arch eyebrow. “You have no idea how good. But you will, someday soon,” Armand promised, loving that Ross had no idea of the double meaning of his words.
“ Well, anyway, Finn and Kains new boy toy, Nick, dont think hes involved. And Im beginning to wonder….” Rosss
voice drifted off and he shivered, as if feeling the chill fall weather prod him from outside, or sensing the approach of a predator. “Anyway, I dont know if I want to be alone tonight. If you like, you might as well come up to my place, uh, have some soup with me. Its so… cold this fall, and they found another couple of bodies near the university grounds.”
“ Thats very close to where you live.”
“Yeah.”
“Youre sure this Kain couldnt be responsible?” Armand seeded.
“I hope not,” Ross whispered. Then, cheeks pink, he waited to see if Armand would take him up on his offer of supper.
“What kind of soup?” Armand pretended interest, but he was focused on Rosss fear. He could taste it on his tongue.
“Campbells.” Ross shrugged. “Im not much of a cook.” “Dont worry. Ill come over and keep you company,” Armand said. He had some time to kill before he dealt with Finn… and Nick. FINGERS clawing the bedsheets, Nick woke abruptly.
The hell…?
Huffing, he swallowed, feeling a little sick as he listened to his pounding heart and tried to shake off the dream.
A man with long hair and burning eyes, chained to a wall in a dank tunnel, a discarded straight blade, curls of skin like wood shavings. Nick rubbed his arms, telling himself sternly it had been nothing real, even if it was a surround-sound nightmare. Cold, the room was cold.
He frowned, sitting up, sweat drying between his shoulder blades.
Scary dream. Just a scary dream. But why was it so fucking cold in his bedroom?
He wasnt alone, so he didnt need to be afraid. Kain was with him. Kain had chosen to sleep with him because Nick had asked. He looked at his lover, touched his skin, found it as chilly as the room.
“Kain!” Suddenly a little freaked out, Nick shook him, but Kain remained impervious, body limp.
Shit! Another blackout? Or had Finn drugged Kain? Nick snatched his kimono and wrapped it tightly around his body before climbing off the bed and heading for the thermostat. The numbers glowed in the comfortable zone and yet the room was freezing.
An arctic puff of air at floor level made his toes curl. Coming from outside his room? It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to know what was happening. He turned the doorknob then leaned cautiously into the hallway, looking around.
