Noem

by Catherine Lievens

“I wasn’t.”

  “Have you talked to him?”

  There was no need to ask who him was. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he’s at work.”

  “But it’s dinner time!” Nysys exclaimed, as if the fact that people worked weird hours personally offended him.

  “So? You think no one works over dinner and even through the night? I’m a nurse. I know everything about weird hours.”

  “Yeah, but he went to work early this morning. That’s a lot of hours.”

  Noem rolled his eyes. “Seriously? He’s a detective. It’s not an easy job. Of course he has to work long hours.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  “Why would I?”

  “Because he’s your mate. Aren’t you afraid he’ll get hurt or something?”

  Noem scowled at Nysys. “I wasn’t, but thanks for making me.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to do.”

  “But it’s what you managed to do. Aren’t you afraid for Morin? I know he’s not exactly a fighter, and he’s a council member.”

  Nysys’ smile fell and Noem felt guilty, but really, Nysys should start thinking before opening that big mouth of his. Noem sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about what I said.”

  Nysys shrugged. “It’s the truth. I know Morin is safer than a lot of people around here. I shouldn’t have brought this up.”

  “Probably not, not if you didn’t want the mood of the conversation to go down. And if you were trying to cheer me up, well, you really need to work on that skill.”

  Someone knocked on the door and Nysys’ eyes went wide. “Shit. Do you think it’s André?”

  “Why would he come here? Unless you invited him?”

  Nysys narrowed his eyes. “I’m not an idiot.”

  Keenan got up and went to open the door. Noem couldn’t see who was on the other side of it because Keenan kept the door almost closed, probably to avoid whoever it was seeing the post-its. “Oh. What can I do for you?” he asked.

  “I’m looking for Noem,” a voice answered, and Noem’s heart fluttered. He recognized that voice, and he couldn’t help but wonder why Kay was looking for him. Well, he had a good idea of the reason why, but was it really for that?

  “What do you want from him?” Keenan asked, and Noem started to get up, because there was no way he’d let Keenan pull Kay into one of their crazy conversations.

  Nysys grabbed Noem’s wrist and pulled him back onto the bed. Noem stumbled onto a pile of sticky notes, making them tumble to the floor as he crashed onto the bed. He bumped into Nysys, who wrapped his arms around him so that neither of them ended up on the floor.

  Of course, that was when Keenan decided to finally open the door and let Kay in.

  * * * *

  Kay blinked at the sight in front of him. The bedroom he’d stepped in was for some reason full of sticky notes packs. Noem was on the bed, in Nysys’ arms—on top of him—and they were both looking at Kay like deer caught in the headlights. They also looked frozen, and Kay pressed his lips together. He wasn’t going to laugh in their faces, no matter how funny they were.

  Noem finally realized what position he and Nysys were in and what it had to look like. He scrambled up, put a foot off the bed and slipped on a packet of post-its. He fell on his ass, swearing like a sailor, and Kay couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him.

  Noem looked at him, his eyes wide, and why hadn’t Kay noticed how gorgeous he was before? His build was similar to Nysys, but he looked more rugged, what with his short hair and the stubble Kay could see even from the door.

  “It’s not what it looked like,” Noem finally said as he tried to haul himself up.

  “And what did it look like?” Kay asked, unable not to tease.

  Noem’s eyes widened even more. “Well, you walked in on me on top of Nysys.”

  “You didn’t look like you were doing anything wrong.” Kay looked briefly at Keenan. “Unless I interrupted you before you could start a threesome.”

  Nysys and Keenan both grimaced. “That would be like having sex with my brother,” Nysys said.

  “I thought you’d already seen Keenan naked?” Noem asked.

  Nysys rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but we never even kissed. It’d be too weird.”

  “I don’t think I want to know.”

  “Oh, but now you asked. See, me and Keenan are really close, so when we need to get waxed, we help each other for the places we can’t easily reach ourselves.”

  Noem slapped his hands on his ears and hurried toward Kay. He slipped on yet another packet of sticky notes and tumbled forward. Kay just had the time to open his arms before Noem plastered himself against his chest, and he couldn’t believe Noem felt so good against him.

  He resisted the urge to wrap his arms around Noem, because he wasn’t sure if Noem would appreciate it and because they still needed to talk. He had to say he was sorry before they could do or say anything else.

  Noem blinked up at him, his eyes so blue Kay wanted to lose himself in them. A faint blush appeared on Noem’s cheeks and he pushed away, turning to look at Nysys. “Damn it, Nys. Someone’s going to get hurt if you keep all of these in the room.”

  Nysys arched a brow. “You don’t look in pain to me. In fact, you look like you’re more than fine.” He waggled his eyebrows and Noem stepped away from Kay. Kay already missed his presence and his warmth, and he berated himself for the thought. He might have found out he was Noem’s mate, but that didn’t mean he had to get mushy.

  “Right. Just make sure no one gets hurt, not even you. You know Nicky’s not going to be happy.”

  Nysys waved. “Whatever. Now you two should go and boink like bunnies in your room.”

  The blush on Noem’s cheeks deepened. “Shut your mouth. Not everyone’s a whore.”

  “Oh, are you saying I am? I don’t mind. In fact, I’m pretty sure Morin loves it, since he’s the only guy I’m a whore with. Now shoo. Me and Keenan have work to do.”

  Noem pushed Kay out of the door, almost making him stumble. He quickly closed the door, but Kay still heard Nysys yell something that sounded like, “You’ll love fucking him bare!”

  Noem looked like he wanted to disappear, and Kay wasn’t sure what to think. “What did he mean?” he asked, aware he was embarrassing Noem. He liked the color on his cheeks, though, and he wanted to see more of it.

  “Nothing,” Noem told his feet.

  “Are you sure? Because it didn’t sound like nothing.”

  Noem glared at Kay. “What do you want?”

  Kay thought it was pity the joking around was already over, but he understood he hadn’t made the best first impression and Noem was probably wary of him now. He hated himself for doing it, but he couldn’t help how he felt. “To talk to you.”

  “Right. Of course you want to talk to me, after what Nysys said.”

  Kay ached a brow. “About the bare fucking?”

  Noem’s glare deepened. “About being my mate.”

  Kay looked left and right, and while they were alone in the hallway, he didn’t think it was the best place to talk about this. “Can we go somewhere more private?”

  Noem looked at him, glare gone and an inquisitive glint in his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Come on.”

  Kay followed him along the hallway, surprised when they stopped a few doors down. Noem opened the door and walked inside, and Kay followed him, realizing they had to be in Noem’s room only when Noem turned the light on.

  The bed occupied a lot of the space in the room. It was big and messy, a nest of blankets in the middle of it. A pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt were on the foot of it, and Noem snatched them up when he passed by them. He bundled them and stuck them under the covers as he tried to pull them up and neaten them.

  “I don’t care about how neat the room is,” Kay said.

  Noem shrugged and finished straightening the comforter. He gestured at Kay to sit i
n the chair against the wall after moving the clothes abandoned on it. He disappeared through a door Kay guessed led either to the bathroom or into a closet and came back empty handed.

  He sat on the bed facing Kay, looked at him, and waited.

  “I guess that’s my cue to start talking,” Kay said, and Noem nodded. “Okay, so the first thing I want to say is that I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For saying those things when I first met you. I didn’t know I was your mate.”

  “Would you have said something different if you’d known? Because I’m glad I got the truth instead of a lie.”

  Kay sighed. Of course Noem wasn’t going to make this easy for him. He hadn’t expected him to. Well, not much anyway. He’d hoped, though, because he really was sorry about saying that stuff.

  “Look, I can’t say I love shifters. I found out about them and your world when I found out what had been done to Troy.”

  “Those were humans, though.”

  “What?”

  “What was done to him—it wasn’t done by shifters, but by humans.”

  Kay nodded. “I know. I still didn’t react well, because I thought he’d be different. I thought I’d lost my friend. Especially after Emery put himself between the two of us. I—well, it took me a while to get used to what Troy is now and to his new world. I’m not sure I can be a part of it, and it scares me.”

  Kay swallowed, because he didn’t usually admit it when he was afraid of something, and especially not to a man he barely knew. “I thought it would mean losing Troy again, so I moved closer to make sure I’d still see him.”

  “It didn’t change your mind.”

  “Not really, but then I haven’t had much contact with shifters until recently. It was easier for me to stay away and communicate with Troy only via texts and phone calls. I skyped with him a few times, because no matter what Aaron is, he’s Troy’s son and I want to be a good uncle, but it wasn’t easy.”

  Noem toed off his socks and sat crossed-legged, never looking away from Kay, giving him his entire attention. Kay wondered if Noem would be so focused when they had sex. “What changed?” he asked, and Kay stopped thinking about Noem and sex.

  “Dominic asked me for a favor, and I talked to Troy. He was very clear about the fact that if I couldn’t get used to this, then he couldn’t be a part of my life anymore.”

  Noem slowly nodded. “You can’t really change your mind that fast, though.”

  “No, but Troy is my only family. The last thing I want is to lose him, and if it means getting used to being here and to rubbing elbows with people who can become animals, well. I’ll do it.”

  “What about me? You know what mates are, right?”

  “Yes. Troy explained it to me.”

  “And you don’t like the idea.”

  Noem said it as if he’d already given in, and Kay didn’t like it. “What I don’t like is the idea of someone else deciding who I should be with for the rest of my life.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “I know, but it feels like it.”

  Noem looked down, as if he couldn’t look at Kay anymore. “So you’re telling me you don’t want me.”

  Kay couldn’t stay still when Noem looked so dejected. He kneeled, pushing himself into Noem’s space. Noem looked up, surprised, and Kay cupped his cheek. He wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do. He hadn’t planned for this to happen, but it felt right, and Kay didn’t want to fight that. “That’s not what I’m saying. I might not like the idea of having to be with you, but I don’t know you. I know we’re supposed to be perfect for each other, but I can’t trust that. I need to know, to be sure.”

  “And how do you want to do that?”

  “I just want to get to know you.”

  It felt like an eternity passed while Kay waited for Noem’s answer.

  Then Noem nodded.

  Chapter Four

  Noem jerked up when someone knocked on his door. He looked around, wondering what was happening and why the fuck someone was waking him up when it was still dark outside.

  “What?” he yelled at the door.

  “You need to come to the infirmary right now,” whoever was on the other side of the door said.

  That could only mean something was up, and Noem hoped it didn’t involve Jericho. He couldn’t even think of what Aeron would do if something happened to his mate. God knew he himself wouldn’t take it well if something happened to Kay, and they’d only cleared the air between them the day before.

  He pushed the covers away and got up, quickly pulling on his pajama pants. He shimmered into the infirmary to save time, and walked into chaos.

  A woman was crying softly where she stood against the wall. She never looked away from the bed closest to her, and when Noem looked at it, he swore. The man in the bed looked like he was about to die, if he hadn’t already. His eyes were closed and when Noem looked better, he noticed his breathing was shallow, his face pale, and blood covered his front.

  Noem hurried to his side, pushing Adrian away. He hovered his hands over the wound, close enough that he could feel the man’s warmth. He closed his eyes and almost swore again. The man wasn’t dead, but it was close, so close. He hadn’t only been stabbed—whoever had done it had managed to drag the knife down the entire length of the man’s stomach, almost disemboweling him. Noem didn’t know how the man wasn’t already dead.

  He took his time, knitting back together flesh and muscle. The man would need more healing sessions, but once he was out of danger, Noem stepped away. He couldn’t use all his strength for one man, not when he knew there were other wounded in the room.

  He staggered back, and Adrian rushed forward again. Noem knew the man would be fine, so he didn’t stick around. He turned instead, taking in the infirmary, wanting to go where he was needed the most. He pushed the strand of hair in front of his eye back and went to the next bed.

  Dominic was hovering next to it, and he looked relieved when Noem came closer.

  “Where are the other nurses?” Noem asked, because he’d realized he was the only nurse there. Ani, Nysys, and Finn were present and helping, but it wasn’t their job, and that was obvious. Nysys was so pale it looked like he was about to faint, even though he was pushing on and healing smaller wounds.

  “At the hospital. There are a lot more wounded than the ones here,” Dominic answered.

  Noem nodded and leaned forward to see what was wrong with the man in front of him. He recognized him—John had been talking to him a few days earlier, when Noem had met Kay for the first time. What was wrong was obvious, and Noem was surprised this man wasn’t dead yet either. He put his hands by the man’s neck and focused on knitting everything back together.

  The man had been very lucky. Whoever had tried to slit his throat hadn’t managed to get deep enough. They obviously hadn’t been a professional killer, and while the man had lost blood and would hurt like hell, he was alive, and he’d stay that way.

  When Noem was done, the man was completely healed. For some reason, he was important to Dominic, so Noem had made sure he’d be as fine as he could be. He couldn’t do anything for the scar he could see under the blood, not in that moment, but it wasn’t really a problem.

  This time when he moved backward, he almost fell on his ass. He hadn’t noticed how tired he was while he was healing, but now he did, and he really wanted to go back to bed and sleep a week, maybe more.

  He caught himself on the back of a chair and managed to stay upright, but it was close. He rubbed his palm on his face, grimacing when he realized his hand was dirty with blood and that he’d probably spread it all over his face.

  He tried to sit on the chair, but his foot tangled with one of the legs, and the floor rushed toward him. Strong hands caught him under his armpits and hauled him upright again. He stumbled—of course he did—and bumped against whoever was holding him upright.

  “What happene
d to you?” a voice asked, and Noem blinked.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked Kay.

  “You’re bleeding,” Kay said instead of answering.

  “Not my blood.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Noem held his hands up so Kay could see they were dirty. “Yeah.”

  Kay helped him lower himself onto the chair and Noem sighed in relief. Maybe he could close his eyes for just a few minutes and rest. Then he could continue helping with the wounded.

  He realized that wasn’t a good idea when he almost tipped off the chair. He shook himself in time to avoid it, and Kay was there, holding him up, his face worried. “I’m fine. Just really tired, but then I just healed two mortal wounds, so it’s normal.”

  “You healed two mortal wounds?”

  “Yeah.” Noem gestured in the direction where he thought his latest patient was. “A disembowelment and a slit throat. Those two were lucky.”

  Noem sighed. It was obvious he wouldn’t be able to rest in the infirmary, and while the urgency in the room wasn’t as strong as before, people were still running around. There were other wounded who needed his help, so he tried to get up, but Kay pushed him down.

  Noem scowled and looked at Kay, and to his surprise, Kay seemed worried. “You need to stay there. You’re not up to doing anything,” Kay said.

  Noem scowled. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “No, but I can,” Dominic said, appearing at Kay’s side. “He’s right. You can barely stay upright.”

  “Then I can sit while I heal.”

  “There’s no need for you to push yourself so much. I had a few Nix come over from the enforcers’ wing. We have enough people now.”

  Noem looked around. He hadn’t noticed the other Nix until now, not with the number of people running around, but now that he looked, he realized there were at least four of them. They were all busy, but their presence made Noem relax.

  “Go back to your room, clean up, and go to sleep,” Dominic said. “We’ll be fine. Come to my office tomorrow so I can explain what happened.”

  Noem really wanted to know now, but when he opened his mouth to tell Dominic that, Dominic shook his head. “You look like you’re about to fall over, and I don’t want to lose my best nurse just because you’re stubborn.”