12. Gael
CHAPTER TWELVE
GAEL
The moment I stepped back into the cabin, I knew something was wrong. The air was tight, like a storm had just rolled through.
Asher sat slumped in the chair by the window, staring blankly at his hands.
His face was pale, his jaw clenched so tightly I could almost hear his teeth grinding. He didn’t look up when I entered.
That alone was a red flag.
Asher was never this still, never this vulnerable. Not unless something had gutted him emotionally. My gut twisted.
I shut the door behind me softly, my eyes never leaving him.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I commented.
He flinched, just a little, but his voice came out flat. “I’m fine.”
It was a lie. I knew it, and he knew I knew it.
The tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers trembled slightly, gave him away. I took a step closer, my boots scuffing against the warped wooden floor.
“You’re a lot of things, Asher, but a good liar isn’t one of them,” I told him.
He sighed, finally looking up. His eyes were guarded, a wall of steel behind them. “Drop it, Gael.”
I narrowed my eyes, a familiar frustration bubbling up inside me. I pressed him again.
“Something happened while I was gone. What was it?” I asked.
He shook his head, his gaze flicking away again. “It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t.” My voice sharpened. “We’re out here, hiding from every goddamn threat that wants us dead, and you think now’s the time to keep secrets?”
“I said drop it.” His voice was strained, as if he were barely holding himself together.
That only made me more certain that whatever had happened was serious. I stepped back, crossing my arms, trying to keep my own frustration and anger in check.
“Fine. Keep your secrets. But don’t expect me to sit here and pretend everything’s okay,” I said flatly.
He winced, his hands clenching into fists. “It’s not that simple.”
“It never is,” I snapped.
The fear of losing him, of him walking away before I could figure out what the hell this thing between us was, coiled around my chest like barbed wire.
“You want to keep me in the dark? Go ahead. But don’t act like I’m the one making this complicated,” I added.
His eyes flashed with anger. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t feel like I’m being ripped in two every goddamn second?”
“Then say it!” I shot back, my voice rough. “Say what’s really going on instead of pushing me away.”
His mouth opened, then closed again. His jaw worked, like he was chewing over words that refused to come out.
The silence between us grew thick, suffocating.
I wanted to shake him, to force him to tell me what was happening in that head of his.
But more than that, I wanted him to stay. To not disappear behind those walls he built so well.
I swallowed, my voice softening. “Asher… if you’re going to leave, just say it now.”
He went still, his eyes widening. “What?”
“If you’re going to walk away, I’d rather know now than be blindsided later,” I told him.
Something snapped in his gaze, like a wire pulled too tight finally giving way. He surged up from the chair, crossing the distance between us in two steps.
Before I could react, his hands grabbed the front of my shirt, bunching the fabric in his fists.
“Do you think I want to leave?” His voice was a raw whisper. “You think this is easy for me?”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I opened my mouth to respond, but the words evaporated.
The closeness of him, the heat radiating off his body, short-circuited my thoughts.
And then, before I could think better of it, I reached up and cupped the back of his neck, pulling him down to me.
Our mouths collided in a kiss that was anything but gentle. It was desperation and frustration and fear, all tangled together.
His lips were warm, demanding, and when he kissed me back, it felt like a dam breaking.
My heart pounded so loudly I could feel it in my ears. I drank him in, the taste of him, the way his body pressed against mine.
It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
His fingers loosened on my shirt, then slid up to my shoulders, gripping me hard. How often had I imagined this moment?
I backed him up until his hips hit the edge of the table, never breaking the kiss.
My tongue traced the seam of his lips, and he opened to me with a low, shuddering breath.
When we finally broke apart, we were both panting.
His forehead rested against mine, his eyes squeezed shut like he was trying to block out reality.
“You told me,” he whispered, his voice cracked. “That once I’m better…”
“I remember,” I murmured back.
His eyes opened, and the vulnerability I saw there made my chest ache.
I slid my hand along his jaw, my thumb brushing over his cheekbone.
“Once we head down this road, there’s no going back,” I said softly.
He swallowed hard, his gaze searching mine.
Then he leaned in, his lips brushing mine in a kiss so tender it almost undid me. It was an answer, even if it wasn’t in words.
I took his hand, lacing our fingers together, and led him to the bedroom.
The old wooden floor creaked beneath our feet, but it didn’t matter. Nothing outside that room mattered.
The moment the door closed behind us, I kissed him again, slower this time, savoring the way he melted against me.
His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer until there was no space left between us.
My fingers found the hem of his shirt, and he let me lift it over his head, his skin flushed and warm.
He tugged my shirt off, his touch skimming over my chest, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.
I shivered, not from cold, but from the sheer intensity of having him this close. This real.
I couldn’t seem to touch touching him and I didn’t want to stop. We dispensed with the rest of our clothes.
Finally, we fell into the makeshift bed, a mess of scavenged blankets really. Asher looked up at me and I kissed him again, savouring the sweet taste of him.
I left a trail of kisses down his cheek, the column of his throat. The tender spot between his shoulder and neck stirred my hunger, my craving for blood. His blood.
Not yet, I told myself. Right now, I wanted to enjoy Asher slowly.
It wasn’t just about need. It was about connection.
About holding on to something real, something that made the danger and uncertainty bearable.
He moaned when I left more kisses down his collarbones, his chest, his stomach. I pressed a kiss to his erection.
“Gael,” he whispered. “I want you in me.”
“I want the exact same thing,” I said, reaching for my discarded jeans.
I took the lube tucked in my wallet. Asher raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment, didn’t break the moment between us.
I resumed positioned, lifted his legs over my shoulders, while being careful with his still healing injury.
I applied a generous amount of lube into his opening, then slid one, two digits inside him.
Deeming him ready, I entered him. Asher groaned, digging his fingernails into the floorboards.
I went slow and steady, not wishing to hurt him. Finally, I was buried to the hilt. I could hear Asher breathing hard.
“You good?” I asked him.
“Move, Gael,” he gritted out and I did.
I started with a slow rhythm, before picking up speed. Soon enough, Asher started meeting me for every thrust.
I reduced us both to panting and needy animals.
We moved together, a slow unraveling, as if we were afraid to break whatever fragile thing was building between us.
I shifted the angle of my next push. Asher gasped, arching his back and I knew I found his sweet spot.
My balls tightened against my body. I knew I wouldn’t last long but neither would he.
I aimed for his prostate repeatedly, until Asher came, screaming out my name. His climax triggered my own.
My mind blanked and the rest of the cabin fell away from my line of sight. I couldn’t remember the last time sex had felt this way. This incredible.
Afterward, we lay together in the makeshift cot. His head rested against my shoulder, his breath soft and even.
I traced idle patterns on his back, the steady rhythm grounding me. But even in that quiet, a shadow lingered.
I could feel it in the way his fingers tightened slightly around mine. In the way his body tensed when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
He was still keeping something from me. And whatever it was, it was going to come for us eventually.
But for now, I held him tighter, refusing to let go.