Chapter Eleven
The second they got into the hotel room, Abi ran for the bathroom. He needed to get away from Nash before he jumped his sexy bones. He leaned against the door and tried to think about anything other than his hard cock.
Gods, he wouldn’t be able to take much more of Nash. He needed Nash as much as he needed water. And wasn’t that some shit to admit? By the gods, Abi was a fucking goner over the guy.
Abi sighed.
The mating pull. Why did he feel it with Nash and not any of the others?
The answer mattered. It meant Abi’s heart might get ripped in two. If Nash was like the others, then Abi didn’t know if he could survive it. The pain would be significantly worse than it had been with the others.
Colin had only pissed him off. Well, his heart ached a little, but it hadn’t been about Colin so much as it had been about a repeat performance—Groundhog Day.
There was a knock on the door. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Not fine. Abi needed to do something about his erection. It hadn’t gone down even a little the entire time. Nash would surely hear it if he did anything about it. Dragon shifters had superior hearing.
“Are you sure?”
“Just need a minute.”
“You ran in there like your ass was on fire.”
He didn’t know about setting his ass on fire, but it would be nice if it ached. Nash inside him would be fantastic. Gods, the satisfaction that would bring made Abi whimper. “You know, this whole mating thing will fade by the end of next week, right?”
“Is that so?” Nash was still close. Only the door separated them.
“It’s what happened to all the others. My scent isn’t alluring to them after a while.”
“That’s what makes me different. I’ve never smelled you, baby. I would like to, though.”
Abi turned and pressed his hand to the door, imagining it was Nash’s chest. “I thought you couldn’t smell at all.”
“When I’m up close to things.” Like the door. Nash was very close. Abi shut his eyes, imagining Nash whispering in his ear. “Like when I give you the mating mark, I’ll be able to catch your scent.”
Abi pulled open the door with enough force to make Nash stumble forward. Nash caught himself with a hand on the wall, and Abi grabbed onto his waist to stabilize him. Nash was a big, heavy oaf, so Abi didn’t help as much as he would have liked.
Instead of letting him go, he hung on, burying his face in Nash’s chest. Beyond the cinnamon was something unique to Nash. He smelled like sugar, sweet as candy.
Nash slid his arms around Abi.
They stayed in comfortable silence, not needing anything but the closeness. Abi had never been into soft touches and gentle hugs with anyone else. He needed them from Nash. No one else was better at it.
Nash tightened his grip right before he spoke again. “When Mallor kidnapped us, I was young, twelve years old. Too young to shift. He used a chemical to subdue us. The chemical caused permanent damage.”
Abi shut his eyes. It was hard to hear. Nash had been just a boy. He must have been terrified. “You say ‘us’. Who else was with you?”
“My older brother. He was sixteen. He fought…to keep Mallor away from me. Mallor killed him. Said he was more trouble than he was worth.”
Abi would make sure Mallor paid. “Mallor’s last moments will be painful.”
“Bloodthirsty.” Nash said it with no small amount of affection.
“I told you I wasn’t a good person. Mallor will find that out the hard way.”
Abi tightened his grip. “I’m so sorry that happened.”
“It was a long time ago. I’ve learned to cope.” Nash rubbed Abi’s back. “I didn’t tell you to make you feel sorry for me.”
“Not looking for a pity fuck?” Abi smiled. They needed to change the mood, although Nash’s story certainly killed Abi’s desire. But it wouldn’t take much to get it back.
“Baby, when I fuck you, you’ll beg for it.” Well, wasn’t that confident? Even though Abi wanted to take Nash down a peg by denying the claim, he couldn’t. Nash was probably right. The mating pull was too strong to deny.
All he had to do was hold out for two weeks. Long enough for it to fade, and then they’d both go their separate ways. It was a simple plan, really, but could Abi last that long? He doubted it.
Abi released Nash and stepped back. Their gazes met. Nash didn’t look smug. In fact, he seemed concerned, which threw Abi off. He would have sassed Nash under different circumstances. “Your physical reaction has nothing to do with scent?”
“Like I said, I can still smell, but I need to be close to something.”
Abi’s matings prior to Nash had all been scent-based. “My scent affects people.”
Nash shrugged. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were my mate. Even with your head down and your hands in your pockets. You looked as though someone had shit in your cereal, and I had an urge to hold you close and kill whoever wrecked your day all at the same time. But I’ve never been able to smell you until you sat on my lap at the arena. ”
Hope bloomed, and that scared him. Nash could break his heart. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from admitting the truth. “I smelled you. Then I saw you. In that order. Your smell makes me hard. I still think you’re stupidly handsome. You should be in jail for it. Very unfair what you do to me.”
Abi moved closer, sniffing the air, trying to catch Nash’s scent. They were a foot apart now, within touching distance.
“I should be in jail for a lot of things. A crime isn’t a crime if you don’t get caught.” Nash smiled, reaching out to touch Abi’s arm. He didn’t pull him closer, but just rubbed it as if he thought he was warming Abi.
“Agreed. But I think we’ve caught each other. Haven’t we?” That was the thing he couldn’t deny anymore. Not that Nash was or wasn’t his mate. Maybe the mating pull would wear off, and maybe it wouldn’t. But Abi wasn’t sure it mattered anymore because the attraction was very real.
“Everyone has always called me average.” Nash said it as though it was a foregone conclusion, as though ‘everyone’, whoever that was, had it right and Abi was the delusional one.
Abi snorted in disbelief. “No one calls you average, Nash.”
“You might have rose-colored glasses on, baby.”
“You’re the one who’s wearing glasses. Not me.” Abi rolled his eyes.
As if Abi had reminded Nash they were still on his face, Nash took them off and placed them on the vanity, which put a couple more feet between them. His eyes were still reptilian, and fangs still peeked past his smile.
Abi cleared his throat and tried to ignore the ache in his chest. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Nash nodded. “I’ll be right behind you. I need to wash off the ick of what we just witnessed.”
Abi nodded. Watching the fighting had been torturous enough that they’d left halfway through the first one. The helplessness of not being able to help the fighters escape was difficult; waiting even one more day sucked. “Yeah. That too.”
Nash gave him a knowing smile as if he was aware Abi’s shower wasn’t entirely about getting clean.
Abi narrowed his eyes. “What happens in two weeks when we stop reacting to each other?”
“What happens when we don’t? A better question is, what happens if we fall for each other, anyway?” Nash cupped Abi’s cheek. “This thing between us might have started with the mating pull, but that’s not all there is anymore.”
Abi really wanted that to be true.