Chapter Thirteen
Abi woke in the same position he’d fallen asleep in, with Nash wrapped around him like protective skin. Abi had never been warmer in his life. It turned out dragon shifters were furnaces. Not that Abi was overly warm. He was just right. Perfect, in fact.
Well, not exactly perfect. Abi had two problems. The first one was Nash’s hard cock pressing against his ass.
It felt good. Amazing would be a better word, and it made Abi’s blood heat.
His cock was already hard just from waking up, but it hardened a bit more when his desire ramped into overdrive.
And that brought him to problem number two. His bladder screamed at him.
Nash draped his big arm over him. When Abi wiggled around to get Nash to roll away, Nash shushed him and pulled him in tighter.
“I have to pee,” Abi whispered right before he wiggled again.
Nash patted Abi on his ass. “Stay still, boy.”
Abi sighed. “You’re very protective of someone who could kill you in your sleep.”
“Hilarious.”
“I’m not joking.” Not that Abi could hurt Nash, but he’d kill him ten different ways in his mind if he didn’t let Abi up. “Seriously, it’s hurting.”
Just the thought that Nash might cause Abi pain did the trick.
Abi scrambled out of bed and practically ran to the bathroom. Relieving himself had never felt so good, but it took a second for his body to get the memo that it wasn’t having sex.
He washed his hands before heading back into the main room.
Nash had rolled onto his back. The blankets covered his abdomen and lower half, but it left his chest exposed. His eyes were closed.
All Abi wanted was to curl up next to him, but that would be a dangerous thing to do.
Their eyes met when Nash opened his. Abi cleared his throat and looked away. Clothing seemed like a good idea, so he went to his bag, grabbed the first pair of underwear he saw, and put them on. Then he took his bag and carried it to the bed they didn’t use.
He sat on the bed, facing Nash with the bag beside him.
Nash watched him the entire time without saying a word. He scooted until he was sitting against the headboard. The blankets pooled around his waist.
“You’re running from me.” A crease formed on Nash’s forehead.
“It’s not like I got very far.” Abi gestured to the air between them. “Last night was great, but it can’t happen again.”
Nash’s jaw ticked, and without a word, Nash went into the bathroom and shut the door.
Abi’s chest ached. He doubled over, his chest resting on his legs as he wrapped his arms around his head. If he could just shut out the memory of last night, then maybe he could think.
The door opened. The scent of soap and cinnamon floated to him as Nash entered the room. Nash didn’t say a word as he dressed.
Abi sucked in a breath when a door closed again.
Nash had left.
Abi ran to the door and pulled it open.
Nash headed for the elevator. “Where are you going?”
“Out.” Nash wore the tightest jeans known to the human body and a black T-shirt under a vest with patches all over it.
Was this the real Nash? The pissed-off biker who was clearly shutting Abi out.
Nash didn’t seem to care about blowing their cover.
“Nash. Please.”
Nash turned, growling. When he saw Abi standing in his underwear in the hallway, his growl deepened. “Get inside before someone sees you.”
“I don’t care if they do. All I care about is you.” Abi didn’t intend to say that. The words just sort of came out like vomit. If he had thought about it at all, he would have said something that didn’t contradict himself.
Nash just shook his head and turned toward the elevator. “I’ll be back in time to leave for the event tonight.”
“Nash.” Abi started down the hall toward Nash. “Talk to me. Please.”
Nash turned toward him again. “I’m done listening to you reject me.”
“So then you talk. Tell me what’s going through your mind.”
“You don’t want to hear what I have to say.” Nash sighed and shook his head before turning again. “I need time to process what you’ve said.”
Nash pressed the elevator button.
“You need time to process what exactly?” Abi would really love to know what was going through Nash’s beautiful head.
The elevator dinged, and the doors swished open. “The rejection, Abi. Fucking Christ.”
Nash stepped into the elevator, and the doors slid shut.
“Shit.” Abi went back into their room and dressed as quickly as he could.
He put on the first thing he saw: a long black skirt and a white T-shirt.
He grabbed his jacket from last night because it had his wallet inside and then left to chase after the mate he’d just said he didn’t want.
Or basically. That was what Nash had heard, anyway.
It wasn’t difficult to follow Nash’s scent. The trail of cinnamon was easy. What wasn’t was the attention Abi drew as he walked down the sidewalk?
A deliveryman carrying a fast-food bag followed Abi with his eyes. The lust was clearly there.
Shit. Scent suppressant.
Abi kept walking as he dug around in his coat and came up empty. The can must have fallen out when he threw his coat on the spare bed in their room last night.
Abi’s stomach plummeted. He tried to avoid everyone he passed so they couldn’t catch his scent.
He made his way around the hotel building. The town they were in wasn’t big, but Main Street was booming with several restaurants and bars. Some places were closed because it was Sunday afternoon.
Abi headed to the nearest biker bar more out of instinct than following the cinnamon trail. When he spotted the motorcycles parked on the street, he jogged to them. He sniffed the air, finding Nash.
When Abi entered, pool balls clanked together, and drinking glasses hit the wooden bar top.
Everyone in the building turned to him, including the burly bartender with a vest on that resembled Nash’s but had different patches on it.
Abi sighed. He really should have put on a scent suppressant before leaving the hotel room.
Of all the bars in this town, and they were plentiful along Main Street, even if most of them weren’t open for business, Nash had to find the biker bar with all the scariest people in existence. It was a very good thing Abi knew how to defend against aggressive, handsy men.
One man with a long beard and hair pulled back from his face eyed Abi. His eyes shifted into something cat-like, probably a cougar, since they were the most common in the area. “Mate.”
Abi shook his head and tried to ignore him since he was across the room at the pool table anyway. He searched for Nash and found him drinking something brown from a clear glass at the other end of the bar.
Abi started towards Nash, but the cat shifter ran to get to Abi. He stepped into Abi’s path. Abi rolled his eyes. “I’m not your mate. I’m just weird, okay.”
The guy grinned. “I like weird.”
His mistake was trying to reach for Abi. He found out exactly how much of a mistake it was when Abi grabbed his hand and wrenched it behind his back. Abi kicked the back of the guy’s knee hard enough to keep him down.
The guy shouted, clutching his leg.
Abi bent down to speak to him. He made sure everyone in the room heard him. “I did not consent to you touching me, dickhead.”
Abi straightened and stepped over the guy, heading straight for Nash. Nash had stood when all the commotion happened, but he sat again when he saw that Abi had taken care of it.
Abi sat on the stool beside Nash, who stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What the fuck was that?”
Abi got the bartender’s attention. The bartender ignored another guy who wanted a drink to get to Abi. “Hello, gorgeous. What can I get you besides a private room with me?”
Abi smirked. He appreciated a good line and a guy who didn’t grab at him as though he were fucking property. “Just a beer. In the bottle. I’ll open it myself.”
“You got it.” The guy had a nice smile too.
Nash didn’t find him even a little charming. He growled and showed the guy his fangs.
The bartender held up his hands. “He smells good. Like really good. That’s all.”
Nash turned to Abi when the bartender walked away. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were wide. “He’s a fucking human.”
Abi nodded. “One you just flashed your fangs at.”
“But how can a human smell you? He reacted like a shifter.”
Abi shrugged. “Every person in here will react the same way. Everywhere I fucking go.”
“Gods.” Nash looked at the liquid left in his drink and then slid it over to Abi. “You need this more than I do.”
Abi chuckled, which made Nash smile.
Abi smelled the liquid in the glass. Whiskey. It turned his stomach, bringing up memories of the last time he drank, which wasn’t that long ago. “I got drunk on shifter shine. The night before we met. The hangover is too fresh.”
Nash took the drink back with a nod. They sat beside each other in comfortable silence. Even after the bartender placed a bottle of domestic beer in front of him and an opener, they still didn’t speak. Abi used the opener and then slid it over to the bartender along with the metal cap.
He drank, letting the liquid cool his throat. “Nothing like beer first thing in the morning.”
“It’s three in the afternoon.” They’d gotten in after the sun came up, and then they fucked, which took a while, not that Abi was complaining. “I know, silly. Neither of us has eaten anything.”
Nash got the bartender’s attention. “Is there a place where we can still get breakfast close by?”
“Mary’s Diner serves breakfast twenty-four hours a day. It’s a couple of blocks behind us on Castro Street.”
Nash nodded. “We can talk over pancakes. If you still want to.”
Abi smiled. “Yeah.”
Nash nodded at Abi’s beer. “Finish that first.”
Abi rolled his eyes when Nash gave that order. Nash couldn’t seem to help himself. Abi was his boy, whether or not Abi wanted to be. The problem was that Abi wanted to be. He just didn’t think it was wise to want that if he wanted to keep his heart intact.
“You’re not in pain anymore. Or not in as much pain.” Abi felt better too. He was just dreading the heartbreak—more than he had ever dreaded anything.
“What are you talking about?”
“I hurt you. In the hotel room. I could feel it.” Abi put a hand over his heart and patted his chest through his jacket.
Nash’s gaze was intense. He commanded all of Abi’s attention. “Has that ever happened before with the others?”
“Not once.” Abi could have lied. It would have ended the conversation.
Admitting it aloud made it more real to him.
He hadn’t thought about it before. The feeling in his chest—of being in pain and it not belonging to him—hadn’t quite registered in his brain.
He’d been panicking over Nash leaving. The realization was hitting him all at once.
“And you still think I’m as fake as them?”
Abi turned on the stool and laid his forehead on Nash’s arm. “I just don’t want you to break my heart.”
Abi shut his eyes when the pain of it made his chest ache.
“You’re going to break mine first? Is that the game we’re playing?”
“No one’s playing a game.” Abi poked Nash in his side, but it was nothing more than a tap. He just wanted Nash to know that the description of their relationship, non-relationship, didn’t please him. Whatever it was they were doing.
“But that is your plan, right? To hurt me before I hurt you.”
“I didn’t have a plan. Like at all. I never plan anything.
That’s sort of your department. Not mine.
And besides, no one could plan for someone like you.
” Abi held onto Nash’s biceps. He needed closeness after Nash had walked away from him.
And he didn’t want to think too hard about why.
“I don’t know if you realize this, but you came into my life at the exact wrong time.
In just four days, you’ve torn down every wall I’ve built around myself, almost as soon as I’ve put them up.
I’m not even swearing off men anymore. Obviously, because here I am, chasing you down Main Street straight into the fucking lion’s den of bars.
Why? Because we’re already partially bonding.
Which, no, has never happened before? So, no, Nash. I’m not playing a fucking game here.”
He really needed to pick an emotion and go with it. He probably seemed crazy, but he didn’t know if he cared. He’d laid himself bare. If Nash broke his heart, Abi had only himself to blame now.
“Look at me, boy.” There went Nash, commanding Abi to do something. That Abi liked it should have bought Abi a clue last night.
Their gazes met.
“What if we didn’t?” Nash whispered, his eyes sparkling with affection.
“Didn’t do what?” Abi bit his lip, holding his breath as he waited for Nash to answer.
“Break each other’s hearts.” Nash cupped his cheek and kissed him. “I won’t if you won’t.”