Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Reid
Reid didn’t know what to do. How was he supposed to tell Kerak that his brother had told him to leave? The thought of leaving Kerak made his chest hurt, but the thought that he was just a plaything to Kerak brought bile up the back of his throat. He didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t.
He took another deep breath as the afternoon dragged on. If patterns held, Kerak would be there any moment with a meal for Reid. He’d sit on the stool at the end of the bar, tell Reid about his day, and keep him company until the end of his shift.
And after…
God. Reid couldn’t think about after. If every kiss and every touch had been a lie, he was glad they hadn’t moved on to more.
Like clockwork, Kerak stepped through the door of the saloon, a small basket in one hand.
He paused only a moment, like he always did, gaze locking on Reid behind the bar before he moved toward his usual stool.
The smile on his face was the same one he always wore when he arrived.
To Reid, it had always seemed warm and sincere.
Reid swallowed hard. He really didn’t know what he was going to do if it’d all been a lie.
“Reid?” Kerak said, steps slowing.
Reid tried to wrestle his normal smile into place. One glance at Kerak told him how complete that failure had been. Before Reid could even say anything, Kerak was somehow beside him behind the bar, taking Reid’s face in his hands.
“What’s happened? Are you ill?”
The moment Kerak’s skin touched his, something in Reid unclenched. The horrible dread that had been building in his chest ever since Selin left vanished. He could breathe again.
He opened his eyes. When had he closed them? Kerak’s dark gaze searched his face. There was no lie in the concern there. No lie in the careful grip on Reid’s cheeks. Kerak cared for him, and Reid felt like a fool for ever doubting it. “It’s Selin. He told me to leave.”
Somehow, they’d made it through Reid’s shift. Reid swore Kerak’s jaw hadn’t unclenched from the moment Reid had said Selin’s name earlier.
Finally arriving at the door of his rented room, Reid gladly took out his key and let them inside. Kerak was right on his heels. The door had barely closed behind them when Kerak spun him around and gathered Reid in his arms, holding him close.
“I’m so sorry.”
The last of the tension in Reid’s body drained out of him. He wrapped his arms around Kerak’s waist and buried his face against his shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
“But it is,” Kerak whispered into his hair. “All these years I’ve stood at his side…”
Reid swallowed. “Surely, you’ve—” He had to pause to take a deep breath before he could continue. “I mean to say, you must have had other—”
“Yes.” Kerak pulled back, sliding his hands down until he had Reid’s hands in his own.
Moonlight filtered through the window beside the door, highlighting a sliver of Kerak’s downturned face.
“I’ve been alive a very long time. In that time, I’ve had lovers for a night, for weeks, for months.
But for us—paranormals, I mean—much the same as it is for humans, there have been few who’ve truly taken up a place within my heart. ”
Reid’s own heart started to sink. Was he one of those? If Kerak decided to spend months or years with Reid, when would he leave? When Reid got too old?
“I can see the fear in your eyes. That’s my fault, too. I should have told you all this sooner. Should never have let you doubt what you mean to me.” Kerak cupped Reid’s cheek. “You, my love, don’t just take up a place in my heart. You have the whole of it.”
“For how long?” Reid tried to keep the tremble out of his voice.
“For eternity if I have anything to say about it.”
Reid pulled back, eyes burning and already shaking his head. “I’m human, Kerak. There is no eternity for me.”
“What if there could be?” Kerak followed him step for step. “What if I told you that plans are already in motion? We’ll have to talk it out, of course, but I want you with me. Not just for this lifetime, but all of them, if you want that, too.”
Reid couldn’t even truly comprehend that, but what he did know was that he wanted Kerak. Right then and for as long as he could have him. “I want you.”
Kerak smiled, a slow stretch of his lips that lit up his eyes. “You have me.”
Reid breathed out the rest of the tension he’d been holding onto and leaned in, letting himself be captured in a scorching kiss.
Kerak undressed him slowly, taking care to touch every inch of him.
Moving backwards, Reid sat on the edge of the bed.
His cock strained upwards, standing flat against his belly.
He’d let go of so much of his shyness over the months he and Kerak had been courting, but tonight he was glad for the dim silver light of the room.
He supposed it was no secret how badly he wanted Kerak, but the heat running beneath his skin told him he was flushed all over with it.
“You’re lovely,” Kerak whispered, leaning down to kiss him again.
“So are you.” Reid watched, heart pounding, while Kerak pulled off his own shirt and pants. Every ridge of muscle, every patch of dark hair, every sweep of tanned skin revealed made Reid tingle all over.
Suddenly, the dim light didn’t seem like enough. He wanted to see everything.
“Lay back.”
Reid did as he was asked, only to jolt up again when Kerak licked a strip up his cock.
“Kerak!”
Kerak smiled, pressing a kiss against Reid’s slack lips. “No one’s ever done this for you?”
Reid shook his head. He knew, of course. Stories from other boys and men in the saloon, but he’d never let anyone as close as Kerak was right now. “I’ve never…just what we’ve done.”
Kerak gave him a small, sweet smile. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
Kerak smiled again, wider. “More than. Let me take care of you.”
“What about you?”
“Hmmm. How about this?”
Kerak moved then, covering Reid’s body with his own. Reid gasped, completely unprepared for the sensation of so much bare skin moving against his. The hot line of Kerak’s cock brushed his own, sending a jolt of pleasure through him. He bucked his hips, thrusting up to chase that feeling.
“There you go,” Kerak whispered against his skin, mouth trailing down in biting kisses over Reid’s throat. When he reached Reid’s chest, he latched onto a nipple, sucking gently before nipping with his teeth. Reid shouted, nearly coming on the spot, and Kerak chuckled. “So sensitive, love.”
“You keep saying that.” Reid panted, out of his mind with want. His hips kept moving, hands roaming everywhere, catching any purchase on Kerak’s muscled body and holding on for dear life.
Kerak lifted himself enough to catch Reid’s lips in a slow, deep kiss. “I mean it, you know. I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.”
Kissing him again, Kerak braced his elbows on either side of Reid’s head and rolled his whole body in a sinuous movement that sent sparks through Reid’s belly.
“Do that again,” he said. Then he gasped, let his legs fall open for Kerak to slot between, and gripped at the muscled expanse of Kerak’s back.
Kerak obliged, lining them up just right and thrusting against Reid until the pleasure building in Reid’s belly burst over him. He came hard, the hot spill of his release coating his belly and Kerak’s.
Kerak grunted, speeding up his hips before going completely still on an indrawn breath. He gasped a moment later, a small hurt noise escaping his throat as he started to thrust again. His cum joined Reid’s on their skin, somehow hotter, branding Reid all the way down to his bones.
“I love you, too.”
Kerak chuckled, the sound vibrating through Reid from where Kerak had collapsed on his chest. He lifted up to meet Reid’s gaze. “You love me or my cock?”
Reid pretended to think. “Can’t I love both?”
“I hope that you do.”
There was something so sincere, so achingly tender in Kerak’s voice, in his eyes, that Reid had to swallow before he could answer. “I do.”
“I do, too,” Kerak whispered against his lips and kissed him again.
The next morning, Reid woke with sunshine in his eyes and a smile in his heart. Although, he frowned as soon as he realized Kerak wasn’t in the bed with him. Looking around the room, he spotted a slip of paper on the side table.
Gone to find breakfast. Stay where you are. -K
“Oh, that smile is enough to turn one’s stomach.”
Reid’s blood went cold at Selin’s voice. The man stepped out from beside the tall wardrobe in the room, and Reid had no idea how he could’ve missed him standing there. Kerak’s words came back to him. No other creature in any realm has ever been able to sneak up on me. Only him.
“What are you doing here, Selin?” Reid asked, wanting to pull the quilt farther up his chest, wanting to hide the marks Kerak had left there. It was private, what he and Kerak had shared. More than anything, though, he wished Kerak would get back from his errand.
Selin stepped closer to the bed. “I gave you very simple instructions, Reid. Obviously, they were too much for your feeble human mind to comprehend.”
Reid gritted his teeth, anger like he’d never felt before burning through him. “I’m sorry you feel like I’m taking Kerak away from you, Selin. It’s not my intention, but he and I love each other. I’m not leaving him.”
Selin threw his head back and let out an absolutely inhuman laugh. Reid shuddered, the sound grating through his head and making his ears ring.
“You fool. Have you forgotten you’re human? A weak little mortal sharing the bed of a king.”
When Selin’s gaze landed on him again, the anger, the insanity there, made Reid scramble to his feet.
He grabbed his pants as Selin laughed again and pulled them on.
He had to get out of there. Fumbling, he managed to fasten one button on his pants and gave up on the rest of his clothes, trying to rush past the other man.
Selin slammed into him, lifting him from the ground and rushing forward until Reid’s back hit the opposite wall with a thud. Bright spots danced across his vision, and he clawed at the hand clamped around his throat.
Across the room, the door burst open. Kerak was on Selin within a heartbeat, wrenching his brother away from Reid and throwing him toward the door with so much force that the door frame splintered to pieces.
Selin tumbled outside, rolling across the short wooden porch and into the dirt street beyond.
“Are you okay?” Kerak asked, touching Reid’s face and throat with gentle fingers.
Reid nodded, sucking in shaking breaths and trying to recover himself. He didn’t think anything was permanently damaged, but he couldn’t stop shaking. Behind Kerak, Selin got to his feet. Reid managed to gasp, “Behind you,” just before Selin turned and charged toward them.
Kerak’s eyes bled from black to red. He spun, meeting Selin head-on and repelling him again. The air in the room changed. Charged with some force that Ried couldn’t see. It was magic. It had to be.
Kerak put a hand out toward Selin. He didn’t actually touch him, but the gesture sent Selin flying backward, tearing apart another section of the wall around the door, and back out into the street.
Kerak followed.
Slowly, Reid got to his feet. He was still shirtless and his throat ached, but he was in this with Kerak. Even if he couldn’t physically do anything to help.
“I told you what would happen if you didn’t leave him alone,” Kerak said, standing over Selin. His voice had gone dark and low. Sinister. It sent goosebumps racing up Reid’s arms even in the bright morning sun.
On the ground, Selin spat blood onto the dirt and rose up onto his knees. “You won’t do it. What would you do without me, little brother?”
“Live.” Kerak raised his hand and started to speak in a language Reid didn’t know. It sounded otherworldly.
Selin’s eyes widened. “Kerak—”
Kerak continued. Louder.
Selin started to shake, pale skin turning red and veins popping out in his forehead and neck like he was straining against a force Reid couldn’t see. “You’ll regret this.”
Kerak’s voice rose in cadence and pitch until Selin screamed, and Kerak closed his fist.
Selin disappeared. One moment, he’d been on his knees in the street, and the next, he was gone, only the imprints of his knees and flecks of spat blood to prove he’d been there at all.
“What—” Reid started to say, but Kerak dropped to one knee in front of him. “Kerak!” Reid rushed forward, falling to the ground beside him and gripping his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Kerak panted. Sweat coated his face, and for the first time since Reid had known him, there was dust clinging to his clothes. He reached one arm around Reid and pulled him close. “Yes. I just need a moment.”
As it always was, the touch of Kerak’s skin to his was a balm. It seemed to be the same for Kerak, too. As soon as his hand slid around Reid’s bare waist, he pulled in a deep breath and looked more like his usual put-together self again.
Kerak rose to his feet, bringing Reid with him. “Let’s get you dressed and see about fixing this damage.” He pointed to the front of Reid’s rented room.
Reid hadn’t really taken a moment to look around.
He cringed at the missing boards and broken door.
It also didn’t surprise him to see faces disappearing behind curtains in his neighbors’ windows or the small crowd of onlookers that had gathered up the street.
If people in town hadn’t known Kerak was a paranormal, they definitely would now.
“Everyone will know about you now, though. We should get out of town.”
Kerak’s dark gaze met his. “We can leave if you want, but no one here is a threat to me. Or to you.” His voice rose enough to carry as he said the last. “Anyway, I like it here.”
Reid laughed in disbelief before he looked back at the spot where Selin had been. In a whisper, he asked, “What happened to him?”
“I sent him back to the realm we grew up in. He’s been avoiding our father for a long time.”