TYCHE #2
They fell silent, and Tyche returned to watching the stars as they sparkled overhead.
The air had felt cool earlier, but with Shey pressed alongside him, he didn’t notice the chill.
There was now a hint of something spicy and musky that he hadn’t smelled before.
It was pleasant, and Tyche’s nose demanded that he roll to his left so he could breathe it in more deeply, but that would have him rolling right into Shey, and that wasn’t a good idea.
“So…if you’ve been out of your meeting for an hour, why aren’t you hanging out with Rayne?”
“You mean Rayne and his husband?” Shey replied in a teasing voice, but he had a point.
If Shey wanted to hang out with Rayne, he wouldn’t want to do it with Rayne’s new husband lurking about.
“I’m joking. I like Eno. We didn’t get off to the best start, but he caught me hitting on Rayne the first time we met.
I hadn’t given Rayne a chance to confess that he was seeing someone. ”
“Whoops.”
“But I talked to them both after the meeting for a few minutes. Rayne was kind enough to remind me of the wedding gift he expected. He also requested that I take him and his husband out for dinner the next time they’re in Sirelis.
” Shey rolled onto his side, his shoulder balanced on the tree trunk as he peered at Tyche.
The God of Luck blinked and froze, his eyes wide as he stared at Shey, whose face was now mere inches from his own. “Do you want to join me?”
“What?” The single word came out as a strangled gasp.
“Like a double date.”
“A double date? With you? And-and Rayne and his husband?”
“Sure. It’d be fun.”
Tyche choked and stammered, unable to pull together a single clear thought.
Shey wanted to take him on a date with his ex-boyfriend and his new rival.
What kind of insane shit was that? Before he could pull together a proper scathing response, Shey cackled and settled back into how he had been reclining, his shoulder pressing into Tyche’s.
“I was just joking. You can relax.”
“Whatever. I knew you were joking.”
He didn’t. Shey was the most confusing human he’d ever met.
The silence returned to their spot in the woods, and Tyche’s erratic heart rate returned to something more normal.
In the distance, an owl’s hoots echoed through the trees, and the wind stirred the branches, sighing through the pine needles.
As he calmed, he found that his heart ached a little for the man next to him.
“I get why you might still be hung up on Rayne,” Tyche said, trying hard to sound casual.
“Really?” Of course, the freaking devil next to him had to roll onto his side to face Tyche. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely make out the grin growing on his lips.
“Sure. Rayne is tall and handsome. He’s intelligent and has a polished feel to him, like he would always be calm and controlled in a crisis. Someone you could depend on to have your back. Plus, you’ve known him for a long time, so he’s safe and familiar. Who wouldn’t get the appeal of that?”
“Ty?”
Shey’s voice had turned soft and husky, setting off a hundred warning bells in Tyche’s head.
Goose bumps flew down his arms as if a cold wind had blown between them, although he was feeling very warm.
Self-preservation demanded that he not move a muscle.
Curiosity screamed that he had to look at Shey.
The latter won.
Tyche turned his head, and Shey’s warm lips brushed against his own.
Tyche froze, not participating and not pulling away.
His vision blurred as he kept his eyes open, allowing him to see that Shey had closed his.
Shey didn’t touch him in any other way, giving him plenty of opportunity to push him away, pull away, or even run.
But Tyche didn’t want any of those things.
He inhaled Shey’s alluring scent, allowing it to fill his lungs.
As he did, all the tension inside him seemed to unravel bit by bit.
His eyes fell shut, and his tense mouth relaxed.
He returned the kiss, marveling at the magnificent softness of Shey’s lips matched with a tantalizing hint of strength that he ached to explore.
The enticing kiss changed into a second kiss and a third.
Each one came with a little more pressure.
Flesh tugged, and there was the tiniest hint of Shey’s tongue swiping across Tyche’s bottom lip.
Tyche sighed in the unexpected pleasure of it, and Shey dove in for a brief taste that was enough to stop Tyche’s heart and steal his breath away.
The man was faster than a hummingbird, darting forward to slide his tongue along Tyche’s only to leave again while Tyche’s brain was still trying to figure out what happened.
The kisses had lasted less than a minute, but they were enough to set Tyche’s entire body on fire. Even his cock had perked up, like a bear sticking its head out of the cave at the end of a long hibernation, achy and confused, wondering what the fuck was happening and starved for more.
Shey broke off the kisses and pulled away so that Tyche could see him through bleary eyes. There was a wicked grin on his face, but nothing to indicate that he was burning up in the same way. A cool breeze rushed between them, brushing over Tyche’s hot cheeks and damp lips.
“Tall and brilliant aren’t my only types,” Shey murmured. “I find myself growing quite attached to short and grumpy.”
Tyche cobbled together enough brain cells to get his mouth to form a coherent sentence. “I have no idea if you’ve insulted me or complimented me.”
Shey’s smile grew even wider and a bit lazy. He appeared so perfectly content sitting in the woods with Tyche when he could have been spending time with the dragons or even people he was friends with. “I guess it all depends on whether you’ll let me kiss you again.”
Tyche hummed. “I’ll have to think about it.” He wrapped one hand around the jar of wine and shoved to his feet.
“What? You’re leaving? And you’re taking the wine?” Shey gasped, almost laughing.
“It’s late, and we have to make big plans for tomorrow. No more kissing for you.”
Shey gazed up at him, jutting out his bottom lip in a very pathetic pout. “Not even one more quick kiss? It felt like we were getting good at it.”
“Tomorrow. Maybe.”
Tyche turned on his heel and marched himself to his room with the Omari clan while chuckling at Shey’s complaints. But maybe he wasn’t laughing too hard because there were several of his body parts that demanded he go back for more kisses.
As tempting as it was, he needed to think about this more.
What the hell was he doing kissing a human prince?