Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Another nuzzle before Aodhan leaned back, tugging at Illium so he lay supine against him. Reaching out a hand, Aodhan switched off the lamp, then opened the blinds using the remote.
New York danced with man-made starlight beyond the windows.
“I want this for us,” Aodhan said, the words a rough confession. “The soft and the playful and the dance before the dance.”
Illium’s heart ached all over again. Lifting Aodhan’s hand from where it lay against his pectoral muscle, he brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to a palm callused by centuries of both weapons work and the making of the art that was Aodhan’s lifeblood. “We’ll have it,” he vowed. “Starting with our first official date.”
Aodhan’s chest moved against him in quiet laughter. But his words were intrigued. “A date? Me and you?”
“Why not?” Illium ran his hand down Aodhan’s forearm. “What should it be? A sunset cruise? No, too many people. How about a sunset picnic tucked away in the Catskills where no one can disturb us.”
Aodhan was quiet for a long moment before he said, “Yes, let’s do that.” He ran his fingers through Illium’s hair. “I’ll speak to Keir alone about my reaction first. Later, we’ll speak to him together.”
“You don’t have to include me, not if—”
“You have a right to be there,” Aodhan interrupted in that firm voice of his that was really doing things for Illium. “You’re going to be navigating this final fucking hurdle with me.”
Aodhan didn’t swear as much as most of the Seven. But when he did, he meant it. Illium kissed his palm again. “I’ll be there, sir.”
“Smart-ass.” A rumble of sound but Aodhan continued to stroke his hair.
Smoke, who’d decided they’d been ignored long enough, came back over to jump onto the bed and, when Illium gathered her to him, cuddled into him without claws or hisses.
Neither of them spoke again.
Illium’s eyes closed under Aodhan’s hypnotic caresses, the other man’s big body around him and Illium’s wings tangled up in between in a trust he’d never before given to a lover. Always, Illium had been in charge. He didn’t trust anyone else that much.
Except for the man who was his light.
* * *
* * *
Aodhan woke curled up behind Illium, one wing over him, and his arm tucking Illium close. Aodhan had remembered to close the blinds before he fell asleep, so the room was gray with shadows, no sunlight pouring in to turn him into an earthbound star. Sometimes, his tendency to sparkle was fucking annoying more than anything.
Smoke lay sleeping in the curve of Illium’s body, but raised her head when Aodhan stirred.
“Shh.” Aodhan used a finger to pet her back down; her fur was as soft as a cloud.
Yawning, she cuddled back into Illium’s chest. Aodhan smiled. Because that was Illium: rescuing the lost and the broken, and holding them safe and warm.
His smile faded on the thought—because he was once again the one who needed tending, needed help.
“No,” he said aloud, refusing to allow himself to go down that self-destructive path. He’d accepted Illium’s need to care as a deep part of his lover’s psyche—and so he would let Illium care and even hover.
The difference was that he intended to give the other man what he needed, too.
Pressing a kiss to the golden skin of Illium’s shoulder, he slipped out of bed as quietly as possible. But Illium was a warrior honed in battle, one who’d spent a good chunk of the past year in a territory devastated by evil. He woke at once. “Time is it?” A mumble.
“Early,” Aodhan said. “But I have a meeting with Dmitri in an hour. You rest.” The two of them were old enough not to need the same amount of sleep as mortals, but Illium had flown halfway across the world. He needed downtime.
Turning over onto his back, Illium blinked those golden eyes slowly, before a smile curved his lips. “Hi.”
Aodhan had painted Illium thousands of times over the centuries, but never this way. With his hair all mussed and that sleepy look on his face, his impossibly beautiful lashes shadowing his cheeks because he had them at half-mast.
All while he held a purring cat to his chest and stroked her with lazy movements.
“Really, you look at me like that and expect me to focus.” Aodhan mock-scowled before leaning down, his wings spread over them, to brush his lips over Illium’s.
Smoke reached up to bat at his feathers with one paw, her claws sheathed.
Used to her fascination with his feathers, Aodhan let her be to concentrate on the man who flat-out undid him. “I should paint you like this—except naked, with only a sheet to protect your modesty—and sell prints. I’d make a fortune.” The only hitch was that he’d never share this intimate Illium with his drowsy smile with anyone; whatever he painted would be for their eyes alone.