“I get it.” I wanted to say I understood, but how could I? I’d grown up with enough food and a safe place to sleep. I’d never had to steal or sell myself in order to survive.
“The summer ended, cool weather and less sickness brought the crowds back, and I was done with that life. I returned to cut pursing. The encounter at the club brought me back to those days a little.”
“Regge, you know that none of this is on you, right? You survived in a dangerous world. You’re one of the bravest, most resilient men I know.”
He shook his head. “No. There are many who didn’t survive. I shouldn’t be whining about surviving when they did not.”
“Childhood trauma is not about who had it worse. It can cause lots of reactions later as an adult. It’s the mind’s way of dealing with what happened. The claustrophobia—” At Regge’s look, I clarified. “The fear of enclosed spaces. It’s understandable. I should have been more—”
He put his fingers up. “No. You have been perfect. I could not have asked for a better friend.”
“Friend.” My voice dropped. “Is that all we will ever be? Friends?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I think you’re great. You’re really smart and kind and—”
I kissed him. Soft at first, a question. A can-this-be-more kind of thing. His answer was to deepen the kiss.
Regge was a dream I never thought I could have. Not just his hot body against mine but his humor and sense of fun. His quick intelligence and curiosity. I was falling fast and hard and it was a thrill ride.
We broke off another kiss and sat up, pulling shirts off and fumbling at closures and zippers until pants were opened enough to be roughly shoved down.
The heat of each other as we pressed together was euphoric. I panted into his neck, his name coming to my lips more than once. My need for more friction, more touch was screaming at me. He murmuredmoreinto my hair.
I slid a hand between us but stopped just short of the prize. His story sifted back to me. “Regge,” I whimpered. “Can I touch you? I, ah, don’t want you to feel you have to reciprocate.”
Regge’s breath ghosted across my skin. Wordless sentiments sparked like fireflies around us. Then his fingers moved over mine, guiding my hand down. He shuddered andI almost came just from knowing I was the reason for that shudder.
We were too close to get a good rhythm going, but I couldn’t bring myself to move away. I wanted my name on his lips when he came, his lake-green eyes looking back at me when he studied me, his touch anywhere I could get it but especially… yes, there.
His hand clasped around me as he slotted us together. The friction of soft skin and callused hands was intense without any kind of lube, but we were caught up.
A shifting away and then back again, hands found secret places, lips made unspoken promises, over and over until I couldn’t hold back anymore. I came with a curse, and he followed me into a blissful mess. Our combined panting breaths clouded in the cold air above our heads.
It took several minutes until I could find my voice. “Damn it. I meant to bring something.”
“Something?” His tone held the rasp of afterglow.
I chuckled. “We can’t well take this sample to Anu on our stomachs.”
“Oh. Yeah, wow.”
The rush of cold air as he moved away gave me chills. So did his fingers brushing against my belly.
He called into the trees. “Archimedes? Can you bring me a cup or dish? Oh, and there’s a plastic bag in the—” He got no further as the bird squawked.
“God, he’s been here the whole time?”
Regge chuckled. “Not to worry, Archie is discreet.” He wriggled the rest of the way out of his jeans, pulled mine off and settled back down. “I don’t want to move,” he said.
“I don’t want you to.”
Within minutes, I heard wings flutter. A plastic cup landed with a thud on Regge’s head.
“Ow.” He rubbed his hair. “You didn’t have to—” A crinkle of a plastic bag hitting the same spot made me laugh.
“He’s got good aim.” I let Regge collect what we needed before cleaning him up with my shirt. “Do you think it matters if there are two samples of human seed? For the spell, I mean.”
“I hope not. And I hope it doesn’t make either of us vessels for Nigel’s spirit either,” he said.
