Cam beckoned Jared over. “Will you take Seb back down to his room?”
“Of course.” Jared quickly moved to stand behind Seb’s wheelchair.
Seb’s gaze flickered over the betas in the room, as he wondered how to word his next question.
Cam followed his gaze, then smiled down at him. “Alec and Gareth will stand guard outside your door, but should you choose to go through with this, it will just be the two of you. A bonding bite is a private affair.”
Seb vaguely remembered Tim mentioning something like that, but it was good to have Cam confirm it. The idea of Tim biting him in front of witnesses wasn’t something he liked the sound of.
Assuming I can persuade Tim to do it.
As soon as Jared wheeled him out of the room and into the corridor again, Seb opened his mouth, not caring that the others could probably hear him. Hell, half the hospital could listen in if they wanted. “What if he refuses?”
“Why would he refuse?”
“Because he already did it once,” Seb hissed, and maybe he did care about people hearing, after all.
Jared leaned down close to Seb’s ear. “You didn’t see his face when Cam was about to bite you…. He looked…broken.”
Seb’s heart constricted; his chest was too tight to breathe, and he rubbed at it with the heel of his hand. “He could still say no.”
“Well, now’s your chance to ask him.”
They reached the door to Seb’s hospital room, and Seb glanced up to see Nathan and Tim walking towards them. God, his palms were sweaty all over again; he’d never felt so nervous before. Unable to meet Tim’s eyes, Seb focused on the blanket again as Jared wheeled him into his room and parked him next to the bed.
Jared asked, “Do you want to stay in the chair or get back in bed?”
“Um….” It had been okay being in the chair when Cam was going to bite him, but if Tim agreed to do it, then he wanted them to be close. Closer than you could get with him sitting upright in a wheelchair. “Bed, I think.”
Jared pulled the sheets back, then looked from Seb to the bed and back again. “If we—”
“I’ve got it.” Tim walked into the room; Nathan lingered just outside the door. Gareth and Alec had also arrived, flanking Nathan, but all Seb saw was Tim. His hair stuck up all over the place, as though he’d constantly had his hands in it from the moment he’d walked out.
Seb barely noticed Jared pat him gently on the shoulder, whisper “Good luck,” and then leave, closing the door behind him.
“If you could give me a hand, maybe?” Seb put his good hand on the armrest to lever himself out of the chair, but before he could even try to push up, Tim scooped him up as if he weighed nothing.
“I said I’d got it.” Tim’s voice was rough, a little slurred. “Is your back okay?”
It hurt where his stitches were, but when Seb carefully looped his arms around Tim’s neck and looked up, Seb’s gaze caught on the fangs slowly extending downwards, and he forgot all about the pain.
A hot, desperate feeling unfurled inside him, starting at the base of his spine and echoing outwards in a warm rush. Seb imagined those fangs pressed into the base of his throat, breaking the skin, and his stomach clenched, a nervous excitement coursing through his veins. “Why did you leave?”
Tim sighed. “I couldn’t stay and watch him bite you. Not without losing control and doing something incredibly stupid.”
He turned and gently deposited Seb on the bed, but he made no move to step back, looming over Seb with a hand on either side of him.
When Tim closed his eyes, Seb reached up to palm his jaw. “Hey.” He ran his thumb along Tim’s bottom lip, brushing the tips of his teeth, making his breath hitch. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For not realising sooner.”
Tim’s eyes snapped open, their beautiful blue almost eclipsed by black. “About what, exactly?”
This is it.Seb needed to get this exactly right or Tim would never believe him. He took a deep breath. “Yesterday, when I said it was no big deal to have you bite me, I didn’t realise at the time exactly why that was.” Tim huffed and went to pull away, but Seb held on, sliding his hand around the back of Tim’s neck. “Listen to me. Please.”
“Go on.” Tim’s body felt tense under Seb’s fingers, as though he was poised for the worst.
