Kazimir didn’t need a couple of weeks. He didn’t even need a couple of hours. But he nodded his head anyway and took Nate’s hand in his own, bringing it up so he could plant a soft kiss to the backs of his knuckles.
“Should we bet on it?” Nate threw him a curveball, laughing when Kaz didn’t reply. “I bet I’ll gather enough courage to talk to my siblings about it before time is up. I’m going to leave out the part about being kidnapped and almost murdered though, cool? I’m willing to displease them a little by saying I’m choosing a Brumal member as a life partner, but there are still lines.”
“Speaking of which,” Kaz quirked a brow. “Kind of chose the worst time to stop caring about disappointing Big Brother, Narek. You could have been killed for real. All you had to do was give them my name.”
“I would never do that to you,” Nate stated.
“I’m Brumal,” he pointed out. “You just said as much yourself. I can handle a couple of rouge losers.”
“What if they’d snuck up on you?”
“The only person who’s ever been able to sneak up on me is you.” Kaz hadn’t seen this coming, not even when he’d been the one going after his pretty racer in the first place. “How’s it feel to tame a devil, babe?”
Nate pretended to think it over. “Pretty good, actually.”
“Keep in mind what that entails. When you tame something, that person is yours to do with as you please. The devil dies for you, Narek, not the other way around. Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again. Not for anyone, not even me. Agreed?”
Nate clicked his tongue at him. “First you don’t understand the basic concepts of boyfriends, and now this. Listen up, Kazimir, I’ll only explain this once. If we’re going to eventually get married, you have to know what that means. It’s a partnership. You protect me,” he tapped him on the chest, “and I protect you. That’s how that goes.”
“Pretty Boy—”
“It’s non-negotiable.”
“What was all that talk about how you’ll stop interrupting me?” Kazimir asked pointedly, only for Nate to smirk suggestively.
“You could always make me. There’s something better I’d prefer doing with my mouth anyway.”
“Oh, hell no.” He shook his head and tried to pull back, but Nate grabbed at his shirt a second time and tightened. “The doctor said you had to take it easy, and sex between us is many things, but that is not one of them.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You were literally just shot!”
“Since when did you do what you were told?” Nate challenged, staring him down with that infuriatingly adorable look on his face. “Come on, Kaz. I want it.”
They really shouldn’t…Yet Kazimir wanted to touch him too. Felt the urge to feel him writhing, hear his moans, to prove once and for all that he was all right and here with him. That Nate Narek was alive andhis.
“You can have my hand, Pretty Boy,” Kaz offered. “That’s it. Take it or leave.”
“I’d rather have your mouth.”
He huffed and gently eased the comforter down Nate’s body. “Always have to be so difficult.”
“Regretting selecting me already?” Nate teased, and even though it was clearly a joke, Kaz paused.
“No,” he replied seriously. “I will never regret that.”
Nate held his gaze. “Wanna bet?”
“Yeah.” His fingers slipped beneath the waistband of Nate’s boxers, cupping him. “Yeah, that’s a bet I’ll take.”
And it was one Kazimir had no intentions of ever losing.
Chapter 31:
“Let me help you.” Kazimir followed Nate into his house and tried to walk with him toward the hall, but he shook his head at him with a smile.
“I can move on my own,” he reminded. The doctor had told them as much, though it was still difficult at times and hurt if he put too much pressure on his leg. It’d only been a week since the kidnapping, but the wound had mostly sealed, and the bruising on his face was long gone. Aside from a slight limp, no one would be able to tell there was anything wrong with him at all.
