“Stop that.” He swatted his hand but gave up when the other man refused to let go. “I’m not looking for this to last forever—”
“You’re wasting your time, baby bro,” Aodhan interrupted him next.
“Would you both shut up and let me finish a damn sentence?”
“Not if you’re just going to spout nonsense. He couldn’t let you go even if he wanted to. He’s already formed the bond. Yurn only have one bashert their entire lifetime.”
“He’s aware,” Pavel said. “I told him.”
“Bet it freaked him out, didn’t it?” Aodhan chuckled. “My brother has his…problems to work through. Commitment has never been his strong suit. It’s all the trust issues. I haven’t helped. I got close to him the first few weeks he was home with us, only to try to drown him in the family pool once I’d gained his trust.”
Zane planted a hand on Pavel’s shoulder to keep him down even though the other man hadn’t yet moved. “It’s all in the past.”
“Is that how he lost his memories?” Pavel’s voice was dark, threaded with barely held control, but Aodhan merely laughed.
“Relax, he doesn’t need you to fight his battles. Zane made me pay in his own way. We’ve been even for years, isn’t that right, baby brother?” Aodhan looked at him expectantly.
“I destroyed his favorite toy,” Zane confessed. “He’s right. I don’t hold a grudge.”
“He always gets his pound of flesh, so to speak,” Aodhan smiled, and it almost appeared as though he was proud. “He very much believes in the eye for an eye concept. Speaking of—”
“You cannot have his eyes.”
“What if I made that a stipulation? He can only have you if I—”
Pavel pushed Zane off and tossed his legs over the table, standing with a flourish that made Zane wince and think of all the work he’d put into patching him up. He picked up one of the small knives that had fallen to the floor along with the body and held it up, inspecting the bloody blade.
He couldn’t be fucking serious…
“Don’t you dare,” Zane growled. “Hart, put that down right now or I swear to the gods I will never let you touch me again.”
Everything around them seemed to go still, the air growing heavy and poised.
“What did you call me?” Pavel turned, the look of excitement on his face throwing Zane for a loop.
“What?”
“Do it again.”
“…Hart? So?”
“It’s a nickname. Finally.”
“It’s your actual name you absolute whack job.” Zane came around the table and snatched the weapon out of his hold, turning to point it toward his brother. “Say one more creepy Berga-the-Butcher-like comment about his eyes and there will be a new grudge between us.”
Aodhan merely grinned.
“Sit the fuck down,” he ordered Pavel, done with the both of them. “Let me check your stitches.”
“It’s fine.” Pavel placed a hand over the gauze, then shifted so that Zane stood between his legs. Hooking his heels against the back of Zane’s knees, he pushed him closer. “Are you really going to marry me?”
“Not if you keep this up I won’t.”
“Fine.” He planted his palms on the table behind him. “I’ll behave. Set your terms, gorgeous. Let’s find some common ground.”
Zane glanced at his brother, but Aodhan laughed.
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. Do you really think I’m going to just trust you to follow through?” Aodhan clicked his tongue and stood, going to grab the holopad he’d given to Zane earlier. “I wasn’t joking about your commitment issues. No, none of us are leaving here until it’s done.”
