He shakes his head, smirking.
“I didn’t know you wrote,” I say.
He watches me for a minute before sighing. “I write a lot.”
“You’re… ashamed of that?”
Laiken laughs. “No. Not at all. I just don’t share it with anyone. Again, Nason is the only one who knows that I write.I write for me. BesidesKing Arthur’s Camelot, no one has ever read a word of anything I’ve written.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to let me read, but I don’t want to put that pressure on him. I don’t want him to feel obligated because we’re together.
“If you ever change your mind and would like to share with someone who will enthusiastically read every single word you write, I volunteer,” I offer as casually as I can and sit back in the chair, bringing my feet back up. “I’m willing to sacrifice my time to support you, I guess.”
He chuckles. “Yeah?”
“It’s only right to support your partner, even when it feels like such a huge sacrifice.” I meet his eyes, and I should be commended for managing to keep a straight face.
Thankfully, he knows my theatrics are just that. I’mdyingto read it all.
“Okay,” I say, spinning around again so I’m sitting sideways and leaning toward him. “I have to know why you made it closed door! Why are we stuck at PG?! You’re killing me.”
Laiken laughs. “Because the newsletter is available to all ages on Kala. Obviously, some of those ages shouldn’t be reading detailed sex. Not even in hundred-word bursts.”
I huff. “There should be an X-rated version,” I grumble, throwing myself backwards again. “I bet Lancelot can show Arthur a thing or two about how to handle a lance.”
He chuckles. “I’m sure he can, but I think we really need to talk about Gawain.”
“Oh no. We both know that Gawain might be all innocent and pious and deceptively virginal on the outside, but he’s a freak behind the dungeon door.”
“Thank fuck everyone realizes that,” Laiken says. He flips through the notebook. “He’s probably my most challenging character becausethatis the impression I need him to continuegiving off—gentlemanly and innocent and shit. It’s difficult to show that he’s entirely different when the drapes on the bed are drawn without showing that.”
“And that’s why you need to show it. Write some porn, Laiken! Please tell me that other things you write are dirty as fuck.”
He grins. “They are.”
“Ugh,” I groan. “Such a tease.”
“I confirm what you want to hear and I’m a tease?”
“Yes. What other things do you write besides chivalric serials?”
“I write queer fairy tales. I’ve dabbled in monsters. I also have a short story calledBreedablethat’s a rework on omegaverse. Are you familiar with omegaverse?”
“You mean growly men who bite you viciously in a show of possessive claiming and their fat dicks that sport knots for the ultimate pleasure load as they rut violently while locked inside you?”
He laughs. “Yep. That’s the one.”
“Nope. Never heard of it.”
Laiken shakes his head. “Like I said, I’ve only dabbled in monsters, but I’m not sure my imagination works in that direction quite so well. I’m best with humans or human… omegaverse, I guess.”
“I bet you could do monsters proud,” I say. “I’ll gladly offer some of my time if you need to bounce ideas off someone. You know, I’ll do my best to pencil you in. I guess.”
I love the way he’s smiling at me. It’s all amused and sexy and mature. “Thank you, Lie.”
“For what?”
He shakes his head subtly. “Just being you. You’re the absolute best thing in my entire life. You know that?”
