“Enough,” Kraus bellowed. “Orn, you will come with me to see Orthorr for ignoring my rules. Tavik, take Saneth to the healers. He’s bleeding.”
I hadn’t noticed until he said something, but when I reached up to touch my face, blood appeared on my fingertips from a cut above my eyebrow. Oh, I was going to kill Orn for that.
Tavik didn’t relax from his protective stance until Orn was dragged out of sight by Kraus. When he turned, I could see the fury still burning in his eyes, but he pushed that away, offering me his hand.
“Come on. We will see the healers now. You look like shit.”
I took his hand, jerking him off balance once he’d pulled me to my feet for the comment, but I didn’t snark back. I couldn’t. He threw his arm around my shoulders, leading me away from where we’d been training, and my heart skipped a beat again. For the first time ever, I wanted to lean into the hold, to feel what it would be like if Tavik held me for real. The thought scared me a little. He was my best friend.
“After you are cleaned up, we will devise a plan to get Orn back,” Tavik said, unaware of where my thoughts had gone. “We could drown him in the river, but?—”
“No!” I let out a startled laugh. “No murder. We can figure out something better. What about that itching leaf? I heard one of the older boys say it can be dried and made into a powder. If we put the powder in all his leg coverings, he’ll not stop itching for days. Maybe even weeks if he doesn’t figure out to wash his clothes.”
Tavik laughed outright, and my heart swelled a little more, pride filling my chest for drawing him out of his mood and back into the smile I realized made him more handsome than he already looked before now.
“...That?” Tavik asked incredulously. “That was when you knew?”
Lifting my head to look at him, I gave a small shrug. “Yes? It was when I started to have true feelings for you, at the very least. I always knew you had my back, but I could hear in your tone that you meant it when you said you’d kill him. It meant a great deal to me that you would go so far to protect me.”
His face softened and warmed. Drawing me away from where I’d been cuddled on his chest, he moved me so that our lips could touch, his kisses soft and sweet. Those butterflies I’d felt all those years ago came back with a vengeance, and I moaned against his mouth, gasping as he tangled his tongue with mine. I wondered if I’d ever get used to this. I hoped not. I wanted each kiss to feel like the first time. I wanted to continue to feel the wonder of the moment, no matter how many years passed. I owed Patrick a great deal for finally giving me the courage to speak with Tavik. I knew deep in my soul that he was it for me. I’d known all along. And I was unbelievably happy to finally have what I’d always wanted.
Four
TAVIK
Asmile stretched across my face when I woke in the morning with Saneth cuddled against me, naked and snoring. We had spent most of the night enjoying each other, and I looked forward to more, but I also needed to figure out some way to show him how I felt about him. His comment about not expecting me to feel the same way bothered me, but I understood why he felt that way. He had no reason to believe I ever felt differently. I didn’t even realize until yesterday, which made me feel foolish.
It made me wonder what pushed him to tell me the truth. He said he had begun to have feelings for me at seventeen, but never mentioned it before now. What had changed?
The snores stopped, and his breathing changed, alerting me that he was awake. I felt his whole body stiffen for just a moment, probably thinking like I had when I first woke that it had all been a dream. To reassure him, I hugged him closer to me and kissed the top of his head, murmuring a quiet, “Good morning.”
He let out a long breath, relaxing again. “Good morning.”
I watched as his body began to move as it always did in the mornings, stretching in a way that accentuated all his lean muscles. After being able to touch and taste every inch of him, the act that I had once thought was cute was now sensual in a way that had my already hard cock throbbing for attention. Saneth definitely noticed, a smug grin overtaking his face when I turned on my side and he felt it press against his hip.
“Didn’t get enough last night?” he queried.
I could tell by the look on his face that he was expecting a tease in response. Instead, I ran a finger down his chest to his hard cock, wrapping my fist around it. “I feel as though I will never get enough of you,” I answered honestly.
He sucked in a breath, leaning into my touch, and when he drew me into a kiss, I reminded him without words what he was to me. His breath was shaky when he pulled away, and there was some emotion hidden behind the lust in his eyes that I wanted to draw out. He distracted me with his touch before I could.
It became a race to see who could make the other come first. I lost, but only just, and got to enjoy watching his expressions as he came without being distracted, making me feel like I still won.
After our breathing returned to normal and I’d cleaned us both up with a cloth, I finally found a chance to ask, “What changed?”
Blinking up at me in confusion, he cocked his head. “What?”
“What changed?” I prompted again. “You said you loved me since we were seventeen. Why did you decide to tell me now and not sooner?”
Understanding lit up his expression momentarily before he sheepishly admitted, “Patrick. I thought… If he and Verus bonded, I thought you might finally let him go. The thought of you with someone else hurt, but watching you torment yourself hurt more. If you couldn’t have what you wanted, I wanted you to move on. To let him go. I spoke to Patrick about it, hopinghe’d tell me their intentions toward each other, and he figured out why I truly wanted to know.”
The petty part of me didn’t like Patrick's involvement in our story, but Saneth continued without noticing my annoyance.
“He and Finn agreed to help me. We talked through options together and spoke about their own experiences.”
My brows furrowed as I thought about the last week. “That was where you went? I thought you were just tired of hearing me complain.”
He snorted, raising an eyebrow at me. “I was. You are too stubborn for your own good. But I also wanted their help.” He sighed, leaning against my palm when I cupped his cheek. “Something Patrick said to me made me realize I was risking too much by waiting for you to see me. He asked me if I’d choose to watch you fall in love with someone else rather than speak my truth. It was hard enough to watch you pine over Verus. If I had to watch someone else catch your attention, someone who might return your affections, it would have killed me.”
