Ivor and Emory nodded, and Emory pulled out his phone to call in a cleanup crew.
Everett took Dax’s hand. He pulled him into the house and down the hallway into the master bedroom. “My grandfather’s first aid kit is in his bathroom. Go ahead and sit, and I’ll get what we need.”
“I really don’t need anything. I’ll heal pretty fast. One of my preternatural perks.”
“Well, brace yourself. I plan to disinfect everything. Who knows what was on those birds’ talons?” He shuddered. “Thank you for not letting them get me. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to be carried off by one of those.”
Dax remained silent as Everett tended to his wounds. Cleaning, disinfecting and bandaging. Dax didn’t really need the bandages, but he let Everett fuss over him because he liked it so much. The whole time, he stood close, his scent tantalizing, as was the heat emanating from his body.
Dax couldn’t stop staring at Everett’s face. He had harsh, sharp features that individually might be considered flaws, but they meshed well on him. He was fucking gorgeous.
Everett paused, noticing his intense stare, his face mere inches from Dax’s. “Thank you for fighting those monsters off for me. I guess it’s good I’ve kept you around, after all. I’d begun to think I was being selfish just because I didn’t want you to leave.”
“I didn’t want to leave,” Dax whispered, gaze dropping to Everett’s lush lips. Having the man’s hands on him had lust simmering throughout his body. Everett had removed his ruined shirt, and sitting half naked with the man, seeing the way Everett avidly admired his body, just made it all come to the surface.
Everett looked down, eyes flaring with heat as he spied Dax’s obvious hard dick. “So,” he said, licking his lips. “When Xavier said you have to stay beside me at all times, did he mean it?”
“He did.”
“So that means we’ll be sharing a bed?”
The image of them in bed together popped into Dax’s mind. He had to swallow back a gasp. He briefly shut his eyes and managed to calm himself before he opened them. “It would be best if we did, yes. But I will keep my hands to myself.”
Everett’s features tightened into a scowl. “Fuck, Dax, that’s the last thing I want.”
Chapter Fourteen
Everett
Everett straightened up and crossed his arms, annoyed that Dax so obviously wanted him but was still fighting it. “There is no way I can share a bed with you and keep my hands to myself, Dax. Do you have even an inkling of the attraction I have toward you? And I’m not a fool—I can see you feel it as well. You’re sitting right in front of me with your dick hard. But something is holding you back, and it’s not that silly company rule, either.” He swallowed a hard lump that had gathered in his throat and said exactly what he knew the problem to be. “You think I’m breakable for some reason.”
Dax shut his eyes again and sighed. “It’s not that I think you’re breakable. It’s that I’m a fuckingogre, Everett.”
That gave Everett pause. “Figuratively or literally?”
“Literally.”
Oh. That was interesting. And…intriguing. Everett thought of all the fictional—or had they been?—depictions of ogres and couldn’t help but look over Dax’s head for horns. The ogres in the painting on his living room wall were giants with horns. “Are you using one of those glamours to hide your true self?”
“I am.”
Everett felt a stab of disappointment. “So this isn’t your face or your body?”
“They are. This is how I truly look, but I mask my horns and tusks.”
Tusks? How intriguing. “Can you let me see?”
He looked like he was considering it, but there was a hesitation there still.
“Never mind,” Everett said quickly, though it still bothered him that this wonderful man, or ogre, felt the need to hide parts of himself from Everett. “You don’t have to show me now, but I would like to see at some point. Would like to see the real you.”
Dax was silent a few moments before running his hand over his bare scalp. He stood from where he’d been sitting on the toilet lid. “The real problem is that my species has supernatural strength, so I’m worried that I’ll lose control and hurt you because my need for you makes me a little…crazy.”
Everett grinned. “Oh, I like hearing that.”
Dax narrowed his eyes. “That you make me crazy?”
“Of course!” Everett threw up his hands. “Everyone wants to drive someone mad with lust. It’s not only flattering but also means that together, we’ll be explosive. Who wouldn’t want that?” Everett stepped closer to Dax and tilted his head back to stare into his eyes. “You turn me on so much, Dax. All of you. And I’m sure even the parts I can’t see will, as well. They are as much a part of you as your big, beautiful body and your even bigger beautiful brain. You’re the whole package for me, and I couldn’t care less that I don’t even reach your shoulders in height.” He picked up Dax’s hand and placed it on his chest. “Just feel me. I’m strong. Please don’t underestimate me. I’m a strong man who happens to desire another strong man, and if we’re going to share a bed, then things are going to happen.”
