“It’s late.” I blasted him with a wide smile, the kind that usually had people doing what I wanted; although, he only tilted his head. I rubbed my hands along his arms, and he relaxed against me. “Want to snuggle up together and sleep for whatever is left of tonight?” I had no idea what time it was and didn’t even want to check because I knew I wouldn’t like how much sleep I would be getting.
He bit his lip but nodded after a few seconds. “Okay, but I don’t like being confined.”
An amused snort snuck out of me. “What does that mean? I don’t have anything to tie you down with.”
He blinked at me, and I had to say I loved the pink that lit up his cheeks. “Can I be the big spoon? I don’t like to be trapped.” He gave himself a hug, and I thought he meant he didn’t like to be the one being held, he liked to do the holding.
Chuckling, I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine with that.”
We went into the bedroom, and after a quick pit stop in his bathroom to clean up his elbows, we stripped without any sort of sexy anything going on until we were both in our underwear. He was half asleep already as he shoved at the blanket on his bed, and I pulled it back so he could flop in. I climbed in after him and tugged the blanket up, then leaned over him to turn off the lamp. He shuddered when he wrapped his arms around me.
“You don’t have to be scared with me here,” I said softly into the darkness.
He let out a long hum and snuggled closer. “I like that I don’t have to pretend I’m brave right now,” he said, the words blunt. I kissed his cheek, then groaned as the alarm on my phone went off. It was time to get up for our early morning practice.
“Well, fuck,” I grumbled. It would be a long, hellish day.
10
MICAH
The dayafter the shooting at Void dragged on too long. I got to sleep a few hours, but Yukio had to go to practice. Even though I was tired, I couldn’t stay in bed the entire day, so I got up and did some paperwork at the table, then rushed to campus to teach a class. Afterward, when I normally would’ve worked in my office or the library, I came home instead and graded some essays. I got so lost in my routine that when there was a knock on the door, it took me a moment to realize it was early evening already.
I rose and opened the front door, and my heart fluttered when Yukio’s handsome face came into view. He grinned at me, and I flushed, stepping aside without a word. It was strange to invite someone into my house so easily, but he was nice and the first guy to ever pay attention to me. I enjoyed his company.
“Practice this morning was hell.” He stopped in the middle of the living room, tilting his head from side to side as though stretching out a kink. “I thought Coach was going to kill me with the drills he had us running. We were so slow he made us come back this afternoon.”
“Do you want a massage?” I asked before I could stop to think about it.
His eyes lit up.
I glanced away from him nervously.
“I’m sweaty. Let me shower first. Is that cool?”
I nodded. “I can get you something to put on if you don’t have any clothes?”
“I’d like that.” He winked, and I flushed, inwardly cursing myself at the reactions he dragged out of me. I didn’t remember a time when someone had me so frazzled by simply existing. Uncomfortable, yes, but not on edge because I was so attracted to them.
I hurried into my room to pick out a pair of pajama pants and a simple T-shirt. It took me too long to decide which ones, though, and by the time I gathered the clothing, I turned to find him standing at the doorway of my bedroom with a towel tied around his waist. I hadn’t even heard the shower turn on and off. Sometimes time escaped me. Who was I kidding? It was more than sometimes.
He smiled, and I awkwardly held up the pants and shirt I’d found.
“These will fit if you roll the hem. They’re purple and match your hair.” I laughed at the absurdity, but his smile grew wider as he approached me.
My gaze slid to his chest, and I reached out before I thought better of it. The ink across his skin was mostly all black, except three words designed in red.C’estwas tattooed on his right collarbone,Laon his neck, andVieon his left collarbone, and I knew that it was French forthat’s life. The saying fit what I’d seen of Yukio. He was unshakable.
He had other writing tattooed on his body, too.Burnwas higher on his neck andHellin the middle of his chest. Teeth lined his collarbone just below his purple-and-black beaded necklace, and he had barbed wire on either side of the wordHell. My fingers explored the artwork, tracing the simple line art of a dragon on his right pec.
He shivered, and I froze, but he whispered, “Keep going.”
So, I did. I traced the tips of my fingers over to the other pec where he had a more detailed tattoo of a cobra, with its mouth open and tongue spiraling out like something from a nightmare, and as frightened as I would usually be about that type of thing—snakes are scary!—somehow, it also matched his personality, though I wasn’t entirely surehowI knew that. It was a feeling in the pit of my stomach.
A burning heart was inked on his lower sternum, right below his pecs, and I followed the shape, using my nail to scrape over his skin. He hissed, and pleasure simmered in my groin. I’d gotten that reaction from him—me.
“You have so many tattoos,” I whispered, scared to speak any louder.
He chuckled. “I like them. My body’s a canvas. It was designed for artwork. If I don’t choose what story I want to tell, life will put scars on me, and I’d rather be in control of my destiny.”
