“Please sleep in your bed tonight?” Mathlin’s eyes were wide and beseeching. “I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself. I’ll lecture them and send them into a corner if they climb all over your muscles.”
Titan swallowed hard. “Fine. I promise the same.”
Mathlin stared at him. Then he laughed. “I would be impressed if your hands could wander anywhere right now.”
Titan snorted. “Well, hold me to my word.”
Mathlin nodded earnestly, as though he had been given a huge assignment.
Titan spent the rest of his time in a haze. He watched as Hamilton and Mathlin carefully maneuvered the crib into his bedroom, itching to help.
Not that hecouldhelp with anything. He gritted his teeth and stayed silent.
And now the crib was next to his bed, on the side further from the door.
“There,” Mathlin said, puffing out his chest.
“You did great. Now that that’s done, could you... help me brush my teeth? I’d do mouthwash if I could, but that doesn’t really work.” Titan expected Mathlin to be reluctant, but Mathlin perked up.
“Sure.”
They headed into the bathroom together; Mathlin filled a glass and held it to Titan’s lips. When Titan had gargled, Mathlin turned Titan’s face toward his. “Say ‘Ah.’”
“Ah.”
It felt really strange, letting Mathlin brush his teeth. Kind of like a trip to the dentist, except Mathlin didn’t have a dentist’s threatening aura. Titan held still and studied Mathlin’s face; the freckles on his cheeks, the little frown lines and laugh lines. His long eyelashes, and the gold flecks in his orange eyes.
This felt almost too intimate, but Titan couldn’t help looking. Mathlin was beautiful.
“Okay, I’m done,” Mathlin said, breaking Titan out of his reverie.
He helped Titan rinse out the toothpaste, then dried Titan’s face with a towel.
“Thanks,” Titan murmured. “After you finish with your own routine, but before you turn in for the night, could you get me my pain meds?”
“Of course,” Mathlin said.
“Thanks.” Titan left Mathlin in the bathroom and sat on the edge of his bed, listening to the sounds in his cabin. Hamilton had left for the night, and Jannie was sleeping peacefully in her cot. Mathlin hummed to himself in the bathroom, a soft, comforting sound that made Titan smile.
When Mathlin stepped out, he poked his head into the bedroom. “Are your arms hurting a lot?”
Titan sighed. “Yes. Why don’t these pills last as long as they’re supposed to? I can only have them every eight hours, but they wear off after six.”
Mathlin winced. “That’s to protect your body from the side effects of those pills, rather than them being cruel on purpose.”
“Damn it.” Titan watched as Mathlin shook out some pills from the bottles on his nightstand. Mathlin braced himself with one hand on Titan’s shoulder. Then he held his cupped hand to Titan’s mouth, to feed him the pills.
Traces of musk hit Titan’s nose. He froze, staring at Mathlin’s hand—now covered in his sex scent. From Mathlin rubbing himself against his sheets.
“Your pupils just dilated,” Mathlin whispered. “Are you falling sick?”
Titan snuffled. “I, uh...”
Mathlin pressed his other hand to Titan’s forehead. “You don’t feel feverish.” He glanced down. “Your cock isn’t okay. Or it’s very okay, depending on how you look at it.”
Titan groaned, blushing furiously. “Math, just pop the pills in my mouth.”
“At least we’re not popping cherries in your mouth.” Mathlin froze, staring at Titan in horror. “I did not just say that. Besides, I have no more cherries left to pop.”
