“Gifts?” I knew that some Orbs had certain abilities or thingsthat made them unique, but I had no idea about specifics. The only one I’d really experienced first hand was how the sangamar were required to consume blood in order to live, which in turn gave them their sight. But that seemed like more of a burden than a gift to me.
Instead of telling me what he was referring to, Wrex put down his beer and drew in a chaste breath as he set his arms on the table. Once he clasped his hands together, I watched in fascination as he flexed, a sudden sheen appearing over his entire skin. It was as if a clear coat of nail polish appeared against his grey skin, making it shine and catch the light in every perfect angle.
Surprise colored my face as I stared into his blue eyes, captivated by the changing of his skin. “Wow, you’re even more beautiful.”
It slipped out before I had enough time to wrangle it back into the depths of its horny jail confines where it had come from. But Wrex didn’t let it go unnoticed, smirking with the curve of his lips.
“You must say that to all the guys,” Wrex snickered. “Thank you.”
Trying not to keep the topic of conversation on howbeautifulI thought he was, despite my dick starting to plump up in my pants, I cleared my throat. “What does this do for petrylle?”
“We call it our luster,” he explained. “When we activate our luster, we’re pretty much indestructible. We’re strong enough without it, but with our luster, we’re absolutely unmatched.”
The wicked side of my brain thought about what Wrex must look like completely naked, covered in luster. Emphasis on the lust part. I wasn’t doing so well in concealing my thoughts, and I just hoped that my cheeks weren’t reddening as my thoughts darkened. Wrex just smiled at me, not giving me anything to go off of. So I just nodded and steered the conversation backaround to the kidnappings, ditching all thoughts of Wrex naked. At least for now.
“I had no idea,” Plastering on a simple smile seemed the most neutral, and I took a nervous gulp of my gose. “Wrage should have mentioned this during the interview.”
“It’s a well guarded thing amongst petrylle,” Wrex nodded with purpose. “We don’t like to show it off unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
A dismal thought crawled into my brain at that. “Could the luster be a reason behind the kidnappings?”
Wrex tilted his head as he let it rattle around his skull. “I suppose anything’s possible. All I know is that twelve petrylle are missing without a trace and something needs to be done about it.”
“Absolutely.”
I was already going over in my brain how to best go about this issue. We needed to get local law enforcement involved, that much was evident. Clueing in my boss on a potential targeted petrylle kidnapping was also pretty high on my list, considering that I’d need to get a local officer assigned to the problem so we could deal with it as discreetly as possible.
Unbeknownst to me during my mental ramblings, Wrex was staring at me. When I finally looked back into his eyes, seeing how intricately he was taken me into his eyes, I felt a little…vulnerable. Something about his stare made me feel like he was mentally cataloguing me, saving my frame for later when it was more suitable.
Did Wrex…find me as attractive as I found him? He couldn’t. There’d been no mention of his sexuality, although I guess there wouldn’t be. I hadn’t said anything about mine. But his comment about me thinking all guys were beautiful…had that been his way of hinting to me that he was gay and I was too obtuse to notice it?
Oh god, I’d been silent too long. Wrex was starting to smile,and my hands were covered in sweat as he flexed again, his luster leaving him and his usual grey skin pulsing before me.
“Sorry,” I laughed nervously. I was usually a lot better than this around guys I was into. Then again, I’d never been into Orbs before now. “I’ll contact my boss about the disappearances and we’ll get someone from the local police station involved so we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Sounds great, thank you.” Wrex said, picking up his beer. “Until then, you can let me buy another round for us.”
“Yeah, perfect.” I smiled back.
Because more alcohol made every decision better, right?
Chapter 9
Two beers turned into six.Wrex was very persuasive, especially after my third. Somehow, I’d been able to curb my lust toward him and we’d ended up getting along super well.
Between the laughs, I’d learned that he had two sisters in addition to having Wrage as a brother. That petrylle were very focused around family. I’d even learned that Wrex had dated both human and Orb men in the past, giving me the information I needed in order to inflate my attraction toward him. Luckily, it’d been such a passing comment that I hadn’t had time to mull it over before Wrex had moved on to something else, thankfully.
As much as I was harboring sexual tension for him, I didn’t want him to think that just because I’d learned that he indeed did date men that that meant this had to be a real date. We’d met to discuss the petrylle kidnappings and that’s all there was to it.
Or that was all there wassupposedto be to it.
Both of us had been fairly drunk by the time we’d left Batty’s Bar, the sun having set and the night had crept up on us without much acknowledgment. We should have separated there, butWrex had mentioned having one last drink at my place, and something in me just wouldn’t say no.
Which was how I’d found myself fumbling with my keys to let Wrex and I into my condo. I felt his hand on my shoulder as I searched for the correct key, warmth spreading from my shoulder and going straight to my dick. Thoughts of Wrex in precarious positions were starting to return and I had the feeling that this was all a really bad idea.
Looking away from my keys, I looked up at Wrex. His blue eyes. His toned body and grey skin. Even his buzzed black hair was so fucking hot, and I needed to face the facts that I was so into him that it was borderline comical. Instead of prolonging this evening, I decided I needed to at least be up front with him so I could save us both the embarrassment.
“Wrex,” I huffed. “I don’t think coming inside for one last drink is such a good idea anymore.”
