“Not tonight, mon cœur,” Julien said. He pet over Karim’s hair soothingly when the man’s eyes fluttered open. “We’re taking our time, remember? We agreed.”
Karim grunted.
Julien ignored that, turning those blue-gray eyes on Luis. They flickered down only a moment where Luis’s hand was still pressed against himself.
“Would you like a good-night kiss?” Julien asked.
“Um,” Luis’s voice was a croak.
Julien only smiled sweetly.
“O-okay.”
Julien eased back from Karim, sliding his hand neatly from Karim’s hair and leaving the man adrift in his wake. He offered his hand to Luis.
“Come here,” Julien said.
Luis sat up and moved to sit beside Karim. His whole body was tight, vibrating. A pale hand cupped his head, and Luis felt sparks. Julien’s nails scraped shiveringly across his scalp, and his eyes fell closed. He took a breath, then another.
Then Julien kissed him.
He didn’t use the same force as he had with Karim. He started slow, lips just barely brushing Luis’s, hinting at sensation instead of delivering. It washed across his body, ricocheting louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. It was barely anything, the kiss. A small brush of lips, a hint of tongue, a blink-and-you-miss-it graze of fang.
Luis fell into it.
He knew it would end too quickly. That whatever game Julien was playing, he was serious about it. He was going to make them wait.
But knowing only made him want it more.
When Julien pulled away, Luis was panting. The mint of his toothpaste was on Luis’s tongue, the violet scent surrounding him. His cockached.
A thumb caressed his cheekbone. Luis opened his eyes and felt drunk or bite hazed.
“There,” Julien said, “and now it’s bedtime.”
The hands lifted off of him, and before Luis could gain his bearings, Karim was there, arm encircling his waist, offering solid support.
“Something you’ll need to get used to,” Karim said into Luis’s ear like a secret. “Jules likes playing with his food.”
Luis’s next breath was staggered.
“I enjoy anticipation,” Julien corrected, standing now as he headed back to the bathroom. “I trust you’ll be good if I leave you momentarily unsupervised,” Julien said. He didn’t wait for a response, the bathroom door closed.
The room was silent in his wake. Karim nudged Luis, and they started moving stiffly to get under the covers. Luis was still painfully hard, and so was Karim.
When they laid down, Karim snuggled closer. A hand found Luis’s under the sheets and gave it a quick squeeze. When Luis looked at him, Karim’s smile was soft, conspiratorial.
“It’s worth it,” Karim said in a whisper. “If you can handle it.”
Luis had no idea exactly what was being played here, but he was in. All in. “I can.”
Karim gave him a soft, fanged smile in the near-dark. “Good.”
When Julien returned from the bathroom, he took his usual spot against the headboard, the lights low as he picked up his book.
Luis closed his eyes and tried to will his body to calm down. He focused on breathing, on the comfort of the mattress and the warmth of Karim tucked up against him. Eventually Julien’s hand found his hair, playing with it idly as he read. Luis fell asleep like that, Karim’s hand still in his.
Chapter Twenty Six
