Marrick dropped his head back against the wall behind him.He was pretty sure he should be embarrassed about getting caught hiding in the bathroom like a little kid, but he didn’t actually have the energy to care.
“It probably doesn’t help that you couldn’t sleep well between being thrown to them and them finding you in that club either.”
“Yeah.”Marrick frowned then, as he realised that wasn’t something he’d ever intended to admit to.
Ryland stared across the room at him, his eyes full of knowledge.“And, now, you can’t settle properly when you try to sleep on your own.You can’t get comfortable without them.You can’t get warm enough.”
Marrick swallowed his pride and nodded.
Ryland pulled himself to his feet and held his hand out to him.“Come on.”
Marrick let Ryland help him up, but when Marrick started to re-trace his steps toward the guest bedroom he shared with Luther and Blaine, Ryland caught his arm and led him to another door.
“It won’t be the same, but you should be able to rest a little, and they won’t disturb you in here when they get back.”
Marrick looked into the bedroom.“Your room?”
“For the purposes of understanding why Luther and Blaine won’t disturb you as soon as they get home, it’s probably best to think of it as Arslan’s room.”
Marrick managed a chuckle as he stepped inside.“Yeah, that guy really freaks them out.”
Ryland shrugged.“He’s the leader of their pride.They’re expected to follow his commands.”
“Just like you?”Marrick asked.
“Yes.”
The word was so bare, so calm, Marrick couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Ryland’s apparent certainty.
Sitting down on the edge of the big double bed, Marrick scrubbed his fingers over his eyes “You don’t have to keep me company if there’s something else you—”
Ryland shook his head and lay down on the other side of the bed.“Arslan sent me up to rest.”And, as easily as that, Ryland closed his eyes, obviously not about to do anything other than exactly as Arslan had commanded.
Not seeing any better alternatives, Marrick followed his lead.Laying down, he took a deep breath and let it out very slowly.His usual room wasn’t exactly cold, but it wasn’t as warm as this one either.It felt nice, and Ryland’s presence was soothing in a way he hadn’t expected.
It was over an hour later when Marrick frowned as a sound on the edge of his hearing nudged him out of his slumber.He curled a little more closely against the warm body spooned in front of him.
It wasn’t Luther or Blaine.It wasn’t large enough to be either of them, wasn’t warm enough to be any lion.
Ryland.Marrick was hazily aware that they had moved closer to each other as they’d slept, each searching for the warmth of another person.Ryland might not have been Luther or Blaine, but he had been right that sleeping next to someone else made it easier to rest properly for at least a little while.
A click of a door handle tried to pull Marrick back to the real world.He closed his eyes a little tighter, wanting to wait for as long as possible before acknowledging that Luther and Blaine had tracked him down and that he couldn’t put off facing them any longer.
A hand caught hold of the back of his shirt collar and yanked him unceremoniously off the bed.
“What the—!”Marrick’s exclamation was cut off very abruptly when he hit the back of the sofa that filled the bedroom’s bay window, knocking the air out of him.Marrick looked up.Where he’d expected to see Luther or Blaine, he found Arslan.
Adrenaline spiked and made Marrick’s mind spin, but on the other side of the room, Ryland just blinked sleepily up at Arslan as if there wasn’t anything the slightest bit awkward or terrifying about the situation.
“Sir?”Ryland frowned slightly as he crawled across and knelt on the edge of the bed.He didn’t reach out to Arslan, but everything about his posture screamed that he completely expected Arslan to reach out to him.
For a full minute, the room balanced on a knife edge, waiting to see what Arslan would do.
Slowly, Arslan stepped forward, to stand directly in front of Ryland.Ryland still didn’t lift a hand to reach for his mate.Instead, he dipped his head, rubbing his forehead against Arslan’s shoulder in the same kind of greeting Marrick had seen the shifters use with each other.
Ryland was kneeling right on the edge of the mattress.Marrick knew it had to feel like he could fall face first off the bed at any second.It was only Ryland’s faith that Arslan would catch him that could let him lean forward into the empty air with that sort of assurance.
Arslan stroked his fingers through Ryland’s hair, very gently.“A lion would be expected to explain what he meant by bringing another man into his mate’s bed.”
