Kavon chuckled. “Most people say I’m clumsy at healing.”
“Most people are fucking morons,” Darren said. He arched his back, and it cracked audibly. “Thank God for the extra-large beds because I think I'm gonna want you to do this for the next hour or two.” Darren slipped his arm around Kavon and pulled their bodies closer. When Kavon’s hand slid around to the small of Darren’s back, the heat shifted with it. Darren groaned as his cock started to grow.
“People who use their Talents in conjunction with one another often transfer energy. That's why the beds are larger. I imagine any number of partners have had sex on this bed.” Kavon delivered all statements with such nonchalance that Darren was caught off-guard.
“Sex? In a hospital?”
Kavon rolled his eyes. “You know sex is one of the easiest ways to transfer energy from one person to another.”
“‘Energy’? Is that what we’re calling it now?” Darren wiggled his eyebrows at Kavon. “It’s like the plot of a porn. The big bad shaman will fuck their partner healthy.”
Kavon’s expression turned incredulous. “Porn movies feature people with Talent?”
Darren offered his lover an exaggerated moue. “I don't know the actors have Talent or not, and I do mean that pun. However, having the plot center around someone with Talent bringing his big, magical dick to the relationship is pretty much a porn standard.” Darren expected Kavon to show some recognition or embarrassment. Instead, he just continued to looked confused. “Come on, you have to know that. You're a man. I know you watched porn.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, I'm weirdly unsurprised,” Darren said dryly. “But you’ve seen some.”
Kavon shrugged. “Maybe when I was a teenager. I might've watched a few free videos on the Internet.”
“Whoa. The free stuff. That stuff makes me feel all full of Trojan horse.” Darren twitched his body.
Kavon raised his eyebrows. “Is that a sex joke?”
“It was a computer virus joke, but it was lame, so it's fine if you didn't catch it.” Kavon wasn’t an idiot, so either he was playing dumb to amuse Darren or they’d just found a blind spot. That was what Kavon called it when Darren’s outgoing personality had gotten waylaid and he’d turned hateful toward Ben Anderson and then cold toward Ahtisham. A blind spot. More like a spot of temporary callous willful ignorance, but Darren tried to ignore the twinge he got every time Kavon tried to comfort him. Maybe porn was some weird zone of cluelessness for Kavon.
Kavon frowned. “I never wanted quick gratification out of sex, and that's what porn offers. It was just more aggravation I didn’t need.”
“Porn aggravated you?” Kavon had watched some pretty shitty porn. The sudden heaviness in the room bothered Darren. He poked Kavon in the side. “What, did you go into it expecting good acting?”
Instead of cheering Kavon up, that made his emotions turn even darker. “Sex is difficult for shamans, and porn reminded me of what I couldn't have.”
That made no sense. Millions of shamans had relationships, some even with mundanes.
True, shamans couldn't pursue higher level powers if they had a mundane partner, but if shamanism was a deterrent to sex, the gene would've died out.
“Well, I say that we rent some porn together when we have time.”
“I say we enjoy something more meaningful and realistic right now.” Kavon slipped his hand inside Darren’s hospital gown and squeezed Darren’s ass cheek. The healing heat gathered where their skin met, and flares and tingles travelled up Darren’s spine. Having semi-public sex in a difficult to defend location... that didn’t sound like Kavon.
“Are you feeling okay?” Darren wondered if maybe he had left the bond open too far and if some of his personality wasn't bleeding across or something. He couldn't imagine any other situation that would lead to Kavon acting so out of character.
Kavon kissed the side of Darren’s neck just under his ear and whispered, “I could've lost you.” The bond shone with shame and fear and lust and desire.
“And I could've lost you. We were both in the fight.”
“When I saw the car...” A tremor went through Kavon’s body. His bull stamped the floor , and warning magic boomed into air as the bull announced his desire to destroy any enemy.
Kavon had unbuttoned half of Darren's nightshirt, and Darren captured his hand, holding it tightly. “I'm fine. I don’t even feel sore anymore. Your healing skills are underrated.”
Kavon give a half sob, and a wave of guilt crashed over Darren. He hung on to Kavon's hand as the emotions buffeted him. He pushed back with all his might. They were together and safe and Darren thanked the universe for allowing them to find each other. For a moment, positive and negative emotions warred, until the heat between them drove the grief into the background.
And when that happened, Kavon crushed his mouth against Darren’s. Darren gasped as Kavon pinned him to the bed. In an instant, Darren’s cock was hard and aching. Raw need sliced into him, and Darren clawed at Kavon, desperate to pull him closer—to hold him tighter. Kavon caught Darren’s wrists and pinned them to the bed.
Arching his back, Darren begged, “Please.” And again. “Please. Please.” Emotions tangled between them until Darren could both feel his wrists trapped under one of Kavon’s large hands, and himself on top, holding his lover down while he trailed fingers over the handprint claim mark. Shivers danced across skin and heat gathered.
Kavon pushed the nightshirt off Darren’s shoulder and kissed a collarbone before he nipped it. He worked his way up toward Darren’s neck, worshiping and tormenting each inch. When Kavon leaned away, the tactile loss made Darren ache. He watched as Kavon tossed his own shirt aside and unfastened his pants enough to shove them down to his thighs.
