Ian sighs, sitting back in his chair. “I did everything right. Paid off my car, got a steady job that I enjoyed, bought a house. Everything that’s expected of being an adult.”
Rheyas’ chair creaks as he shifts to face him. “Who decided what adults are required to do and in what order? Are you punished if you fail in the cities?”
His confusion is honestly adorable, not going to lie.
“Well, no,” he stammers.
Rheyas interrupts again, totally lost. “Then why? Did living like that make you happy?”
“I was glad to be away from all of the drama. Content. My life was finally simple and easy; low stress,” he replies defensively.
He scoffs, reclining back in his chair. “You were existing, not living; trying to follow an ideal of what should be done, because you didn’t know what elseto do.”
Ian cants his head to the side. “And you weren’t? Simply existing out there alone in the wilderness with no purpose, I mean.”
Hawk pivots on the couch so he can stretch out, one leg on the floor and the other running along the back. He lifts me up long enough for us to reposition ourselves before he wraps an arm around my stomach so the two of us can recline more comfortably like we’re watching a dramatic television show.
“You’re putting words in my mouth,” Rheyas growls. “No wonder you’re always upset; you create problems that aren’t even there.” He releases a long breath, reining in his temper. “I asked, because I get it. Every day blended into the next, years passing in a blur of monotony. My point is that there’s no shame in not having things figured out and just following a path picked out for you since it’s better than doing nothing. But you forgot somewhere along the way, as time passed, that it was never your path to begin with.”
Rheyas’ words seem to hang in the air, begging Ian to deny their truth. He doesn’t push any more, doesn’t even seem upset in any way. He simply waits for some sort of acknowledgment that he’s been heard.
“That’s fair,” Ian finally murmurs, looking mildly embarrassed. “I never really considered it from that angle before. It definitely helps put things into perspective, explain away why I was fighting against things so much. But it also sort of feels like a cop out, taking the blame off of my shoulders.”
He looks at me with remorse and I lean into Hawk, soaking up his touch to ground me. “I fucked up and almost wrecked everything. Yeah, I was struggling with how to fit all of the changes into my life so they’d fit with the least amount of problems, and I never should have been trying to find a space inmylife for you. I should have accepted it wasn’t my life anymore, but ours, and those decisions are worked out together.
“But mostly? I was scared. It was a new path, and I was terrified of making that first step and not being able to find my way back if I got lost, not knowing what to expect. My current plans were laid out; clear. This one, though? It’s all unknown, and I don’t have the faintest idea of how to prepare for what I don’t even know is coming.”
Hawk’s hand is a steady comfort, stroking my arm soothingly, his other arm banded around my stomach to keep me pressed against him. “And that,” he whispers in my ear, so quietly only Rheyas has a hope of overhearing, “is what we’ve been waiting for. Someone willing to give up everything without having any guarantees things will work out the way we want them to. Isn’t that right, beautiful?”
Swallowing, I lick my suddenly dry lips. “Well, you know what they say.” Ian simply looks at me, nervously awaiting a response. “If you never fight, you can’t have all of the fun of kissing and making up.”
His shoulders visibly sag as all of the tension bleeds out of his stiff form. “You have the patience of a saint, I swear.”
“Hey now, save your compliments for our morning routine, or you won’t have any left.” Winking, I try to stop deflecting and be as direct as he was, knowing I owe them all that much even if it’s uncomfortable. “And no, I really don’t. I completely expect you to make it up to me until there isn’t even a flicker of doubt that you regret the way things worked out.”
Rising to his feet, he crosses the room, bracing one hand on the back of the couch and the other on my thigh as he bends down. “Deal.”
His kiss isn’t hard or demanding, it’s simply a promise. Shocks of electricity press into my thigh, his thumb stroking slowly, but still much too far from where I want it. When he pulls his lips away from mine, I nearly huff in frustration.
A soft chuckle in amusement shakes Hawk’s chest, his hand leaving my arm to run his fingers lightly over my collar. “Mates aren’t nearly as difficult as you two seem to think. You just give them attention and then choke them to sleep.” The threatening sound that tears from Rheyas’ throat should be terrifying, but it just sends another thrill through my system. Hawk doesn’t even skip a beat. “It’s a sex thing, calm down.”
His face scrunches up, but he doesn’t comment. And fuck if it isn’t endearing.
“I know it seems conflicting, but if you want, I’ll show you sometime. You know, when these two aren't breathing down our necks.”
His eyes seem to darken and I revel in the way he clenches his fist, understanding now that he isn’t pissed, he’s trying to control himself because his baser instincts are rising to the surface. Having someone as massive and brutal as Rheyas struggling to control himself because he wants to fuck me so hard he’s worried he’ll break me? Absolutely intoxicating. Ian’s right; that stuff goes right to my head.
“I should go scavenge the neighboring houses for supplies if we’re staying for a day or two,” he declares, getting to his feet.
Hawk’s body shakes with silent laughter, but I miraculously keep the smile from my face. “You sure you don’t want to stick around a little longer? I was just going to try and pry information out of Hawk. May even have to resort to torture to uncover his secrets; he might cry.”
He hesitates, but ultimately his curiosity wins out. “His tears would amuse me.”
Snorting, I turn my head, which just results in Hawk kissing the side of my face as he asks, “What do you want to know, love?”
“So we know you have a secret base that you haven’t given us any insight on and is likely a trick to lock us in your creepy sex dungeon, but what is it that you, you know, actuallydo?”
“I can do a lot of things; all you have to do is ask,” he purrs, trailing a finger down my throat and shifting beneath me so I can feel how hard he already is.
