Page 162 of Scarbound

Then the memories returned. The bar. Duri’s apartment. His hands. His lips against Duri’s neck.

I’m in love with you, hyung.

Noeul’s eyes opened fully.

Duri.

He was in Duri’s bed.

His entire body stiffened. He looked down beneath the blanket, panic rising before reason had the chance to catch up. He was still wearing his shirt and trousers from the night before.

Nothing had happened.

Nothing except holding each other. Sleeping.

Noeul closed his eyes again, relief washing through him.

Behind him, Duri shifted in his sleep and tightened his arm instinctively around Noeul’s waist. Noeul froze again. Duri’s chest was pressed against his back, his face buried somewhere near his hair. One of their legs had become tangled beneath the blanket.

He should move.

Instead, Noeul remained perfectly still.

The memories came back in fragments now, clearer than before. His mouth against Duri’s neck. His shameless flirting. Duri stopping him.

You’ve had too much to drink.

And if you still want it tomorrow, I’ll be right here.

Heat spread across Noeul’s face.

“Oh, God,” he whispered.

He wanted to disappear. He had practically thrown himself at Duri.

No, there was no practically about it.

He had thrown himself at Duri.

And Duri had stopped him.

Noeul covered his face with one hand. What kind of person behaved like that?

Someone drunk, obviously. Someone hurt. Someone desperate enough to seek warmth wherever he could find it.

The explanation should have comforted him. It didn’t.

Because underneath the embarrassment lay a far more frightening truth.

He remembered wanting Duri.

And now, completely sober, lying in his arms with the dull beginning of a headache forming behind his eyes… he still did.

Noeul slowly lowered his hand and stared at Duri’s fingers resting loosely against his stomach.

For once, being held did not feel like being trapped. There was no hand gripping his wrist. No command. No threat hidden behind affection.

If Noeul moved, Duri would let him go.