Page 202 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘Jules,’ he whispers, warm breath over wet lips. ‘Julian.’

The name goes through Kade like a blade splitting an old scar newly in two and it hurts for a dozen reasons, but it makes him feel so fucking alive.

‘What did I call you?’ he asks, nuzzling a little, not wanting to break the connection. ‘Before?’

He already knows the answer, but he wants to hear him say it.

‘Bodyguard.’

Kade licks over Lachlan’s mouth, tastes his salt. ‘Bodyguard.’

Lachlan exhales into him, rough and unsteady, and Kade feels it everywhere their bodies meet. The hand in his hair tightens to keep him exactly where he is.

‘You used to say it like that,’ Lachlan murmurs, sounds dizzy.

‘Like what?’

Instead of answering, Lachlan kisses him.

Slower this time.

Deeper.

His mouth moves against Kade’s with an intimacy that makes heat unfurl low in his stomach, threading softly through everything that hurts. Kade chases it, starving for life in all its intimate, terrifying glory.

Brushing too close to death is, apparently, an electrifying thing.

Kade has never really cared about sex, hasn’t given it much thought beyond pleasuring himself when he’s alone, but right now he feels like he’s drowning and the only way to breathe is through these kisses.

Lachlan’s thumb settles confidently beneath his jaw, tipping his face into a better angle. Kade opens for him to let the kiss turn warm and wet, pleasure gathering with every slow pull of Lachlan’s mouth. The need for more swells through him, helplessly consuming, yet surrendering to it gives him a kind of peace he’s never known before.

His ribs complain when he shifts, but he doesn’t care.

The ache is distant beneath the press of Lachlan’s chest, the strong hand cradling the back of his skull, the mouth coaxing something sweet out of a day that has given him nothing but grief.

‘Again,’ Kade whispers.

Lachlan’s eyes are dark when they open. ‘What?’

Kade brushes their lips together, barely a kiss. ‘Call me Julian.’

A flicker of pain crosses his face, but it’s only for a moment.

Then Lachlan gives him what he asked for. ‘Julian.’

Kade shudders.

Lachlan’s gaze drops to Kade’s mouth. Some last careful restraint breaks inside him, and God knows it must hurt.

Everything seems to in this life.

‘Jules,’ he says against Kade’s lips, kissing him again. ‘Jules.’

The name dissolves between them as Kade pulls him up, up off the floor to keep him close as he falls back on his own bed, Lachlan above him.

‘Bodyguard,’ Kade whispers once more, because he likes what it does to him, and he can feel all of what it does to Lachlan.

A rough sound catches in Lachlan’s throat.