Page 208 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘Yours, Kade. I promise.’

Julian scowls, about to furiously demand, who the fuck is Kade? when he remembers… he remembers that he’s Kade.

Kade.

Kade of Iron Star.

There’s no sudden crash of horror.

Just a tiny little… oh.

The certainty vanishes with the name, but Lachlan is loving him too well to let anything bad in, so Kade just exhales tremulously and closes his eyes, clinging, letting the love in, letting only the good parts of this in.

It’s easy to forget the name.

Heat of the moment, nothing more.

‘Gonna hold you to that,’ Kade whispers, kissing Lachlan as he leans into what feels wonderful, and any small slivers of Julian Penhalyx return to the forgotten dark, ‘Bodyguard.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

When Kade changes clothes a second time, he doesn’t reach for more sweats. Instead, he rifles his way to the back of his wardrobe, seeking one of several outfits Luca had bought for him years ago on his birthday. Luca had said he needed decent threads for when they went out clubbing one day. Kade had thanked him but never worn any of it after trying everything on.

They never went out, either.

He pulls out slim black jeans and an inky-blue shirt that sits soft against his skin, fitted through the waist with black buttons down the front. Kade leaves the top few undone, but not enough to reveal the white edge of his chest dressing.

When Lachlan looks up from the book he was reading, he stares for three full seconds and then quietly utters, ‘Wow.’

‘Wow, what?’ Kade asks, coming over all self-conscious.

‘Nothing. You look great. Gorgeous. You just look like…’

‘Like him?’

‘Like you.’

Kade looks in the mirror again. These clothes don’t really feel like him because all that ever feels like him is the Iron Star uniform.

But he does look good.

‘Didn’t pop any stitches?’ Lachlan asks, pulling off his trousers next. This necessary changing of clothes for new reasons gives Kade a warm thrill of something risky and addictive. He wants to do it again. Wants more kisses, more touching, skin-to-skin this time, maybe.

‘Uh, no,’ he answers distractedly, watching as Lachlan helps himself to a pair of Kade’s combats and clean underwear. ‘No, all good.’

‘Can I see it?’

‘Sure.’

He wanders back into Kade’s space, opening the shirt a few extra buttons, confidently but carefully pulling the dressing aside to examine his shoulder wound. His focus is always absolute, reading the tiny details available to him, studying intently.

Kade just stares at him.

‘It looks good. You really do heal fast, huh?’

‘I guess.’

Lachlan lifts his gaze. ‘Hi.’