Page 243 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘OK, maybe.’ Kade rests his forehead against Lachlan’s. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome, baby.’ He nuzzles him, rubbing noses back and forth. ‘Can you do one more for me? Something different?’

‘OK, what?’

‘Tell me not to kiss you.’

Kade smiles, his hand slipping around the back of Lachlan’s neck as desire flowers in his blood, and the last of the sun slips beyond recall.

He calls the sea once more, tastes greeny salt.

‘Try not to kiss me.’

Lachlan kisses him, nothing careful about it.

One hand seizes the back of Kade’s neck while the other locks around his waist, crushing them together, pulling him down on top, tongue sweeping deep. The kiss is sharpened by all the restraint that came before it, now breaking spectacularly.

Kade takes it with a sound he doesn’t recognise, fingers tangling in Lachlan’s hair as the rooftop seems to tilt beneath them. Honeycomb and summer storm flood Kade’s senses, mixing with the salt, and power unfurls through him, vast and fluid.

‘Fuck,’ Kade whispers, dizzy with it.

‘You feel that?’

‘Mm, yeah. You taste it?’

‘Just tastes like him. You. My boy.’

‘You’re immune to me.’

‘To your Vox, not you, baby. Never you.’

‘Can I say it?’

‘I want what you want.’

Kade swallows the taste of them both, fingers spread wide over Lachlan’s heart, gently digging in.

And he bids the sea cross his tongue again to say, ‘I love you.’

Lachlan flips them over, pinning Kade down, his breaths harsh, his jaw lax, his eyes so bright they could burn the world.

‘Fuck, you have no idea what that does to me.’

‘The… the power thing?’

‘You, Kade. All you.’

‘Call me by his name.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Do it, Bodyguard.’

Lachlan’s answering rumble of dark laughter makes Kade’s insides squirm with confusing need. ‘There’s my bratty boy, hmm?’

‘You love it.’

‘I really do. Does it make you remember anything?’