Page 364 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

The overwhelm. The newness.

The shattering intensity of such release.

For him.

Greedy for this man, this soul, body and mind.

He sinks bloody fingertips into wet, soft earth and whispers a silent threat to any god who dares try and take him.

And then Lachlan gathers him in warm arms and sweet kisses.

They’re cuddling on the ground.

No bed, no sheets, no mattress.

Lachlan radiates heat, too delicious to resist, so he snuggles into him, sighing happily, tears in his eyes, thick lumps of words in his throat he cannot say, doesn’t need to because he’s being kissed all over, loved, worshipped, adored.

Safe.

He’s so safe.

‘Still love me tomorrow?’ he slurs.

Lachlan kisses the corner of his mouth, caresses his sweat-damp hair and whispers, ‘Always,’ just as Kade falls into a deep, welcoming sleep.

✴

In the dream, he’s standing in the shallows of the ocean while waves rock back and forth, wetting his ankles higher and higher. His bare feet sink into sugary-soft sand while the wind whispers secrets fresh from the moon.

In the dream, he’s seeing a shade of blue he loves.

In the dream, he’s him.

Julian Sael Penhalyx.

He’s Jules.

Jules got to swim in the ocean.

Kade never did.

But the difference between them is not who had what.

It’s that Julian knows who he is down to the marrow of his bones.

And Kade… never really has.

He can talk the talk and handle himself.

But there’s been something missing forever, and it’s only now, in the water, that he feels it, remembers the loss of it at all.

He kneels in the ocean, crystalline blue rushing around him, pale gold sand beneath, happy sunshine above. The water isn’t too cold, it’s perfect, it’s made for him, it’s his, it’s him. Both hands sink deep to curl through the wet velvety crush of sand as he grips and releases it. The waves rock him back and forth, but it’s easy to adapt, to go with their energy rather than resist. It rushes around him like a friend who never forgot him, and every shimmer of the water is a musical note resonating in his cells.

Watersong.

Julian knows who he is.

He always knew.