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Inside…?

Will realized a second later what Itori probably meant by that. A flush of heat went through him. Itori tilted his head, noticing.

“You are warming,” Itori observed, because his fingers were still on Will's cheeks.

“Yeah, I—ah.” Will swallowed hard. He needed to ask the question; he needed to be sure. “To be clear, you mean sex, right?” He couldn’t just jump into something he didn’t fully understand.

“Yes. A mating. It cannot be undone. I will not do that to you.”

Will wanted to say that there were worse things to be bound to than Itori. Will was already bound to this town, this life. To the responsibility he had for his father. Whatever a bond with Itori entailed, it couldn’t be worse than that.

He kept that thought to himself though. He’d known Itori for the stretch of two nights. His riotous, confusing feelings needed to be kept in check.

“I see,” Will said. Itori’s hands slipped off him, giving him space. Will turned his head and looked up at the stars peeking through a break in the clouds. Gave himself a moment of true and honest thought on it.

Then he made the easy decision.

“We’ll do the exchange,” he said, meeting Itori’s eyes. “And not the bond. I’ll come every night, and give you energy.”

There was a long pause. Itori’s hands had settled in his lap. Will reached for him, took one in his own. His hand was warm and smooth, and the scales shone in the moonlight like an oil slick.

“If you are sure,” Itori said.

“I am.”

Itori nodded. “You should know, if they carve up the land further, I may get trapped in one of the other lakes.” He gestured around them. “You may have to come find me.”

“There’s other lakes?” Hope sparked. “Should we go there?” Will asked.

“Sister lakes made by the spring. We could go there if you like. I go there during the day sometimes to avoid the men.”

“Oh. And they don’t connect to a way out?”

“No. This vein has been cut off.”

Will blew out a hard breath. Okay. Okay.

“Then we should start,” Will said. “If we… if we’re together more, that’s more energy, right?”

“Every exchange is more energy, yes,” Itori agreed.

“Then we should start,” Will said. He felt guilty saying so, because it wasn’t entirely for selfless reasons. He hadn’t seen Itori for days, and he just wanted to touch him. Be touched. He wanted things he’d before considered impossible.

And if Itori was going to leave eventually, this might be his only opportunity.

Will looked at him, then his eyes dropped to Itori’s mouth.

There was one thing he wanted to try, that they hadn’t done last time.

“Can I kiss you, first?”

Will felt breathless at his own daring. The urgency and secrecy pushed him forward.

Itori blinked at him, dark eyes boring down on him. “What is kiss?”

Ah.

“You don’t… right, why would you?” More heat flushed Will’s cheeks. He reminded himself that Itori wasn’t teasing him, wasn’t being cruel. He didn’t know. His people apparently didn’t do that.