This madePerian laugh.
“Hey, my hands are still free. I could try to give you a shoulder massage or something, if you keep in mind I’ve never done one before and it might be terrible.”
“Wow, that is such a tempting offering,” they said dryly.
Perian grinned at them.
Arvus withdrew his hands. “We probably should have something to eat.”
Molun reluctantly gave up his massage. (His hands had drifted a bit high. Perian had definitely been aroused, and Molun had definitely noticed, but he hadn’t tried to do anything about it.)
Arvus pulled him to his feet, and Perian had to adjust himself.
Nisal smirked at him. “You all right over there?”
Perian rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. If he had his hands that high up your thighs, wouldn’t you be happy about it?”
This made Molun look very proud of himself.
Arvus snorted, and said, “Food! Come on, everyone.”
Perian tied his hair back as they walked. They raided the kitchen, gathered enough food to have a small feast, and ended up having a lovely evening in Molun and Arvus’s rooms.
Nisal called it a night early, saying they were still recovering from the rough morning, and that left Perian with Molun and Arvus.
Gently, Arvus said, “Would you consider just sleeping with us?”
“What?”
“In the bed together, that’s all,” Arvus clarified. “I think you’re missing some close contact.”
He really was. “Just sleep?”
“Unless you change your mind,” Arvus agreed. “It’s all up to you. We never want anyone unwilling in our bed. Or anyone who’s going to regret it the morning after.”
Perian nodded, feeling really tired all of a sudden.
“Yeah, all right. That sounds nice.”
It was a combination of nice and weird, to be honest. Perian went back to Brannal’s room and changed into his sleep trousers.
Sleeping with Nisal yesterday had been closer to accidental than anything, and there’d been no awkward moments in part because they weren’t attracted to one another and in part because Nisal had fallen asleep when he hadn’t been looking.
Now, though, Perian was climbing into bed with not one but two other men, something he’d not actually done before. And it was two men he was attracted to, who were attracted to him. But Brannal wasn’t here, and he definitely felt like the missing ingredient.
They all jostled around a bit, and Perian wasn’t sure he should be the one in the middle given they were the couple, but finally, Arvus just manhandled them into position, both facing him, with Arvus plastered against Perian’s back and Molun at his front, arranged a little higher up the bed so Perian could tuck his head up against the other man’s chest. Both of them had flung their arms over him, and while it wasn’t as good as Brannal touching him—nothing was—it was still much warmer than when he was in the bed by himself. He felt surrounded and safe.
He blew out a slightly unsteady breath.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Molun pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head.
“You’re welcome, Perian.”
“Goodnight,” Arvus murmured.
Perian had thought it was going to be hard to fall asleep, that there would be too many limbs or heartbeats or something, but in fact, it was the opposite. It seemed to him like the heartbeat pressed against his back and the one next to his ear were in sync, the breathing too, and Perian was soon breathing in concert with them, all of them aligned together, so very soothing…
