Tiiran swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “What? I didn’t capture Orin. We talk.Youcould ensnare anyone. The wayhecould have anyone.”
“Talk,you say,” Nikoly returned, almost amused. “He untangles you. He makes you happy. That’s what I want, Tiiran, in addition to your care. You care so much, all the time, for everything with the same intensity. It must hurt you. Then others don’t like that you care so much, so you doubt yourself. You get…tangled. It’s no wonder you need both of us… if I may assume you like me as you like him.”
“You aren’t modest or oblivious,” Tiiran accused him weakly. “You know how I feel about you.”
“Oh, but I don’t.” Nikoly gently crowded Tiiran against the door once again. “Not until you tell me. And that, you won’t do, because you care so much that you don’t want to fail me. You think I’ll be disappointed in you, or let you go, or something like that?” He pulled Tiiran’s hand to his cheek, then turned to kiss Tiiran’s palm. “Thisis waiting only on you, honeybee. If you must let Orin smack your backside to accept that we might…”
“Smack my backside?” Tiiran sputtered, flaming hot through his entire body.
Nikoly gave his palm another kiss. “When you’re ready, I am yours to use.”
“You say these things and then will tell me torest!” Tiiran accused him, a lot less weakly.
“Do you imagine I’ll sleep easily?” Nikoly answered, offering a third kiss. “Thinking of what you’ll give me has had me restless for months. I should be able to control myself better. I can… Iwill. For you.”
That shouldn’t have made Tiiran want to snarl. “Waiting for me, and for what?”
Nikoly opened his mouth to reply, then seemed to think better of whatever he’d been going to say. “I’d tell you, but you might not believe me. If you really want an answer, you should ask Orin.” Even in evening light, Tiiran could see some of his glow dim.
Tiiran lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”
The return of Nikoly’s tone of smug satisfaction was beyond confusing. “You don’t like it when I’m upset. You apologize. No one else gets apologies from you. Just me. Just Orin. Possibly Po. No one else.”
Tiiran raised his head to squint at him. “Are you… pleased by that?”
There was a hum and then a smile against his palm.
“When I imagine you claiming me, I can barely make myself be still. You’re furious at anyone you think desires me, and it puts fae lights in my blood and leaves me aching to know it. You want me and worry for me. You’ll use me and protect me as no one ever has or wanted to. Am I pleased by that? You ask that when being special to you makes me feel brighter and hotter than a lit brazier. I am, aren’t I? Special to you? Please, Tiiran.”
He knew what was doing to Tiiran and had the audacity to beg?
Tiiran could barely breathe. “You know you are.” He waited a moment for mockery but it never came. Nikoly was too busy nuzzling his palm. “Everyone thinks you’re sweet.” Tiiran shivered for another light kiss. “A puppy.”
“A dog,” Nikoly said again, tugging Tiiran’s hand to his throat and the hollow of his collarbone just above his markings. “Yours, a Rossick hunting dog. That is, whenever you decide to put a collar on me.”
Tiiran jerked his head up and bumped the door. That was an entirely different game than what he did with Orin, or so it felt with his heart racing. But, of course, Nikoly hadn’t meant that literally.
“I’ll never sleep again,” Tiiran complained without thought, shivering when Nikoly laughed, warm and joyful. Tiirandidlike pleasing Nikoly, it was true. “But…”
“Shh.” Nikoly pressed Tiiran’s hand harder to the base of his throat, then let go. “Subtle doesn’t work with you. Or rather, it can, but you’ll convince yourself you are wrong.” Tiiran jumped guiltily, then sucked in a breath, because that implied Nikoly had meant precisely what he’d said. Nikoly tipped his chin up, leaving Tiiran to stare at his hand at the base of Nikoly’s throat. “Now you know, but you don’t have to act.” Nikoly’s pulse was fast though he seemed controlled and calm. “Rest, and try not to worry. Talk to Orin when he returns, about this or whatever you like. I don’t mind if you tell him. I’m sure he knows already anyway, or at least suspects.”
“He did call you pup,” Tiiran agreed faintly.
Nikoly hummed. “He’s very smart.” Tiiran thought Nikoly bit his lip in pleasure, but must have been mistaken. Then he remembered that Nikoly had just said that Tiiran convinced himself he was wrong when he wasn’t.
“You like Orin.” Tiiran licked the edge of his tooth, then pressed down lightly at Nikoly’s throat. “I’m not jealous,” he insisted a moment later, glancing up. “I’mnot.”
“You don’t have to be like Po and Amie, or any of the assistants,” Nikoly returned quietly. “You don’t like imagining me with others, Tiiran. You can’t hide it.” He inclined his head to make his words more intimate. “I am a useful person and a willing bed partner…”
“And handsome,” Tiiran grumbled.
“And handsome, as you say,” Nikoly agreed. “But no one cares where I go or who I might be with except you, even though you could have had me at any time.” He smiled when Tiiran snapped his gaze up to meet his.
“They likely don’t even know what a sly creature you are.” Tiiran could not be quiet. “But they are still better at bed sport that I am or will be. And you like Orin,” he said again. “Orin knows what you are and he would make you happy, in bed and out of it. I like imagining that. My failure burns, but closing my eyes to see you beneath Orin? You would be happy.” Tiiran looked back down at his hand at the base of Nikoly’s throat. “I’m not good at making people happy.” Nikoly made a sound of protest which Tiiran ignored. “I don’t have a name for what I feel unless someone helps me name it, and that’s usually Orin. But I’m not jealous. Not like how you think. At least accept that.”
“All right, but I don’t understand,” Nikoly admitted. “Oh.” He seemed to realize something, so Tiiran raised his head. Nikoly regarded him contemplatively. “Do you not believe you deserve me, Tiiran?”
Tiiran drew in a wheezing breath.
