“Comfortable?” Orin wondered, and Nikoly murmured into Tiiran’s neck that Tiiran still felt cold to him. Tiiran ended up bracketed by them as if they were heavy bookends around a precious book on a high shelf in a Master Keeper’s office.
The feeling remained in Tiiran’s chest, warm and aching at the same time, and he fell asleep with it even if it wasn’t real.
Chapter Seventeen
Tiiran woke to the urgent need to run to the bath room, and rolled from a too-large bed to stumble to his feet. The dim light through the window told him it was early morning, so he was late, but hopefully Po was at the library already. Tiiran didn’tneedto do all the tasks he did every morning, but the assistants would be expecting breakfast and Tiiran preferred to have everything set up before they arrived, especially after the last few days since he'd barely been there.
A thought that finally stopped Tiiran in the middle of the bath room, where he then also realized he was naked.
He looked down at his body, flushed to his toes, then turned, but the mirror over the sink didn’t allow him to see his behind and the bruises that might be there. He did catch a glimpse of his reddening face in the glass, but focused on trying to take the quickest bath possible.
When he emerged, damp and shivering because his towels hadn’t been fully dry and he hadn’t waited for the bath water to finish heating, Orin was in the chair by the fireplace… which had a fire in it. On the bed Orin and Nikoly had made from smaller beds the night before was a tray loaded with food and a ceramic teapot. A stack of fresh towels was next to it.
Tiiran stared at the tray with some consternation, then turned to Orin. “I don’t understand.”
“Oh, I know.” Orin gave him a smile though his gaze held some concern. “Did you want to dress?”
“I have to go.” Tiiran’s mind lagged as it had all morning. “The library.”
“Nikoly left earlier to make sure the doors would be unlocked,” Orin informed him. “At least use a towel. Your hair is dripping and you must be cold.”
Tiiran padded forward to snatch a towel and start squeezing his hair with it. “I slept through Nikoly waking and leaving, and then through you leaving as well?”
Orin’s smile grew a little less concerned and a little more vicious. “You did.” His satisfaction was obvious.
Tiiran plopped down onto the edge of the bed, towel over his head, to stare at Orin some more. Then he remembered he was naked and dropped the towel over his lap. His shoulders crept up.
“Tiiran.” Orin sighed heavily, losing his smile altogether. “This is why I stayed—and why I got you food. Eat something, please.”
“You’re here to untangle me.” Tiiran looked at the tray so Orin wouldn’t see him struggle with his mistakes.
“I’m here to make sure you’re all right,” Orin corrected lightly. “If it would make it easier for you, I would tie you up and let you drift. I want to know if you have questions, or regrets, or if—outside of the moment—you didn’t like anything we did.”
“Do you?” Tiiran poured himself a cup of tea and drank it plain and hot, wincing at the first sip. “Did you?”
Orin sighed again. “You aren’t going to provoke me into spanking you again until we’ve talked.”
Tiiran twitched before glancing over. “That wasn’t…. Was that what I was doing?” He reached down to rub his backside. “I really wanted to know. Maybe I did something clumsily and you went along with it to be polite.”
“Of course you did some things clumsily, but only because you’re new to them. And your pup and I found it charming, so end that worrying now.” Orin leaned forward. “Eat.”
Tiiran wrinkled his nose. “Tea first.”
Orin’s eyes narrowed. “Still not going to be provoked. But you don’t leave here until you eat. I promised Nikoly.”
Tiiran met his stare but quickly looked away. “You stayed,” he said softly after a while, aware Orin could wait forever for Tiiran to give in.To give way, he remembered Nikoly saying, although this was slightly different. “You both stayed.”
He hadn’t realized Orin was tense until Orin relaxed back into his chair. “I suspect it will take a while for you to accept and understand. But yes, we stayed. And we will return if you want it—at least, I will. I haven’t asked your pup but he would likely sleep outside your door if given the chance and you didn’t let him in. You’ve ensnared him well, kitten. I hope you realize that.” Orin paused, then waved at the air, as though to fae who could not be seen. “And since I can hardly deny it, you’ve ensnared me too. Which you know.”
“Do I?” Tiiran turned back to him. “How? Wait, no, don’t answer that. That’s a silly question. I’m probably going to ask many silly questions. It’s embarrassing that I have to.”
Orin stared at him without blinking, making Tiiran feel even more foolish. Then Orin shook his head.
“Last night, Nikoly told you that you intimidate others because of how quickly you figure things out. Or something to that effect. My point being that you ask questions because you don’t understand things, but only the things that go unspoken. Things that perhaps, in many cases,shouldbe spoken, regardless of wounded feelings or pride. And you cut right through messes, a hot knife in butter. That scares people.” Orin considered him for another moment before continuing. “Ask your questions. If we were scared of them, or you, we wouldn’t be here. Just know they aren’t silly.”
Tiiran swallowed a sudden lump in his throat, then put his cup of tea back on the tray so he could leap into Orin’s lap.
Orin caught him with a deep grunt, then pulled him close to tuck Tiiran into the crook of his arm and arrange Tiiran’s legs to hang over the other side of the chair. Once he had Tiiran settled, he put his mouth to Tiiran’s wet hair and held him, breathing in and out, before finally easing his hold enough to let Tiiran breathe too.
