Nick nodded.
Kit knelt next to the tub. He stared at his leather gloves in charged silence before sliding them from his hands and setting them aside. He then tugged loose the lacing of his shirt and folded up the long, thin sleeves. Inch by inch he revealed thin wrists, naturally bronzed skin. It had to be genetic, since Kit never let the sun touch his bare skin. “Please do not reach for my hands,” Kit requested in a slightly strained voice, before taking a round yellow sponge and pouring a fragrant soap onto it. “I have harmed the rebels’ mission in the past. I walk freely, but I am under guard and will remain that way.”
“I was Desre’s prisoner. Valor is opposing her. Therefore, I’ll be sent on my way with a map and enough supplies to get me back to Vi’s estate?”
“That is very unlikely.”
“Why? Based on that conversation in the room, they weren’t even meant to take me.”
Kit ran the sponge up the length of Nick’s arm, lathering soap into his wet skin. He moved carefully, washing Nick with a level of focus that indicated he had set himself a great task that required care. He was very pointedly not looking beneath the water at Nick’s pierced cock, but the agitated sweeps of his tail left Nick suspecting it was on his mind.
“He will want to use you in some way,” Kit said. “Most likely he will contact Vi and broker a deal for your safe return.”
“What will he want in return?” Would Vi, whom Nick had only met for a short five minutes, be willing to pay up for him? He trusted that his family would step in to make sure he got home safe.
“Food.”
Kit rolled his sleeves up another roll and reached into the water to glide the sponge over Nick’s legs. He followed the curve of his calf muscle, massaged his ankles and carefully pushed the sponge between each toe.
“The reason I was taken, it has to do with the food shortage? You need a witch to…grow food? Get rid of a curse?” Nick circled the mark on his inner forearm that they had been looking at. “You need whatever this symbol does.”
Kit halted. “I cannot talk about it.”
“She isn’t here.”
“I cannot.”
Nick considered the stiffness in Kit’s face, the edge in his voice. “Alright,” Nick said. “I won’t ask.”
Tensely, Kit continued speaking. “There is a blessing in Aridia from an old god.” Kit shifted onto his other leg. “My people have grown strong and healthy because of it. Our council, Desre among them…”
Kit’s expression flattened; the question linked to Desre, and that was far from an easy topic for him to engage with. If the journey here had taught Nick anything, it was that his life back home had been blessed.
He thought he’d learned to appreciate that not everyone had a good family like he did when he saw the way Connor’s parents treated him. But to see someone like Kit, someone strong and gentle, brought to his knees by abuse was horrifyingin a way that crawled under Nick’s skin and made him physically ill.
“Kit.” Nick drew his attention outward. Kit had stopped moving, his thoughts a thousand miles from here and, from the paleness of his skin, nowhere good. Kit’s blue eyes shifted to him. “Remember what I told you about the piercings?”
Kit’s tail twitched. Nick saw the effort it took on Kit’s part not to look down. His fingers tightened on the sponge in his grip, suds rising in the water. “You told me they do not hurt. You got them one at a time, except for the ladder, which you did all in the same day. They must be cleaned thoroughly.” A muscle in Kit’s jaw flexed. His eyes swept across Nick’s face. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and Kit’s tail curved up the edge of the bath until the tufts were brushing against Nick’s shoulder.
Nick studied him, making sure there was nothing hesitant or unhappy here, making sure this would be a curious, wanted diversion.
“Are you good at cleaning?”
Kit’s chin jutted down so quickly that Nick’s lips quirked up into a smile.
“And I already know you can be gentle.”
Kit’s expression shifted.
“Will you clean them for me, please?”
Kit’s breaths were audible and shallow. “You trust me to?”
“You won’t hurt me.”
His eyes cut to Nick’s back.
“That,” Nick said pointedly, “wasn’t you.”
