Page 64 of The Price of Ice

“I’m leaving,” he told Levy, himself, too.

Levy nodded, then stood up. “Kick me again.”

Kallen snorted, and did it, swinging both legs at once. The laughter exploded out of him, impossible in its joy. And Levy bent over and caught him by the ankles. “Gotcha.”

If only, Kallen thought, and then realised there was no point innotasking. “You do, if you want me.”

Levy’s throat worked visibly as he swallowed. “Oh. Like... really? Now?”

Kallen nodded. Of course, now, there wasn’t going to be a later. But now was his.Theirs.

Maybe it’d hurt all the more later if they did it, but it was going to hurt anyway. There was always going to be pain, all he could do was make sure he didn’t miss out on the pleasure when it was offered to him.

“Or we can make fajitas.” He said it matter-of-factly. It wasn’t his preference, but Levy should make his own choice freely.

His friend gently started lowering his legs to the floor, letting go when Kallen took over. He offered him both hands, palms up.

Kallen’s heart was doing its best to crash right through his ribcage, and he couldn’t have said if it was the fact that if he tried to stand up, he’d know. Or...

He took Levy’s hands, not looking away from his friend’s hazel eyes, as if they were weaving a spell together, making all this real by acting as if it was. Levy tugged and Kallen pushed and then his feet were past the footrests, on the floor, and a moment later his whole weight was on them. He stood there, pulse thundering and vision not quite focusing.

“Fuck fajitas,” Levy said, grinning.

Laughing meant he had to start breathing again, even if a little fast, and somehow they were advancing, Levy going backwards and Kallen following. His legs felt strange for a couple steps and then they were just his legs, working like they always had, and he realised he was standing in front of the man he loved and they were going to be together, once more.

Just once, so they had to make it count. He leaned over and planted a clumsy kiss on Levy’s lips, no patience. Not after so long, and it hadn’t even been a month, but it felt like so much longer. Levy’s lips parted in a gasp, but his hands were already on Kallen’s hips, bringing their bodies as Kallen backed him into the fridge. He pushed his thigh between the alpha’s, finding him half-hard already and broke the kiss to nuzzle at his ear and his cheek.

“God, I thought—” Levy whimpered as Kallen kissed his neck, fingers digging in the meat of Kallen’s arse to grind against him.

Touching an alpha’s throat like he was doing was completely forbidden, and he didn’t give a fuck. Not as long as Levywasn’t complaining, shuddering hard as Kallen ran the flat of his tongue up the strong muscles of his neck, and leaning back against the fridge like he meant to become dinner himself. Just that had his own dick throbbing in his sweats, coming back to life with renewed vigour.

He'd wanted this, this heady power of making someone weak with pleasure. It’d just seemed too impossible to even fantasise about, but now... Now he was free; he was leaving and he was going to lose Levy whatever he did. So he might as well do this; what he wanted, whattheywanted.

There could be no pretence in the way Levy’s knees were tightening around his own leg, his hips thrusting up, his neck thrown back. Kallen bit his lip, stilling himself, because he wanted to sink his teeth on that vulnerable flesh and that wasn’t allowed. He had no idea what effect it would have on an alpha, but... Biting was for mates, and he couldn’t offer that. And if there was one thing that he wouldn’t do was take what he couldn’t give himself; he’d been taken advantage of too often to ever risk becoming that kind of arsehole himself.

When he stepped back, Levy’s eyes blinked open, brow furrowed. “What...?”

“Let’s go to bed,” Kallen said. “I want to see you naked.”

The space seemed to bring Levy down a bit, because his smile was daring when he said, “Not if I see you first.” And yet, teasing words or not, he offered Kallen a hand.

“I’m okay,” Kallen said. “Really.”

“Cool, so hold my hand, you prat. I’m being romantic.”

The word hurt a little, like a shard left inside this moment by a future that wouldn’t be. Kallen took Levy’s hand anyway. He’d never been afraid of pain, and he most certainly wasn’t afraid of love. Levy squeezed his hand, grinning back a promise and Kallen would have pinned him again if he hadn’t started walking towards the bedroom, not looking back and not letting go.

Later it would cross his mind to wonder at how his legs had recovered so swiftly, not even complaining at suddenly being made use of again. Perhaps they’d been fine all along, waiting on Kallen’s head to get on with the program. Perhaps they’d been desperate to move, just like he’d been, even as he’d convinced himself there was nowhere safe to go. He probably owed a lot of it to Brad not letting him skip his stretches.

The moment they crossed the doorway, Levy turned to look at him, grinning, and Kallen couldn’t do anything but smile back, nervous and excited. He tugged on their joined hands as he threw himself backwards on the bed, suddenly weightless after being trapped for so long.

Levy stumbled on top of him, barely catching himself with his free hand to keep from crushing Kallen. “You are crazy.” But the way he was shaking his head was all admiration, eyes dancing with the same effervescent energy rushing through Kallen’s own veins.

“Yeah?” Kallen looked up at him from under his eyelashes, relishing every point of contact between them. Levy’s knees pressing to the outside of Kallen’s hips, their tangled hands, and his very fine arse snuggled against a part of Kallen that was very pleased to see him. He twitched his hips up, unthinking, and Levy’s eyelashes fluttered, before he dropped his gaze. “Clothes.” With that, he tugged his hand free of Kallen’s and reached for his shirt.

Kallen laughed, shoving him back. “Let me sit up first.”

They threw their clothes off the bed, or at least away from their bodies, tangling up as they gave into temptation again and again. Kallen leaned in and licked one of Levy’s nipples as it became exposed, and Levy reached out to run his thumb up the length of Kallen’s erection. Kallen keened and rolled into him to keep from going off right then and there, his jogging bottoms still hanging from one of his ankles.

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