Page 131 of Quiet Burn

“Excellent!” The handsome Fae prince claps his hands, looking pleased. “I am quite certain my mates and family will hold up our end of this bargain. Perhaps if it goes smoothly, you and I will have things to discuss in the future, Prince Jasper.”

Shockingly, Jasper actually smiles at the dude. “That would be an interesting possibility, Prince Liam. I believe we might have a vast number of interests that intersect. Anton, the card?”

I’d almost forgotten the peacock shifter since he stayed quiet, but it was obviously for a reason. Anton walks into the divide, handing what looks to be a metal business card to the bodyguard. The angry dragon hands something back to him, and both princes puff up, looking pleased as shit.

This is such a weird fucking dance of bullshit.

I’m about to comment when something prickles at the back of my neck, then around the collar to the stone. It feels cool against my skin, and I reach up to touch it. What in the hell a temperature change means, I don’t know, but I get the feelingit’s not nothing. I elbow Salem in the side, leaning in to whisper very softly, “The damn collar is going nuts again. I don’t think it was just these guys.”

Before he can answer, a loudcracksounds out in the tent on the right and abangechoes out of the one on the left side. My roomie’s eyes widen, and he lets go of my hand, looking at Slash. The shark nods, and I squeak as Salem hauls me up onto his shoulder without preamble and takes off, running away from our caliphate at a speed I didn’t know he was capable of.

“Hey!” I pound my fist on his broad back, but he doesn’t respond. “Salem, don’t do this. You can’t run away from them with me and not be there for whatever is going on!”

“Sorry, KK,” he rumbles as he darts through a throng of people starting to panic and run around. “My job is to get you to safety; you can get mad at me later.”

You can bet that’s exactly what I’m going to fucking do when I get out of his kung-fu grip—I hope he’s wearing a cup.

You Rock My World

Salem

Kit Kat is going to be fucking furious, but as soon as I heard those noises, I knew everything was going to shit. Jasper and the guys can take care of themselves, but I wasn’t going to let my new favorite person get hurt again when the hammer came down. One of the sounds was definitely a small explosion and the other didn’t sound any better. Some kind of attack is hitting the royal courts of Autumn and Reaping back there, and I could give a fuck less what happens to any of them.

The traumatized guy I’m carrying like a sack of potatoes is what’s important and that’s why I’m running.

“I’m going to murder you if you don’t find a place to land and let me down!”

Chuckling to myself at his fury, I keep my eyes peeled for just such a place. The commotion in the marketplace is getting rougher and I’m worried we’re going to run afoul of some pissed off creature who will force me to fight. My demon would enjoy that far more than my panda—but we do much better in a dream space than in reality unless I’m being pumped up by Kit’s weirdmojo. That’s a bag full of crazy I do not want to open on the surface and I’m sure he doesn’t either.

“I’m working on it.”

Squinting, I finally see two tents set back away from the main part of the bazaar, and I realize they’re probably bathrooms. The Fae are as fancy as you can get, so I doubt they’ll be gross. Just in case, I choose the one with the girly looking fairy on the side, bustling in quickly. Kit glares at me murderously when I set him on his feet, but I ignore it to go back and fiddle with the opening until it makes a clicking sound that I hope is a latch.

“Are youkiddingme?!” he yells as I come back over to him. “I’m supposed to fight with you guys. You can’t just haul me off to put me in a glass jar every time there’s a hint of?—”

I can’t stop myself from stomping up to him and yanking him into my arms as the fear and adrenaline course through me. My grasp muffles whatever he was going to yell as I bury my face in his short hair, trying not to let my worry bleed into him. Kit is mad now, so he’s not having a panic attack about the others, but once he’s done taking me to task, he’s going to be scared.

The past few months have taught me a lot about how his moods and his condition work, so I know I’m right.

The muffled sounds of protest get louder and I blow out a slow breath as I finally loosen my grip until I can look down at him. His expression is angry, but I see the fear sparking in his eyes. I open my mouth to comment on it, but suddenly, all I can focus on is the tongue that darts out to lick his lips.

It’s not the time, but I can’t seem to make myself care as I dip my head down and kiss the guy who’s turned my entire world upside down. He squeaks adorably, but that only makes me growl a bitas I deepen the kiss and flick my tongue over the spot he just licked. I’m being careful, holding back the wave of pent-up need that’s now pounding in my ears to make sure Kit’s okay. When his lips part, I know he’s not going to freak out, and I grin briefly before sliding my tongue into his mouth.

The kiss is soft, but hungry, and my arms tighten around him again as I pull him close. I love having him in my arms without worrying about it triggering something, and even though my dick is jumping like a fucking bouncy ball, I’m totally fine with kissing my roommate like this for as long he’ll let me. In fact, I think doing this is definitely my new favorite thing.

“Salem, what the hell…” Kit murmurs huskily when our lips break for breath. “This is hardly the time to?—”

I put my finger against his mouth with a soft smile. “You’re stuck here with me until someone comes to tell me the chaos out there is over. Would you rather spend that time yelling or kissing?”

His eyes widen, and the shy expression almost does me in. I don’t know how anyone could have ever hurt Kit, especially in the way I know they did. He’s brave and fierce and loyal to a fault—plus, for someone who doesn’t do this, he’s not a bad little smoocher. “Um, I… I don’t… know?”

That’s a ‘yes’ for kissing if I ever heard one.

Grinning, I heft him up again, drawing a grumble of complaint as I carry him over to what appears to be some sort of sink. I place him on the edge, making our height difference a bit more manageable before I step closer and cup his face. “See, you say I don’t know with your words, but your heartbeat and that flush on your face say ‘kiss me, Salem’. Which one should I believe?”

Kit dips his chin for a second, then looks up, whispering, “The second one, I think.”

My panda damn near does a fucking backflip inside of me as I lean in to take his lips again. It doesn’t worry me in the slightest that Kit’s a dude because I honestly barely notice people until I have feelings for them in some way. I don’t care if the person I’m attracted to is another guy anymore than I care if they’re a purple elephant shifter, so unlike some people, I’m rolling with what makes my entire body sing with happiness.

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