Page 95 of Sharpen Your Claws

He was of sound mind enough to remember how he would have panicked before. Seeing William so happy toward someone else would have put him on edge. Instead, he rested in the corner, perfectly content knowing William, while he couldn’t save everyone, did what he set out to do. He would rest easy and maybe have fewer nightmares.

As if he sensed Nicholas’ attention, William looked at him and smiled. His heart swelled, full of love that could only ever belong to William. Two beautifully scarred souls no other could dance with.

“He’s not so bad.” Evera fell into the chair beside him. “That mortal of yours.”

“Did you hit your head today?” he teased.

“Plenty, but that doesn’t change what I said.” Her attention strayed toward Charmaine.

“Your mortal is quite nice too, don’t you think?”

“She’s not my mortal.” She smirked, not devious but confident and a little hopeful. “Not yet. Suppose I jumped on her tonight. What do you think she’d do?”

“If she knows what’s good for her, she’d run.” He yelped when Evera pinched his thigh, hard enough to pierce the skin. Then she left to speak to Charmaine by the fire, uttering nonsense that Charmaine fell for based on her nervous smile.

Poor girl, Evera is going to devour her by the night’s end,he thought around a laugh.

A moment later, William finished checking on the patients. They crowded around the fire curled up in whatever fabric Henry and Arden scrounged up, which wasn’t much, and certainly wouldn’t have any remaining for the rest of them. Normally, he would complain, but he was quite tired and William called for his attention.

The medic dropped into the chair beside him, wincing slightly. He rolled his right shoulder as if he forgot the arm was missing. “I’m glad the two of you are getting along.”

“Who?” he asked.

William yawned. His eyes drooped. “You and Evera. You’re acting like siblings.”

“I wouldn’t know what that was like.”

“I do, and the two of you are acting like it.” William glanced toward a door hanging off its hinges. “There are a few rooms here. You should rest in one.”

He leaned against William’s side, taking in a breath of his scent. “Why don’twerest in one?”

“I need to make sure everyone is taken care of.” William stood only to lean over and whisper, “But I will join you later.”

His heart leapt to a desperate song. “For more than resting?”

William knocked his head aside with his knuckles. But that wasn’t a no.

While the others slept, William came to Nicholas’ makeshift bed in an old room at the back of the hut. A string of candles lined an alcove in the wall that gave the room a low orange glow. He mended the broken door using roots to create more privacy. William didn’t hide his smirk when shutting the door behind him.

“Expecting something, are you?” William whispered.

“I am.” He presented a hand from where he knelt among the glade he fabricated. There were no beds to seek comfort from, so he made what he could.

William accepted, and he shuddered as always, as he hoped he always would. Then he was caught between William’s legs, descending on his mouth that caught him in a whirlwind. William was the eye of his storm, a comfort among any gloom. There they laid kissing, tracing the shape of one another with fingers and gaze before he couldn’t handle it. He craved William with a hunger that knew no bounds.

Their touching grew more fervent, tearing at each other’s clothes until William caught the end of his shirt, preventing Nicholas from removing the ruined garment. William glimpsed the bandage wrapped around the end of his right shoulder.

“Are you nervous?” He laid his weight on William, smiling at the content sigh his lover released.

“More than I thought I would be.” William kissed his temple and ran his fingers through the fae’s hair. “Does it… bother you?”

“No. I never understood why that arm bothered you. When I saw it, I remembered what you were willing to give to save me, and what I did to save you. I was, and still am, grateful, however,” he lifted his chin to admire William, “I do understand that you made a decision that is entirely your own and that made you happy, so it makes me happy, too.”

William’s lips trembled, his eyes foggy. Nicholas kissed him, breathing in his relieved cry.

“Keep going,” William said against his mouth. The hand in his hair angled him for a deeper kiss, full of yearning. His hand found William’s and guided it above their heads. Chest to chest, he felt William’s heart racing in tune with his own.

“No touching.” He caught William’s earlobe between his teeth. “I want you to just enjoy this tonight.”

---