Page 118 of Captivated

Nate’s gaze flicked up to the clouds building like dark muscle over the hills. “I know I’m not fond of storms, but what about you?”

Zeeb smiled. “I’m afraid of a lotta things. Not that, though.”

Nate cocked his head. “What are you afraid of?”

It was a question dressed like small talk, but the way Nate asked it, soft, as though maybe he already knew the answer, tightened Zeeb’s throat.

He looked away. “You don’t wanna know.”

Nate fell silent, but Zeeb saw that for what it was. Nate was waiting, patient, the way horses were when they liked someone.

When they trust you enough to stand still and let you come to them.

The words were right there on the tip of Zeeb’s tongue, but he didn’t possess the courage to set them free.

I’m afraid ofthis. Of what happens if I want you the way I do.

Of what changes if you want me back.

The silence between them carried its own charge. Nate felt it in the hairs lifting on the back of his arms, in the way his breathing slowed as though he was matching Zeeb’s without meaning to.

Sol had talked about an internal shift, and he’d been right. But something was shifting again, only this time it was different.

No one ever touched me the way Zeeb did.Nothing compared to the sensations he’d experienced when Zeeb’s rough palms slid over his shoulders and down his back. But it was more than Zeeb’s touch.

It was the way Zeeb didn’t flinch from Nate’s past. The way he looked at Nate as if there wasn’t anything broken there to fix, only a man worth standing beside.

“Storms have always scared me,” Nate said finally. “But what scares me even more right now is going home and forgetting what this place has given me.”

Zeeb turned his head and stared into Nate’s eyes.

“I won’t let you forget.”

The words felt too raw, and Nate’s mouth dried up.

The wind picked up, tossing sparks into the dark. Someone shouted a joke across the fire, and laughter echoed again, but none of it touched the small, still place that existed between them.

Zeeb shifted closer, his thigh brushing Nate’s.

Neither of them moved away.

I could kiss him. Right now.

He could lean in and let the storm break open inside him before the sky ever did. But he wouldn’t do that, because Nate was still healing.

Still hiding.

Zeeb took a deep breath. “You’re not goin’ back to who you were. You couldn’t if you tried.” He kept his voice low, his words destined for Nate’s ears alone.

Nate swallowed hard, then nodded. His eyes dropped to Zeeb’s mouth, and Zeeb’s heartbeat slid into a higher gear.

“Maybe I’m more scared of wanting something I’ve never let myself have,” Nate whispered.

Zeeb couldn’t help himself. “You’re not the only one.”

A crack of distant thunder rolled over the ridge as though the earth was clearing its throat. Overhead, the clouds darkened even more.

Zeeb watched the firelight dance over Nate’s features, watched Nate lick his lips, and the sight tightened his belly.

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