Page 84 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong

Perian rested his forehead against the wall, breathing heavily.

“Is that your way of saying the day was long?” he asked as he caught his breath.

Brannal was still pressed against him.

“So long,” Brannal agreed.

Perian was content to just stand here, but eventually, Brannal pulled out, and Perian sighed at the loss. Brannal pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

“Let’s get cleaned up.”

Brannal stripped, and they climbed into the bath together. They lingered long enough for Brannal to bring Perian off again, and then Perian returned the favor, grinding back against Brannal until he came as well.

Brannal leaned back against the back of the tub with a groan. “I haven’t come this much since I was a teen.”

Perian sputtered a laugh. “Complaining?”

“Not even a little,” Brannal said in a very satisfied voice that made Perian grin and feel more than a little proud.

Brannal cleared the water with his clever “lift only the water out of the tub” trick, and then they cleaned themselves properly. By the time they finally emerged, they had unquestionably missed dinner.

“Oops,” Brannal said, not sounding the slightest bit repentant.

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone will be that surprised,” Perian said. “But we should probably eat something.” He leered at the other man. “I have more plans for you.”

Brannal nodded, looking content.

Perian eyed him and then said, “How about I go and ask for dinner? I assume you’d want to pull on all those clothes, while I’d be happy to wander around in only my sleep trousers, but I can pull a top on too.”

Looking amused, Brannal didn’t deny the allegation. No matter what he liked to do behind closed doors, he did like to project a proper image otherwise.

So Perian pulled on trousers and a shirt—it wouldn’t take very long to get them off, it was only two layers. He was reminded of the mysterious package when they emerged into the sitting room.

“I hope you appreciate that I didn’t open that while you weren’t here. If you’ve peeked before I get back, I’m going to be very cross.”

“I’ll try to resist,” Brannal promised wryly.

Perian popped down to the kitchen and asked for food. Alona’s eyes twinkled.

“Night in?”

Perian nodded, grinning. “We were otherwise occupied during dinner but figured we wouldn’t last if we didn’t get some sort of nourishment.”

“Shall I just send you with a basket now so we don’t interrupt?”

Perian beamed at her. “Oh, that would be perfect! Because you know I don’t mind, but I do try not to accidentally scar people for life with seeing things they can’t unsee.”

Snorting with laughter, she went off, and Perian jiggled from foot to foot, impatient to get back to Brannal but knowing this was absolutely the fastest and least disruptive option.

She was back in a couple of minutes with a basket heaped full of food. He thanked her profusely and then hurried back upstairs, kicking at the door so Brannal would come let him in. He looked bemused by the basket.

“I wish I had the trick of blowing a door open, that would be really useful,” Perian said.

“You’ll have to settle for me waiting on you,” Brannal told him, plucking the basket from his hands.

Perian rolled his eyes, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“No problem, dear heart.”

---