Page 60 of Fox of Fox Hall

“Neither am I.” Conall had not loosened his holdbut Fox didn’t ask him to. “I’m byr, as you love to remind me.”

Fox lingered where he was, letting his nose growwarm and tingly from where it bumped against Conall’s skin and apatch of salve Fox hadn’t rubbed in thoroughly.

“I don’t,” Fox began after some time spent notthinking about anything else that Conall had said. “I don’t love toremind you,” he admitted. “I wish you weren’t, in fact. Or that youwere the king so you could… I’m ridiculous. A barely grown boy withfantasies based on songs that I never thought were real.”

Conall stroked Fox’s back up to his nape. “Ifthey could see you now, in that village south of nowhere where theydidn’t have room for you, they would marvel.”

“And youwillhave room for me? Always?”Fox didn’t raise his head until he felt Conall inhale to reply.

Conall took that as a sign to pet Fox’s faceagain. Fox sighed a little, already bracing himself for asting.

“Always. For all my friends.” That was thegentle part. Conall studied him intently. “But especially for you.I’d have you as my mate, Fox. That has not changed.”

That will not changewas what he meantalthough he didn’t say it. Possibly not wanting to upset Foxagain.

“You’re supposed to be celebrating tonight,” Foxreminded him, mostly to keep from saying anything else. “Notbothering with me.”

“I will always bother with you.” It was unfairhow Conall’s gaze held him, how it sent heat to Fox’s fingers andtoes, all the way to the tip of his tail. “But you don’t have todecide now. You don’t have to do anything.”

Fox scoffed despite himself. “I have to do manythings. See to my clothes, which I cannot afford to lose. See to mynightly routine. Ensure you get to bed properly, so you will restand move with less stiffness tomorrow.”

“I will move withmorestiffnesstomorrow,” Conall corrected. “That’s how it is. Though a hot bathin the morning will help.”

“Did you even eat with the others?” Fox heardhimself clucking like a spouse and would have burned anew if he’dbeen able to get any warmer. He skittered backward, his tailclinging to Conall in a way that revealed too much. He clamberedoff the bed and scrubbed the tip of his nose after getting to hisfeet. “Sleep. And—did you need anything? I can fetch it foryou.”

A clucking spouse again. It did not feel like animprovement on a squirming fifteen-year-old with a crush.

Conall sighed but leaned back against thepillows, bringing his legs up onto the bed without fussing with anybedcovers. He watched Fox stand there awkwardly, and Fox trip overto his trunks to get out a comb and his curling rags, and then gotto see Fox drop all of that and return to the bed to climb back ontop of him. Conall settled his hands on Fox’s hips like theybelonged there and smiled, small and sweet with surprise, when Foxleaned in close to stroke his face.

“I wanted to look at you,” Fox confessed, nearlychoking again but forcing the words out anyway. “I didn’tbecauseI wanted to. Even then, I was so overwhelmed to lookat you that I couldn’t be calm as I was supposed to be. I liked tohear you speak, especially when you corrected him. Your voice andyour gaze are warming. I couldn’t watch you do the dangerous thingsyou do, but I like you this way, where I can feel you.”

“Overwhelmed just to look at me?” Conall didn’tsay anything else for a while, letting Fox curl in closer, thenwrapping him up in his arms. “Warming?” He had a strangely tensenote in his voice. “Anything else? No, I shouldn’t ask that.”

Fox trembled and ducked his head. “It’ssoothing, comforting, to see you, even when it’s not. Even whenyou’re fucking me, I’m….”Safe, a nonsense thing to say, totry to explain. “I shouldn’t be holding you now but it’s all I wantto do.”

“Soothed, yet overwhelmed?” Conall sighed evenbefore Fox nodded in reply. “Do you…” he started, then pausedbefore hesitantly trying again. “That’s how I feel when you dothis. I want you to cling to me when you need and yet I also wantto put you aside so I can go deal with whatever has upset you. Iwanted to win today for many reasons, but one of them was so that Iwould look good for you, like the hero they call me, but just foryou. You don’t care about battles and Rolfi teased me, but I did itanyway with you in mind. And yet I am even more ridiculous thanthat where you are concerned. I accepted when you were his, buthaving you like this and then thinking of you back at his side,that could cost me everything. Then you leave him to come here andtend to me. I…. I almost feel sorry for him. Both of us destroyedin your wake—unless you choose him again.”

Fox raised his head to look at Conall withscarcely any distance between them. “I am not overwhelmed to lookat him.” Of all the things he could have said, it was the easiestto offer. It felt inadequate but Conall closed his eyes as ifrelieved. Fox studied him with a confused frown and finally kissedhis mouth to get Conall to look at him again. “His voice is notwarming.” He gave Conall another kiss, or took one, he wasn’t sure.“I asked him if I was his Fox.”

Conall’s voice was hoarse. “Fox, please.”

Fox petted the side of his pretty face andkissed him, long and lingering. “He didn’t answer,” he explainedbreathlessly before kissing Conall again. “I was glad he didn’t.”Something Fox was only realizing now, on top of Conall withConall’s hands moving up his back.

“I am yours,” Conall told him, his wonderfulhands going still when Fox froze. “I will say what he can’t, ifonly so you can hear it from someone.” Fox thought he’d pull away,but Conall stayed where he was, his mouth beneath Fox’s, his gazequestioning. “You don’t have to answer,” Conall explained softly.“Just hear it and try to believe it.”

Fox finally had to look away, although it wasn’tfor long. “This conversation will not help you rest. You must needthat.”

Conall pushed out a heavy breath but when Foxleaned in to nuzzle his jaw, Conall allowed it.

“You are the Dragonslayer,” Fox reminded him ina whisper. “The champion. What are you doing with me? All you havedone in the past two days and all I have done is scratch at you.”He didn’t let Conall deny it. “I could please you if you’re not tootired.” He brushed his lips across Conall’s to strengthen theoffer, although he liked where he was and didn’t want to move, noteven to feel Conall’s cock in his mouth.

In response, Conall tightened his arms aroundhim and rolled them both over, ending up on his side with his chinresting on the top of Fox’s head. “Stay,” he said quietly. “Staywith me through the night like this.”

Fox wondered if he was expected to protest, thenrealized that he would have only a handful of days ago. Or intruth, he would have protested because it was easier that way. Hehad been told to leave too many times not to anticipate ithappening again.

Fox wriggled and Conall bit back a rough noise,but once Fox got his arm free of Conall’s weight and had burrowedin against Conall’s chest, Conall relaxed.

“Your routine,” he reminded Fox after a while.“I didn’t mean to stop you.”

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