Page 76 of Incubus
“More than once now.” Sasha smiled wider and made to move in closer to Nathan.
“And another thing,” Nathan said quickly, holding his hands up in defense. “I need this to be…low profile. Not all…public and everything.”
Sasha’s smile turned crooked and he crossed his arms. “You don’t want Jim to know,” he said.
“Just…not right away. He’s not stupid. He knows something’s up with us, but I just…there’s so much going on with me, and Jim’s powers, and Gabriel’s still out there…”
“I get it, Nate. It’s okay,” Sasha said. He reached to touch Nathan’s shoulder, casual and supportive enough that Nathan didn’t flinch. “You've accepted so much about me. I can handle one little secret. Just not forever. And Icando slow, but...that doesn’t mean I don’t want another kiss.”
“Haha...Sasha,” Nathan warned, trying to back up despite the wall his body met before he could take more than a single step.
“You’ve been the biggest test of my patience ever, Nathan Grier. Be thankful I have the self-control not to just jump you right now.”
The tone was playful, but Nathan sensed the truth hidden in the words. The hungry looks Sasha often gave him were ravenous.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent with you since we met," Sasha went on, "even the harder, scarier times. Even when you made me so mad, like I’ve been ever since that night, waiting for you to sayanythingto me about what happened.” He reached toward Nathan’s face, his palm brushing Nathan’s cheek as gentle fingers ran through Nathan’s short dark hair and smoothed it back. "Please. Just something. One more kiss to feed the addiction you’ve become for me.Please.”
Nathan didn’t think it was possible for his gut to feel any hotter. And maybe that was it; maybe Sasha’s deeply growing desire for Nathan was what had finally melted Nathan down, because an incubus didn't have to be monogamous, and yet Sasha wanted Nathan and only Nathan, no one else.
Suddenly, Nathan didn’t care about the details. He didn’t care about the remaining anxieties eating away at him, he didn’t care about Jim sitting up in the room pondering over what was happening between his companions, and he certainly didn’t care about consequences.
Reaching out as Sasha had reached for him, Nathan gripped the back of Sasha’s neck and pulled the incubus down into akiss. This was Nathan’s kiss. The first time he had pulled Sasha tohim. Nathan had almost forgotten how thrilling it felt to do that. He was always the initiator with a girl. Sasha was just so different, and not only because he was an incubus and so undeniably male, but because he was…Sasha. And Nathan didn't really know what that meant, but he knew it mattered.
When Sasha pushed the kiss deeper, pressing forward to pin Nathan against the wall, the little voices in the back of Nathan’s mind started whispering. Nathan refused to listen to them, but they still managed to ruin the moment.
“We...have to get back,” Nathan gasped out of the kiss, feeling warm absolutely everywhere. “Jim will start…to wonder.”
Sasha was so close, pressing into him the way Nathan remembered from back in Minnesota when Sasha had first called Nathan out for having feelings he couldn’t face.
It was strange having to look up into the eyes of the person he had just kissed. Nathan hadn’t experienced that since middle school when his almost girlfriend, more like make-out buddy, shot up two inches in a weekend.
Strange. But not bad. Nothing about this felt anywhere near bad.
“Slow,” Nathan said, pushing on Sasha’s chest lightly. “I still need slow. I’m not ready to wave you into home plate just yet, okay, cowboy?”
Sasha let out a chuckle and nodded. “That must have been one hell of a kiss if you're mixing metaphors.”
Nathan laughed.
"Hey...can Walter see us?"
"Dude, way to kill the moment."
"Sorry,” Sasha said, “I just wondered. Does it ever bother you knowing he might be watching when you're with someone?"
"Like you wouldn't believe, but usually he's nice enough to stay invisible. Like now." Nathan looked around; Walter wasnowhere to be seen. "I like to think he keeps his eyes elsewhere. It's not exactly something I want to ask about. Why, you an exhibitionist?"
Sasha grinned. "When occasion calls for it."
Nathan had to laugh again. "Good to know."
Chapter 29
Therewereenoughfirst-handaccounts of some sort of creature attacking people near Dahlonega, Georgia, that a golem was almost certain, at least going off of the descriptions. Witnesses claiming it had looked like a ‘statue come to life’ was usually a dead giveaway. The conclusion that it must be a stray dog or wolf covered in mud came much more easily to people than assuming it was a hollow stone animal under the control of a mischievous fairy.
Nathan would have been glad they had ended up somewhere warmer during the winter months if it hadn't started raining as soon as they arrived. The town was already decorated for Christmas despite the weather, and had an upcoming holiday festival that was at risk of losing participants and tourists if the golem attacks continued. No one was sure where the creature was coming from other than somewhere in the woods, which didn't really narrow things down.
A trek into the muddy terrain was going to take up most of their day and possibly night even if Nathan and the others did manage to track down the golem and its controller quickly.
