Page 84 of Incubus
"Nathan? Are you okay?" he asked. He and Jim had already taken showers. Sasha's hair was wet and mussed in dark red strands around his face.
"Hey, what if I had been naked already?" Nathan asked.
"Bonus for me then," Sasha smirked. He entered the rest of the way and closed the door behind him.
Nathan's try for humor faltered and he stepped back. "Dude, Jim's—"
"Outside. He stepped out for some air. Are you okay?"
"I'm—"
"Reallyokay?"
The expression on Sasha's face wasn't predatory or even playful, it was simple concern and empathy moving across the space between them until Sasha was just there. He pulled Nathan in against his chest and held him.
Nathan shuddered; nobody had ever justheldhim.
"It's going to be okay," Sasha said, breathing the words into Nathan's neck. "Jim will be okay. And so will you."
Holding Sasha in return just seemed like the natural thing to do. Nathan's arms came up and held on, if only to keep from shaking.
Walter walked into view over Sasha's shoulder, just enough to smile and nod before fading away, as if he was passing the torch to Sasha to pick up the remainder of Nathan's shattered pieces.
"I meant what I said," Sasha went on. "We can figure this out together. Your friend told you I could help, right? I'm not about to make a liar out of a trained psychic."
Nathan sighed in Sasha's hold. "She said you could helpme, not Jim."
Sasha was silent in reply, thoughtful. He pulled away from Nathan but his hands moved up to Nathan's shoulders. The natural heat in the incubus' skin always surprised Nathan, especially in the touch of his hands. Sasha held Nathan's neckand the curve of his face, and leaned in, claiming a kiss with his lips pressing to Nathan's gently.
The reality that he was standing there in just his boxers brought a small flutter to Nathan's stomach that lurched abruptly when Sasha moved in closer. Their bodies connected and Nathan instinctively pressed his hips forward.
While they kissed, Sasha’s hands trailed down Nathan's arms to the waistline of his boxers. With the tips of his fingers, he teased the skin just under the elastic, and his thumbs lightly traced the trail of Nathan's hipbones, moving slowly but deliberatelylower.
Nathan gasped and arched into Sasha. Then his hands were between them, pushing Sasha back. “Notslow,” he said. "I mean...not...not now. Jim will be back. I'm not...ready to..."
"It's okay," Sasha said, looking flushed with equal parts desire and shame. "I didn't mean to...do that. It just sort of comes naturally."
"I'll bet," Nathan smiled.
"We'll figure this out, Nate. All of it. How to save youandJim."
Nathan wasn't sure if he believed that, but he felt more hopeful than he had all day.
Sasha left the bathroom, leaving Nathan to his thoughts. He wanted to believe that they could solve all of the mysteries surrounding them. He knew Sasha believed it and that Walter was trying to believe it too.
Now they just had to make it happen.
Aweeklaterfoundthem back in the Midwest, staying in Chicago near the last working doorway before the wall of the No Man's Land dead zone. Following up on dark fae leads carried anew risk for them now: that they might be walking into a trap. That, and the continued threat of Gabriel, had all of them on edge. The few times Sasha pulled Nathan aside into a corner or out of view from Jim to steal a kiss or quick embrace helped keep Nathan's sanity.
Sasha had suggested their newest tactic. The doorway in Chicago was heavily trafficked. They didn't need another sidhe, just a dark fae they could get a name out of. If they could get a name, the True Name of the sidhe that held Nathan's bounty, they could summon and kill this'them'themselves. Staking out the doorway seemed liked the next best thing to tracking down dark fae that were already here.
Chicago was quite a bit colder than Georgia had been, especially in December. Nathan couldn’t help shivering within the confines of their newly acquired vehicle, still plagued by a persistent cold that seemed hell bent on torturing him even more than his nightmares.
They were a few blocks down from the doorway, but within viewing distance for those who knew what to look for. Jim was asleep in the backseat. He had fallen sideways half an hour ago once the nearby bars had let out the last of their patrons. Nathan had felt a wave of relief since he didn't think Jim had been sleeping much lately. And he definitely hadn't been talking much, other than to express his approval for their stakeout idea. Waiting for a dark fae to stumble upon them was less active than seeking dark fae out, and came with less opportunity for Jim's powers to erupt, or so Nathan assumed his brother was thinking.
"What if we don't find anything?" Nathan asked quietly from the driver's seat. Sasha was beside him. It was only too easy to look up and see Jim's sleeping form in the rearview mirror, somehow so distant even though he was just behind Nathan.
"Then we'll come back again tomorrow night," Sasha said.
