Page 15 of Tell No Tales
"I was cold," Klaus said.
"There are extra blankets in the storage crate just outside the galley. There might even be another sail, if you want one so badly."
Klaus shook his head. His best friend was gorgeous and talented, but he was such a rule-abiding lummox sometimes.
"We've gotten it resolved."
Niall ran his fingers through his messy tangle of golden-brown curls and pursed his perfectly rounded lips. "Stan fused the sail bed with the wall. Is that how you resolve all your differences?"
"No. Some are better diffused with sex." The comment surprised Niall enough that he took a step back. Klaus walked around him.
He didn't get very far. Vadim stood at mid-ship, staring into the deep waters off the starboard side.
"We're not talking about it," Vadim said when he approached.
"Agreed. I thought we were going to talk before, and then that happened."
Vadim flashed a warning glare over his shoulder before returning his attention to the water. "I'm not good at talking."
"I seem to remember you wouldn't shut up when I could hear your voice in my head."
Vadim chuckled. "I seem to remember you hated it."
Klaus had hated it, but he would give anything to hear Vadim's thoughts again. Had Vadim enjoyed the hand job, or had he endured it, the way he'd endured Coryn's mistreatment the last five years?
"I almost miss it," Klaus whispered.
Vadim shook his head. "I don't. You're healed. That's far more important."
Klaus didn't know how to feel about that. He was glad to be alive, absolutely, and grateful to Niall for healing him, but Vadim sounded apologetic.
"Do you regret linking with me?" he asked.
"I regret not healing you. I wanted to be the one …" he sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm glad it's done. You should be, too."
"I'm grateful to Niall," Klaus began, but then he didn't know how to finish that sentence. "Now that you have Martiz's healing power, could you have healed me?"
"I think so." Vadim nodded. "I sensed the disease was in your blood and bones, and now it's gone. Niall's even given you some type of resistance to prevent it from recurring. I don't know that I could have done that."
"You think it could come back?"
Vadim shook his head. "No. I only wish I understood what he'd done to make it so."
"I could help you figure it out." Klaus didn't know the first thing about magic, but if Vadim needed a willing participant in a magical study, he had no problem volunteering.
"By help, do you mean what we just did in the hold?"
"Maybe." Gods, Klaus wished he could be Vadim's sexual experiment.
"No."
"What do you have against mutual orgasms?"
"They involve another person. I prefer personal orgasms."
"Do you, though?" Klaus shouldn't push Vadim, but he couldn't help himself. "I don't remember you getting off once when we were bunking together."
"You could hear my every thought! How was I supposed to get off like that?"
