Page 18 of Sustaining
And then Rime fists the collar of the teasing shifter, pulling him closer and pressing his messy shirt into Chaos’. His lips skim slowly against Chaos’ as punishment. The taunting smirks gradually drift away when big hands push through pale-blond locks. Their bodies align just right, hips rocking as the two of them kiss so passionately it’s like a fight for control. Rime pulls back with a heavy breath, both of them leaning close, their mouths brushing while they gaze at one another with a different, softer gleam in their eyes.
“Is it strange to see the men you love, love one another?” Sinister watches them slowly pull apart.
His question has a hint of rasp to it that tingles over me.
Rime and Chaos get back to work, but their bodies brush here and there with nearly every move they make.
“It isn’t. It’s…natural? Sweet?”
“Sexy?” Sinister adds with a knowing smirk.
The breathiness of his voice is still doing dirty things to my body.
“Definitely sexy.” I nod.
“So it’s easy to watch because it turns you on?”
I shift as his low timber describes what I’m feeling. It’s so much more than that, but I have no idea how to describe it. The cold rag holds my attention. I twist it and unfurl it while I try to explain it to him.
“Maybe it seems strange, but it comforts me to know they’re close. I think we forget sometimes how much we subconsciously want the best for the people we love. You want them to have support in their life. Structure. Friendship.Love.” My gaze lifts to his slowly, and he abandons his rag entirely to the rooftop as he watches me. “I like that they have that and more. Our relationship between all of us is different, I know.” My stomach twists and I wonder what he’s thinking. Does he hate me for the relationship I have with him as well as them?
“What do you think about it?” I finally ask. My heart pounds so loudly in my ears as the span of three seconds passes before he replies.
He leans forward with a quiet whisper, the warm scent of cinnamon filling my lungs when he’s nearer.
“I just thought it turned you on the way it turned me on, love.”
Soft lips press to mine over and over and over again. Long fingers thread through my hair, and the feel of his chest against mine makes me realize how hard it is for him not to cover me completely with the strength of his body.
His tongue flicks slowly along mine, and I barely get to relax into the feel of the building energy coiling low in my core when a voice yells over to us, “Date night is really sexy and all, but we don’t have time for fucking. There’s another three hundred feet of ship left to stain, Dog-boy.”
At the sound of Rime’s sweet condescension, Sinister’s lips smile against mine. A beat passes before he pulls slowly away. Crimson eyes hold mine for several seconds, his dark hair brushing my forehead while he just breathes me in for a small moment.
“Did you say Chaos and Rime kissing turned you on?” I ask quietly with a smile.
His smirk pulls wider as his lips part without words. Dark lashes line his bright eyes, and it takes him longer than I expected to answer that teasing question.
“Not them specifically.” Another pause and another wolfish grin. “I just take things visually, I suppose. It isn’t them kissing that turns me on. It’s the hunger of it all. It could be Kain kissing Chaos, and it’d have the same effect.”
“Well, don’t hold your breath on that one.”
“It’s just people, I mean. Sure, it helps if they’re attractive.”
Sinister’s taunting friendship with Rime fills my mind.
“Is Rime attractive to you?” That has me hanging on his response like it’s the only thing in the world that’s giving me life right now.
“You are so far off base, you have no idea, Arrie.”
“Then tell me. Please. Explain in very descriptive details for me.” We’re still whispering close, never allowing more than half an inch to press between our lips.
“I’m not attracted to Rime. I am aware that he is attractive. I understand the attraction, the physical appeal of his features, muscle tone, the way he holds himself, and fuck is he hostile when he’s protective, and I get that women like that shit, but really, it’s like that for me with everyone I meet. I understand the allure of beautiful qualities. Like the darkness of your blue eyes. Or the perfect curve of your lower lip. Don’t even get me started on your other fucking curves, love.” A breath hits his lungs like it pains him when glances down at my breasts pressed against chest. “I understand all that. But it doesn’t really commute in my mind until it’s all physical.”
My brows pull low as he explains that he doesn’t really see beauty like the rest of the world.
“What makes someone attractive then?”
“The way someone shows desire. The way Rime kisses Chaos like their bodies are magnetic is blatant desire. The way you used to hesitate and think through so much before you simply touched me. You built up the sparking feeling inside my chest before ever laying a hand on me. It’s fucking torturous but it’s something that I can’t even explain that I love. You knew it could hurt us both in the end and yet just feeling my skin against yours was more important. The way you took care of me when I was cursed. The way you took care of so many creatures just because they needed you and they had no one else.” His words tumble out so fast before halting abruptly, his mouth making slow work of kissing me once again. Then he whispers against my lips. “That’s attractive, Arrie.” Another brush of his lips over mine, my lashes fluttering to remain open.
