Page 67 of Psync
“Guess I’m going to bed then,” Eli said to himself.
He stripped quickly and put on the first set of pjs he could find, a limited-edition Sailor Moon set. The top was a white, long-sleeved shirt with Luna, Sailor Moon’s cat, winding around the torso. The shorts were black with Artemis, Sailor Venus’ cat curving around one hip.
He crawled under the covers and expected to pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. The day had been long and exhausting—even with his impromptu nap. But his mind wouldn’t stop spinning. Flashes of Ash, pinning him to the desk, chased him as he sought oblivion. As soon as he banished them, thoughts of today’s classes jerked him to full wakefulness. Eli flipped over and buried his head under a pillow. He hadn’t even contacted his professors!
He threw the pillow across the room then had to get up and retrieve it.
Haruka was taking a long time, wasn’t he?
Eli scooted to the middle of the bed and began tucking pillows and blankets around himself, then curled up in a ball. He clutched the small gray cat in his hands and breathed in Haruka’s unique scent from his pillow. Only then was he able to slide into sleep.
In his dreams, he felt hands rearrange his body until he was draped over something warm and safe. Somethinghis.
There was a light touch on the top of his head, and Eli sank deeper into oblivion.
???
Eli wandered through a gray world. He turned around to see how far he’d travelled and saw blossoms of color in the shape of his footprints. He kneeled down and traced a finger over a gray flower and marveled at the way it burst into a vibrant red. He ran his hands over everything he could reach, enjoying the greens, blues, and yellows that rippled out like waves at the brush of his fingers. Every color of the rainbow was his to command, and he couldn’t get enough of it.
Music broke into his world and pulled at him. Eli tried to cling to the beautiful landscape he’d created, but the music grew louder and more persistent.
Eli opened his eyes and glared in the direction of the music. It was across the room, and if he wanted to make it stop, he’d have to get out of his cocoon—which was a terrible idea because it held traces of his dreams and the comfiest blanket in the world.
He groaned and tried to burrow further under his blanket. If he went far enough, maybe the music would go away.
Then his blanket moved. And it was poking him in the hip.
That was when Eli realized he had a bigger problem than shutting off the alarm he didn’t remember turning on.
He didn’t need to panic. It was a totally normal guy thing—he should know since he was currently experiencing the same issue.
He tried to wiggle out from under Haruka, but the arm around him pulled him in closer, and Haruka buried his face in the back of Eli’s neck. Eli gasped as his hipbones were pushed intimately against the mattress. He ground against the friction without thinking.
Eli felt Haruka freeze, then sit up slowly, prying himself away from Eli’s back. He propped an elbow on one knee and yawned as he rubbed his eyes. His hair curtained most of his face. “Sorry, I just woke up,” Haruka said in a voice thick with sleep.
“M-me too.” Eli sat up, facing the edge of the bed. He tried to stand, but one of the sleeves on his baggy sleep shirt was trapped underneath Haruka, causing the neck of his shirt to slip over one shoulder.
Haruka gazed at him for a long moment before shifting his weight to release Eli.
Eli got up and pulled the hem of his shirt down. “I have to go to the bathroom!”
He ran for the bathroom, making sure to keep the front of his body facing away from Haruka.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Haruka
Haruka was supposed to be paying attention in class. He was supposed to be taking notes and listening to the lecture on what to expect on their midterm, but his attention kept straying to the bewitching creature sent into his life with the sole purpose of torturing him to death.
It had taken every ounce of self-control Haruka possessed this morning to allow Eli to leave his bed unscathed.
The image of Eli’s slim hips, barely covered in his sleep shorts haunted him. Thinking about the little cat tail wrapped around the curve Haruka had been pressed against this morning had been all it had taken to get off when he’d jerked off in the shower—for the second time in less than twelve hours.
He was torn between the urge to burn those shorts and the desire to enshrine them.
Haruka wasn’t used towantinglike this. All his life, he’d been given anything he wanted. Anyone he desired, Haruka could have. He’d lost count of the number of men and women who had propositioned him over the years.
None of them stirred him like the boy sitting next to him, chewing on the end of a pencil like his life depended on it.
