Page 61 of Quiet
Isa made a tiny, disgruntled sound and pulled his head away from Briar’s neck. He gave Briar a pouty little frown that evoked many interesting reactions worth exploring later. He looked Briar square in the eyes and gripped a handful of his shirt in one hand. “Don’t you dare put me down.”
It was good of Isa to be so clear. Not only did it do more interesting things to Briar, but it also let him understand better. He didn’t like guessing. He wasn’t good at it.
Isa wiggled around until he was able to dig his key card out of his pocket. Briar juggled Isa’s shifting form easily. He wouldn’t drop him for all the art supplies in the world.
There was a beep, and Isa’s door was open. The second his job was done, Isa burrowed back into Briar’s arms like a little prince who fully accepted that it was Briar’s job to carry him places now.
Briar’s mouth curved into a smile and carried the boy to his bed. He tried to set his precious burden down, but he didn’t get far. Isa had both hands clenched into the fabric of Briar’s shirt.
Hmm. He didn’t want to be free, but . . . Isa needed to be taken care of. Briar couldn’t do that if he couldn’t get loose. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just going to take off your shoes.”
“Oh, okay then,” Isa said sleepily, and his hands went slack, allowing Briar to lay him on the bed.
He took off Isa’s shoes and then his socks. He let his fingers play along the soft angles of the boy’s feet. How had he not noticed Isa’s feet before? He almost reached for the sketchpad in his pocket before realizing he’d rather be touching Isa.
If he could sketch and touch him at the same time . . . Or put paint on his body. Something hot flared to life inside Briar, and his hands stilled.
He could paint Isa.
Would Isa let Briar paint his body? His eyes flicked to Isa’s face, ready to ask, only to forget his new, very excellent idea at what he saw there.
It hadn’t been his imagination. Isa did look diminished. His natural beauty wasn’t affected, but the boy was definitely faded in comparison to how he’d looked when facing off against the fairy on Briar’s behalf.
His eyelids were drifting shut, but when he noticed Briar’s attention, he struggled to sit up.
“Don’t,” Briar said and put a hand on Isa’s chest, pinning him to the bed. He scanned the boy’s tired face, noting the shadows under his eyes. Placing the spell on Briar had taken a lot out of Isa. Even his eyes had lost a bit of their starlight.
He ran his fingers along Isa’s face, tracing the curve of his cheekbone, up the bridge of his nose, and brushing lightly over his eyelids, encouraging the boy to let them close fully. He stroked the long lashes fanning Isa’s cheeks.
“You’re going to put me to sleep.” Isa sighed dreamily. The sadness and fear gripping him were no longer evident.
Briar didn’t have a koala on his hands anymore. Instead, he had a sleepy boy to take care of. He braced his weight on his arms, one hand planted on either side of Isa’s head. “Then sleep.” He kissed each of Isa’s eyelids, mentally commanding them to stay closed.
“You’ll leave.”
Briar huffed a small laugh. Silly boy. Didn’t he know Briar wasn’t leaving his side again? “I will stay.”
“Promise?” Isa tried to roll on his side, but Briar’s body had him pinned.
Briar kissed the boy’s soft lips before moving off him. “I promise.”
“Okay, that’s good . . .”
He lifted Isa enough to pull his blanket out of the way so he could tuck him in. He was about to do so when he realized Isa was still dressed. He’d dressed up to come to the art show. It couldn’t be comfortable.
So, Briar did what any rational person would do. He stripped the limp boy of his clothes, leaving him in his boxers and an undershirt. He turned Isa’s unresisting body on his side.
A lock of hair had fallen across Isa’s face, marring Briar’s view. He tucked it behind the boy’s ear. Then he spent a few minutes running his fingers through Isa’s hair, arranging it until it complemented the lighting in the room. When he was finally satisfied, he stripped down and climbed in behind Isa.
He listened to the boy’s slow, steady breathing while he smoothed the wrinkles out of his undershirt, making sure the graceful lines of Isa’s body were accented by the material rather than broken by it. The he pulled the blanket up and did the same thing.
He continued to groom Isa until his own eyelids grew too heavy to keep open.
Chapter24
Isa
Briar was holding Isa down, fucking long, hard strokes deep into his body, praising him for being so fucking good. Just using him like a good little fuck toy.
