Page 65 of Nyx
“You look upset by that.”
He scoffs again and rolls his eyes. “Yes, I was searching for a way to insult you and tell you why it was such a terrible match. Explain how he could do so much better than a tiny, irritating human with stabby tendencies. It would’ve made my whole day—”
“You reallyareevil,” I realize, and he ignores me.
“—but…” He trails off, and dear gods, his entire face twists into the ultimate show of annoyance.
“Are you… constipated? Is this your ‘I need more fiber’ face?” I ask, but once again, I’m ignored.
He finally speaks, forcing the words through gritted teeth. “You’re good for him. It’s obvious when I watch youtogether,” he says, then grimaces as if it left a foul taste in his mouth.
“Wow, don’t go overboard with the flattery.”
“It is painful to say nice things about you,” he complains, but his expression becomes impassive as he shrugs, and he turns serious. “When we first freed him from that cage, I wasn’t sure he’d ever truly escape. If you had told me back then that I would see him like this? Smiling and laughing? I would’ve called you a liar. The Fates may have made mistakes over the years, but the two of you?” He glances over my shoulder at where Nyx and Cameron chat, then he focuses on me again. “This isn’t one of them. You heal him.”
“Gods,” I choke, horrified as tears pool in my eyes, so I drop my gaze to the ground. I refuse to cry in front of Ronan because I’ll never hear the end of it, but I can’t seem to swallow the heavy emotion. Soft footsteps from bare feet approach, and tiny, adorably round green toes appear in my line of sight.
“What is wrong?” Nyx asks quietly, wrapping his fingers around my chin as I obediently meet his eyes. Sweet, excruciating tenderness assesses me before Nyx turns to Ronan. “What did you do to him?”
“Me?!” Ronan barks, and I can’t help my wet laugh at his indignation. “I was beingnicefor once!”
“Doubt it,” Cameron chimes in as he leans his hip against a table, smirking.
Ronan’s scoff is loud, long, and dramatic. “Iwas.”
“He’s actually telling the truth,” I say, although Nyx still glares at him with a sternness that contradicts both hissize and his quiet temperament. He curls into me like it’s second nature, though his eyes don’t leave Ronan’s.
“I hope he stabs you again,” Nyx grumbles to Ronan, and Cameron and I both burst out laughing as Ronan throws his hands up. I’m pretty sure he’s done with all three of us.
“Did you actually need something when you came down here?” I ask Ronan, and his eyes dart around the greenhouse, inspecting everything.
“We just wanted to check out your work. Before, you said our food stores wouldn’t last through winter… Do you think this will be enough?”
“Yeah,” I say as I glance at the hundreds of tiny sprouts. “A lot of this stuff grows fast. As long as you keep hunting, we’ll be able to grow enough to fill the gaps. Next year, we can expand the garden, but it’ll get us through.”
“Good,” Ronan breathes, and as he looks around at the budding plants, his guard is down for a moment. Without the mask, it’s easy to see the weight of responsibility in the worried lines of his face. I give him a hard time about being our self-appointed unofficial leader, but he has everyone’s best interests at heart. We all know that.
“Alright, big guy, let’s get out of their way.” Cameron takes Ronan by the hand and leads him outside, but not before he tosses me a wink. A sense of dread hits me in the gut, because there’s no telling what he’s up to.
“Katsurrel?” Nyx’s voice is muffled from his face being shoved against my neck, and I release my grip on him. His pointy chin lifts as I glance down, and I press a peck on his lips as I wait. “What is a blowing job?”
I choke on absolutely nothing, coughing so violently that Nyx recoils and jerks away. “Where did you hear that?” I ask as I try not to hack my lungs right out of my mouth. Something tells me he wouldn’t appreciate it.
He flushes, watching me with concern as I bang on my chest. “Cameron told me to ask you.”
“Of course he did,” I wheeze. My entire head and neck flush, and I’m guessing Nyx knows I’m about to say something that’ll embarrass him too. Civilized folk don’t casually discuss blowjobs in the middle of daily chores like heathens. Those are more intimate conversations, meant for… private times. But fuck, if he isn’t looking at me with his unbridled curiosity, and I already swore not to handle him with kid gloves.
“It’s, um, a sex thing.” I awkwardly and needlessly gesture at his crotch like the classy man I am. “That involves, um, mouths and…” I gesture again.
Nyx makes a noise, a half-cough, half-snort I’m pretty sure is an embarrassed laugh. “He is…”
“Meddlesome?” I supply, and he tilts his head. “It means he likes getting in the middle of other people’s business.”
Nyx nods, still with an adorable flush to his cheeks. “He is meddlesome.” He glances at me and then his eyes dart away, licking his lips a few times. “Would it…that… be… something you w-wanted? With… me?”
Seven hells, I really won’t survive this.“Yes,” I say honestly, and he makes another of those sweet little squeaks deep in his throat. “But only when you’re ready. There’s no rush, Nyx. We have time.”
“All I have ever had was time,” he says as he finally holds my eyes. “Wasted time. I am tired of wasting time.”
