Page 53 of Cover Up

The kiss was as slow as the first one—a gentle touch, at first, lips grazing lips. Then Dei rumbled a soft moan, and their tongues met, warm and wet and needy. Felix swayed into Dei, who caught him and held him fast with his impossibly strong arm, and Felix lost himself in the slow dance that he knew, eventually, would lead to more.

And then it was over.

Dei broke the kiss with a series of small pecks like he wanted to pull away but couldn’t bring himself to stop touching, and soon they were leaning into each other, sharing breath. “Promise me you’ll get some rest,” Dei told him.

“As long as you promise to wake me up soon. I feel like I could sleep for a year, but I don’t want to.”

Dei’s face moved through complicated expressions that Felix couldn’t hope to decipher, but eventually, he nodded and sealed his promise with a last, swift kiss. “Swear it.”

Felix pulled back, then Dei let go, and he turned so he could undress without getting distracted by Dei’s body. His slacks hit the floor, and his shirt followed soon after, but before he could climb into the bed, he felt fingers sliding alongside his spine.

“I wanna explore these later,” Dei said.

Felix realized Dei was talking about his ink, and he laughed, nodding as he reached for the blanket and yanked it back. “Anything you want. When I wake up, I’m all yours.”

“That’s a dangerous promise, sugar.”

Felix turned around as he slid his legs under the sheets and met Dei’s gaze. “I’m not afraid.”

Although Felix would probably never be good with expressions ever again, he recognized the surprise on Dei’s face and then basked in the following grin. Neither of them said anything after that. The silence was exactly enough.

16

Warm. God, he was so warm and so comfortable. He reached for consciousness, knowing he’d never felt so safe in his entire life, and he couldn’t figure out why that was so important until he felt lips on the side of his neck. He groaned, and then a massive hand cupped his ass cheek and squeezed.

Memories flooded back the way they always did these days—sort of broken shards of glass looking for where they belonged in the shattered image that was his mind. But he remembered a man he wanted with every fiber of his being standing in front of him as Felix had asked for exactly this.

“Awake?” a voice rumbled against his skin.

Felix grinned and pulled back. In all reality, he’d never appreciate his brain damage. He’d never be thankful that everyone would remain vague and strange to him at first glance. But there was something about the newness of Dei’s face every time he saw it that had his heart beating against his ribs.

Dei’s smile softened. “What are you thinking about?”

“Every time I see you, I can’t get over how gorgeous you are.”

A very faint pink flush rose along the tops of Dei’s ears, then went splotchy over his cheeks. “Flatterer. I’m a damn mess.”

Felix shook his head. “I don’t see it that way.” He dislodged one of his hands from the tangle of blankets and traced a touch over Dei’s temple where his scarring was the worst. Felix knew that eye was prosthetic from the way it didn’t quite move like the other one. “Does it hurt still?”

“Nah,” Dei said with a lopsided grin. “Honestly, I didn’t notice too much. Everything else eclipsed it.”

Felix traced a touch down his neck, knotted with scar tissue. He paused over the healed ink—the mark he’d left on Dei’s body that would last until he covered it up or until he died. Dei was wearing a tank top, so Felix ran his fingers over the scars and the round stump with hills and valleys that was a map of what Dei had gone through.

“And here?”

“Yeah,” Dei said. “Phantom pains, mostly.”

“Does it bother you if I touch it?”

Dei shook his head. “I love feelin’ your hands on me.”

Felix wasn’t entirely sure Dei meant it. He knew below the waist was more evidence of how his body had been ravaged, and Dei hadn’t explained what he could feel or what he was capable of. But it was still obvious Dei wanted him, and he’d do whatever he could to make sure Dei understood Felix wanted him back however he could have him.

“How you feelin’, love?”

Felix’s eyes closed against that soft word that didn’t mean what he desperately wanted it to. He swallowed heavily. “Better, I think. The whole funeral feels a little like a dream.”

“Mm,” Dei hummed thoughtfully. “Was thinkin’ about all that.”

---