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“It’s not a game to me anymore.” Dane pulled back and looked at him for a long time, his big hands
framing Lindsay’s face, so long that Lindsay began to blush in spite of himself. “If it’s what you need, it’s done.” At last, Dane drew him in and kissed him again, as though there was no one else in the world, much
less in the house.
The intensity made Lindsay moan and arch against Dane. He slid his hands over Dane’s chest, but
Dane’s shirt kept him from touching skin. Frustrated, he tugged until the shirt buttons gave way and let him slide his hands underneath. The touches got him soft growls and Dane’s tongue slicking through his mouth
like he couldn’t get enough of Lindsay’s taste.
Taniel’s cheerful voice preceded him into the room. “Di
be…hungry.”
Lindsay froze, then pulled back from the kisses to see Dane’s face.
Dane was smiling, slow and wolfish. “I’m hungry,” he admitted, but his eyes were on Lindsay and the
light in them had nothing to do with food. Lindsay knew his cheeks were on fire, but Dane’s expression
was worth any embarrassment. “Thanks. We’ll be right there.” Dane leaned forward and caught Lindsay’s
mouth with his own, kissing him without shame or hesitation.
“I’ll set your places, then.” Taniel didn’t miss a beat. His robe swished and the sound of his sandals
on the stone floor faded into the kitchen noises.
Lindsay all but melted against Dane, reassured by his response. Dane had kissed him in public before,
but Lindsay hadn’t been sure how to act in front of people who knew Dane, important people. Then Dane
went and acted as though Lindsay was the only person in the world who really mattered. For a moment,
Lindsay felt that important. He licked back into Dane’s mouth to suck lightly at his tongue, a tease and a
reward at once.
Dane slid his arms around Lindsay and held him close, like he was indulging himself as much as
Lindsay in the hot, slow kiss. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to end it, but he finally pulled away. “You need to eat,” he said, his voice soft and heavy with affection. “It’s been a long day. And you need your strength.”
Lindsay didn’t want to leave this perfect moment. That he hadn’t eaten anything but an energy bar
since they’d left the airport hardly registered, but he knew Dane was right, so he pressed a quick kiss to
Dane’s lips and slid back off his lap. He could behave responsibly.
Once Lindsay was up, Dane put an arm around his shoulders and led him into the kitchen. Taniel and
Izia were already there, and the food was all on the table.
“Thank you for sharing your meal,” Dane said, and it sounded almost formal. He pulled Lindsay’s
chair out for him and waited for Lindsay to sit.
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Anah Crow and Dia
“Thank you,” Lindsay echoed, slipping into the chair. He fought a blush when he realized that Taniel
kept glancing at him when he thought Lindsay wasn’t looking. He couldn’t help but wonder what Taniel
was thinking.
Di
mechanical efficiency. Taniel ate surprisingly little, and Izia had her nose in a medical journal when she wasn’t buttering her bread or reaching for more stew. Lindsay ate slowly, but he ate.
After di
to make yourself at home indoors and in the gardens, but not beyond, until he is ready to see you again.”
He gave Lindsay a smile as he turned away.
“Thank you.” Lindsay remembered seeing the gardens as he’d walked out of the forest, the last time
they’d been here, but he hadn’t explored them at all. Maybe he would do that later. “Is there anything else I should do to prepare for…whatever he’s going to do to me?”
“Rest,” Izia said, glancing up from her reading. “And don’t use your magic. You’ll need all your
energy for the ritual.” She gave Dane a pointed look that slid to where Lindsay had undone his shirt.
Dane looked unapologetic as he reached for more bread. He picked up a butter knife and shrugged at
Izia.
“I can hardly use my magic anyway.” Lindsay ignored the implication of the way Izia had looked at
Dane. He didn’t need to touch his magic, but touching Dane was another story entirely. “Not if I want to
stay conscious.”
“That works out then.” Izia went back to her reading.
Dane gave Lindsay a smile and took a bite of the bread he’d just finished buttering. Lindsay bit his lip
to hide an answering grin and ducked his head to eat his di
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and giddy, all at once. He’d managed to convince Dane to allow his magic to be fixed, but at the same time, he didn’t know what that would entail, for either of them. Up in the guest room, he stripped for sleep, still thinking everything over. He hoped whatever happened, Dane would be happy with the return of his full
magic.
Dane followed him in a moment later and closed the door quietly. He stood there and watched
Lindsay undressing, hands in his pockets.
Lindsay hesitated a moment, glancing over his shoulder at Dane, then kept going. Boots, sweater,
pants…everything got stacked by their bags, so he wouldn’t have to hunt for it in the morning. Being
watched made him self-conscious, made him move slower and more carefully.
“You’re filling out.” Dane’s voice was soft. “Not quite such a little bu
shirt off over his head and shook out his hair.
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“I’d hardly moved on my own in two years, when you found me,” Lindsay pointed out just as softly.
He was never going to be tall or broad like Dane, but at least he wasn’t quite so sickly-thin as he’d been
when Dane brought him back to Cyrus’s house.
“I could tell.” Dane gave Lindsay a smile. “Fu
and padded over to sweep Lindsay up in his arms. “You were a fighter, though. I liked that.” He settled
Lindsay against his chest, tucked up safe and warm.
Lindsay wrapped his arms around Dane’s neck and nudged his nose against Dane’s chin. “I didn’t
know how to stop,” he murmured. “Still don’t, I guess.” At the Institute, all his fighting had seemed
hopeless and stupid. Now, it actually felt like the smart thing to do.
“Guess we have that in common.” They didn’t seem to have much else in common, with Dane so dark
and huge and Lindsay so pale and small in his arms. Dane carried him to bed, tucking him into the turned-
down blankets and leaning over him to kiss him, slowly and sweetly, as though he were tucking Lindsay
into bed. “I’m going to build the fire up so you don’t get cold in the night.”
Dane left Lindsay snuggled in soft sheets and heaps of blankets while he crouched to put more wood
on the fire and adjust the flue so it would burn slowly. Lindsay sighed and settled into the blankets. Izia had said he should rest, and the look she’d given Dane… Well, Lindsay knew she’d meant he shouldn’t be
getting up to anything with Dane, either.
When he was satisfied with the fire, Dane wandered around the room, turning down the lamps and
checking the windows. Lindsay took full advantage of the opportunity to watch Dane move. He was bare,
and entirely comfortable with it. His powerful muscles shifted under his furred skin as he moved, and