The rest of them laughed.
“I’m serious,” Molun told them, though he was laughing a bit, too. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like that, certainly not just by looking at pictures, no matter how arousing they were.”
Perian smiled. “But we weren’t just looking at pictures, were we? We were sharing a beautiful experience.”
Molun nodded. “Yes, we were. It was really amazing.”
And then he yawned, and everyone else followed suit.
Brannal laughed. “And on that note, I think it’s time for us to find our bed. Thank you very much for sharing this with us.”
“Any time,” Arvus said, and Molun nodded an eager agreement.
Brannal produced a handkerchief to help clean Perian up enough that he could pull on his sleep trousers and look vaguely put together. Perian was clutching the book, which also needed to be cleaned off a little.
“Oops,” Perian said, laughing. “I mean, if there’s any book where that’s probably not a surprise, it’s this one, but I don’t actually want to damage it.”
“We’ll have to move it out of the, er, danger zone next time,” Molun said, before yawning again.
Perian nodded, laughing, buoyed by the idea that Molun was already thinking about doing this again. “Yes, that’s a good idea. But clearly, we need to head to bed now. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It means a lot.”
Molun pulled Perian into his arms, and Perian snuggled into the hug. Arvus wrapped his arms around both of them, and then Brannal wrapped his arms around all three of them. Perian was completely surrounded, and it was almost better than what had just happened. (Almost, because the sex had been pretty awesome.)
“Thank you for being in our lives, Perian,” Molun said.
Perian melted further into him as the others echoed that sentiment.
“I feel exactly the same way about all of you,” he assured them. “I’m so grateful to be here.”
He hadn’t imagined anything like this, and it was the best.
Arvus yawned this time, and that finally broke them up for good. They wished one another a good night and pleasant dreams—“No doubt of that!” Perian said cheerfully—and then they were separating, Brannal and Perian making their way back to their room.
And this time—bad luck, or had Perian conjured him?—Cormal was actually coming down the hall as they left Molun and Arvus’s room. He could not possibly have missed how Perian was dressed, and Perian wassoglad he was wearing the sleep trousers. He didn’t really care who saw him, and he didn’t care who knew that he’d enjoyed himself with people who had equally enjoyed themselves, but there was still something that just… squirmed in his gut when he saw Cormal—or maybe it was when Cormal saw him.
The redhead’s lip curled up in a sneer, but before he could actually say anything, Brannal said a very firm, “Good night, Cormal.”
For a moment, it looked like Cormal was going to respond, but although his expression still stayed distinctly unimpressed, he just huffed a breath and pushed past them.
Chapter Five
Really, that was probably all they could hope for, and Perian resisted the urge to yell a goodnight after him.
They made it safely to Brannal’s rooms after that. Perian sighed as the door closed.
Brannal was eying him carefully. Perian shrugged.
“I just… can’t quite figure him out.”
“He’s not so bad,” Brannal said gently.
Perian could believe that he wasn’t so badto Brannal, but he wasn’t at all certain that it was true when it came to him. The man certainly hadn’t restrained himself forPerianjust then. But hehadchosen not to engage, regardless, and that was better than the alternative.
“I’m really glad we did this tonight,” Perian said instead.
Brannal allowed the change of subject, smiling a satisfied smile. “Me, too.”
Perian rubbed at the cover of the book, which was still slightly damp from where they’d carefully cleaned it.
