“Right back at you,” Perian shot back.
Brannal let out a huff of breath that ruffled Perian’s hair.
In a low voice, he admitted, “I can’t help but think that the worst could have happened.”
Perian had done his level best to push the worst out of his mind ever since the attack. But it had always been looming there in the background.
“I think that’s perfectly natural. You must have had close calls before,” Perian said.
Brannal blew out a loud breath. “People have been injured, of course. We have an excellent team, but no one can anticipate everything.”
They’d been surprised. If Molun had been able to use water or wind to begin with, or a shield, he could no doubt have driven them away without being injured.
“The demons were so fast,” Perian said softly. “No matter how attentive people are, they’re not infallible or invincible. We were thinking about getting the ribbon back to the camp fire. Maybe if we’d all been together, you could have reacted instantly and thrown up a shield. Or maybe, if we’d all been there together, we wouldallhave been taken by surprise. Maybe more of us would have been hurt.”
“Maybeyouwould have been hurt.”
His voice vibrated with distress, and Perian belatedly realized where some of Brannal’s emotions were coming from. Perian had pushed almost everything out of his mind, because all he could concentrate on was what Molun needed. He’d known in the back of his mind that Brannal was still out there, but he’d been as confident as he could be in Brannal’s ability to defend himself. Brannal hadn’t had the same assurance when it came to Perian.
So Perian admitted, “You’re right, I could have been. There’s always the chance that something could happen to either one of us. I think you always worry about the people you care about, and the only way to stop doing that is to stop caring. I don’t want to do that.”
Brannal’s arms tightened around him, holding him even closer, like he could encase Perian entirely and keep him safe.
“I don’t want to do that, either.”
“We’re all right,” Perian repeated. “Molun will heal.”
He could feel Brannal swallow. “The doctor said it’s astonishing that you got him back to the castle in time.”
“I wasn’t going to let him die,” Perian scoffed, as if the power of his belief could actually change the outcome of someone’s injury.
Brannal pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “And I love you for that.” Then his voice changed. “And I would love you ever so slightly more if you were clean.”
This made Perian burst into giggles. He didn’t want to think about how gross his hair probably was. Someone had got him cleanerbefore he was bundled into bed with Molun, but it hadn’t been a bath.
“Yes, let’s fix that,” Perian agreed.
Chapter Eighteen
He practically purred when Brannal soaped up his hair, taking way longer than Perian was sure was necessary even if his hairwasreally dirty. When Brannal instructed it, he scooted a bit further down in the bath and tilted his head back so he could see the other man, who scooped water up to rinse his hair—water from the bath, so it was still warm, but he did it with magic instead of his hand, so it was a steady flow that never got into Perian’s eyes.
“You are so handy to have around,” Perian told him, and Brannal leaned in and gave him a brief upside-down kiss.
Once his hair was clean, he leaned back against Brannal and let the other man scrub him all over, because every time Perian tried to move something, Brannal whispered, “Let me.” Perian let him, because he could feel the want in him, the need to move his hands over his whole body, to make sure he was all right.
Brannal had him lean forward so he could scrub at Perian’s back, too, and Perian made a soft noise of disagreement because it meant he was leaning away from the man’s very lovely erection. Brannal made a hushing noise.
“I’ll give you exactly what you want when we’re in bed,” he promised.
Perian supposed he could wait that long.
Brannal made brisker work of scrubbing himself clean, and while Perian would normally object and want to do it himself, he found that he was actually pretty tired. The sex that was to come was keeping him from passing out, but it was a nearer thing than he wanted to admit.
Hadn’t he been doing nothing but sleeping next to Molun? Why was hestillso tired?
Perian could barely keep his eyes open, but he wanted Brannal enough to make the effort. Soon enough, Brannal was rising out of the tub, and he helped Perian and his sudden lack of coordination out as well, dried them both off, and then bundled Perian into bed.
“Do you want to sleep?” Brannal asked.
