“And you say your memory isn’t good.” Reno set the collar down between them, open on the blanket. “There’s a tag in there, too.”
“Oh," Luka reached back in the box to rifle around the satin-covered padding until he pulled it out. “It’s?—”
“Cheesy, I know.” Reno felt himself blushing. “It’s one of my old picks from that tour. I don’t know if it was from that show, but I kept several from back then because it was our first overseas.”
Luka ran his finger over the front, the sand-blasted ‘R’ that used to be on all of Reno’s picks in that era was matte against the black, glossy surface. Luka flipped it over and even his ears went red. Reno had the people at the store engrave the back for him, the characters for his name— ???—and his phone number, in the same texture and font as the front ‘R’.
Luka turned it over in his hand a few times. “Will you put it on me?” He moved his hair out of the way and scooted closer while handing the pick to Reno.
“You want this on there too?”
“I have no shame. Put it on.” Luka tilted his head back to look at Reno through his lashes. “I am your number one fan after all.”
“O-okay,” Reno stammered out. Sometimes the air around Luka grew so thick it made it hard to breathe. He slid the tag onto the collar, the silver o-ring pierced through the pick smooth against the black metal. Reno made sure the front was facing out before he got close enough to Luka to carefully close the collar around his neck.
Luka tilted his head, still holding his hair up and out of the way, and Reno locked it in place, trying not to be overwhelmed at how nice it looked against Luka’s skin. It looked like something Luka would wear already, resting heavily against the base of his throat. The tag hung just under his collarbones, and when Luka let his hair fall back down, he looked so beautiful, Reno’s need to kiss him was so strong it nearly toppled him over.
His hands went to Luka’s shoulders instead and pulled him forward. They fell back onto the bed, and Luka yelped, then started laughing when Reno laid kisses over his face and neck like he needed to cover every inch of Luka with his lips. Reno pressed his nose against Luka’s throat, burying himself there. He took in the smell of hisboyfriend,how his own shampoo was different on Luka, how his soap was more earthy somehow, and less sweet than it was on Reno, and couldn’t resist the urge to take Luka’s flesh between his teeth and mark him.
Luka gasped, then let out a light laugh followed by a high moan. He melted into Reno’s touch, going slack on the bed as Reno left a second bruise over the first.
“God." Luka’s hands found Reno’s hair, and he tugged until Reno stopped biting and sucking at him. “I swear you want to eat me.
“I’ve considered it.” Reno purred and got pushed away for it.
“Well, thank you.”
“For wanting to consume you and keep you in my body forever?”
“No, for the collar. And, for waiting the past two weeks and more to ask for my answers.”
Reno pouted. “So no to the romantic cannibalism?”
“Freak.”
“You’re welcome," Reno said,“for the collar and the patience," and he kissed the spots he’d bitten, knowing he’d spend the rest of his life giving Luka everything he wanted, for as long as Luka let him.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The domestic blissof living with Reno was soured when Luka had to return to work.
How could this be his life? It wasmiserable.
Being around Reno was a dream come true. Being his boyfriend was even better. Which was why it was so infuriating that Luka had to spend his timeworkinginstead ofbeing with Reno;he almost quit within the week.
The hours were so insane and made him feel so exhausted that there was hardly room for anything else.
In the mornings, Reno woke up with Luka when his alarm went off and practiced music while Luka went on his morning run.
Cane had started joining him, and when Luka had asked Reno about it, Reno’s face went a little pinched, and all he’d said was, "I have to keep you safe.”
Luka didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he had a feeling there had been an uptick in security risk lately, and Reno just didn’t want to scare him.
Cane turned out to be good company though, and after their run, they often stopped at Corner to visit Sage and bring Reno a horrible, sugary, blended drink that never failed to make himsmile. On those days, Reno would put his violin away and make them all breakfast. After they had eaten, Cane would leave, and Luka and Reno would fall onto the couch together for moments of contented peace and affection before Reno eventually had to leave for the studio.
Alone in the flat, Luka worked on his comic. He’d completed roughly a quarter of the color so far, and it was shaping up nicely. The section he was working on had extensive backgrounds, and it was difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the level of detail each panel required.
He hadn’t heard back from the agenthis online friend had suggested, but the lack of an immediate response wasn’t unusual, so he tried not to worry about it too much. He loved the way the story was turning out, and he was starting to feel confident that if an agent could justreviewit, he would finally break through.
