The lamp on the bedside table was still on from earlier, casting the same low light it had when Indy had been sitting in the chair. The room was tidy, sparse in the way Malik kept most spaces. The bed was made and the dresser surface was clear. A jacket hung over the back of the chair. The window was dark, the curtains open, and the yard below was quiet.
Indy stepped inside, pausing just past the threshold, his gaze moving around the room. His weight had shifted forward onto the balls of his feet, his shoulders drawn up slightly.
It was subtle, the kind of thing you’d miss if you weren’t paying attention. Malik had been paying attention since the moment he’d walked into that flower shop soaking wet, and he recognized what he was looking at.
His mate was nervous now that sleeping in the same bed was inevitable. The day had been long and frightening, and Indy was standing in Malik’s space wearing his mate’s clothes and trying very hard to look like none of that was affecting him.
Slowly so he didn’t spook his mate, Malik walked into the room. He set his hands loosely against the dresser behind him and watched blue-violet eyes track him.
“I keep thinking about the flower shop,” Indy said, his voice small. “Whether they’ll come back there. Whether I can even go back tomorrow, or if that’s…” He stopped. He looked at the window. “Sorry. I’m fine. I’m just—”
“Indy.”
His mate curled his lips in.
Fuck this. Malik closed the remaining distance between them in three steps. Indy tipped his chin up, those gorgeous eyes glued to him.
Indy’s expression had grown uncertain, humor stripped back, exposing something soft and vulnerable underneath.
Unable to hold back any longer, Malik brought one hand up and curved it against his mate’s jaw, his thumb resting along the line of his cheekbone, and he felt the small breath Indy drew in at the contact.
He gave his mate a single heartbeat.
Then he lowered his head and kissed him.
For the space of one second, Indy was completely still, and then his mouth softened under Malik’s and the sound he made was low and quiet, wrecking what little control Malik had been holding on to since meeting the small fox.
One hand still cradled Indy’s face while the other found the fabric of the guy’s shirt. Malik curled his fingers into the material at Indy’s side and pulled, drawing his mate against him.
Better.
He tasted like heaven, and Malik’s cheetah surged forward. He kissed him deeper, hungrily, the way he’d been dying to since the moment he’d looked across a room full of flowers and understood just how much this slip of a man would change his life.
Another sound escaped Indy, this one more vocal as he gripped Malik’s shirt.
Fuck yeah. Show me how much you want me.
Malik tightened his fingers in the fabric at Indy’s side, reveling in the lean and warm lines of his mate’s body against him. The contrast of their sizes made his pulse climb, turning Malik on more than he already was.
The small fox was his. Malik had been holding back all evening, giving Indy time to adjust to their new reality.
He wasn’t holding back now.
Indy leaned back a fraction of an inch, just enough to breathe, and Malik felt his mate smile against his mouth before he heard the words.
“You know,” Indy said, voice a little breathy, “for a guy who’s been very mysterious and tight-lipped all evening, that’s a very persuasive communication strategy.”
Releasing the fabric of Indy’s shirt, Malik tilted his mate’s face until their eyes met.
“Stop talking,” Malik said and kissed him again.
Indy laughed against Malik’s lips, then the sound dissolved, his mate kissing him just as hungrily.
Malik walked him back two steps until Indy’s shoulders met the wall. The small, needy sound his mate made when Malik pressed into him made Malik’s cock rock-hard.
But as much as he wanted to fuck Indy until their brains were scrambled, Malik saw exhaustion creep into his mate’s eyes. Indy’s needs came first, even though he knew his mate wouldn’t push him away.
Reluctantly, Malik pulled back. “As badly as I want you, I can see how tired you are.”
