“Do anything like what?”
“Don’t make me say it,” Kade groaned.
“I don’t understand,” Florian said, trying to sound innocent; but Kade scowled down at him, and he couldn’t stifle his grin.
“It’s taboo. To... have sex while, um. Shifted,” Kade forced out. “But I wouldn’t do that anyway. I don’t even know why he said it. But I just want to—so we’re on the same page. I wouldn’t do that.”
“While shifted?” Florian repeated, his eyebrows raised as high as he could get them. He tried to sound scandalized, but he was on the verge of laughing. “I mean... That doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
“F-Florian!” Kade stammered, and Florian could feel his heart pounding against his chest. “That’s—”
“I’m kidding,” Florian laughed, shaking his head—then stopping and giving Kade a quizzical look. “I mean, unless...?”
“No,” Kade said, shaking his head. “Really, Florian. Not interested.”
“Okay, okay,” Florian laughed. “I’m just teasing. Don’t worry.”
Kade sighed, and clearly eager to move on, he asked in a more serious tone, “When do you want to leave? To go get the Arrow?”
Florian’s smile faded as he considered it. He had only been thinking of a nebuloussoon, but he supposed that now they had all the information they were going to get from Kallik, there was nothing keeping them in the wolf kingdom. And he really was in charge now: the only schedule he was beholden to was the one that he set for them.
“Maybe in a few days,” he said finally, burying his face against Kade’s chest once more. “A week?”
He felt Kade breathe in. “A week from today?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
A week seemed like enough time. Maybe by then, the thought wouldn’t fill his stomach with aching dread.
