“So having to eat food prepared on a sandy beach is—stop making that face. The point is, the order was cruel.”
Tristan blinked, looking appallingly unconvinced.
Before Austin could explain that Reba was too heavy to learn how to fly, so the order was impossible to fulfil, his fight waned. He got the feeling Tristan wouldn’t be persuaded either way.
“You’re so annoying.”
Tristan nodded. “May I lift you?”
“Fine.”
They were only a few hundred metres away from the estate. Austin settled into Tristan’s arms, and his body movedwithout his conscious consent. He nuzzled Tristan’s firm shoulder, then kissed it. He studied Tristan out of the corner of his eye, but he detected no anger or even annoyance. Tristan’s lips curved at the kiss, his hands tightening on Austin’s body.
“Will you tell Reba he doesn’t have to eat food prepared on the beach?” Austin asked.
“I will.”
“And will you check on Inx’s arm? He said it’s okay, but…will you check? It’s my fault he got hurt.”
“I’ll check.”
“And you’ll spend the night with me?”
His hum was pleased. “Yes.”
Charybdis seethed on the estate’s doorstep, so Tristan cut inland and walked through the Troop’s housing to get to the heart of the estate. He stopped in a shielded walkway where three paths branched off.
“Bed, food, or Liam.”
Austin stared at Tristan. “Liam?”
“You had me fetch him for you,” Tristan reminded him.
Austin’s mouth dropped open.
“Eli is keeping him company,” Tristan added. “If you wish to sleep first, he’ll be taken care of.”
“Liam only knows English.”
“Eli is proficient in your native language,” Tristan assured him. “Hal sent several attendants to Vi, at Goldilocks’ estate, to learn. I believe Eli snuck into the group.”
Austin looked down at his tail. Should he wait for morning? Hope he would be back to normal by then? He caught his inner cheek in his teeth as he thought it out. The main thing he assessed was his voice: was he in control? His power hadn’t emerged at all during his argument with Tristan on the beach.
“I’ll see him first.”
Tristan took the path leading to Austin’s drawing room. A fire roared in the fireplace, the gale from the storm surging down the chimney to feed the coals. Eli and Liam were at the window. Eli leaned against it, both hands pressed to the panes. Liam stood with his hands in his pockets, the line of his shoulders tense. Between them, Austin saw a sliver of Charybdis.
Tristan nudged the door shut, the soft snick making Liam whirl around, hand reaching to his side for a weapon that hadn’t been there in over a year. A hard, urgent look brightened the man’s eyes. His gaze collided with Austin’s for an assessing second, then swept down the length of his tail. Up again. To where Tristan’s arms securely held Austin. Then down.
An undignified squeal tore from Austin’s throat. He twisted in Tristan’s arms. “Your dick’s out! Put it away!”
Mortification baked Austin’s face bright red. Wide-eyed, he whispered, “Are you still hard?”
Tristan looked serenely unapologetic.
Austin had grown up in a lab where every inch of him was exposed regularly. He didn’t even know heshouldbe shy about his naked body until boarding school, where his classmates reacted with utter shock when he stripped down in front of them for gym. His “What’s wrong?” to the boy next to him had been answered with beet-red cheeks and averted eyes. Even after seeing their reactions, Austin never really learned to be shy.
But Tristan standing there with Austin in his arms while visibly aroused, and Liam right there to see it, was embarrassing beyond articulation.
