CIARAN
Well,this wasn’t fucking good.
Hadeom turning up at the worst possible time was...
“Not a coincidence,” Sawyer said, as if reading his mind. He took a dish of leftovers out of the fridge. “Did Cern tell him?”
“I doubt it,” Ciaran replied.
Sawyer raised a sceptical eyebrow.
“Cern has protected Salem for a very long time, and he healed him. Why would he do that only to hand him over a week later?”
Sawyer took out two plates and sighed. “I don’t know. Something about Cern and Hadeom knowing each other just feels off. Hadeom said he’s bringing a team out to fix the broken bars in the jail cell and have a catch-up after everything that’s happened with Lusca. But the way he asked for intel on Salem...” Sawyer shook his head. “It just all feels too coincidental.”
“And you don’t believe in coincidences,” Ciaran guessed.
“No, I do not.”
Ciaran took Sawyer’s hand. “Hey. Is it ideal? No. Is it probably bad? Perhaps. But we’ll be okay. We’ll go tell everyone and action a plan. Kellan, Dylan, and Hendrix can stay with Salem and Aurin, take food and whatever, and Otis and Pania can do patrol. Beau and Hudson can show Hadeom the houseand vegetable garden—so he can see how humanly boring and normal it is here now—and Fray and Tobin can hang around.”
“And Tobin can try to get another read on him.”
“Yes. And if he asks where everyone else is, we’ll say they went to Hobart for some nightlife and restaurants, or whatever.” Ciaran studied Sawyer’s eyes, and, sliding his hand along Sawyer’s jaw, he pressed a kiss to his lips. “We’ll be okay, I promise. He won’t stay long, I’m sure.”
“He’ll want to speak to me alone, probably,” Sawyer said, rolling his eyes.
“May I suggest less attitude than what you gave Cern?” The corner of his lip pulled down. “I might have to apologise on your behalf.”
“I apologised,” Sawyer said petulantly.
“To the mountain.”
“And the mountain heard and forgave me. Or Cern heard me. I don’t know. But the wind and trees stopped trying to kill me, so....”
“Hm,” Ciaran hummed. “Still. A secondary apology from me when I hand-deliver his next grocery order couldn’t hurt.”
Sawyer sighed again, more dramatically this time. “All this talking,” he said, pouting his bottom lip. “And I still haven’t had food, and I still haven’t been railed. These are the conundrums I face, Ciaran.”
Ciaran laughed, pulling Sawyer closer, their hips pressed together. “Any particular order you prefer? Food, or...”
“Fucking. Fuck me now, feed me later. And then maybe more fucking. I think I’ll need it to face Hadeom tomorrow in a better mood.”
Ciaran reached up to brush his thumb gently across Sawyer’s cheek. The touch lingered, and Sawyer inhaled sharply, his ice-blue eyes sharpening a little.
“Maybe we should put the leftovers back in the fridge,” Ciaran murmured. “We might be a while.”
“Good idea,” Sawyer whispered, but neither of them moved for a second.
Ciaran looked at him, really looked at him, and suddenly the kitchen felt too small for all the things he wanted to say. They would deal with Hadeom tomorrow. Just as they would deal with Aurin and Salem’s predicament. And that was together. Always.
He kissed Sawyer slowly, tenderly, tasting his mouth and giving a hint of tongue before kissing along his jaw, nipping his earlobe, then sucking on that sweet spot on his neck that drove him crazy.
“Ciaran,” Sawyer whined, breathless. “You’re still not fucking me. I’m not face down and naked on the bed, and you’re not inside me. You need to be inside me.”
Ciaran chuckled, fisted the front of Sawyer’s shirt, and shoved him backwards toward the bedroom. Sawyer’s eyes lit up, his grin filthy as he fell onto the bed.
But Ciaran made good on his promises, and by the time they were done, a very sated Sawyer fell asleep with a smile.
