Page 11 of Indecent

“Just for the record, I’m getting some very mixed signals from you,” Daniel murmured as he closed his eyes. It would take him ages to fall asleep like this.

Chaol hummed, but if he replied, Daniel didn’t hear it. His exhausted mind was already drifting away on the currents of sleep.

Chapter 4

Chaol

Chaol was not a creature prone to histrionics. He was almost a thousand years old. He’d seen atrocities both on Earth and in Hell. Humans had discovered some truly inventive ways to kill each other on the surface over the years, and Hell was always full of unique and twisted horrors. None of it fazed him.

Until Daniel.

Watching Daniel fall under the thrall of the wraith and nearly step out into the darkness had sent a bolt of real panic through him. The wraith was a weak thing, like an angler fish hoping to lure a shiny new human into its clutches, and for the first time in his very long life, Chaol had been afraid of it.

He’d meant what he said right before he stepped out of the cave. Daniel was his. Not just for now, not just to get him through Hell. He had no idea what it meant or why he felt this way, but it was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. He couldn’t deny it. It hadn’t even occurred to him that Daniel would find it strange to sleep on his shoulder. It was instinct to sit beside him and offer him comfort. To physically place himself between Daniel and any other threats that waited out there in the dark.

What did that mean for his vendetta? Daniel had been a paladin. Amon might have killed some of his friends. There was no way he would abide Chaol seeking revenge for his death. But Amon was all he’d had left of their once mighty clan. Chaol couldn’t just do nothing.

For now, his goal was the same. Get to the surface with Daniel. He would figure everything else out later.

He listened to Daniel’s steady breaths through the night. Two more wraiths passed by, but after their taunting went ignored, they wandered on in search of easier prey. Daniel didn’t stir. In fact, at some point in the night, he pressed closer, throwing an arm around Chaol’s middle and tucking his nose behind his ear. Against his better judgment, Chaol wrapped his arms around the human to let him settle more firmly against him. The cave wall was uncomfortable; let Daniel find his rest where he could.

Warm metal brushed his ribs as the sky began to lighten, and he gently raised Daniel’s hand to peer at the paladin ring. He’d never seen one up close before. Daniel’s fingers twitched in his grip, and he snuffled closer, his mouth pressing briefly against Chaol’s neck. He bit his lip in response, shifting in discomfort. The last thing he needed was to get aroused right before they had to leave, but that didn’t stop his mind from running away with possibilities. Daniel moaning in his ear, arching against him, their bodies fitting together like a lock and key.

Maybe one day. But not today.

“My darkling,” Chaol whispered into his hair. “You should wake. We have another long day of walking ahead of us.”

Daniel groaned. “Tell me yesterday was a very bad dream. Tell me I’m not really in Hell.”

“Yesterday was a very bad dream. You’re not really in Hell.”

Daniel blinked his honey brown eyes open and looked at him. It was too sleepy to be called a glare. “Dick.”

Chaol snorted out a laugh.

Daniel didn’t move as he observed their positions—his weight on Chaol and Chaol holding his hand aloft. “Why are you holding my hand? Why are we snuggling? Did I really manage to sleep through the night?”

“I was looking at your ring, I was trying to make you more comfortable, and what can I say? I make for an incredible pillow.” Honesty seemed to be the best policy for a holy man like Daniel, but too much honesty might sway him against Chaol. He couldn’t tell him about Amon, but he wanted Daniel to trust him. Somehow, Daniel belonged to him, and in order to truly make Daniel his, Chaol first needed to understand these possessive feelings for himself. He’d never felt this way before, and he couldn’t risk pushing Daniel away by demanding too much too fast.

Daniel’s cheeks darkened. “You’re not so bad, I guess.”

Not a ringing endorsement, but he’d take it. It was a step up from ‘you know what? It doesn’t matter.’ He didn’t know exactly what he’d said to set Daniel off yesterday, but he’d like to avoid it happening again. Enduring the human’s anger had left him feeling wrong-footed and uneasy.

Daniel’s eyes fell to the ring on his finger, and a complicated frown crossed his face. Chaol recalled what the wraith had said last night about Daniel being a murderer. Paladins didn’t kill humans, but the statement had been pretty clear.

“Can I ask you something?” he ventured.

Daniel met his eyes. Did he realize they were still snuggled together? Did he mind? “Sure.”

“Last night, that thing called you a murderer. Why?”

Daniel’s expression shuttered, and he looked toward the dying embers of the fire. “I killed someone not long ago. A paladin. I’d already left the guild. I was patrolling with the Sentinels⁠—”

“The who?”

“The Sentinels. They’re a—new group of demon hunters, sort of. Like the paladins but better.”

There was a new group of demon hunters on the surface? Why did Daniel say they were better than the paladins? “Better how?”