Page 8 of The Hummingbird’s Gift

“Oh, but I didn’t tell you the best part,” Ro added. “Geir may be able to monitor the tribe again, and the anklets could just be a back-up.”

“Really?” Two heads snapped toward him in unison.

“Well, Declan says that he has the ability again, and we could ask him formally to meet everyone and check more actively, like he used to.”

Tier’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “That’s wonderful. Rohahen, you really did it.”

Ro shook his head. “Declan did it. I just brought May over sometimes, since Geir seems to like her.”

“No but you… you knew what was needed.”

The Sentry Leader agreed. “I’ve been sending over messengers for decades with no response. You had the right approach of welcoming him back into the community.”

Ro felt his face grow warm. “Er, well, he’s a pretty nice guy once you get to know him. Oh, and Declan wants to see if he can work with one of the artists in the tribe to teach a joint art class for the kids.”

“Of course,” Tier agreed. “They’re both welcome here.”

“Can you make the request?” Kayla asked, sticking to business.

“Sure. I’ll ask him soon.” Ro agreed.

“Well, that should make things much easier.” Kayla turned toward the door. “I’m going to start looking into chips that aren’t already embedded.”

Kayla could be pretty single-minded about some things, but Rohahen privately thought that she was trying to give them some space. His heart was hammering now, knowing that he and Tier would be alone in the room together.

It was just like every other day, and at the same time, it was completely different. Because Tier had scent-marked his house.

Hesitantly, he crossed the room and delivered the basket he’d been holding to Tier’s desk. “I brought you some biscuits.” He was feeling unusually shy about delivering them.

Tier opened the cloth in a small puff of steam. “Oh! These are still warm. And there are far too many for me. Um, Rohahen, would you like to join me?” It sounded like he felt just as awkward as Ro did.

“Sure,” Ro pulled up a chair, the bulky desk with its outdated computer and scattered papers still between them. “This is the first batch of preserves from this year’s crop.” A crop that he had watered and grown and picked, with the help of his assistants.

Ro watched Tier carefully as he spread the preserves, giving it all of his attention. When he passed the knife back, their fingers touched, and Ro felt a little jolt of pleasure. Did Tier feel it, too?

Rohahen could still remember those warm fingers sliding down his back yesterday, the way that Tier had touched him for maybe just a few extra seconds when he’d untied the clinic gown.

Ro felt his cock stiffen and focused on preparing his own biscuit. He couldn’t think of what to say now. Usually, eating with Tier was peaceful, the conversation flowing easily. Today, he was at a loss. Why had Tier groomed his ears if he wasn’t going to talk with him today?

The silence stretched thin between them. Finally, Ro looked up, only to find Tier’s eyes still fixed on the biscuit that he hadn’t yet tasted. Was he feeling embarrassed and regretful for his display yesterday? Or was he just as interested and fighting his conscience?

Ro regretted once again that he was dependent on body language for clues, since he didn’t have the benefit of heart-singing. He could see that Tier was nervous but couldn’t determine what lay underneath.

He wanted to break the silence, though, and keeping everything businesslike had been the safest so far. “So, how has the search gone for the tribes of the last few kids?”

Tier sounded relieved when he answered. “Oh, good. There are just three left. We found Nina’s family. She’s the one that the men were after when they got Declan. Did you, um, hear about that?”

Ro nodded. “From three sources now, though Declan hasn’t talked about it. I’ll have to ask him about it later.” For all that Declan had been playful and silly this morning, it must have been traumatizing. Maybe he’d open up to Ro about it later, if he needed to. Or, Ro sighed internally, maybe Declan should just go see a real heart-singer.

“Good, well, um, it turns out that Nina’s family lives in Alaska. She told us as much as she could about finding them, but they’re off the grid and we don’t have any connections there, so it took longer. It looks like they’ll need another week to come get her, given flight schedules and their remote location. We’ll need to make sure that she’s settled in somewhere until then. And she needs to be interviewed and assessed.”

Tier finally lifted the biscuit to his lips. As important as all of the tribe’s business was to Rohahen, this was what he was always waiting for.

As soon as the pastry touched Tier’s tongue, his eyes drifted shut and let out a soft hum. He closed his teeth neatly over one small bite and relaxed back in his chair, his tense shoulders dropping. Ro adored seeing him like this, the focused, determined man made soft by some small gift from Ro’s own hands.

His pink tongue darted out, catching a crumb, and all Ro could think about was kissing him, sharing the taste of blueberries between them. Without opening his eyes, Tier took a second bite, savoring the flavors. Ro watched his strong jaw move as he slowly chewed, the way that his throat bobbled as he swallowed.

Ro wanted to lick every inch of that coppery skin, to curl up in his lap and feed him more.