Page 31 of Blades and Bone

Brodie wound up the rope and tucked it away. It hadn’t been done-up tight, and if Hamish had spent thirty seconds assessing, he could’ve gotten free. He was surprised that Hamish had played for so long. He’d expected him to back out and apologize immediately, and when he hadn’t, Brodie had made the poor choice of continuing.

He’d only known Hamish a day; he’d wanted to wait until they were both far more comfortable with their new situation. Until there was something more than distrust and tension between them. He didn’t know if this was a step forward, backward, or sideways.

The shower turned on.

Brodie put the rest of the toys and the junk, that had obviously come out of his pockets, into the top drawer to deal with later. He walked over to the bathroom, pausing in the doorway.

Hamish was leaning against the glass as if he had forgotten how to stand up. He hadn’t removed the plug, and his skin was pink with sunburn. He was a beautiful man, far too stubborn for his own good and with a need for approval a mile wide.

“Will you be joining me?” Hamish didn’t turn to look at him.

“Only if you want me to.”

Hamish nodded. “I don’t trust my legs.”

He stuck his hand into the water and then stepped in.

Brodie pulled off his T-shirt and track pants, leaving them on the bedroom floor before stepping into the bathroom and joining Hamish in the shower. He adjusted the settings so that water fell like rain. A soft and warm tropical shower.

Hamish tipped his face upward, exposing his throat.

Perhaps the distrust had been all his.

He wanted to lick the water from the hollow of Hamish’s collarbones, but touching him was a different game. One that he wasn’t sure he was ready to play.

Hamish didn’t move. “I can feel you watching me.”

“I’m assessing whether you’re okay.”

“I don’t think I am.” He shook his head and leveled his gaze at Brodie. “Do you know what would’ve happened if I’d backed down like that in my family?”

“I can guess. You’re from a bigger family, which means there are more people jostling for position and power. You needed to prove yourself at every turn, and part of that was being blooded. It was natural that you wanted to push against new rules to see what would happen.”

Hamish’s nose wrinkled. “That’s not the bit that bothers me.”

Brodie could guess what was bothering him, but he wasn’t going to put words in Hamish’s still fang-filled mouth. He grabbed the cloth, added a blob of shower gel, and started to wash him, sweeping it over one shoulder and down his arm, giving him time to push or pull away and space to talk.

The water weighed down his dark curls, and tendrils clung to his cheeks and neck. Brodie wanted to cradle the back of his head and kiss him, but that was another line that needed to be crossed and now was not the right time.

Hamish stood still, letting Brodie wash his arms and chest. It was only when he moved around to wash his back that Hamish spoke again. “I hated it and I enjoyed it…how does that make sense?”

“What did you enjoy?” He worked slowly down Hamish’s back.

“Pushing you to see what you’d do. I wanted to hate you.”

“Mmm. But you don’t.”

“No. It would have been easy to hurt me, which I expected, and you didn’t.”

“I don’t want to hurt you. But I also need you to listen and obey.”

“I’m not good at that. That’s why I’m here.”

He ran the cloth over one ass cheek. “I’m going to pull out the plug, unless you want to?”

Hamish moved his feet, spreading his legs and leaning forward a little in response.

He really needed to use his voice, but that lesson could happen another time. Brodie gave the plug a wiggle and a slow tug, watching as his rim stretched and the plug slipped free.