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ChapterThree
Luca rolled over only to find cold sheets. Morning barely breached the gray clouds beyond the gap in the curtains. But there were enough patches of blue to promise a few hours of sun.
The clock read seven a.m.
Had Nox gone to get breakfast or climb on the roof to finish the repair job he’d started a couple of days ago?
The bang of a hammer from outside answered Luca’s question.
Luca dropped his head back on the pillow, wishing Nox was there beside him. But he’d promised not to rob another ATM, and if they wanted to eat, they couldn’t stay at a motel for days on end.
They’d leave at some point. Tomorrow, the day after. Although it was getting harder for Luca to convince himself the floor of the van wasn’t all that bad.
And doing short-term labor rather than living on a job site meant they could pick up and leave at any moment. Besides, it wasn’t anything Nox hadn’t done before, and it was only a few hours a day.
Well, it was supposed to be a few hours.
Except Nox couldn’t seem to stick to the four hours he’d agreed on for every night’s stay, and for the past two days, Luca had woken up to an empty bed.
Maybe he should find a job too? Something close by so he wouldn’t need the van.
That thought lasted for less than a few seconds. There was no way Nox would let Luca go off on his own. It would have been easy to feel smothered, but Luca understood the caution. They didn’t know if the military, New World, or whoever still looked for them.
The banging continued.
Fine, if Nox was going to spend all day on the roof, Luca would spend it with him. Even if it was nothing but holding a box of nails, it was somewhere other than bed.
He sat up, and the muscles in his back and thighs threatened to cramp. Moving to the edge of the bed had everything else complaining.
Considering how long they’d had sex, it was a wonder he could sit up at all.
And yet, he never tired of it, no matter where or how often. Knowing how much Nox needed to feel, needed touch, hungered for the taste of Luca’s mouth, gave him almost as much pleasure as the sex.
Almost.
Luca dressed and rather than wearing his coat, he wore one of Nox’s heavy sweatshirts. The rich scent of fertile ground and male permeated the material. There was always a third smell Luca still couldn’t place; sweet, similar to pecans or hon--ey, yet completely unique to anything he’d ever experienced.
As unique as Nox.
Luca held the material to his nose and inhaled.
Definitely all Nox.
Luca left the room and took the steps to the second level. Piles of rotted plywood led him to the ladder. He climbed.
Nox was on hands and knees, a box of nails near his foot and hammer in hand. Small stacks of plywood sat in various locations and a good third of the roof sported fresh shingles.
Even doing something so mundane, he was a vision of perfection, with thick muscles, sweat soaking his skin, every slam of the hammer connecting with the roof-tack without fail.
Maybe it was a good thing he’d given up the construction job. There was no way he wouldn’t have gotten attention. Even a straight guy would have had to peel his eyes off him.
Or maybe all that was in Luca’s head because just the sight of Nox filled his mouth with saliva.
The presence of the Anubis pushed at Luca’s thoughts, and Nox stopped mid-swing and turned with exaggerated care. Only it wasn’t really him watching Luca.
“Hey.”
Nox rolled his upper lip revealing sharp teeth.
