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Sky swung to face him, eyes wide. His hands hung in the air, opening and closing as if he wanted to grab Nolan and shake him. “I’m sure it’s not. I don’t know your middle name. We haven’t gotten to that part yet, but I had to call you something. Oh, my fucking God! Nolan! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nolan jumped to his feet. “Because that first night was confusing enough with the vampires, and then there’s this witch who lives across the street from me and has these scary minions. I didn’t know what the hell was going on!”
“But after?”
His arms dropped to his sides with a slap, and Nolan’s shoulders slumped. “After…my memory was so hazy about that night. I didn’t really remember it happening until Christoph stopped by the night after we sent Owen away. I just had this feeling…of shame. And embarrassment. I…I was afraid to tell you. Now he keeps calling me his pet.”
Sky was across the room in a flash, wrapping his arms tightly around Nolan. “No, baby. No. You have nothing to feel ashamed about. I’ve got you. This isn’t your fault at all. When you went to Phoenix, you had no clue as to what you were facing.”
Nolan’s arms automatically closed on Sky, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he rested his head against Sky’s. His throat tightened so that he could barely swallow, let alone get out more words. The crack in his chest eased, the pain receded slightly. God, he hadn’t realized he’d needed a hug so badly.
“But I knew he was dealing with vampires…” Nolan whispered into Sky’s soft, golden hair.
“That doesn’t count for shit.” Sky squeezed him even tighter. “Most of what you’ve read in books and watched in movies about vampires is wrong. You didn’t know what you were truly facing.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away.”
Sky released him to cup his cheeks with both hands. “No, you were right. That first night was too much. You didn’t know if you could trust me. The important thing is that you tell me these things right away. That you know now you can trust me with anything. I’ll always be there to help you.”
“This shit isn’t your problem. I keep dragging you into—” He was cut off by Sky’s choked laugh.
“Dragging me? Do you know how long I’ve been trying to get you to talk to me? I jumped into all of this willingly.”
Nolan opened his mouth to argue with him, but Sky was shaking his head. The adorable witch pulled him to sit on the sofa again, but this time, Nolan’s head was resting on Sky’s shoulder while Sky wrapped an arm across his waist, as if trying to keep him in a protective cocoon.
“I’m going to say this now so there are no more misunderstandings—if you need anything, you can come to me. Even if you don’t let me kiss you anymore. If it’s something magical, I’m your guy. If it’s non-magical, I’m still your guy. Need someone to house-sit? I’m on it. Got tax questions? Okay, maybe not that, but I’ve got a great accountant who can help you.”
Nolan closed his eyes and simply enjoyed being held in Sky’s arms. He needed this. He needed it so fucking bad. Yes, he was still worried about Christoph hurting Sky, but things felt a bit more manageable because he had Sky at his side.
“Jacob,” he said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.
“Hm?Who’s Jacob?” Sky murmured, sounding so relaxed and content, like a sleepy cat who’d finally gotten curled up in his favorite place in the sun.
“I am. Nolan Jacob Banks.”
“Oh. Well. I guess that’s better than Walter.” Nolan huffed a laugh and Sky squeezed him tighter. “Okay, so you had the unfortunate luck to run into this Christoph at Phoenix, and he bit you.” Sky straightened and turned to face him. With extreme care, he reached up and tugged Nolan’s hoodie aside to stare at the bite mark. He chewed on his bottom lip, frowning at it. “Did it look like this when you got home that first night after the club?”
Nolan shoved away the swirling feelings of shame and fear that lived in his stomach now. “Yeah. Partially healed. Like it had happened a few days earlier rather than a few hours.”
After releasing the hoodie, Sky’s hand dropped to his lap. Furrows dug into Sky’s forehead as he turned his attention to meet Nolan’s gaze. “That seems wrong. I always heard vampires healed the bites they made. How else would they be able to hide from humans all these centuries?”
“He calls me his pet. I think that’s why he could get through the ward. Because I belong to him.” His voice caught on the last three words. He didn’t want to belong to some vampire. Yes, Christoph was sexy and powerful. Yes, it felt so good when Christoph bit him, but he didn’t want Christoph. He wanted the sweet and positively livid witch sitting right in front of him.
“That is a giant pile of bullshit right there! You arenothis pet! He doesnotget to keep you!” Sky jumped to his feet and slapped his hand on his chest. “I saw you first! Mr. Bitey McFangface is gonna learn real quick that this is finders fucking keepers!”
Nolan had to close his eyes and process that last sentence for an extra second before he could gather enough working brain cells together to speak. Thankfully, Sky wasn’t waiting for him to comment. The witch grabbed his hand and attempted to pull him to his feet.
“Come on. You’re packing up your laptop and some clothes. You’re staying at my house until we can get this nonsense all cleared up.” Sky pulled on Nolan again when he didn’t budge. The witch continued to grumble under his breath. “Fine. Get past my wards. I motherfucking dare you to come into a necromancer’s house. You ain’t gettin’ past my garden, bitch.”
“Sky, I can’t go with you,” Nolan stated as he rose to his feet but didn’t take another step. “You shouldn’t even be here now. He said he would kill you if I talked to you.”
“That’s because he’s afraid of me. He knows I can get you free of him, and he’s scared. You’re coming with me.”
“Sky, I’m not putting you in danger.” On this, Nolan was going to remain firm.
“You’re not.”
“He’s powerful. You can’t underestimate him.”
