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He wasn’t sure how to explain it, and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to explain it to this guy he didn’t know very well. Though he supposed they’d get plenty of chances to get to know each other now.
“Because I trust him. I don’t have to know him well to know that my instincts are always right. Well, usually right,” he said and smiled ruefully. “Besides, most of what Gabriel told me were rumors. People say this. People have heard that. Even though Gabriel has known him for years, he doesn’t know exactly what Quinten does. As far as I’m concerned, anything Quinten wants to share with me is great, but I’m not going to trust some rumor from someone I don’t know over a man who let me into his home with no questions asked, saved my life by cashing in a favor with the most powerful man on the continent, and has asked for nothing in return. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt as far as I’m concerned.”
Nero nodded. “That’s a good answer. I’ll leave it to him to share how much of those rumors are true then.” He pushed to his feet. “But remember what I said. Don’t assume anything about him. Don’t get pissed at him because he wants to protect you. It doesn’t mean he sees you as weak. Dare follows him everywhere. Do you think that makes Quinten weak?”
“Well, no, but he is a human.”
Nero smiled, but it wasn’t quite as nice as before. There was a little bit of fang showing, his eyes hard. “He is. But again, appearances aren’t always what they seem.”
Caden tossed and turned in bed for what felt like hours until he finally threw back the sheets and climbed out of bed. He was tired of this.
It was the second night in a row Quinten hadn’t come to his own bedroom to sleep. If he wanted Caden to leave, he should have just said so. He had thought what they’d shared in his bed had been special and that maybe it was the beginning of something, something more than just Caden needing a place to stay to get better.
But maybe he was wrong.
He’d heard what Nero had said that evening though, and he’d decided to go to the source instead of assuming the worst. If Quinten wanted him out of his bed, then he could damn well say it. He wasn’t a child. He didn’t need to be coddled.
He didn’t even bother putting on clothes before he stormed out of the bedroom. He lifted his head into the air and inhaled deeply. The scent of orange blossoms led him down several hallways to a bedroom that was farthest in the house from the master.
He stood outside the closed door, fighting back tears.
He’d hoped he would find Quinten working in his office. Instead, he was in another bedroom in his own home, hiding from Caden. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself and pushed open the door.
Despite the late hour, Quinten was sitting up in bed with a lamp turned on next to him, casually reading a book. The blankets were down around his waist, showing off his bare torso and that chest hair that Caden wanted to burrow inside of. It was unfair how attractive the man was.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing in here?”
Quinten had the good grace to wince, looking a little guilty. “I just thought it would be easier if I slept in here.”
“You thought it would be easier if you slept in a room other than your bedroom?”
“Caden…”
“No. Explain it to me, Quinten. Hell, maybe explain it to me like I’m a child because it sure seems like you didn’t want to sleep with me anymore, but rather than just saying that, you found the bedroom the farthest you could possibly get from me and just avoided it.”
Quinten threw back the covers, setting his book down on the table next to him, not bothering to mark the page. He was wearing nothing but black boxer briefs that would have normally made Caden drool. But the way he was holding his hands up, like Caden was some wild animal, pissed him off more.
He stormed across the room. “Just say it, Quinten. I’m not going to run away and put myself in danger if you tell me you don’t want to have sex with me. That didn’t have to happen again. It’s just comforting having another person nearby. Someone I trust.”
Quinten cupped the sides of his face. “I don’t regret what happened between us. But after what you told me yesterday—”
Caden flinched. He knew it. He knew it had changed the way Quinten had looked at him.
“No. Stop.” Quinten tightened his grip on his face. “After what you told me, it felt like I had taken advantage of you.”
“Like you had forced me?” How had Caden begging for it come off like he’d been forced?
“Well, no, but you’re so much younger than I am, and you’ve just gone through this terrible thing. There’s a power imbalance, kitten.”
“So…” Caden squinted at him. “You think that I’m so immature and traumatized I don’t know what I want?”
Quinten’s jaw tightened. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Well, it sure sounded like it. But I’m not a cub, and I’m not curled up in the corner, too afraid of shadows to move. Yes, what happened to me sucked. It still sucks. I woke up screaming again last night, except you weren’t there this time to comfort me. You were too busy hiding from me, worried that the big bad mobster was taking advantage of me.”
Quinten’s eyes began to heat, his thumbs caressing against Caden’s cheekbones. “I don’t want you to look back at what happened in this house and regret anything.”
Caden was on the edge of a precipice. He could turn back, or he could jump.
