Shaney lifted his head. His eyes closed, Hudson’s chest rose and fell rhythmically. Shaney lifted himself up on shaky arms and tapped Hudson’s face. “Love?” A pang of fear clenched his stomach when he didn’t respond. “Hudson,” he said more demandingly.
Eyelids fluttered and blue, unfocused eyes turned on Shaney. “Huh...? Wha?”
Words slurred, totally debauched, Hudson acted as if he didn’t even know where he was. Shit, had he passed out?
“Are you okay?”
Hudson furrowed his brow. “M’kay.” He then gave a weak thumbs up. Shaney chuckled and Hudson quirked the side of his mouth.
Looking up, Shaney watched as the last of the blue energy dissipated. The door flew open and banged against the wall. Shaney quickly covered Hudson’s naked body with his own.
Todd barreled into the room and was stopped short by what he saw as everyone crowded in behind him. “What the fuck was that?”
Shaney experienced his first full-body blush. “Uh, hi guys.”
Todd rolled his eyes. Maximus leered with a mischievous grin, ogling Shaney’s ass. Shaney reached his hand back to cover his exposed cheeks. Caleb blinked his owlish eyes and actually blushed as well.
Leave it to Mr. Anderson to say, “Goddamn it, Shaney.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Shaney couldn’t help but feel smug when it seemed to take about thirty minutes for Hudson to regain his sense of time and space and control of his limbs. That goofy I-just-had-the-best-orgasm-of-my-life smile might have been permanent. Shaney did his best to support the larger man in the shower and re-dress him. Shaney deposited Hudson onto the couch. The spacy, foggy aura still gripped him.
“Is he okay?” Todd asked, leaning down and looking straight into Hudson’s eyes. “Maybe he has brain damage.”
Hudson swatted at Todd and growled, “I’m fine.”
Shaney wasn’t too sure. He glanced at Caleb for some kind of assurance.
“He’ll be fine. I’m guessing he’s suffering sensory overload from...you know, the experience.”
Todd snorted. “Sex, Caleb. You can say the word.”
“Hey,” Maximus warned and pointed a finger at Todd who raised his hands in surrender.
Mr. Anderson stepped closer to Todd. The defiant look he flashed Maximus puzzled Shaney. Todd gave the probe officer a sideways glance, then Mr. Anderson stepped back.
“That was more than an act of intercourse. Your energy pushed out into the entire cabin and sent vibrations through every object and every person. The emotions riding along with that energy were shall we say…um…exponential.” Caleb looked shell-shocked.
“Emotions,” Todd emphasized and with an exaggerated nod. “If what I felt was a quarter of what the real thing was like, then I call dibs on having sex with you next, Shaney.”
Hudson leapt from the couch, his hands outstretched toward Todd’s neck. “Over your dead body,” Hudson yelled and truly looked as if he were going to murder Todd.
Todd yelped and jumped back into Mr. Anderson, who actually lifted Todd and shielded him from Hudson. Shaney moved in front of Hudson, halting his progress. “Hey…Hey, love. He was joking. That’s Todd. He jokes around. He didn’t mean anything by it. Right, Todd?”
Todd shook his head violently. “Hell, no. That would be like fucking my brother. Gross.”
Hudson grabbed Shaney by the biceps and actually shook him a little. Fear and determination covered his face. “You’re mine. Please say it, baby? Say you belong to me, please?”
Shaney’s first instinct was to claim that he belonged to no one, but Hudson’s plea was so unlike the confident man. Shaney reached up and soothed the wrinkle between his lover’s dark brows. “Of course, I’m yours. Who else would want me as their boyfriend just the way I am?”
Hudson smiled wide and bright and shiny. Shaney felt ten feet tall. “I do. I love everything about you.” He nuzzled Shaney’s neck. “I will always want you.” Shaney closed his eyes and let the happiness of those words soak through every pore.
A chuckle broke the silence. Shaney was going to kick the ass of whoever was laughing at his man, but, actually, no one was paying attention to them. Todd was smiling and laughing with Mr. Anderson who was...Oh, God, he was grinning and laughing back. His probe officer’s face hadn’t even cracked with the foreign smile. There were no earthquakes, or swarms of locust, or cities burning to the ground. Damn, he had liked thinking of Mr. Anderson as the Antichrist. Now he’d have to alter his initial assessment. Maybe he was more like a minion, or a cousin twice removed on Satan’s—