The fact that there was someone waiting for an audience on the other side of the door didn't exactly put him in a sharing kind of mood. That, coupled with the communication barrier and his innate cover-it-up tendencies, made his head hum.
"Whoever it is can hang outside all night and all day as far as I'm concerned." She smoothed the blanket over her stomach. "I want to hear what you have to say."
Funny, that was what unlocked him, and he wrote quickly.
It would be easier to show you.
Her brows went in tight together when she read that, and then she nodded. "Okay. When."
Tomorrow night. If you have clearance to go out.
"It's a date." She lifted her hand . . . and put it lightly on his forearm. "I want you to know--"
The knock that cut her off had them both cursing.
"We need a minute!" she snapped before refocusing on him. "I want you to know . . . that you can trust me."
John locked eyes with her and was instantly transported to a different plane of existence. Mighta been heaven again. Who the fuck knew or cared. All he knew was that there was only her and him together, the rest of the world drifting away into a fog.
Was it possible to fall in love with someone twice, he wondered dimly.
"What the hell are you doing in there?"
Rehv's voice on the other side of the door broke the moment, but didn't erase it.
Nothing ever could, John thought, as she pulled back and he got up to his feet.
"Come in, asshole," she snapped.
The instant the mohawked male stepped into the room, John felt the change in the air and he knew, as they looked at each other and stayed silent, that they were communicating as symphaths did.
To give them privacy, he headed for the door, and just as he was ducking out, Xhex said, "Will you be back?"
At first, he thought she was talking to Rehv but then the male snagged his arm and stopped him. "My man? You coming back?"
John glanced over to the bed. He'd managed to forget his pad and pen on the little side table, so he just nodded.
"Soon?" Xhex said. "Because I don't feel tired and I want to learn sign language."
John nodded again and then knuckle-tapped with Rehvenge before heading out into the OR.
As he walked by the empty gurney, he was glad that V had finished cleaning up and wasn't around. Because for the life of him, John wouldn't have been able to hide the smile on his face.
In silence, Blay walked side by side with Qhuinn through the underground tunnel that led between the training center and the mansion's foyer.
The sounds of their two sets of shitkickers mingled, but that was it. Neither he nor Qhuinn said anything. And there was no touching.
Absolutely no touching.
A while ago, before his big admission to the guy, before things had broken down between them, Blay would simply have asked what was on Qhuinn's mind because clearly he was in a churn about something. Now, though, what would have once been just an afterthought seemed like an inappropriate intrusion.
As they came out through the hidden door under the mansion's grand staircase, Blay found himself dreading the rest of the night.
Sure, there wasn't much left to it, but two hours could seem like a lifetime under the right circumstances. Or the wrong ones, as the case was.
"Layla should be waiting for us," Qhuinn said as he went to the foot of the stairs.
Oh . . . great. Just the kind of diversion he was looking for.
Not. After having seen the way that Chosen stared at Qhuinn, he just didn't feel up to getting a boatload of that shy crushing again. Especially not tonight. The near miss with Xhex had left him curiously raw.
"You coming?" Qhuinn asked, his frown pulling in the piercing on his left eyebrow.
Blay flicked his stare down to the hoop that rounded the guy's full lower lip.
"Blay? You okay? Look, I think you need to feed, buddy. Lot been going down lately."
Buddy . . . Christ, he hated that word.
But fuck him, he needed to get a grip. "Yeah. Sure."
Qhuinn gave him an odd look. "My bedroom or yours?"
Blay laughed harshly and started up the stairs. "Does it really matter?"
"No."
"Exactly."
When they got to the second floor, they went past Wrath's study, the doors of which were shut, and headed down the hall of statues.
Qhuinn's room was the first they came to, but Blay pressed on, thinking that something could finally be on his turf, his terms.
Opening the door wide, he left the thing as it was and ignored the soft clicking sound when Qhuinn shut them in together.
In the bathroom, Blay went to the sink, turned on the faucet and bent over, splashing his face. He was drying himself off when he caught the scent of cinnamon and knew Layla had arrived.
Bracing his palms on the marble, he leaned into his arms and sagged. Out in his room, he heard their voices mingling, the lower and the higher trading places for airtime.