“Okay,” Ethan muttered. “Good night.”
This time Niko could give a fuck if he sounded like a pussy. “Good night.”
The flash of light sprayed throughout the room, bouncing off the light-grey walls. Crack! Casper yelped and thumped over the mattress to where Niko was sprawled out under the covers. “It’s okay, little man.” Niko scuffed the pup behind its white ear. “Just a storm.” Crack! Light engulfed the bedroom again. “Shit.” If the smashing sound of the thunder was loud in the bedroom, the noise had to be ten times louder in the living room.
Niko shoved one of the pillows over his face. Goddammit. Why should he care if Ethan was awake? He tossed the pillow back on the bed. “Shit.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Hey.” Ethan turned around, secretly grateful Niko had come out of the bedroom. He’d been watching the white flashes slice through the sky like lasers for a bit with the knot in his gut getting tighter and tighter. “Why aren’t you on the couch?”
Thunder cracked and Ethan felt like a fool when he jumped. “I wanted to see the lightning.” Liar. I can’t sleep. I’m scared.
He turned back, peering out the wall of windows, waiting for the next boom of thunder. “I know.” Niko’s voice whispered across the back of his neck. Every nerve ending spiked from the tip of his ears to the bulge starting to swell beneath his shorts. “It can be weird to wake up in a place you don’t know. I’ve slept so many places, it was strange to wake up twice in the same room.”
“Yeah? I used to hate waking up at Charles’s place.” Niko’s soft breaths hovered over Ethan’s naked shoulder. The warmth seeped through his skin, teasing him to recline into the heat of Niko’s chest. “Sometimes he’d be standing over my bed, just staring at me. It made me want to throw up. He insisted I sleep without anything on.”
Ethan welcomed the heat when two fingers tapped the outside of his hand. He glanced over his shoulder before turning around. Niko was close, the bareness of his right side painted in broken shadows. Ethan could barely make out the letters cascading from the top of his ribs to his hip. Blackout.
“What does it mean?” He tipped his head at the stretched phrase.
Niko fisted his hands at his sides. “It hurts less to live without someone.”
Some part of Ethan understood but recognized the lie. “Not always.”
“Come on.”
Would Niko be like all the other assholes? If he was going to get thrown out on his ass he was afraid he might not survive it this time.
“Come on,” Niko said again, this time wrapping the broad expanse of his hand around Ethan’s smaller one. “Come to bed.”
Ethan waited for the punch line, but the laugh never came. “I’m so tired.” Afraid Niko would think he was wimping out, he didn’t wipe the tears drowning the corners of his eyes.
Niko gave a gentle tug and Ethan instantly curled burrowed between two heavy arms and a warm chest. The rapid cadence of Niko’s heartbeat kept time like a metronome. “I’ve been there. You’re safe.” Niko’s dark lashes fanned across the lower ones as he squeezed his eyes shut. “Let me keep you safe.”
Unlike in the studio, he didn’t crash his lips down on Ethan’s mouth. This was deliberate, calculated. The slight tilt of his head. The parted lips ready for an invitation. Ethan lifted his chin and skimmed his dry lips over the corner of Niko’s mouth. The pink tip of Niko’s tongue peeked out and licked Ethan’s lips. Now, sliding smoothly, he tucked his tongue deep into the darkness of Niko’s silky mouth.
“Damn,” Niko mumbled between nibbles and licks. “You feel so—”
Ethan threaded his fingers in the mass of dark hair on the back of the man’s head. When he gave a sharp tug, Niko laughed, sending a warm vibration through their locked mouths. “Good, I know. Your body is perfect.” His chest rose and fell. Ethan laid his cheek on the twin mounds, wishing the ink would sink through to stain his own skin.
The chill creeping along his arms faded the moment he followed Niko into the bedroom. The blankets were wadded up, twisted. Ethan imagined Niko’s strong legs kicking at the sheet to get comfortable. The picture seemed too intimate, as if he was an unwelcome reader peering into a secret diary.
Niko turned, taking the back of Ethan’s neck into the wide expanse of his palm. “Just sleep, okay? I didn’t bring you in here for anything else. Get in bed.”
Ethan examined the space. Three grey walls were offset by the canvas above Niko’s bed. Stark greens and blues, yellow and oranges caressed the plaster in sweeping strokes creating a beautiful seascape at sunset.