Page 35

They were in the crazy time of an early seer coupling.

Nick hoped Kiko knew what she was in for.

“What’s going on in here?” Jax asked Kiko.

Hell, he practically barked the words.

Jax’s voice came out low, dense, verging on rough.

Kiko elbowed him, rolling her eyes, but Nick couldn’t help noticing how everything in her relaxed once Jax held her. The fear on her dissipated like a slow exhale. Kiko leaned into her seer boyfriend’s chest and smiled up at him, and there was so much affection, warmth… hell,love… in that smile, Nick couldn’t help but relax marginally, too.

“Nothing, dummy,” Kiko told him. “I was trying to get Nicki here to come upstairs with me. I figured we should probably both bring Dex his cake. Together. Don’t you think?”

Nick watched Jax’s face as he thought about her words.

After a few more seconds, the seer’s aggression began to relax.

He looked down at Kiko’s face.

“Did you eat your cake?” he asked her.

“Not yet. I was going to eat it with Dex, if––”

“No.” Jax shook his head. He looked at Nick. “Nick will eat his with Dex. You will come back down after you drop Nick off and eat your cake with me.” Jax glanced between the two males, that wariness back in his eyes. “…They will eat theirs together.”

Jax’s words were decisive.

He spoke with a hard, authoritative, semi-threatening certainty that might have annoyed Nick under different circumstances.

Since Nick could tell Jax was blasted out of his gourd, it was difficult to be anything but amused. Jax had obviously eaten his personal, Jem-designed, seer-concocted space cake already. He now wanted his girlfriend to be high with him.

He wanted them to be high alone.

No other weird, interfering males with their irrelevant, non-Kiko-and-Jax related drama.

Despite the being blasted part, Nick could tell Jax was deadly serious.

Nick looked at Dalejem.

“Do you care if I eat my cake with Dex?” he asked, quiet. “Do you want to come up with us? Or should I just find you after?”

Jem looked at him.

For a few seconds, Nick thought he might be offended.

Then he realized the look on Jem’s face was surprise.

Not sure which thing had surprised him exactly, Nick reached for the metal counter, and grabbed two of the remaining plates. His left hand grabbed the one with his name on it, his right the one with Dexter’s. Hesitating a few seconds more, he leaned closer to Jem.

He kissed his boyfriend lingeringly on the mouth.

“If you don’t hear anything from me,” Nick said, gruff, as he ended the kiss. “Come up and find me. I’m either high and lost… or Dex has me in a headlock, and I have maybe a minute before he remembers he can’t kill me that way.”

Kiko laughed.

It burst out of her, more in surprise than humor.

When Nick glanced at her, one eyebrow cocked, she continued to stare at him.