Page 38 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

Nathan sat at the table in the main room, reading through the information they’d gathered so far about strange deaths at a private Pittsburg high school, but he didn’t get very far before Sasha came out of the bathroom with only a loosely draped towel resting low on his hips—something Nathan was certain the incubus did just to torture him.

Jim had left in their borrowed car for a convenience store where he could replenish their toothpaste and other essentials, so the two of them were alone.

They hoped to catch a Veil doorway the last leg into Pittsburg the next day.

Jim would be a while yet, so Nathan was sorely tempted to take advantage of the situation, but he couldn’t let the redhead win him over so easily—just with bared skin.

So he thought quickly of a distraction to at least keep Sasha from changing into his clothes just yet, even though the topic that sprang to mind was one he knew he would have to tread lightly.

“You know,” Nathan said as he turned in his chair to face the incubus, catching Sasha’s attention as the redhead rummaged for a change of clean clothes.

“Your aunt implied there were a lot more than just Lindsey and that Charis chick in your childhood clique.

Think any of ‘em will ever…call or look you up?”

Sasha glanced over at Nathan, seemingly stunned by the question.

“I…I don’t know. The way you said Charis still seems to care, that maybe Lindsey does too, makes me hopeful, but…

I was hopeful for years. Just seeing any of them would be nice.

Charis was always sort of like a big sister.

She held the fort together when we were kids.

I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to try mending fences after running into each other like that. ”

“Which brings me to my next question.” Nathan might have some ulterior motives, as far as keeping Sasha in a towel, but he also really wanted to know Sasha better, any way he could.

“You obviously didn’t make any more of an effort to see them than they did to see you over the years.

Why? You were so happy to have seen Charis for like five seconds and you didn’t even try before?

Were you really that scared they’d want nothing to do with you? ”

Sasha stared down at his bag propped up on the bed.

“You weren’t there. You don’t know what it was like when I first told them I was leaving.

All of them were…terrified of me. Like they thought I was suddenly going to turn around and kill all of them just because I wanted to be a seal. I…I didn’t know what else to think.”

“But you were kids. You were sixteen, right? It’s been years. You don’t think some of the others besides Charis miss you? I’d miss you.”

“You’re biased,” Sasha said with a smirk.

“Yeah, well…maybe just a little. Still, that Cam guy, he seemed pretty easygoing. I bet he’d—”

“How do you know about Cam?” Sasha broke in. “I never mentioned him.”

“Uhh…well…you see I was just, uhh…”

“Nathan, I’m teasing you,” Sasha grinned wide again, turning away from the bed. “I know you spied on me in that one room in the Animus House. You don’t have to make up some lie to avoid telling me.”

Nathan gaped at Sasha. “You know? But how? You didn’t even turn around once.”

“I think my five-year-old predecessor said it best,” Sasha said. “You feel really loud.”

A chuckle escaped Nathan’s lips. “Damn it, I didn’t even think of that.

Okay. Ya got me. Sorry I spied. I was just…

I just wanted to know more about you before all the seal stuff.

I know it’s hard for you, but if you ask me, you’re the one who’s making it hard.

I know they haven’t made much effort, either, but maybe that’s the problem.

Maybe you’re all waiting for someone else to make the first move, and that, I can promise you, usually gets you nowhere.

Charis can’t be the only one who wants to see you.

I know it was years ago, but…watching you with Lindsey and Cam back then…

that kind of friendship doesn’t just go away.

Maybe I’m not the best person to say anything about friends , but…

” Nathan trailed. After all, he’d never really had any friends.

Few he could remember from childhood, other than Alex, and then just Jim his whole life.

Not that he didn’t cherish Jim’s friendship, but that was… different.

“You’ve been an amazing friend to me ,” Sasha said sincerely, but when Nathan glanced back up at the incubus, there was a definite heat to Sasha’s stare rather than just sincerity.

Without the slightest hesitation in his strides as he sauntered the rest of the way over to Nathan, Sasha turned the entire chair toward him with one firm pull.

He crawled forward onto Nathan’s lap without invitation, the towel hitching enough to leave very little to the imagination as he settled in.

He was still a little damp, enough that Nathan could feel wetness seeping into his clothing.

“What is it with you and getting me soggy? Wait…” Nathan made a face at his unintended double entendre, especially since ‘soggy’ wasn’t the sexiest way to put it.

Sasha merely scooted forward so that the very naked parts of him beneath the towel pressed firmly against Nathan through his jeans. Nathan couldn’t help gasping. That was hot. Especially with how the towel stayed on Sasha’s hips, hiding their intimate connection like a tease.

Nathan had eventually planned to steer the conversation to something naughty, once he had kept Sasha’s attention long enough, but there the incubus went again, beating him to it.

“All joking and carnal intentions aside…you have been a good friend,” Sasha said soft and breathy, “and I’ve really needed that. Like you wouldn’t believe, I’ve needed that. So…whatever else might happen…I’m just thankful for you.”

The intensity of the moment—physically and deeper—struck Nathan right at the curve of his neck as his face flushed. He felt that maybe this was one of those moments where a reaffirmation of ‘I love you’ was appropriate, but something else formed on his lips instead.

“Damn you’re heavy,” Nathan breathed through a smile, gasping again when Sasha bucked his hips forward with a little more force.

“Shut up,” the incubus smirked back. He leaned in, his legs wrapping around the chair, his chest slick and smooth as Nathan pressed his palms there and slid his hands along Sasha’s skin to his back.

Sasha made Nathan’s whole mouth tingle when they kissed, that skilled tongue caressing his own so deeply, lips soft and demanding but somehow giving too.

No one kissed that good, so completely and in need that Nathan felt himself drawn right into the incubus like a willing victim.

He almost laughed to think that that was exactly what he was.

Nathan’s hands moved up to Sasha’s shoulder blades and down again, feeling the dip of Sasha’s lower back, and then straying lower right into the folds of the towel to caress down the smooth bare skin of Sasha’s backside.

Nathan stayed only long enough to tug Sasha closer before sliding his hands up again, to which the incubus whined against Nathan’s lips.

“You’re getting me all wet,” Nathan said breathily, meaning the innuendo whole-heartedly this time—which was definitely better than soggy.

He wished he could pull Sasha flush against him but was satisfied by how perfectly Sasha fit on his lap, heavy or not, and how their lips hovered close together when they parted.

Staring hazily and heated back at Nathan, Sasha’s blue eyes glowed, honestly glowed with all that bright color, and the incubus licked his lips. “Wet, huh?” Sasha prompted. “Let me be the judge of that.”

Nimble fingers slid down Nathan’s T-shirt to the button of his jeans.

Sasha scooted back slightly to give his hands more room, pulling the button free and drawing down the zipper.

Even that small favor was a great relief for Nathan after being trapped by denim.

He had grown hard almost the instant Sasha crawled onto his lap.

Covered so beautifully in that soft skin, Sasha’s hand reached into Nathan’s jeans, beneath the elastic of his shorts, and wrapped long fingers around his heated flesh.

Nathan instinctively shifted into the touch, both their eyes staring deeply into each other’s like they didn’t dare look away.

Sasha pulled Nathan out fully, and the cool air made him hiss.

“Mmmm…” Nathan hummed low in his throat, almost mimicking Sasha’s usual purrs.

Sasha licked his lips again, his mouth so close to Nathan’s, that the action teased a wet circle around Nathan’s lips as well.

At the same time Sasha’s thumb passed over the wetness at Nathan’s tip, making him harden further.

Sasha was heavy sitting on Nathan’s thighs, but Nathan kind of liked it, the weight of it, the firm, undeniable presence.

“Gotta be illegal…somewhere…for a man to have hands that soft,” Nathan managed to say within Sasha’s hold, wishing his head could fall against something, but the back of the chair was too short.

Sasha pressed his forehead to Nathan’s. “Bet I can think of something better.” He stole a fierce kiss in a single lunge, almost causing the chair to tip backwards in his urgency.

Sasha’s hand was wonderfully wet now as he coated Nathan’s length with firm strokes, and that feeling of all over wetness made Nathan shudder.

Sasha’s legs were on either side of Nathan, curled back around his waist and the chair, but he brought them back down so his feet could touch the floor a moment, then lifted himself up just enough to hover over Nathan’s hips.

Nathan was lost in a dizzying haze, so it surprised him when Sasha stretched himself only the tiniest bit before guiding Nathan with a gentle hand and sitting back down to draw Nathan in deep.