Page 29

Zane was getting less uncomfortable.

Sort of.

Having someone cook for him was at least something he was used to, and as long as he pretended really hard, he could almost convince himself Pavel was merely staff making him dinner.

“Where did you learn to cook?” Distraction. That’s what he needed.

They’d gone down to the main level where he’d taken a closer look at the open floor plan before following Pavel into the kitchen area. Zane had planted himself on the other side of the bar countertop, putting himself more in front of the double glass doors that led out to a patio. It also meant there was something between them.

Space was paramount right now. The closer to Pavel he was, the more he feared the other man somehow could hear the wild beating of his heart.

“My dad,” the other Retinue member replied as he finished off a salad and set it to the side. He had fish steaks frying in a pan and moved to season them as he continued. “He does all the cooking at my parent's house. Mom hates to cook.”

“She’s a doctor, right?”

The corner of his mouth twitched but he merely nodded.

Zane had known that, of course. He was just making shitty small talk. He sighed and folded his arms on the counter, resting his chin on his hands. “Fevd is my favorite fish.”

Pavel didn’t bother holding back his smile then.

“Which you knew.” If only Zane knew how to do this. He straightened on the stool, antsy.

“You don’t have to try so hard,” Pavel told him lightly. “Relax, gorgeous. There’s nothing to this.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“I’m guessing family dinners are stuffy and catered for the Solaces?”

“That would be an understatement.”

“What about with Lyra?”

“More of the same.”

“Even after you two have hooked up?”

“We never eat together after. It ends as soon as we’ve both gotten what we wanted. With Kazimir…” He pursed his lips, unsure if he should say as much, but when Pavel didn’t flinch and continued preparing dinner, decided it was fine. “Kaz and I would sit around after sometimes. Just as long as it took for one of us to clean off and put our clothes back on, or if we planned on going another round before calling it. It wasn’t anything major though. It was just shooting the shit to pass time.”

A dark thought entered Zane’s head and his eyes narrowed. “What about you? How many people have you made dinner for?”

Pavel chuckled. “Aside from my brother and my parents, only you, baby.”

He’d been calling him that a lot more frequently. Baby. It made Zane’s ears heat and he didn’t understand why. But he didn’t entirely dislike it either.

“How many people have you called that before?” he asked next.

Pavel finished setting their plates and then brought them over to the dining room table, ignoring the way Zane swiveled on the stool to keep him in his sight all the while. Instead of putting them across from each other, he chose two chairs at the six-seater on the same side, the one facing the kitchen.

He came over and held out a hand to Zane, but Zane glanced at it, still a bit miffed by the images his imagination had conjured of Pavel in bed with someone else, whispering sweet nothings into their ear instead.

“Answer the question, Hart.”

Pavel stepped closer and grabbed Zane’s hand, tugging him off the stool with enough force it sent Zane toppling off. He caught him before he could fall completely, grinning when that earned him a curse. “There’s no reason for you to be jealous.”

“I’m not,” he snapped.

“So you won’t care if I say I’ve called—” Pavel’s brow winged up when suddenly Zane’s hand was at his throat. “We’re playing nice tonight, remember, gorgeous?”

“Tell me you weren’t just about to lie to get a reaction out of me and I’ll let go.”

“Fair.” Pavel gently took him by the wrist and eased him off before leading him to the table and into one of the chairs he’d already pulled out. He helped Zane push it in, keeping his hands on the arm rests after, effectively blocking him in with his arms as he nuzzled the side of Zane's head with his chin. “I haven’t shared my bed with anyone since you and I reunited.”

“What does that mean?”

Pavel sighed, his warm breath fanning across Zane’s cheek. “The last time I fucked someone who wasn’t you, I was seventeen.”

He pulled back, turning so he could gape at him. “You’re not serious? That’s like six-some years! There’s no way. You run a damn sex club!”

“I didn’t say I haven’t gotten off.” He moved away and took the seat on Zane’s left, picking up his utensils to start eating. “I just haven’t done it with anyone else. There’s no need.”

“Surely you’ve gotten tired of having nothing but your own hand?” Zane didn’t want to dwell on the spark of relief knowing Pavel hadn’t been with anyone else brought him. “Or do you use a lot of toys to keep things interesting?”

“Sometimes,” he replied. “I have a few favorites I turn to when you’ve gotten me especially worked up. I don’t think I could use any of them again now, however. Before, I could lie to myself and pretend those fleshlights felt the same way you would sucking on my cock, but now that I’ve experienced the real thing, there’s no way. If I knew I could take my time with it, I’d change into you and stroke myself in front of the mirror, trying to emulate your expressions. But I was off there too.”

The fork Zane had been lifting to his mouth dropped with a sharp clatter, hitting the edge of the porcelain plate.

Pavel picked it up for him, holding it out with his left hand, while his right arm dropped over the back of Zane’s chair. “Careful, baby. Wouldn’t want to make a mess. If I have to clean up after you, you’ll need to wait longer to watch the movie. Aren’t you looking forward to it?”

He blinked at him incredulously. “You just said you shapeshift into me and touch yourself, and you expect me to sit here and eat like that’s totally normal?”

“Would you prefer I shapeshift into someone else? Kazimir, perhaps?”

“Try it,” Zane growled, “I fucking dare you. See what happens.”

“I love when you get all possessive.” Pavel ran his hand through Zane’s hair and handed over the fork, waiting for him to finally take it back before turning to continue eating. “There’s no camera in your bedroom. Or in your bathroom. Apparently even Lyra has lines she won’t cross. I’ve only ever been able to watch what you do in your living area, and you’ve never touched yourself there.”

Zane couldn’t recall if that was true or not. It didn’t really matter, he supposed. Speaking of the cameras again brought something else to the forefront of his mind, and though he speared a piece of fish and brought it to his lips, after he was done chewing, he demanded, “Going to tell me you weren’t aware of the ones in the pool room?”

“Not at all.”

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? Fucked me there so that Lyra would see.” It’d been their first time and Zane couldn’t help but feel used all of a sudden. He set his fork down and went to stand, but Pavel was quicker than him, slapping a hand over his thigh to keep him in place.

All the while, the other man kept eating, casually, as though Zane wasn’t vibrating next to him with unspent energy and hurt feelings. His fingers splayed out across his thigh as he held him down firmly, his immense strength seeming like nothing.

“I fucked you there because I knew a pool was how you’d lost your memories of me,” Pavel quietly explained. “It was cathartic for me, more than anything. Lyra never came to mind. I also knew I could distract you by holding you under, long enough to cut you open and slip the small tracking device I had custom made beneath your skin.”

Zane felt some of the tension leave him. “Really?”

“Yeah, baby. Now,” he removed his hand and Zane instantly missed the warmth of his touch, “finish eating. I bought a dark cherry hot cocoa mix I’m dying for you to try.”

They settled into more small talk, stuff about the weather on the island and the types of things Pavel liked to do in his free time. Conversation became easier, comfortable, and by the time the two of them had cleared their plates, the irritation from before had left Zane.

He even helped bring the dishes to the sink, lingering close to Pavel’s side as the other man started to wash them, not wanting to leave them overnight.

“I can’t cook,” Zane said, watching the way Pavel’s long fingers gripped the sponge and passed it over the plate with more force than when he’d cleaned him with that towel in the bath. It shouldn’t be erotic, but it was, and before he knew what he intended, he’d taken the offending sponge and pushed the other guy out of the way.

“That’s fine.” Pavel leaned back against the island bar, crossing his arms as Zane took over the cleaning. “I can, and I also happen to own a building with a five-star restaurant in it.”

“Speaking of, think we can give Great a voucher or something? For a free meal? I ran out of him kind of rudely the other night.” He didn’t want to dwell on how he’d just gotten jealous of a sponge yet was bringing up the guy he’d gone on an impromptu date with.

“I’ll let him keep his kneecaps, how about that?” Pavel drawled.

He snorted. “Yeah, I guess that’ll do.”

“You’re more possessive than I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m not at all.”

“Try controlling.”

“Zane.”

“You switched out my toothbrush,” he reminded. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how there’s an identical set in the bathroom upstairs.” Then he motioned at their clothes. “Just how many matching pajamas did you order?”

They were in a different pattern from the ones that had gotten soaked in the rain—and the pair Pavel had been wearing before Zane had noticed all the blood. The burgundy shade with royal purple trim wasn’t something he’d personally gravitate to, but he had to admit, on Pavel, the colors really popped.

“I can’t be certain,” he shrugged. “I just kept adding to cart. There are matching coats in the closet as well, have you seen them yet?”

“No, because, unlike some people, I don’t make it a habit to riffle through other people’s things.” Zane finished the last dish and set it in the drainer, breath catching in his throat when he turned back to find Pavel staring at him intensely. “What?”

“These aren’t just my things,” Pavel said. “They’re ours. Everything in this house and on this island. Everything back in Valeo as well. You own all that I have and all I’ll ever acquire. I’ve told you that before.”

He’d said that he was Zane’s and Zane was his, sure, but…

“What movie are we watching?” Zane wasn’t ready to go there yet. He turned and headed to the living area that was set in the same relative space as the dining room, just closer to the front door. The black velvet couch situated in front of a large holoscreen TV was big enough to comfortably seat five men.

Or the two of them lengthwise.

He cleared his throat, pretending not to have just pictured what it’d be like to have Pavel lying on top of him, fucking him brutally into the couch cushions, and glanced back to find the other man hadn’t followed him.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting your snacks ready,” Pavel replied, heating milk over the stove. “Feel free to get comfortable. The remote is on the coffee table. You can pick whatever you want to watch.”

Zane dropped down on the couch and turned the device on, scrolling through the list of films available. “What types of movies do you like?”

“I’ll watch anything.”

“That’s not descriptive.”

“But it is the truth.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hart, work with me here—Oh! I’ve been meaning to watch this one!”

Pavel’s rich chuckle reached him before the other man appeared at the side of the couch with a tray. He set out the snacks on the coffee table and then left once more, returning with two steaming mugs of cocoa. “Let’s see that one then.”

Zane moved over to give him room, clicking on the medical thriller film he’d had on his list since its release three months ago. Absently, he accepted the mug and then mumbled a thanks when Pavel rested one of the bowls filled with popcorn in his lap.

“What is this about?” Pavel draped an arm around Zane’s shoulders, but Zane was already too invested in what was playing on screen to tell him to back off.

“A doctor linked to a series of murders must prove his innocence before the Detective after him can catch him,” Zane explained.

“Okay, but why are there mermaids?” The intro of the film started with a shot of the ocean during a storm, waves crashing against a rocky beach.

“Merman,” he corrected, taking in the fit upper body of the actor playing the half-fish creature roughly deposited on the sandy shore. “He’s captured by the real killer and forced to become his lover or something like that.”

“How so?”

“Don’t you know anything about mermaids?”

“Mermen.” Pavel winked at him when Zane sent him a look and then brought a piece of popcorn to Zane’s lips.

He took the offering—because who said no to popcorn? “There’s a specific kind found only on the planet Fair that can turn their tails into legs. But it’s a painful process.”

“How is that possible?”

“Says the guy who can shapeshift into whoever he wants,” he chuckled. “You split the tail down the center. The pieces heal into two, and in order to protect the body, the creature’s genetic coding alters, so that when they heal, they reform into legs and feet instead.”

“Why doesn’t the tail simply stitch itself back together? Doesn’t that seem easier?”

“Yes, but it’s an anomaly. Scientists have tried to figure it out, but there’s seemingly no good explanation. The other problem is the species is now considered extinct, so finding one that can be experimented on is next to impossible.”

“What does the killer want with the merman, really?”

“I don’t know, they’re sort of just side characters until the killer gets found out and the main character, the doctor, has enough evidence to prove it. Stop asking questions. We’ll get answers as it goes.”

Zane lost himself in the movie, hardly noticing when the popcorn ran out and the empty bowl was switched for one filled with crunchy freeze dried goj berries, his favorite snack of all time. When his cocoa ran out, Pavel got up and made him another, casually asking about what he’d missed when he returned.

“What the hell, there’s a part two?!” a little under two hours later, the movie came to an end on cliffhanger and Zane scowled.

“Let’s check to see if it’s available,” Pavel suggested, picking up the remote. He scrolled to the main screen and then pointed with the end of the control. “There.”

“Hold on, let me use the bathroom.” Zane got up and disappeared into the bathroom on the other side of the level, taking care of business hastily so he could get back and find out what happened next.

Even though he couldn’t have been gone longer than five minutes, Pavel had already cleared the empty snack bowls and removed the dirty drink glasses by the time he’d returned. In their place, there was water and a thick navy blanket in the other man’s arms.

Zane slowed, only a few feet away, and eyed the blanket.

“Relax, gorgeous,” Pavel reassured. “Cuddling with me won’t kill you. You want to find out whether the merman survived or not, don’t you?”

He did. A lot.

With a huff, Zane plopped back onto the couch, allowing Pavel to stretch the blanket over the both of them. His shoulders only slightly stiffened when the other man pulled him in close against his side, not willing to argue over it when Pavel followed the move by immediately starting the next film.