Page 99 of Found in Obscurity

Lorin had bundled them into the bed in the main bedroom without even thinking twice about it. All he could think about was making sure Kit was okay and keeping him close. All that was on his mind was his familiar, his mate, being safe and comfortable and with him.

The living room sofa wouldn’t do. So bedroom it was.

Lorin helped Kit out of his clothes and into pajamas, changing himself before tucking them both under thick blankets. Kit’s notebook and pencil were resting next to them, just in case Kitwanted to say something, but he had been worryingly still and quiet since they’d gotten back.

Lorin wished he could read his mind. He wished there was a way to glance inside and see what Kit needed so he could give it to him so he wouldn’t feel so powerless. Instead, he just held him closer, kissing his messy hair and cold cheeks, brushing his nose against his temple and whispering reassurance into his skin. He hoped it would be enough to let Kit know he wasn’t alone. Neither of them would be alone ever again.

The trembling subsided after a time, and the panicked tension in Kit’s body seemed to seep away, but it was replaced by a different kind of tension as Kit pressed back into the curve of his body. Hands grasped his and pushed them under Kit’s shirt, against a smooth chest. Lorin shuddered out a breath against Kit’s nape, fighting to keep from curling his nails into Kit’s delicate skin. He felt a little crazy picturing what it would look like, the contrast of his markings against Kit’s skin.

Electricity coursed through Kit, passing into Lorin and making every hair on his body stand on end. He caught his breath, the charge in the air making it hard to think. He tried holding Kit closer to control the press of their bodies, but Kit wiggled around until Lorin’s grip on his body loosened slightly.

Kit turned in his arms, gluing their bodies together as he kissed Lorin on the mouth without warning. Without preamble. He pressed their lips together, his fingers wrapped around Lorin’s shirt.

It wasn’t their first kiss—far from it—but the intensity of it almost knocked Lorin out. His vision blacked out at the edges, and every sane thought left his brain as he kissed Kit back. He wrapped his arms around Kit’s waist and Kit whined into his mouth, pushing his tongue past Lorin’s lips. Kit’s fingers left his shirt and twined into his hair, gripping the long strands tight. Pulling. Making Lorin hiss at the slight burn on his scalp.

It didn’t feel like any of their kisses before. It felt saturated and vivid, like splashes of bright color against a canvas. Lorin wanted to paint himself in it.

Kit slung a leg over his hips and settled onto Lorin’s lap, pushing himself closer, his frustration evident when closer became an impossibility because they were already occupying the same space.

“Kit,” Lorin said against insistent lips, gasping at the sensation of Kit’s hands wandering from his hair to places they hadn’t been before.

Kit tugged at Lorin’s clothes, pushing at the fabric to reach the skin beneath. His nails ran down Lorin’s chest and back, sharp like they were still claws. He was like a man on a mission and Lorin couldn’t help but force himself to stop because none of it felt like it was coming at the right time.

Hating himself for it, he gripped Kit’s hands in his and broke the kiss, swallowing Kit’s labored breaths as he looked him in the eye. He brushed Kit’s hair back from his forehead, cupping his cheeks as gently as he possibly could.

“Hey,” he said softly, trying to lessen the blow of having stopped them going any further. “We need to slow down.”

Kit’s expression shattered Lorin’s heart. He looked wrecked and vulnerable. He scrambled off Lorin’s lap and dove for his notebook, flipping it open and scribbling in it so fast that Lorin feared he wouldn’t be able to read it.

Kit shoved the notebook under his nose and Lorin pulled back to be able to see it.

You don’t want me?

Lorin shook his head wildly, looking back at Kit. “Of course I want you. I’ve wanted you since the moment you appeared in my life.”

“Why?” Kit whispered without any additional explanation, but Lorin knew what he meant.

“We learned something really shocking today, Kit. You’re still reeling from it. We both are. I just don’t want you to do something you’re not ready for.”

Kit whined low in his throat, looking down at the notebook as if thinking about what to write in it without following through. He was just silently muttering to himself, gripping the pencil tight and shaking his head. He turned desperate eyes to Lorin, staring at him as if begging Lorin to just do something that would help ease it all.

“We’ll fix this together, and we’ll have time for everything we want to do together. There is no rush with us. We’re forever.”

Kit blinked back a few times before grabbing his notebook and writing in it.

I want to do the spell.

Lorin swallowed. “I know. I support you.”

Kit bit his lip harshly as he scribbled the next note for Lorin.

I just don’t want them to take me away from you.

Lorin swallowed the pained noise that threatened to rip out of his chest and plucked the notebook from Kit’s shaking fingers. He put it to the side, reaching for Kit and tugging until he had him back on his lap, straddling his hips. Lorin’s hands went around his waist and he tucked Kit’s face into his neck.

“Listen to me,” he whispered into Kit’s ear, kissing his temple, his forehead, his cheek, whatever part of him he could reach. “Nobody is ever going to take you away from me. I will use every ritual in every book in that pathfinder room to make sure that never happens. You, Kit, are mine. Just as much as I am yours. I will never let anyone take that away. Okay?”

There was a moment of hesitation before Kit nodded and Lorin tucked his fingers into his hair to bring his face out of hiding and look him in the eye.