Page 115 of Guiding Desire

Col shook his head. “My mother would say that. I’ve forgotten so much, but some things come back sometimes.”

Col got a distant look, one he’d long since stopped hiding from the team. Senlas was relieved he didn’t bother hiding it from Orrey either.

“Let’s lift these glasses to friendship, then,” Taros said and poured, then passed the glass on.

“No. To family,” Orrey said when he handed one to Col, who took the offered glass with a smile.

No one disagreed, and to family they drank.

25

ORREY

Itwasjusttwodays between the shooting practice and the mission, but for Orrey, those two days felt meaningful beyond the hours and seconds contained within them.

He grew closer to the rest of the team—the rest of his new, oddly configured family, but most of all, he grew closer to Senlas.

The physical intimacy between them increased. They kissed more, and Senlas seemed to be developing a desire to touch Orrey frequently. At first, Orrey couldn’t shake the thought that it was instinctual, a means to get Orrey to channel, but that didn’t explain that Senlas didn’t seek skin-to-skin contact, was perfectly happy to have a steadying hand on Orrey’s back for example.

They also slept in Senlas’s bed, sometimes before, sometimes after lovemaking that evolved quickly and left him satisfied like nothing Orrey had experienced before. It was at times challenging, the way Senlas’s attention could be excruciatingly focused on driving Orrey to the edge and then never letting him fall, not unless Orrey implored him, and he almost always did.

Of course, there was the channeling too, and it was, despite the unfamiliarity, a revelation.

The more Orrey did it, the more he could feel it, like wind on his skin, like a taste on his tongue, the weight of water in his hands, just before gravity made it flow away, leaving his palms wet and his thirst unquenched.

And there was a thirst to channeling. Orrey felt it the most clearly he had on the eve of their mission. He sat in Senlas’s lap, who sat on the floor of his living space while Karmine was making dinner and the other three were down by the pool.

Senlas’s legs were crossed and Orrey sat in their cradle, his knees slightly bent. His hands were in Senlas’s hands, and the Guardian was moving things, the books, the side table cubes, everything. It circled around them like a mad thunderstorm.

“This is amazing. And a little bit scary,” Orrey said. He was channeling, though it was so easy now, he barely needed to focus.

“Amazing first. With you doing that, it feels as if I couldLiftthis entire house.”

“Please don’t,” Karmine said, easily flipping a pancake.

Orrey opened himself, allowed more of the power to flow into him. It was still tiring, but they were planning to head to bed early today anyway. The power came, power that wasn’t Orrey’s but seemed familiar, like a childhood memory or the scent of his own pillow, like his image in a mirror.

And he wanted more of it. He opened himself up, let more flow into him, and more, and when that didn’t work, he tried pulling it toward him.

“Kitten,” Senlas said, and Orrey felt his Guardian’s power resisting. “That’s enough. You’ll exhaust yourself, and then I’ll have to carry you tomorrow.”

Orrey relaxed his channeling. “Sorry. It’s just…this felt good. So good.”

“Are you two practicing or making out over there?” Karmine asked, then tossed something into a sizzling pan.

Senlas ignored him. “That’s fine. But you are giving me that horny look of yours.”

“I have a horny look?”

“Yeah. The one on your face right now.”

Orrey saw no reason denying it. “Channeling does that to me.”

Senlas kissed the top of his Conduit’s head. “Yeah. But food first. Then I’ll take care of you, hmm? And easy on the channeling for now.”

Orrey sighed and leaned into Senlas. “Fine.” They said nothing for a while, and Orrey tracked the movement of furniture, of weights and books, around them. “Tell me everything will be fine tomorrow. Tell me we won’t have to deny humans who want to come into the city with us.”

Senlas chuckled. “That I can promise. They’ll be cursing at us. Maybe throw a rock or two. Won’t hit you, because I’ll be there, but you can always hide behind me.”