Page 32 of Guiding Desire

But that touch. It wasn’t anything like his mom. The hand was bigger, warmer. No, not warmer. There was something there that didn’t quite belong, an oddity which intrigued more than it scared. It was like something…wind or sunshine, but coming from skin-on-skin contact.

Orrey tried looking again, wondering who that shape was. He blinked. Became aware of some sort of commotion near him. An injector was pressed against his neck, and a short time later, he was out.

Orreycamebacktohimself in an unfamiliar place. He realized what it was when he looked up, seeing a screen with some drama streaming and the city skyline, its light gleaming in the darkness, through the rest of the window wall. He was on the cloud couch.

“Why is it night already?” he said, though he heard himself slur.

“Because you were sleeping, kitten,” said a warm voice that made Orrey want to relax right into it. No, into the warm, firm body he’d already been draped against. He was being held, Orrey realized. By Guardian Senlas.

Guardian Senlas, who he’d been out with in order to meet his mom—

“What!” Orrey said and jerked up. Not off the couch. Senlas held him too firmly for that.

“So energetic, beautiful?” someone else said. Not someone—Taros. Orrey turned right to where the other Guardians of Senlas’s team and Conduit Coldis were sitting like they were having a quaint streaming party, snacks in their laps or on trays, all eyes turned to Orrey.

“You’re resting,” Senlas said, sounding halfway between firm and caring, and Orrey remembered with a breathtaking emotional gut punch that he was a Conduit now, Senlas’s.

Orrey relaxed a little but not fully. “What happened? I saw that person, they left that bag—”

Someone shoved a drink into Orrey’s face. With a bent silicone straw. He was too thirsty not to drink.

“You saved lives,” Senlas said, the firmness having seeped out of his voice. “You got people away from there. But, kitten, you can’t run toward a bomb.”

“I didn’t know it was a bomb. Had to get it away from people and people away from it,” Orrey said, and yes, maybe running toward the bag hadn’t been smart. He took another sip, which was interrupted by him coughing when his memories caught up with him. “Whoa. It exploded!”

“What did they give him? I’m not sure if I want some of that or whether we should complain to them,” Karmine said.

Senlas ignored the other Guardian. “It did explode. No one was that badly hurt at that site. There was a second bomb site with more casualties. One fatality so far, four more in critical condition.”

One dead. Orrey sagged back against Senlas, any adrenaline he’d had just going out of him.

“They said you can have porridge or fruit if you’re hungry. Do you want anything right now?” Senlas asked, hand stroking Orrey’s hair.

Orrey wondered whether he should put a stop to that. He couldn’t remember having given Senlas explicit permission to that level of intimate touching. But it felt good. Caring. He leaned into the touch.

“Kitten, are you hungry?” Senlas said, enunciating clearly.

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

Someone giggled. “I can’t get over how polite he is.”

“Shut your mouth and leave my new mentee alone. Orrey, we’re watching a Guardian and Conduit drama.”

“There’s been two late awakened Conduits and one late awakened Guardian, and she sort of isn’t sure which one of the two she imprinted on. I think,” Taros said.

“Now she has to sleep with both of them to figure that out,” Karmine added.

Senlas chuckled. Orrey liked how that made his body tingle with the echo of vibration. “Multiple times.”

“Was there food?” Orrey asked.

Senlas chuckled again, and Orrey soon found himself held tightly and handfed perfectly ripe tara leaves. He followed along the events unfolding in the drama to some degree, but it was mostly almost-confessions of love, lots of confusion, and for some reason, every Guardian that came on screen needed to be kissed by one of the Conduits immediately.

Weird,Orrey thought. And then, after a few more minutes of watching,Will I be kissing Guardians for the rest of my life now too?

For the time being, it didn’t matter. Hounds, he had never felt safer than he did, half-asleep during a streaming party in a Guardian’s arms.

Orrey’sheadwasclearerwhen he woke next. He’d passed out on the couch, or rather…well, he’d passed out on Senlas. They were both still in that same spot, a blanket covering Orrey and half of Senlas’s leg.