Page 4 of Inceptive (Ingenious #3)

4

ZACH

Z ach caught Will before his ass hit the floor. Newbies often rolled off the loft and hit the floor the first night when they woke up disoriented. He and Riley always laid extra mattresses on the floor to soften the landing, but they’d given those mattresses to members of the last crew, who’d needed more beds for their growing family. Riley was supposed to have bought new mattresses from Bartley.

Taking no risk with Will, Zach let him sleep on the floor tonight. He moved the mattress from the loft and placed it next to the wide sleeping mat he and Riley had shared. Though thinner, the mat was comfortable and closer to the stove’s lingering heat. Accustomed to it, Zach had trouble sleeping in a real bed. He covered Will with a blanket and judged the distance between them was discreet. With two distinct sleeping spaces, no laws were violated. His side was closer to the door and stove. He wrapped his ma’s patchwork quilt around himself, satisfied that his servant had survived the first day in the cabin.

At daybreak, Zach awakened to a foot on his stomach and a mumbling about going outside. He’d give Riley an earful when he returned. A little lower, and he’d have stepped on Zach’s piss hard-on. He dozed off, thinking that Riley must have decided to go fishing while the crew was asleep. He jackknifed up, remembering Riley was in the hospital. That rude foot had belonged to Will, and Zach had forgotten to warn him to make noise at sunrise to chase any spitting frogs off the porch before he pissed.

He rushed outside, automatically snatching a spear by the door. There was no sign of Will. Woozy from the tea, he could’ve fallen over the rope rail, drowned in muddy water, and was being munched on by cane rats. Damm. Will hadn’t made it past one night on Zach’s watch!

A ragged groan rose from the bench behind him.

Will lay on his back with his nightshirt rolled up to his belly while he lazily two-fingered his wood. His head was thrown back, his eyes were closed, and a smile curved his lush mouth. Will’s wood was lean and straight, without the heavy veins that ran along Zach’s full cock. His fishing differed from Zach’s rapid strokes.

“Uh… Will?”

Will squeaked and lowered his nightshirt. “I told you I was going fishing!”

“I thought you were Riley, then I remembered it was you, and I hadn’t warned you about frogs on the porch, but I do remember telling you to make it quick whenever you fished, and you’ve been out here long enough to catch a string of fish.”

“A string of—I was out here five minutes!” His aggrieved tone said he’d like to punch Zach off the porch.

Zach recited what boys were taught. “Prolonging one’s release is like indulging in sweets. It eventually burdens the mind with extra weight.”

“Go away and let me indulge. Sheesh .”

Zach walked around the corner to piss off the rail. Being half hard, he struggled. He finished, then two-fingered himself out of curiosity. Nice tingles but no payload. He alternated fingering and stroking. Yeah, that was how a husband worked up a stiff one. A bachelor didn’t pursue arousal. Natural needs aroused a man, who then pursued release. Reluctantly, he squeezed his balls and forced down his arousal.

He cleared his throat and called out, “You done yet?” More than ten minutes had passed. He found Will sitting upright, hands gripping the bench, scowling out at the rain.

“No. You scared away my fish.”

“Why don’t I boil us up a pot of tea while you go fishing. Just stay on the bench where it’s safer.”

“Never mind. I’m hungry and have a headache.”

Zach opened the door for him, and Belle flew out into the rain singing, “Going fishing, going fishing.” She disappeared before either man could track her direction.

After an hour of watching Will pace the porch, waiting for Belle to circle back, Zach coaxed him inside and promised to leave the shutter cracked open. He had Will change into drawstring pants and a long-sleeved tee that matched him.

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Will said dejectedly as he rocked by the stove. “There’s nothing out there in the basin that won’t hunt her back.”

“Maybe she found her way home.” Zach hoped so because he was the one who’d opened the door, allowing her to escape.

“We’re by the swamp. A pteryox could’ve swooped down from the rim and caught her.”

“She’s faster. Look… I’m sorry. I didn’t deliberately open the door for her to escape, no matter how often I cursed her.”

“If she wanted outside, she’d have opened any door or shuttered window.”

Belle suddenly flew through the window and dropped a speckled trout three times her weight on the floor. “I go fishing for my Will.” She flapped happily, scattering raindrops.

“You scared me!” Will kissed her crest, then wiped her with a towel. “Don’t fly away without telling me where first!”

“I tell my Will that I go fishing.” Belle nuzzled him. “I hungry. Cook us fish.”

“Huh. She must’ve flown over the north rim and caught it in the river,” Zach said.

“Yes, yes. Cook us river fish, pretty please, my Will.”

Will stared at the trout’s gasping mouth with a horrified look on his face. “I’ve never cleaned a fish.”

“She caught a beauty.” Zach cut off the head and gave it to Belle. “Good bird. All yours.”

Insulted, she kicked it back at him. “Yours.”

“Play nice,” Will reminded Zach. He oiled the skillet. “You clean it, I’ll cook it. We’ll let Belle choose her piece.”

She bobbed her head. “Nice Will. I bring my Will more fishies. No fishies for hairy beast.”

Will held up two fingers. “Bring us two more fishies and share them with Zach, and I’ll give you kissy lips and paint your claws.”

Zach watched her fly toward the north rim. “How does she understand you?”

“She’s bioengineered with language coding in her brain. The sanctuary that launched the domes promised to create intelligent lifeforms to serve humans when the domes surfaced.” Will grimaced when he realized what he’d said.

Zach narrowed his gaze on him. “My people are human, same as yours. We were not created to serve you. We survived and inherited what was left.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that thousands of poor are living on two ancient cargo ships. The hulls are rusting and sinking despite the pumps. If your people would give us one mile of the swamp?—”

“Never. Islanders can’t be trusted with land.”

They glared at each other. Will looked away first. Zach knew rolling in mud wouldn’t absorb the stench of the past. They needed to cooperate.

The tense silence continued until Belle returned with two fat whiskered fish. She seemed to pick up on the tension and perched on the windowsill, refusing to give up the fish. “Hairy beast kiss Will and play nice or no fishies.”

Zach feigned disinterest, then lunged for a fish and, quick as a wink, received a scaly whap on the face before Belle carried them to the rafter.

“She can play all day. I’m hungry.” Will stood on tiptoes, kissed Zach on the cheek, and then offered his.

“Uh-uh. Kiss on mouth,” Belle insisted. “Hurry. Belle is hunnnngry. ”

“Are you going to let her sass us?” Zach shook a spear at her, intending to scare her into dropping the fish.

“No kissies, no fishies.” She mocked him with smoochy chirps, calling his bluff.

He dropped the spear, lifted Will by the waist, and covered those shocked, soft lips with his spittin’ mad open mouth. He held the sloppy kiss to the count of one fishy, two fishy , then dropped Will. “Now give me the damned fish, you bad bird.”

They breakfasted on a pan-fried trout and the filets of the two fat whiskered fish with spiny fins. Midway through the meal, a beetle dropped from the ceiling, and Belle abandoned her trout.

“Not letting good food go to waste.” Zach put the trout on his plate.

“She eats bugs. Do you really want to eat the rest of her fish?” Will wrinkled his nose.

“I kissed you. I can eat after Belle.”

“An exchange of icky man cooties is not a kiss.”

Zach scraped off where Belle had pecked. That kiss was an awkward mess he didn’t want Will to remember. He’d erase the memory in the steam lodge.