Page 57 of Seared Fates

Vidar

I’m back inKings, pacing back and forth. Tugging on the connection that links our souls every few minutes, needing the reassurance. But my mind doesn’t settle when Kai isn’t in arm's reach.

“He’s kinda stressing me out…” Kai’s large friend, Luuk, Mumbles from where he sits at the front desk with Apollo.

“Soulmates will do that to ya, lad,” Apollo replies casually to the taller man, who chuckles like Apollo told a joke.

“Well, my boyfriend is my soulmate, and he never stresses me out,” Luuk sighs dreamily, clueless to the supernatural world around him.

“Maybe that just means you stress Ari out,” Apollo teases.

Getting tired of their chatter and impatient for Kai’s return, I storm towards the basement.

A rolled-up piece of paper hits my head and bounces off. I grunt. Why must my vampires always throw things at me?

“Leave him,” Apollo reprimands. “You realise that you’re suffocating Kai, right?”

Holding back an annoyed sound, I plant myself by the basement door, my arms folded—waiting. I crack my neck, tap my foot. Anything to keep from going downstairs and just grabbing hold of Kai.

“I realise, Apollo,” I finally grind out.

“For someone who constantly says you’re not attracted to him, you sure don’t act like it,” Apollo sing-songs.

“I’ve never said that,” I say, half my attention on Apollo and the other half staring at the basement door. “Not attracted to Kai?” I scoff.

In my mind’s eye, I see jade green eyes that shine with emotion. Warm brown skin I’d beg on my knees to explore, even as uncertainty holds me back. Bow lips that smile, that frown, that tempt with every twitch. Kai laughing at me, cooking with me, driving with me. Kai. Kai. Kai. But didn’t I also feel overwhelmed with emotion before I crashed into apathy all those years ago?

“Yeah, he’s hot—” Luuk says.

I whip around, teeth bared. “You look at him?”

Luuk shoots up and holds up his hands as if to defend himself. “Whoa, whoa. I have a boyfriend, one I’m very much in love with.”

Apollo leans his slim forearms, covered in Forget-Me-Not tattoos, on the front desk and grins widely. “Oh yeah, Kai’s super hot.”

I huff a breath, Apollo’s ridiculous antics calming me. I shoot him a quick smile before turning back to the basement.

Apollo laughs like I’ve confirmed something for him. Luuk lets out a sigh of relief.

“Sooo…” Luuk draws out the word. “You—not me—think he’s good looking, why not try him out?”

“Like it’s so easy.” I breathe in deep. Catch the faintest scent of Kai, roll it on my tongue and let it melt. Soft. Precious. A hint of sharpness.

“It’d be so easy!” Apollo calls. “Get on your knees by the kettle for him.”

“Not next to my protein bars,” Luuk bemoans.

“But hot, in more ways than one,” Apollo snickers. “Plus, Kai would fucking love it.”

I ignore the two and inhale, letting the small trickle of Kai’s scent flood my system.

I want Kai. To deny so would be a waste of time.

But I’ve pushed the words and my wants down so long, I’m fraying at the edges. The idea of fucking him just to test these feelings that both drive me mad, yet save me, is not just laughable—it’s insulting. Purposefully hurt Kai? No. I will not be that man.

Besides, it would never just be sex. It’s too small a word to encompass what Kai and I would share. What we’ve already shared when he spent the night in my arms, I’d never been so intimately close to anyone. Not my wife, nor any lover, and all he did was sleep on my chest while I watched over him.

Kai and I wouldn’t have sex. No matter how desperate I become, it would always be more. Maybe too much.