Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,67
They were living in a one-room shack in the middle of the woods, after all. To go from that to being dominant over the remnants of humanity, to have thousands of slaves at their command, to finally receive the splendor they thought was their due…you can see how they might have gotten caught up in that dream. Done anything to see it come true.”
“But you didn’t.”
“As I said, I am utterly unsuitable to ending the world.” Ves sighed. “I abhor violence. I hit a man who tried to rob me in Boston, and of course I punched the fellow when we were escaping the apartment the other day, but otherwise I’ve never been in an actual fight. Not until tonight.” He swallowed. “And I managed to kill a man in it. As I said, I was made to destroy.”
“No.” Sebastian lifted his head, staring intently into Ves’s eyes. Apparently he could make out at least that much in the moonlight. “What were you to do—carefully stand back and consider how to disarm men who threatened a baby? If you’d hesitated, Clara and Pete might have died instead.” He kissed Ves. “You’re a good man.”
A good man who was still withholding a portion of the truth. But only until tomorrow.
He had to talk to Noct first. He couldn’t make a momentous decision that directly affected the rest of Noct’s life without his input.
But afterward, he’d come clean to Sebastian. He owed the man that much, and more.
He didn’t reply, only pulled Sebastian closer. Sebastian soon fell asleep, but Ves stared at the ceiling, counting away the hours until dawn.
Chapter 22
Ves opened his eyes and found himself in Sebastian’s room. In Sebastian’s bed, with only sheets against his naked skin.
Well, not just sheets. There was a warm body pressed into his frontside.
Gods, it hadn’t been just a wild dream after all.
It didn’t seem possible. None of it did. He should have been fleeing a pitchfork-wielding mob, or at least looking for somewhere to hide until he could get to Noct.
But it was real. Bonnie Rath had invited him into her home, knowing what he was. And Sebastian…
Sebastian had taken such care with him. As though Ves was someone worth it.
For the first seventeen years of his life, he’d been nothing but a tool to the adults in his life. Or, if not a tool, then an iron ingot his mother meant to shape into something useful by any means necessary. His worth was based on passing her tests, learning her lessons, becoming the soldier who would command an army and help bring back those who had once ruled over the earth.
A means to an end; that was all he’d ever been.
Except to the voice in the forest; the song of the Black Goat of the Woods. It was a thing of primal creation; simple existence was goal enough. And then Noct had been conceived, and Vesper had sensed the bond, the connection, between them even before his brother left the womb. Sometimes he wished there had been other Dark Young stalking the woods around Caprine Hill, but at least he’d had the voice of the forest, which demanded nothing from him, and Noct who loved him.
After they fled, he’d carefully maintained a distance between himself and everyone else he encountered. He was polite, of course, but he never socialized. Never engaged in small talk. Never gave anyone a reason to care about him.
He’d wrapped himself around Sebastian during the night. Sebastian was hugging one of Ves’s tentacles in his sleep, like a child with a toy. Unable to keep from worrying what Sebastian would think when he awoke, he tried to ease it free.
But Sebastian tightened his arms and murmured something. Then he yawned, before pressing back against Ves. “Good morning.”
The early light might as well have been bright as midday to Ves. It shaped Sebastian’s sleepy features and shaded his hazel eyes to gray. His golden hair was wildly tousled, and Ves had the sudden urge to sweep it back out of his face.
“Good morning,” he replied.
Sebastian made a sound of contentment and proceeded to wiggle his backside against Ves’s morning stand. “What a lovely position to wake up in. You could bugger me like this, if you want.”
All the blood in his body seemed to rush into Ves’s cock. For a moment, he couldn’t think past need and the mental image of Sebastian writhing while Ves thrust into him.
He groaned and forced himself to roll away. “I truly want to,