“Yeah, yeah, inside the bedroom we’re screwing, outside we’re all serious. I’ve got it, okay?” Kane stepped over the threshold. “I’m not an idiot, or a child—stop treating me like I’m both.”
Suddenly, his grip on Everet’s hand was as strong as Everet’s hold on the other man’s hand had ever been. Kane’s eyes damn near dared him to try to retreat.
Everet stepped forward with outward calm, and joined him in the bedroom. Closing the door, he sealed them inside there, away from the rest of the world.
Kane stood just a few feet inside the room. He made no attempt to run away this time. He even held his ground when Everet moved forward. Cupping Kane’s cheek with one hand, Everet kissed him, firmly but very gently.
With the adrenaline from his recent flight still swooping and twirling through his veins, even that chaste bit of contact was enough to make Everet moan with desire. Everything was so intense now. With his other hand, Everet pressed against the small of Kane’s back, tugging him forward until their bodies were jammed tightly together. He gasped, every nerve ending suddenly screaming with pleasure.
Kane moaned in return, balancing on his tiptoes in an effort to bring himself to a more accessible height. He responded so perfectly to every prompt, his tongue dueling with Everet’s and exploring his mouth in return. Sliding one hand around to the front of Kane’s body, Everet rubbed his palm against his fly, stroking his cock through the material.
Kane moaned into his mouth as he thrust determinedly against his hand. The magpie was very pleased to see him, Everet had no doubt about that. But there was something else, too—something in Kane’s pocket.
Everet frowned. Pulling back, he broke the kiss and peered down between them.
“You look like you’ve never seen a hard on before,” Kane grumbled.
Everet made no reply. He slipped his fingers into Kane’s pocket instead.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
Everet automatically lifted the wallet out of Kane’s reach. It wasn’t Kane’s. He hadn’t arrived with it. Everet hadn’t given it to him. That left only two options, neither of which were in the least bit palatable. He wondered what would be worse—that someone had given Kane a wallet in an effort to tempt the magpie away from him, or that Kane had acquired it by some other means. He flicked open the wallet.
Frederick Raynard.
Everet was prepared to swear that he actually felt the blood drain out of his face as he saw the name printed on the driver’s license.
“Give it back,” Kane demanded, snatching at the wallet.
“You picked his pocket,” Everet said, lifting it out of Kane’s reach. There was no accusation in his tone, no anger, it was a simple statement of fact.
“It’s—”
“It’s not yours, Kane,” Everet said, tearing his eyes away from the wallet, even as Kane made another grab for it. “You stole it.”
Catching hold of Kane’s shoulders Everet forced the other man to face him and look him in the eye. The magpie stared back at him, anger and confusion filling his expression, as if he didn’t get what all the fuss was about.
He didn’t get it. In that moment, Everet realized that Kane really didn’t understand that what he’d done was wrong—that he’d done something that the very vast majority of avians would find wrong. Maybe he knew that he’d broken a rule, but he really didn’t get how important that rule was.
“Have you taken anything from anyone else since you arrived here?” Everet demanded. “From a man or from the nest.”
Kane’s expression turned mutinous. He pressed his lips firmly together, not saying a word.
A bitter taste hit the back of Everet’s mouth as he looked at the wallet again.
“If you give me everything you’ve taken, right now, you won’t be in trouble with me,” he promised. “But I need to have everything off you. Now.”
“I haven’t taken—”
“Kane,” Everet snapped. “We both know you’re lying. If I have to search every part of the nest you’ve so much as walked through, I will.”
Kane held out for almost thirty seconds before his gaze flicked toward the bottom drawer of the chest set against the far wall. Everet was quicker than Kane. He reached the chest first, wrenched it open, pushed aside the clothes and snatched up the little hoard of items pushed into the back corner.
Kane’s fingers scratched and tugged at his arm, but Everet paid no attention to that. His lack of reaction only seemed to infuriate the magpie more. He swore and threatened everything he could think of—including several things that wouldn’t have occurred to Everet in his entire life. He was reasonably sure most of them were physically impossible.
Everet turned away from the chest, keeping a firm grip on all the stolen items.
As suddenly as someone might flip a switch, Kane’s entire demeanor changed. He smiled. His expression turned coy. When he reached out to put a hand on Everet’s arm, his attitude was all flirtation.
And, this was the moment that would make or break it for them, Everet had no doubt about that. It was all so clear inside his head now. If he’d ever prove that he was a good master, that Kane could always have complete trust in his word, it would be now.
Brushing past Kane, Everet strode to the bedroom door, wrenched it open and strode into the living room. He dropped everything Kane had stolen onto the side table. Turning around, he was back inside the room before Kane had a chance to react.
“What do I need to do to get them back?” Kane asked.
Everet pushed his hand through his hair and made a concerted effort not just to appear calm, but to actually
be
calm. Two deep breaths, and he knew he was as near to achieving that goal as he’d ever be.
“Everything you stole will be returned to its rightful owner. Nothing you can do will change that.”
“What?”
“Nothing that happens in this room affects how you’ll be treated out there, and nothing you do out there affects us in here, remember?” Everet asked, very levelly.
Kane seemed to study him for a long time. Everet remained perfectly still, and let him look his fill. He wouldn’t see any hidden agenda. There wasn’t one to see.
“So, you’re not going to punish me?” Kane asked, carefully.
“No.” Everet tilted up his chin, determined to keep his word, no matter what.
Kane stepped forward until they were almost touching. “You’re not even going to be angry with me?”
They were close enough together now that Everet had to dip his head to keep looking into Kane’s eyes. “No, I’m not.” There was little point.
“You’re still going to screw me?” Kane asked, setting one hand in the middle of Everet’s chest and stroking his way down to rest over his abs.
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do whatever we want in here.”
Kane smiled and looked up at Everet through his lashes. “I still want you to screw me.”
Everet’s body certainly didn’t care what went on in the real world. As Everet gazed down at Kane, he couldn’t help but see him not as a thief, but as a boy who was desperately in need of someone who could show him what it was like to be with a man for no other reason than the pleasure they might find in each other’s bodies.
He didn’t hesitate to bring their lips together in a kiss just as confident as the first they’d shared that evening.
I really can leave all your bad behavior out there.
Everet slid his arms around Kane once more, praying that Kane understood the message he wanted to send to him.
Kane kissed him back. He slid his hands up Everet’s body and into his hair. His movements weren’t as confident as Everet’s but that could only feel like a good thing right then. Being with a man for some reason other than payment was new for him. It would take him time to find his feet.
“I want to screw you into the mattress,” Everet whispered as he trailed his lips back to Kane’s ear. “That sound good to you?”
Kane nodded.
“Tell me,” Everet ordered.
“I want your cock buried in my arse,” Kane bit out, frustration coating every word. “How many times do you need to be told?”
Everet grinned. Pushing everything else out of his mind, he concentrated entirely upon the fact that they were two guys who just wanted to come.
A nudge against Kane’s shoulders easily had him toppling backward onto the bed. Everet watched him fall. He bounced, his eyes opening very wide. Everet didn’t need to issue an order this time. They were both too close to the edge. Their hands went to their clothes and they pulled each item off as quickly as they could, not caring about tearing seams or buttons tumbling away.
The moment they were both naked, Everet was on the bed with Kane. His hands slid against bare skin. There was so much to touch, and neither of them seemed to be able to do anything other than move his hands over the other’s body as frantically as possible.
Before Everet knew it, he lay over Kane, pressing him down against the blankets. The other man’s legs were spread and Everet’s cock pressed against his hole. Kane’s hands scrabbled at his back, pulling him forward, clumsily demanding that their bodies come together.
Lube.
Even with the raven side of him so close to the fore, some part of Everet knew that looking after his lover meant remembering that lube was essential. He grabbed a tube of it from his nightstand drawer and slicked his fingers. Kane swore and grumbled, his comments only half-muttered beneath his breath as he cursed the delay.
Everet pushed two fingers inside Kane, preparing him as quickly as he could.
“I want your cock.”
Everet gave his complete attention to the way his digits worked inside Kane’s hole.
Suddenly, Kane’s hands were on either side of Everet’s face, demanding he look him in the eye. “I want your cock, not your fingers.”
He sounded serious but Everet could see in Kane’s eyes that he was afraid, too.
About to pull away, Everet stopped short. He met Kane’s gaze and was sure that Kane’s only fear was that he’d stop at fingers again, and never actually screw him.
“Cock,” Kane repeated, wiping away the last of Everet’s doubts.
Everet reached up and, the fingers of one hand still smeared with lube, caught hold of Kane’s wrists. He tugged Kane’s hands away from his face, but he didn’t stop there. He kept moving until he had Kane’s arms pinned against the mattress.
Looming over Kane, Everet let his cock rub against the other man’s lubed up hole. He lowered himself far enough that their lips could meet. Kane helped, leaning up into the kiss, too.
“Cock,” Everet whispered against his lips.
He pushed forward, sheathing his shaft slowly inside Kane’s body. Pure pleasure filled the breathless little groan that Kane let out. The sound vibrated against Everet’s lips and tingled through his body.
Kane’s muscles tensed and relaxed around him, as if the magpie was determined to squeeze every bit of bliss he could from their joining. A lifetime seemed to pass before Everet’s cock was completely surrounded by Kane’s hole. Finally settled inside him to the hilt, Everet stilled.
Barely a millisecond later, Kane squirmed beneath him, trying to get him to move. He had his eyes closed very tightly. Everet stared down at him, waiting for that to change.
Eventually it did. Kane glared up at him, confusion filling his gaze.
“That’s right. I want you to look at me,” Everet confirmed.
He began to rock his hips, the movement slight at first, but slowly building. He ground down against Kane. A whimper of approval and Kane adjusted his position so his legs wrapped around Everet’s body, pulling him closer still.