Page 60 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

“Ah.” Sebastian smiled, getting it now. “You like staking your claim.”

James shrugged. “Yeah. I like being able to see that I’m the one you trust to take care of you. I’ve never been into it before, but I’m dying to cover your neck in hickeys for everyone to see.”

Sebastian touched the hidden bite marks. “There’s a horny animal trapped inside you, James.”

He snorted. “What a romantic way to put it.” He shook his head. “See, this is why I hold back. When I don’t, I turn into a caveman.”

“No. I think when you’re in, you’re all in. That’s all. It’s not a bad thing.” Sebastian pulled James into a kiss. “I need to be claimed as much as you need to mark me. I promise.”

James wrapped his arms around Sebastian. “Man, I like hearing that. I’ve never felt this strongly about anyone. It’s kind of terrifying, but you get me, and that makes it so much easier. It’s like you knew this need was inside me and pulled it out into the open. Being with you feels so right.”

“I know, it really does.” Sebastian wrapped his arms around James’s neck. “We’re basically perfect for each other. And I couldn’t be happier that I’m bringing out the horny caveman in you. He’s hot.”

“Oh my god.” James rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t dim in the slightest.

“None of that.” Sebastian kissed him on the nose. “This might be my proudest moment: getting the guy who used to blush at the word dildo to say he wants to cover me in marks so everyone knows how thoroughly he’s satisfied me.”

James went bright red. “When you put it like that?—”

“It’s exactly how you put it. And I love it. I love being yours. It makes me happier than I thought possible.” Sebastian released James, taking in the soft smile and affectionate shine in his eyes. Sebastian kissed his nose once more. “Now, let’s go make dinner. I need to feed you.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The next morning, it was still dark. Sebastian and James didn’t comment on it. The darkness just hung over them like the worst kind of third wheel. But what could they do other than go on as usual?

Down in the kitchen, Sebastian handed James his leather jacket. “Here.”

James’s brow wrinkled. “You don’t want to keep wearing it?”

“No, I do. But if you never wear it, it’ll stop smelling like you.”

James grinned. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He slipped the jacket on, and Sebastian took a moment to appreciate the sight. He’d missed James wrapped in leather.

Sebastian grabbed the hoodie James had been about to put on. “I’ll settle for this, for now.” He pulled it over his head, brought the collar to his nose, and sniffed. “It’s almost like being wrapped up in you all day.”

James crushed him into a hug. “I’ll wrap you up whenever you want, sweetheart.”

Sebastian melted.

They’d managed to stop clinging to each other and eat breakfast by the time Eli and Parker walked into the kitchen. Sebastian hadn’t even heard the front door open. He’d been too caught up in James and making sure he finished his pancakes to notice anything else.

Eli plonked his laptop down on the counter without saying hello. “Analysis is not going well.”

James gave his brother a concerned frown. “Why not?”

“I don’t know why. That’s the problem.” Eli opened the computer. “If I knew why the data looked like this, everything would be fine.”

“What does it look like?” Sebastian peered over Eli’s shoulder at the laptop screen. It was nothing but a mess of numbers to him.

Eli opened a graph depicting a scattered mess of dots. “There’s almost no pattern to the energy flowing through the vein intersection. It’s chaos.” He pointed at the dots. “This is nothing like what I recorded at the vein in town, which is connected to this mess, so you’d think they’d have some similarities.”

Eli pulled up another graph with dots forming a tightly grouped, fairly steady line. “The amount of energy flowing through town hardly changes. And look how much higher the energy levels are at the intersection.” He switched back to the first graph.

“Doesn’t that make sense?” James scratched his chin. “We know the veins are unstable at Storm House. Maybe this is what unstable looks like.”

Parker bumped Eli’s shoulder with his. “That’s a good point.”

“Sure.” Eli ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated air. “But the fuel cell is supposed to be stabilizing things. And speaking of the fuel cell, why does adding more energy stop the veins from exploding? After seeing this, I’d have thought less energy would help the situation, bring it back down to the levels I’m seeing in town.”

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