Page 15 of From Frost to Flame

It didn’t matter, though. His body and heart yearned to steal the pet name from Silas's lips again and again.

“Everything alright?” Silas cocked his head to the side, confused. “You seem distracted. Do you need to lie down?”

“I’m fine. I’ll take the damn shirt off, but I’m not happy about it.”

“Noted,” Silas said with a small chuckle as he turned to the supplies laid out in preparation.

Lex attempted to unbutton his shirt with his uncoordinated left hand since his right was useless. The looming threat of death and frustration with his heart made everything more difficult. His hands shook, and his fingers fumbled and tumbled over his slippery silver buttons as if he were a child learning to dress himself. To make it worse, his wrist throbbed relentlessly, reminding him death was nipping at his heels.

“For fuck’s sake! I can’t get it off.” He threw his hand down. “You might as well leave my wrist alone. I’m going to die soon anyway. Infection will come, the compass will kill me, or Arden will. Even if I survive this journey, The Ravenous One will end me. She is frost and famine. She feasts on suffering and death. This is pointless. I can’t even unbutton my shirt. How can I—”

Silas rose off his heels, filling the space between Lex’s legs and closing the gap between them. Lex’s words stuck in his throat as Silas slowly undid his buttons with nimble fingers. His thick, pretty lashes fanned against his cheeks as he made his way down Lex’s chest. There was a minor cut on his face from the fight with Arden.

He really is beautiful.

Beautiful didn’t do Silas's pretty cheekbones, sun-kissed skin, or supple lips justice. His fingers lightly brushed against the thin tank top under his blouse for a second, and Lex knew he’d be haunted by the sensation for the rest of the night.

“You are right. An infection is possible, and The Ravenous One will try to kill you.” He tugged Lex’s shirt out of his pants swiftly, making him jump. “But you are forgetting a key point.”

“Key point?” Lex stammered.

Silas placed his hands on Lex’s chest. Slowly, he ran them up to his shoulders and eased the shirt off while holding his gaze with those hypnotic eyes.

“When it comes to protecting what I care about, I don’t lose. Ever.” He tossed the shirt to the floor. Without asking, he gripped the bottom of Lex’s tank top and pulled it up over his head. He was careful to ease his sore arm out of it before tossing it aside. “Now, isn’t that better?”

Lex nodded, unable to unknot his tongue as Silas flicked his eyes over him.

Silas paused on his chest and smirked. “Those are new.”

“Oh.” Lex swallowed, realizing Silas was talking about his two-nipple piercings that glinted in the firelight. “Yeah. Uh, a drunken night with my family a few years ago, I got them done.”

“They look great. I always thought piercings would look sexy on you.” Silas took his wrist and turned it so his palm was up and the compass faced the floor. “Hold still.”

“Thanks.” He desperately willed his fangs to stay down in reaction to the compliment. I can’t come undone over him when he threw me away and— “Ow!” Silas poured something cold from a green bottle directly on his sliced-up wrist. A sharp pain radiated up his entire arm and it stung something fierce. “Fuck! What was that?”

“I thought ‘hold still’ was enough of a warning,” Silas said, laughing. “I forgot you aren’t used to such things.”

“No, I’m not accustomed to torture.” Lex looked down at his wrist and winced. The sight of the chain embedded in jagged, crisscrossing gashes made Lex lightheaded.

“Antiseptic isn’t torture. It’s medicine. Honestly, you should get more familiar with it if you keep drinking as much as you do,” Silas said, shaking his head. He dabbed the angry wounds dry with a small towel. “You’re going to get yourself hurt or killed walking around with your healing dampened like that. How many times have I told you, you drink too much with your family?”

“Medicine or torture, it’s all the same. And don’t lecture me. I may be younger than you, but I’m over a century old. I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not trying to lecture you. I’m expressing concern.” Silas grabbed a jar full of blue gel that smelled like mint and scooped some onto his fingers. He carefully massaged it into Lex’s sore cuts with his thumbs. “Contrary to what you may think, I don’t go looking for reasons to lecture you.”

“You could have fooled me. You always have something to say about my choices and you—oh. That feels really good.” A cool wave of relief washed over him, and the burning in his wrist subsided. He melted into the couch, letting out a light moan.

“I always make you feel better. Is that what you were going to say? Or maybe you were going to say, ‘Thank you, Silas, for always taking care of me despite my unending attitude problem.’”

“Will you just shut up?” Lex mumbled, refusing to look at Silas. He heard the smug smirk on his lips loud and clear. “You’re the worst.”

That got another warm laugh that reminded Lex of honeyed whiskey.

It shouldn’t be like this. We shouldn’t be playfully joking after everything.

“Hold your arm straight for me. Perfect.” Silas snatched a roll of bandages off the floor and tore it with his teeth. “Now that you’re more relaxed, we need to discuss your feeding details.”

“What’s there to discuss? Even in this state, luring a human should be rather easy.”

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