Page 46 of Saint

And empty.

In more ways than one.

At some point, Nix had crawled beneath his skin and snuck into his veins. Lake could feel him there with every breath, every beat of his heart.

“You’re mine,” he whispered the words against the curve of Nix’s spine between nips and licks, one hand kneading Nix’s plump ass cheek. If he could touch him everywhere all at once, Lake would. If he could bury himself as deeply inside of Nix ashis Songbird had managed to bury himself within him, he would without hesitation.

Despite his promise to go slow, there was an urgency coursing through him, spurring him on as he traveled up Nix’s body. When he made it to the side of Nix’s throat, he mimicked the bite, lightly setting his teeth against those marks. The scar he’d left behind, a branding to show the universe who Phoenix Monroe belonged to.

A warning not to cross any lines with what was his.

Nix let out a soft mewl and arched into the touch, his ass lifting and rubbing against the bulge caught behind Lake’s pants.

“Take off your clothes,” Nix ordered in a breathy tone, his eyes closed. He didn’t push Lake away or resist his touches, even when he continued to trace the claiming mark with the tip of his tongue.

“Have you forgiven me, Songbird?” Lake shouldn’t have asked it, he knew that, yet the question burst out of him anyway, and they both went still as soon as it was out there.

Slowly, Nix’s eyes opened, though he didn’t turn his head, staring at the window instead. Whether he was assessing his own feelings or merely trying to come up with the best way to turn Lake down, it was unclear, but eventually he broke his own silence.

“No.” Nix’s hand shot back, grabbing onto Lake’s forearm before he could pull away. “Don’t stop.”

“Nix…”

“I don’t have to forgive you to want you,” he insisted. “I meant everything I said. We need this.” He hesitated and then in a quieter voice added, “I need this.”

The sexual chemistry between them had always been off the charts. Lake had been obsessed from the moment he’d first laid eyes on him, and Nix had responded in kind, whether he’d realized at the time or not. In many ways, sex was the easiestthing between them, the thing that kept them bound even when Nix wanted to resist.

Even if Lake had failed at claiming Nix’s mind and heart, he’d known for a long time that he had his body.

But…

“It isn’t enough,” he found himself saying, rising to his knees. “This isn’t enough.”

Frowning, Nix also sat up, twisting around to stare at him in obvious confusion. “You don’t want to fuck me?”

“Of course I want to fuck you, Songbird.”

“Then?” He shook his head. “I don’t see the problem here.”

“That,” he sighed, “in and of itself is the problem.”

Nix paused, considering things, and Lake should have realized he’d figure it out. He was clever, enough to rival West even, and his best friend was the smartest guy Lake knew.

“You aren’t forcing me, Lake,” Nix said.

“Aren’t I? You’re doing this because of the other night. Dinner with Hendrix and Demitrious. Isn’t that the case?”

“That’s part of it,” he didn’t bother denying it, and Lake wasn’t sure if that was progress or not.

“Every time I think I’m getting closer to you, I realize I’m still too far away.”

“It’s not my fault you approached this whole thing wrong from the start,” Nix replied. “You chose to force me before. These are the consequences of your actions. And, what? Now that I’m willing to sleep with you, now that I’m sitting here naked and hard, you suddenly don’t want to?”

“I already said I—”

Nix shook his head, stopping him. “You’re being selfish, Lake. Still. You keep telling me you’re sorry and you’ll make it up to me, but then you go and do things like this all over again.”

“Like what?”

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