Page 78 of Saint

It was time to test it. His for them.

And theirs for him.

“All right.” Nix motioned to the multi-slate in Juri’s hand. “Let’s get this over with. Kiss me.”

Juri lifted the device and switched on the camera feature before bending down so they were at eye level. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something else, maybe give another bullshit apology, but then he sighed and pressed his mouth to Nix’s.

It wasn’t really a kiss, he held their lips together and took a couple of photos, but the entire time his breath kept fanning against Nix’s cheeks intimately, and his body heat radiated out to engulf him in the way a lover’s heat was meant to. After a few seconds, Juri grew bolder and tilted his head to change the angle, snapping more pics all the while.

If there’d been any lingering doubts that Juri was right and Nix’s body had simply been programmed to react to external stimuli, they were disproven now. This was nothing like the contact he shared with the Demons. There was no electricity, no lust or ache. His dick was practically dead between his legs, and when he grabbed fistfuls of the bedsheets beneath him, it wasn’t out of passion.

Even though Juri was keeping his word and making this as PG-rated as he possibly could, all Nix could think of the entire time was one thing.

Cutting out Juri Ferd’s tongue and force-feeding it back to him until the guy choked.

Chapter 22:

Lake was in a piss poor mood by the time practice came to an end, and the worst part was, he couldn’t figure out why.

The weather had held up and they hadn’t had to deal with rain, West had called saying he and Beck had made it to the Roost and the two of them were going to hang out a bit—which meant he wasn’t sitting home alone. Sure, Lake didn’t like having strangers in their house, but Beck could hardly be considered that, and this close to Demons Passing, having allies nearby was smart no matter which way he looked at it.

The only thing he could think of that was bothering him was the fact he hadn’t yet heard from Nix or June. But that only meant their Songbird was still hanging out with Juri, which wasn’t cause for internal or external alarm.

He’d just come off the field and was in the process of removing his gloves when it all clicked into place for him.

Demitrious was there waiting.

“Lake,” he sounded dire. “Something has happened.”

“Did you find Hendrix?”

“No.” He waved Lake off to the side when other players passed on their way through the stables to the locker rooms, lowering his voice before adding, “It’s not about that. It’s something else that is equally important. I’ve already contacted the others and they’re on their way here.”

“You called West and Yejun?” That was strange. He checked his multi-slate but there weren’t any messages from them saying they were coming to the stadium.

“Yes, well, my son didn’t pick up, but then, he never does when I call. I assume he’ll listen to my voice mail and then head over. As for Yejun, he replied that he was close enough anyway and would pop in.” The sound of approaching footsteps had him turning to glance over his shoulder. “Ah, there he is.”

Yejun appeared, his hands in his front pockets as he carefully approached. The frown on his face indicated he didn’t know any more about why Demitrious was here than Lake did.

“You were supposed to be picking up Nix,” Lake reminded as soon as he was within earshot.

“We’re the same amount of distance,” Yejun pointed out, cautiously sidestepping the older man so he was standing at Lake’s side.

“Your traitorous fourth is fine,” Demitrious said, practically dripping malice. “He’s with Juri Ferd.”

“Traitorous?” Yejun’s eyes narrowed, but Lake was more caught on the second part of that statement.

“How do you know who he’s with?” If he was keeping inappropriate tabs on Nix, Lake was going to—

“Because of this.” Demitrious removed his multi-slate and held it up to them. “I was going to wait until all three of you were here but—”

Yejun snatched the device out of his hand, not caring about being rude, but not before Lake got a good look at the screen. “What the actual fuck is this?”

A picture.

Of Juri Ferd kissing Nix.

“It was sent to me anonymously,” Demitrious explained before either of them could ask how he’d gotten it.

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