Page 44 of Saint

He hadn’t just been putting up with it. He’d been enduring.

It made Nix wonder how much June had endured throughout his life.

Their talk afterward had been…necessary. Though they’d left things a little better than when they’d started, Nix still wasn’t sure how comfortable around the Demon he could be. Hewantedto get back to how they were, not only because that would be the simplest and safest thing for them all, but because he missed Yejun too.

His hope was that if he said it enough times, it would actually stick. Healing worked in mysterious ways, after all. While it was true he couldn’t force it, he could make the conscious decision to work toward it. He’d tested the waters by having coffee, and then a late lunch, with June. His body hadn’t reacted negatively by his closeness, so that was good.

Nix had spent the past few nights in West’s bed, but he knew he couldn’t stay there forever. If they were all in this together, they had to betogether. Which meant he needed to create safe spaces with all three of them.

That was half the reason he was here now, lying naked in Lake’s room.

Nix had originally planned on going with the others to West’s match, which was being held at a different school out of town, but he’d changed his mind at the last minute.

West hadn’t seemed too disappointed by that, probably sensing that there was a reason for it. It was odd that out of the three of them, it was West who was able to understand Nix’s thought process the best.

Nix lay back and planted his feet on the mattress, allowing his thighs to drop open. He was already semi-hard, anticipation bubbling beneath his skin as his hand trailed down. When he grabbed himself, his skin was hot, and his eyes shut as he began to slowly stroke himself to life. His dick grew in his hold, thickening and flushing. In no time at all, he felt his balls drawing up and he had to stop to keep himself from coming too soon.

He'd timed it well enough he thought, knowing Lake was always prompt. The Imperial had told him he’d be home by eight o’clock, and the neon numbers projected onto the wall across the room showed there was only one minute to.

Sure enough, the sound of footsteps in the hallway reached his ears and Nix sighed in relief.

He had one hand squeezing his balls and the other stroking his dick when the door finally opened.

Lake froze just beneath the threshold, eyes landing on Nix in obvious surprise.

“It’s cold,” Nix whined. “Shut the door.”

For a moment, it seemed like he wasn’t sure what to do, but then Lake entered and closed the door behind him, hovering at the side of the bed with a slight frown.

“What are you playing at, Songbird?” his voice was throaty, doing nothing to hide his lust. “Why are you wearing that?”

“Don’t you like it?” Nix was naked aside from the mask, the one Maestro had ordered him to bring along. Up until now, it’d sat in Nix’s suitcase unused, but he thought this was the perfect occasion to dust it off.

Giving one last pump of his dick, mostly just to draw Lake’s attention back down to it, Nix sat up and crawled closer, resting on his haunches when he could reach out and touch the Imperial. His hand roamed down Lake’s chest, stopping at the top of his belt suggestively.

“Nix.”

“Happy birthday.”

Lake’s frown deepened. “What?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“Like…what?”

“Your present, obviously.” He spun around, positioning himself on his hands and knees and bumped back so his ass came into contact with the space between Lake’s legs. He smirked at himself when something hard greeted him, and then glanced over his shoulder and met the other guy’s gaze. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

Lake swallowed, the movement of his throat catching Nix’s notice. “This is a dangerous game.”

“It isn’t a game,” he said.

“You’re telling me you’re going to fuck me as my birthday gift?”

“What’s with the sarcasm? I thought that was pretty apparent.” He wiggled his bare ass. “Can’t you see I’m already ready for you? Or do you want to watch me touch myself some more first?”

Nix moved again, dropping down onto his back, this time facing Lake so he had the perfect view of everything when he spread his thighs and bucked his hips into the air. His hand started for his cock, but before he could make contact, Lake snatched his wrist.

“Enough,” the Imperial stated, but Nix merely rolled his eyes.

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