Page 25 of Distant Heart

The real test was figuring out how to convince his xa’us to want that too.

Illya brushed a strand of Rexton’s bangs off his forehead, tugging it lightly. When that caused the other man to rouse,he smiled, the expression turning into a full-on grin when Rex blinked at him and then buried his face deeper into the pillow.

“Morning, baby.” Illya continued to pat his head, relishing the feel of his silky hair against the tips of his fingers. It felt like a lifetime since they’d last been like this, lazy and content, with no sense of urgency or unanswered longing.

Rexton hummed in response, and Illya chuckled brightly, tugging on another lock in a bid to get him to wake. Rex captured his hand and finally opened his eyes all the way. “Be’tessi.”

“Oh, so I’m your Be’tessi now?” He draped himself over Rexton, pinning his lithe form to the mattress. “That’s not what you were saying last night.”

Before the two of them had met, Illya had no interest in the boring customs of other planets outside of what was required of him to learn to run his mother’s business. But he’d instantly taken a liking to the word Be’tessi, a term traditionally used by Vitals when referring to a male older than themselves. It could be used to reference a blood relative or older brother, or as a term of endearment. They didn’t have anything like it on Usurn, and Illya had always thought that was a pity and a missed opportunity.

“Thanks for playing along.” Rexton shifted beneath him and winced. “Did you have to be so rough though?”

“Are you hurt?” He clicked his tongue chidingly. “Serves you right. You’re the one who chose the game. Fortunately for you, I caught on.”

Illya had been confused and surprised when Rexton had pretended not to know him last night. When he’d entered the main hall, had met his gaze head-on and then simply…walked away. For a very brief moment, he’d even been concerned he’d done something wrong, something that had pissed Rexton off, but eventually he’d realized what was happening.

Despite the distance, they’d been together long enough it hadn’t been that hard to figure out what his boyfriend was really after.

“I knew you would,” Rexton confirmed, the distant and haughty tone he’d used during Praeda gone now that the sun was out and the game had concluded.

“Why the sudden foray into primal play? Does this have something to do with Aneski?”

Rexton scowled and glanced away, then ended up rolling his eyes when Illya captured his chin and forced his gaze back. “I just…hate feeling like I’m being left behind.”

“Yes,” he drawled, “that’s never a good feeling.”

“Illya.”

“What?”

“Can we not make this about us right now?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve already done that,” he pointed out, grinding his hips—and his semi hard on—against him, “but all right. What do you need from me, baby?”

“You just want to placate me so we can fuck again.”

“That’s not true.” Ever since the first moment Illya had seen Rexton Xiphus, he’d had the unbeatable urge to protect him. Even from himself. They’d tiptoed around one another that entire summer two years ago, both pretending not to be interested in the other. Eventually—in a reverse mirror of last night—it’d been Rexton who caved first and come on to him. “If you didn’t feel safe with me, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“We’ve been together for over fifteen months,” Rex stated. “Of course I feel safe with you.”

He laughed.

“What?”

“You’re always so specific.”

“Details matter,” Rexton insisted. “Being honest with your feelings matters.”

“Who isn’t being honest?” he asked even though he already knew the answer. There was only one other person aside from him who could turn his boyfriend into this bundle of anxious nerves. Aneski Kendricks. The leader of the stupid gang both he and Rexton were a part of, despite all of Illya’s attempts to get Rex to leave.

The two of them had never met, and part of that was by design. It was the same reason out of all of the Black Harts, only Ryker had ever seen Rexton’s face. All of the other guys simply knew Illya was in a long-distance relationship. Hell, only some of them even cared enough to know it was with Ellery’s cousin.

Rexton turned his head on the pillow stubbornly.

“Should I coax it out of you?”

“You’re such a control freak.”

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