Page 62 of The Wild Charge

Be brave.

He took a less than steady breath and reached to tuck Reese’s hair behind his ear; thumbed his cheek and let his hand settle against his throat, and the strong, slow pulse there. Reese wasn’t afraid; he was curious, and trusting, and Tenny didn’t think he would ever need to hear those three words in return, because he already knew they were true.

He ached.

“Yes,” he admitted. “It hurts. Sometimes.”

Reese’s brows knitted.

“It’s like…you hated me at first, didn’t you?”

Reese blinked. “Yes.”

Tenny traced his pulse with his thumb, slow back and forth sweeps. He felt a grin tug at his mouth. “I could tell. Thelookyou gave me. It was only understandable, because I swept in, handsome and much more skilled than you–”

“You arenotmore skilled than me. Not in the way that counts.”

Tenny bit back a laugh. “The way that counts? And what way is that, love?”

“Fighting, shooting, climbing, killing–” He faltered, brow smoothing. “Well. I can’t do voices. Or faces.”

Tenny patted his cheek, the ache in his chest tightening, and that was what he wanted to tell him; it did hurt, but in a good way. “You’re getting much better at the faces.”

Reese’s gaze flitted away. “I didn’t know how to have sex.” Not so unselfconscious, now.

“Well, now you’re a champ, so who cares. Listen.Reese.” He held his throat again, and gave him the lightest squeeze until Reese’s gaze returned. “Youarethe better operative. I told Fox so myself.”

His eyes widened.

“It doesn’t matter what sort of training I have, or what I can do with it when I’ve been a royal cock too good for this place. Too good for…everything. I almost got myself killed because I was bored. And you saved my life, even though you hated me.”

Reese stared at him goggled-eyed, and Tenny felt like he’d lanced something open inside himself, that sludge was pouring out. He’d never been this honest before, not ever, and he was starting to shake, but he kept going, because this was the one person who deserved such honesty.

“You saved me because you take being in this club seriously, and a brother doesn’t leave another brother behind, right?”

Reese’s mouth worked silently a moment. “I…”

“I hated you for that,” Tenny continued, words pouring out of him, painful and too plentiful, but the wound was open, and it had to drain, now. “I didn’t want you to be better than me. I wanted it to mean something that I’d been raised the way I was. I wanted it to mean that I wasbetterbecause of it. I was perfect, and I–” Oh, shit, he was hyperventilating.

Reese’s hand touched his chest. “Tenny.”

He shut his eyes, shook his head, and felt an ugly smile twist his mouth. “I still hate you sometimes, you know? Because I can’t make you angry anymore, because you don’t hate me anymore, and you should, because I am–”

Lips pressed against his own. His eyes flipped open as Reese was drawing back, expression determined, now.

“Stop,” he said.

Tenny stopped.

“I only meant: do you wish you didn’t? Love me? If it hurts, is it worth it?”

Tenny swallowed and found he had a lump in his throat. Typical Reese: winnowing all the bullshit down to what truly mattered. “Yes,” he said, voice a rough scrape. “It’s worth it.”

Reese nodded – and then settled down on the pillow and wrapped both arms around him; gathered him in close to his chest, where his heartbeat was still steady and slow. “Go to sleep, then.”

Tenny let out a deep breath, exhausted, suddenly, but boneless. More peaceful. “Okay, then.”

As far as confessions went, he supposed it hadn’t been so bad.

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