Page 28 of The Death God
Thanatos snorted. “I didn’t save him from a snake bite only to sic a vampire on him.”
When Gregory made a sound of protest, he continued. “I don’t know his name, anyway. I don’t know any of their names unless they introduced themselves, but those who did normally didn’t touch me.”
Minerva walked into the kitchen. “Oh, am I interrupting a date?” She grinned.
“If this was a date, lovely Minerva, you’d have known it was a date, and I don’t think Prophecy would appreciate me stealing you away from him.” Gregory winked at her.
“You’re hopeless.” But she was grinning. “I’m heading to bed.”
“Good night.”
“I should—”
Gregory curled his fingers around Thanatos wrist as he got ready to get up. “You haven’t finished your drink.”
“Sleep well.” Minerva disappeared from the kitchen, after leaving a couple of dirty glasses on the counter. It had been clean before, with no dishes in sight, and it bothered Gregory that she left them there as if expecting someone else to clean up.
“You’re trying to get me drunk, aren’t you?”
“No, my sweet, I’m trying to get you to relax.”
“Why?”
* * * *
Gregory’s smile wasn’t like anything Thanatos had ever seen before. It held a promise that had his heart beating faster. The problem was he wasn’t sure what kind of promise it was, and he didn’t know if he wanted to know.
“Now, now, deep breaths, my darling.”
“Why do you keep calling me stupid shit like that?” He was snappy, but he didn’t care.
“Because you are. You’re my boyfriend, and I call my boyfriends darling and honey and sweetie, and whatever else happens to pop up in my mind.”
“No. You call both me and Jaki those things, and you do it to mock us.”
Gregory looked surprised. “Mock? It has nothing to do with mockery.”
“Why then?”
“Because you’re mine.”
“Jaki is Rufus’, not yours.” Thanatos didn’t know why he was angry about it. Gregory had called Minerva things too. He’d never heard him call Rufus darling or anything along those lines. “And you do it because you don’t respect us. You never call Rufus darling. You respect him, so you’d never—”
“I respect you. I respect the hell out of you, and what you’ve been through. Rufus is like a brother to me. He’s been my best friend for over a hundred and fifty years, and he’d cut my head off if I called him honey.”
“So if I tried to cut your head off, you’d stop?”
Gregory carefully took Thanatos’ hand in his and brought it closer to his mouth. “No, sweetheart.” The brush of his lips on his knuckles sent a shiver through him.
“Stop it.” But his words were breathy, and he didn’t pull his hand back.
“I’ll stop on Sunday.”
He huffed but something unclenched inside him. It was a game, and he didn’t think Gregory would hurt him, not really. There would be no trips to the sickbay, unless the werewolves did something, of course.
“Good.” Gregory sounded as if he’d spoken out loud, which he had not. “We’ll start with small touches and work up to you not freaking out when I walk into a room.”
“You’re the one freaking out when I’m in the same room as you.”
