Page 12 of The Mourning Throne
Too tight.
Not a hug.
Not even fucking close.
Morgan’s arms pinned his at his sides. Chest pressed full against Lex’s, all weight and heat and force.
Lex couldn’t move. Could barely breathe.
He could feel it though. Morgan’s heartbeat, slow and steady—thudding right into his own.
“If I didn’t want you,” Morgan said, cheek biting into the side of Lex’s head, “you wouldn’t be here.”
Lex’s throat tightened.
“We wouldn’t be here.”
There wasn’t stroking or soothing. Just Morgan holding him in place like he belonged.
Like he wasn’t too much.
Like Morgan could take all of him—bitching and jealousy and everything in between—and want more.
“It’s still—it’s still fucked up,” he whispered. “Youdoknow that, right?”
Morgan didn’t argue.
Didn’t tell him he was wrong.
Maybe that was the closest Lex would get to admittance.
Lex buried his face against Morgan’s collarbone, breathing him in, letting the heat and weight of him settle the gnawing thing inside.
His hands fisted into Morgan’s shirt.
“Breathe, Lex,” Morgan murmured after a while. “It’s only the two of us now.”
And that?
That was all Lex needed to hear.
Chapter 3
Lex sank into the leather seat and let his head fall back against the rest.
It wasn’t as bad as he expected. Not even close.
Everything smelled expensive: the leather seat polish, that lemon-clean disinfectant they probably checked with a white glove, and Morgan’s daytime cologne—ginger and orange, like Christmas baking. Even the air had that filtered crispness that screamed luxury. Maybe they literally passed money through the vents on nice jets.
God, it was fuckingcool.
He fumbled with the seat belt—found the latch, snapped it into place with more force than necessary, then stared out the window like he hadn’t already peeked out half a dozen times, watching the tarmac.
Concrete. Painted lines. The weird boxy machines rolling around like bugs. People tinier than ants.
His leg bounced. Twice. Then a third time—until Morgan’s hand settled on it.
“I’ve never been on a plane,” Lex muttered.
