Page 107 of Changeling
Nathan couldn’t help the grin that grew on his face. “You want to go out? Like hit the town for some well-earned fun kind of going out?You?”
Sasha giggled.
Jim—somehow managing it while he was still smiling—scowled. “Yes,me. What, I can’t want fun? Isn’t that somethingyouwould suggest about now?”
“Well yeah. But then you’re supposed to shoot me down and say that we have to turn in early so we can get up and head out first thing to track down our next batch of sidhe.”
“And we should,” Jim nodded, “the leaving first thing, thing anyway. Nothing’s more important to me, Nathan, than saving you. You know that,” he said perfectly serious. Then his large grin quirked up again. “But as for tonight…”
Sasha whooped up at the sky, slapping both Jim and Nathan on the backs with wet slopping noises that made Nathan feel even squishier. He had to smile though. They all did.
“Do you realize how many sidhe we’ve gotten rid of already?” Sasha grinned, “I mean, holy shit, guys, it’s crazy. Nathan…we can totally do this.” The hand on Nathan’s back moved to his face, holding it with wet on wet skin.
“Yeah…I think we can. So, what’s this night on the town going to entail?”
Jim looked honestly thoughtful but Sasha’s mouth opened with promise. Then his cell phone went off with a loud exclamation of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Jim barked another laugh while Sasha moved to answer the call, trying unsuccessfully to shield his phone from the rain.
“Yeah?” He listened for a moment. “Cam! Hey, what’s up? Uh, standing in the pouring rain covered in mud, actually.” He laughed again and gave Nathan’s arm a good smack. “No, not ina kinky way. You in town?” Sasha had been keeping his friend posted on where they were.
While Sasha and Cam talked, Nathan turned his eyes on his brother, who was trying to flick some of the mud off his clothing. They would all need a shower before any ‘outing’ was to be had. And then suddenly one good fling sent a gob of mud from Jim’s sleeve right at Nathan’s neck. It oozed down underneath Nathan’s collar, reminding him of how gross he felt. He tossed Jim a glare.
Jim, of course, snickered.
‘I will end you,’Nathan mouthed.
Jim eyed Nathan with the most insufferable look. It said‘bring it’loud and clear and Nathan was so ready to get dirty. He reached down and scooped up a handful of mud. Jim did the same.
“Guys!” Sasha yelled.
But it was too late. Nathan let loose with a good fling and so did Jim, both of them managing fairly direct shots to the face. Nathan didn’t wait for Jim to reload. He dove forward and brought Jim down hard into the mud. Jim was bigger and stronger, but he was also something like drunk or high and was not at his best. He just barely grabbed hold of enough mud to smash up into Nathan’s face again. Nathan didn’t care though. He had hold of Jim and was soon giving his brother a good old fashioned mud face-wash.
“You are so dead!” Jim laughed as he lashed back at Nathan, knocking him to the side and then pouncing after him with his face and hair totally covered. Nathan tried to crawl out of Jim’s reach but Jim grabbed quickly onto his thighs to hold him. He scooped up another gob of mud and hurled it point blank into Nathan’s face.
Nathan laughed so hard he got some of the mud in his mouth and had to spit before he could regroup. When he did it was totackle Jim back again until they were honestly wrestling in the mud like ten-year-olds.
“Guys!” Sasha called again, this time actually insistent even though he was laughing so hard there may have been tears streaming down his face if not for the rain.
Jim and Nathan obeyed, stopping their mud fight long enough to look up.
“Cam’s not here, but he wanted us to know that Eppy and Attyare,” Sasha said. “They told him they’d meet us later at this place in town if we’re game. Guess they’ve been waiting for the chance to hook up. It’s perfect. If anyone knows how to live it up, it’s the twins.”
Normally, Nathan would have made his utterance alone, but it was further proof that Jim was buzzing from that energy high because both of them responded with the same toned, same hopeful sounding prompt of, “Twins?”
Therewerefewthingsthat could best the fun of having a mud fight with his brother. Washing the mud off of his body with his boyfriend in the shower was definitely one of them. Nathan loved an aggressive Sasha. Whatever that surge of dark energy was doing to his companions, fervor was a prominent part of the package. And stamina, it would seem.
Nathan was still half covered in mud, gasping back against the tiled wall while Sasha gripped him hard and ran eager hands down the contours of his stomach, making him quiver.
But despite the energy surge currently making Sasha forget they had been estranged the past couple of weeks, Nathan thought about what Jim had told him at the barn. He leaned back against Sasha under the spray of hot water.
“You know…I never signed up for this break we’ve been on, this sleeping next to each other instead of with each other thing.” He felt Sasha’s hand still and slide up to his stomach. “I figured you were…mad I didn’t let the change happen all the way.”
“What? No, Nate, I…of course I’m not mad about that. I thought…” Sasha’s arms wrapped around Nathan’s waist and held him tightly. “I thought you were mad atmefor almost getting Jim killed.”
Nathan’s hand instinctively came up to scrub down his face. He turned in Sasha’s hold. “Baby…you didn’t almost get Jim killed. And neither did I. It was that Malak bastard lording his power over us, shoving it in our faces that he owns me. You didn’t know that was gonna happen.”
“But you looked so…relieved when the change didn’t take. The things you said to Malak, I thought…you had to have meant them.”
