Page 63 of Changeling
“Fuck,” Nathan all but growled in reply.
Pulling back, Sasha gently touched a hand to the bandages on Nathan’s chest. Nathan might have felt flawed by the ugly welts beneath the gauze that would surely leave several scars, but Sasha looked at him, all of him, like there was nothing he would rather touch than what he was touching now, and Nathan felt beautiful.
He was lost in Sasha’s rocking and the way the incubus’ hands kept tracing over his bandaged chest, always gentle and reverent with his father’s wedding ring that hung on a chain around his neck.
Sasha’s eyes flickered red as the connection between them pulsed with something hotter—expectant. Nathan was sore from doing this in the chair, but the feeling of Sasha in his lap, connected to him and fully in his grasp made it more than worth it to bear the awkward positioning. He held onto Sasha’s hips, still loosely covered by the towel, and rode out through to the end, biting his lower lip when he came to keep from crying out in a way that would have been far too embarrassing with other patrons next door.
Sasha’s hands immediately fumbled for the towel, and Nathan obliged since he knew what the incubus wanted. Tearing the towel away, Nathan gripped the still hard, slick redhead and stroked until Sasha came too, with Nathan still twitching happily inside of him.
When Sasha finally slid away, using the discarded towel to clean them, Nathan felt some of the same after-buzz he had felt the first time Sasha shared the circuit, like his toes were tingling and he could really use a good night’s sleep. He caughtthe incubus’ wrist when Sasha touched a loving hand to the bandages again.
“I’d pull you back onto my lap, baby, but I think you’re gonna have to carry me out the door when Jim gets back,” Nathan said with a tired grin.
Sasha merely laughed.
Chapter 26
Sashareturnedtotheirbooth with a round of beers. Jim had fired up Sasha’s laptop, and he and Nathan were deep in a discussion over locations in Pittsburg to search for dark fae—a local private school being their top lead. To Nathan’s chagrin, it seemed a trip to Wade’s was inevitable.
While they were checking out a few other possible leads, Nathan checked out the patrons. It was a seedier bar than they usually ended up at, but there hadn’t been many other options in the small New York town.
Sasha placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder, resting his hip against Nathan’s and leaning over him to see the laptop. Nathan didn’t really pay that much attention since he’d grown so used to Sasha’s casual touches. Jim, however, glanced up and frowned. He caught Nathan’s eye, flicked his gaze to Sasha with a raised eyebrow, and motioned toward the rough crowd at the pool tables.
It only took a moment for the penny to drop for Nathan. That kind of intimacy in this kind of bar was at the very least stupid if not downright dangerous. He quickly shrugged Sasha off, regretting that it was a bit rough.
“Personal space, dude!” Nathan ground out.
Sasha looked hurt and opened his mouth to say something but stopped at the look on Nathan’s face. It was only there for a moment—just long enough to ensure that Sasha saw it—but definitely an apology.
“Not here,” Nathan whispered. “So, see anything that strikes your fancy?” He raised his voice to ensure being overheard and turned to check out the women standing around the bar.
Sasha knew to play along. “Slim pickings, but I might be able to find a little something to occupy myself. How about you?” He glanced toward the pool tables. They were short on cash again, and Sasha knew that Nathan and Jim often restocked their wallets that way.
“Might be worth my while,” Nathan said, honestly interested in taking up the offer. “You okay here, Jim?”
“Yeah, you guys go ahead. I’m just going to do a bit more work so we have a few options before we leave tomorrow.”
Sasha moved to the bar, while Nathan seamlessly insinuated himself at one of the pool tables and was soon in the process of losing his first game. The group at the tables was a rough crowd, but not any worse than the types Nathan had been hustling since he was a teenager.
Glancing at the bar after his most recent turn—in which he miscued spectacularly—Nathan couldn’t help noticing that the incubus had the cream of the crop when it came to the bar’s women, even if it was more like non-dairy substitute. The small group was laughing and flirting easily. Nathan smiled at how effortlessly the incubus captivated them. He also quickly scanned the rest of the patrons to make sure none of them werepissed off boyfriends. No one seemed to be giving the group much attention.
An hour later, Nathan was still working his hustle. He couldn’t appear to have improved miraculously, so slow and steady was the way to go. In a college town or someplace more downhome friendly, he could have counted on a couple of guys being too cocky or too drunk to notice the hustle, and who could probably afford to part with a larger sum more amicably. The crowd in this bar would be quicker to recognize what was going on if he was too obvious, and would be a lot more pissed off about it.
After making a tricky shot, Nathan noticed Jim wandering up to the pool table. “We’re going to head back to the motel,” Jim said.
“‘K. I’ll see you guys later.” Nathan was too in the zone to leave now and at least had to finish one more round.
He concentrated on his next shot but raised his gaze long enough to watch Sasha move gracefully out the door after Jim. He also noticed a number of female eyes follow the incubus as he left. Some of them, he noted, were just a bit disgruntled looking. He snorted softly to himself and turned back to the game.
The men Nathan was playing with cast interested eyes after Sasha and Jim’s retreating forms. They had seen the redhead chatting up the local beauties and now seemed to be taking note that Sasha was leaving alone. Pete, the ring leader of the bunch and Nathan’s current opponent, had started to give away his irritation at Nathan’s skill with a cue, and looked even more displeased.
Pete missed his next shot and moved to the side with a deep scowl to wait for another opening. Nathan saw one of the local women sidle up to him. She was one of the ones Sasha had been with. The girl’s name seemed to be Candy. Nathan smirked at that. He’d have to tease Sasha mercilessly about it tomorrow.
Candy was busy leaning all over Pete now and whispering in his ear. He seemed to be getting a bit agitated at whatever it was she was saying.
A few minutes later, Nathan figured it was safe to sink the last ball of the current game and follow after the others. He’d come out at about $150 for the night. Not a great amount but at least enough to pay for their room and breakfast, plus enough gas to get to the next Veil doorway.
By this time a bit of a crowd had gathered. Pete was the local champ, apparently, and there he was being beaten. Pete did not look happy when Nathan sank the last ball.
