Page 89 of All That Has Flown Beyond
“Thank you.”
“Who’s the Kephale?”
“Hanaki Kanbara, but she won’t be coming. It’ll be her eldest son and heir to the Kephale Ousía, Mori, as well as Hanaki’s daughter, Tomoko, and youngest son, Junpei.”
Ahmik nodded and grunted in reply. His shoulders were stiff with tension as he looked down at his hands.
“Anyway,” Kaiyo said. “Do you want to look at the information I gathered about possible options for which covens to form alliances with?”
“Sure,” Ahmik said after a slight pause.
Kaiyo gathered the material, glad for the distraction. Ahmik seemed to listen attentively as Kaiyo described the different options.
“This one has a seer as well. That’ll make for stronger wards if they stay here, right? If they perform the ritual together?” Ahmik asked. Kaiyo raised his eyebrows a little.
“Uh, yeah,” Kaiyo said, not being able to hide his surprise at Ahmik’s knowledge.
Ahmik shrugged. “What? I’ve been doing some research.”
“No, that’s—that’s good,” Kaiyo said. He looked at Ahmik with a pleased smile. Ahmik scrunched up his face in an exaggeration of a grumpy moue, making Kaiyo laugh.
The tension between them cracked, softening their interactions. Kaiyo could feel the heat of Ahmik’s body as they sat close together. It was like a dream you remember in increments. A nebulous impression at first, before it starts gaining shape and meaning, dragging your thoughts towards it in flashes of sounds and colours and the aching feeling they caused.
Kaiyo took out a map of Garrow land to pinpoint where the cornerstones of the wards were. He traced a line from one to another, a whisper of skin on paper.
“Here?” Ahmik asked, and his finger joined Kaiyo’s at the last stop. It was just a brush. A suggestion of heat. It made want ripple through Kaiyo, the scent of a good meal when you’re starving.
“Yeah,” Kaiyo said, frustrated that such a simple touch could distract him.
Where had his control and discipline disappeared to? Why did Ahmik have such easy access to the part of him Kaiyo didn’t even want to acknowledge?
Ahmik’s finger pressed a little closer. Kaiyo stilled. His focus was a pinpoint on the contact between their bodies. On the finger that pressed a moment against his pulse and then up the thin lantern-paper skin of his wrist before disappearing.
It almost became a game. A collection of small touches and flickering looks. It made Kaiyo think of old proverbs about playing and fire.
Night had fallen by the time they finished. The conservatory was a warm, glowing cocoon in the dark. It was just Ahmik and Kaiyo, away from the rest of the world.
Kaiyo ordered the papers on the desk as Ahmik put away the maps. He heard Ahmik’s slow steps return, felt his heat and presence for a moment before he pressed against Kaiyo’s back. The world seemed to sigh and shudder with the oxymoronic tightening rope of relief.
Kaiyo braced himself on the table, but Ahmik didn’t press hard. Instead, he dragged the tip of his nose along Kaiyo’s temple, leaving a kiss there. Kaiyo closed his eyes at the unbearable intimacy of the moment. One of Ahmik’s hands slipped under Kaiyo’s shirt, dragging his nails against sensitive skin before pressing against his taut stomach.
“Kaiyo,” Ahmik murmured, burying the word into his shoulder.
Kaiyo tilted his head against Ahmik’s shoulder, exposing his throat. He felt Ahmik’s pleased animal growl reverberate through him. The familiarity of the sound cut through the core of Kaiyo. Ahmik had used it sometimes to help Kaiyo to go to sleep, lying in bed like two spoons in a drawer and rumbling against him.
Ahmik took advantage of the offered skin at once, kissing the line of Kaiyo’s throat, the tendon that stood out with the position. The table in front of them protested slightly as they pressed against it.
“Not here,” Kaiyo said, not wanting any of his plants to get damaged.
Ahmik stood back, turning Kaiyo as if they were in the middle of a dance. “Okay,” he said, and kissed Kaiyo once, a soft press.
They made their way to Kaiyo’s cottage. Not even the night air could cool the heat of Kaiyo’s skin, the electricity buzzing between them.
Warmth and light greeted them as they entered the cottage. Kaiyo turned to see Ahmik swaying slightly in place, his eyes closed.
“I’ve…I’ve never been in here before.” He opened his eyes and looked at Kaiyo with nothing but heat. “God. It smells like you.”
All the soft tentativeness of before disappeared. Ahmik stalked towards Kaiyo, pressing him against a wall. He clutched at the amulet around Kaiyo’s neck, pausing a moment to see if he would be stopped before yanking it upwards and away.
