Page 54 of Broken Ice
“Baby. Baby, look at me, okay?” He released Emilio’s face to grab his hands and bring them up to his own cheeks. “See? Look, baby. Look.”
Gently, slowly, Beau moved Emilio’s hands over his brows, the bridge of his nose, his closed eyelids. He kissed Emilio’s fingertips one by one, listening to Emilio’s breath slow.
“I’m right here.” Beau used Emilio to trace his own jaw, down to his neck. He brushed his lips on Emilio’s palm and let his fingers linger on Beau’s scent gland as he pumped out the calmest pheromones he could manage.
He opened his eyes to see a significantly calmer but still out of it Emilio, eyes unfocused.
“Can you get me some water from the green bag under the bed?” Beau asked. He could tell Emilio needed to be anchored by something. Anchored by Beau.
Emilio blinked a few times. “Water?”
“Yeah. Under the bed.”
It took a few beats for Emilio to move, but he did as he was asked, keeping his eyes on Beau for as long as he could. He slid the provisions from under the bed, grabbing a couple of bottles of water and some granola bars.
They settled in their now well-known feeding position—Emilio’s back resting on the headboard, Beau draped sideways on his lap. Emilio handed over the water bottle, staring intently as Beau drank.
“That was perfect. Thank you,” Beau praised.
A little bit of the tension in Emilio’s shoulders seeped out.
Beau rested his cheek against Emilio’s chest as he was fed pieces of granola bar, sipping some water each time Emilio offered it, demolishing two bars.
“Thank you,” Beau whispered. “You always take such good care of me. You make me so happy.”
Emilio made a noise like something had hurt him. He buried his face in Beau’s curls, holding him tightly.
Beau closed his eyes and purred.
He’d done it during a couple of heats since that first time, but he couldn’t remember ever doing it on purpose. Not that he could make himself purr at any time, but it was easy with Emilio.
Emilio’s panting smoothed out. They slid until they were lying on the bed, Emilio’s nose in Beau’s neck, breathing him in.
Beau kept the rumble going, letting himself calm too, wrapped up in Emilio’s arms.
There was no place he’d rather be.
***
Beau woke up sore and disoriented. It took him a few moments to figure out why there was a fully clothed Emilio in his bed when Beau himself was completely naked.
The memories of the previous night—of how affected Emilio had been—cracked through his mind like thunder.
Beau shifted slightly. Emilio was still sleeping, and Beau didn’t dare leave the nest and risk him waking up alone.
He reached carefully for his phone, settling in as Emilio rested. He sent Greg a ‘heat over’ text and checked the score from last night. The Manatees had lost 5-2.
Ouch.
Some tweets came up with the Google search, Emilio’s name catching his eye.
He clicked on it.
Torres absolutely all over the place. Useless on the power play. Bad turnover leads to the third Baltimore goal.
Beau made sure his phone was on mute before watching the video. Emilio looked slow and lost on the ice, passing the puck across defensive ice even though none of the Manatees were there, one of the Baltimore Beasts picking it up easily and beating Dee on a neat shot.
Beau turned the screen off, closing his eyes.
