Page 27 of Siren in Love
“What?”
“I’m taking you home.Now.Come on.”
Corvin nodded and let Mike help him into the van.Okay, maybe him holding my door is actually nice.Shit.I’ll get used to it, and then it’ll never stop, and I’ll be spoiled.
Given a cat had almost eaten him mere minutes ago, Corvin found he was actually kinda okay with that.
14
Corvin
WhenMikegotbackinto the van as well and closed the driver’s side door behind him, the world felt just a little more in balance than before.
Corvin, still clutching the dictionary against his chest, let out a slow breath while Mike turned on the engine and fiddled with the heater.
“Honey, are you sure you’re okay?”
Corvin looked at him.“Your boss said something about being left quite curious?About you bursting into song or whatever?Do you…do you sing at the office?Also, how come you’ve talked to him about me when you never told me about him?You two seem sort of chummy.”
Mike looked straight ahead, even though the traffic still wasn’t moving yet.Warm air blew out of the vents, only making Corvin more aware of how he was shivering.
“Work isn’t that interesting.No one sings.A lot of reading and paperwork though.”Something seemed to register, and he turned to meet Corvin’s gaze.“Chummy?You think I’m too close with Peter?Honey, if—”
“No!I mean, no.Just.”Corvin released his hold on the cat-bane volume.“It’s that you would leave me with him.And he said something about promising to keep me safe.Mike, you just parked me in your boss’s massive house because I’ve been a bit cold.I’d never do the same for you, not because I want you to freeze to death or have to resort to cannibalism, but rather because I’m just not that close with my boss.Or any of the professors who submit their research requests to me, for that matter.Also, did you know he has a first edition ofOn the Origins of Specieson his bookshelf?Dedicated to some other Peter?Afirst edition, Mike.”
“Yeah, Peter collects old books.It’s a hobby.I’m guessing he found one that was dedicated to someone with the same name?He and I get along fine, and I knew he’d be home and would be happy to offer you a place to warm up for a little while.”Mike shrugged.
Up ahead, the road was getting unblocked finally.Corvin bit his bottom lip.I sound like I’m nagging, right?Why am I nagging?He did a nice thing for me, and it wasn’t like Peter looked like he was worried about Mike.If there had been an office affair, Peter would have cared at least a little.
“I…I think the adrenaline…” Corvin shook his head.“He collects old books.Why didn’t you tell me that?Idigold books.”
Mike looked over to Corvin.“Maybe I didn’t want to share your attention.Peter can be quite intense, as you’ve seen.And he’s not for everyone.Like licorice.”
“Licorice?”
“Yeah.Intense.”
Intense my ass.The man might not be able to charm the pants off me, but he could scare me into wetting them all right.
“Huh.That’s one way of putting it.”
“Hon, what matters is that you’re okay.And you really knocked the cat out.”Mike’s voice lifted, pride blooming in his voice.
“I…guess I did.”And then his boss broke its neck.“What was that thing anyway?Peter called it a yule cat.And what wereyoudoinghummingat it?I mean, I know you like to hum and it’s charming, but what the fuck, Mike?That demon cat could have fuckinggoredyou!”
They were finally moving again and slowly speeding up, leaving the cover of shedding oak branches behind them.
“Yule cat… Peter’s of Scandinavian extraction, so that’s just a Scandinavian thing, you know?I heard cats like listening to soothing melodies, so I thought I’d give it a try.”
Corvin shivered.“Mike.For your information, I’m suppressing the urge to hit you over the head with this here dictionary right now for being so indescribably stupid as to serenade a feral cat,because you’ve fucking seen it on some nature documentary or whatnot.Do you understand you could’ve gotten hurt?You could’ve fucking died!”
Mike glanced over at Corvin, his blue eyes full of lapis-colored fire.He took Corvin’s hand, wove his fingers between Corvin’s, and kissed Corvin’s knuckles.“You came to rescue me.You really did.”
“Of courseI came to fucking rescue you!”
“I love you, Corvin Belya.You know that, right?I love you so much.”
Corvin groaned and rolled his eyes, but he made no attempt to pull his hand away from Mike’s hold.“You’re such a dummy sometimes.I demand shelf space for being a fucking angel of patience.And for not unleashing my dictionary on your head.”Corvin looked at his box of memories.“I really like you too.I don’t need the drama of saying ‘I love you,’ but you’re not so bad.”
