Gray's Shadow (Kings of Hell MC 4)
Gray took a deep breath and rubbed Shadow’s hand with his thumb. “And if I end up not getting any rubies for him, then what? Will you offer me your engagement ring?”
Laurent straightened behind Beast, holding onto his husband’s shoulders. “Excuse me? He is not getting that ring. Frankly, he shouldn’t be getting any rubies. He is but a tool in Baal’s hands, and I would not be surprised if he’d bewitched you for the very reason of extracting the rubies from us. He does not think like us. He is a shadow wearing human skin, Gray!”
Shadow’s muscles went solid. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this angry, not even when Gray had locked him in the cell for days! What has he done to be disregarded by everyone?
If Gray wanted him to stay, then Shadow did not want to die.
“And what are you?” he growled, and looked at the humans. “Aren’t you all just souls dressed in flesh and bone?”
He expected Laurent to come right back at him with some retort, but his pretty lips parted, and he stared back without a word.
Knight sat on the table with a deep sigh. “He’s got a point.”
Beast rubbed Laurent’s hand, but in the end met Gray’s eyes again. “I have another job for Vars and Jake, so if you absolutely want to do this, you’d have to go alone. Is that really what you want?”
Rev stood, hitting the coffee table with his knees and making it clatter. “There is no need for this!”
Beast shook his head. “If Gray can go through with this, it will be beneficial for the club. I will not stop him, provided he makes sure to remain cautious.”
“Of course I will,” Gray said with exasperation, though Shadow knew that once Gray was set on something, safety could fly out the window, as evidenced by their first job together.
Beast’s heavy gaze settled on Shadow. “I expect Gray to come back in one piece.”
Shadow instantly straightened and pulled Gray into an embrace. “There is no shadow without the man to cast it.”
“Aww…” Jake smiled widely, but Beast shook his head.
“Just go. And if you do find the rubies, I expect you deliver them all here. We will decide what to do together, once we have a clear picture of the situation.”
When Gray looked back at him, Shadow whispered, “I want to stay.”
Gray’s eyes flickered, and he gently squeezed Shadow’s hand, as if to say “I want that too.”
Chapter 20
The world buzzed around Gray as if only a thin sheet separated him from swarms of insects making an insistent, thudding noise that vibrated all over his skin as he walked away from the common room. Even the floor was somehow too hard under his feet, the air—too hot, his own hair—continuously tickling his flesh. But most prominent of all was Shadow.
Gray was so acutely aware of his presence he could’ve written essays about the scent of him alone. Shadow wasn’t new in his life, nothing had changed about him, yet the effect his company had on Gray changed in a way so fundamental it confused him. In random moments, Gray found his hand on the small of Shadow’s back without remembering when he’d put it there. It was impossible to focus on the rubies when all he could think about was getting Shadow naked and horizontal.
His skin prickled where it was nearest to Shadow’s, almost as if the little hairs on their forearms bristled and reached for each other. Not long after leaving the common room, the storm raging inside Gray turned into a tornado that filled his chest and pushed at his ribs until he couldn’t normally breathe. His skin itched. He couldn’t swallow. His mind was a chaos of lewd images that became more tangled the farther away they were from the others.
He was overstimulated, and his underwear rubbed against his hard, pulsing dick so insistently he could have sworn it was Shadow’s third hand touching him. But that wasn’t the case, because when Shadow did actually touch him, Gray couldn’t hold in a moan.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find the jewels,” Shadow said, but Gray did not want to think about the upcoming job. Couldn’t they make time stop for a few minutes? The corridor was getting longer somehow, like a physical reminder that it could be ages until Gray could comfortably get his hands on Shadow,.
Just thinking about it had his body aching with pain so severe walking was no longer an option. He rested his forehead on the cool wall, but it didn’t provide him the relief he needed. Each breath felt like yet another temptation, offering him Shadow’s warm scent, but not the taste, not the meat he wanted to sample.
His head was about to crack, like an egg boiled in water way too hot.
He took deep breaths, hoping that the onslaught of sensation would pass, but then teasingly gentle touch slid down his back, and he could no longer stand the wait.