*
Maris came awake to a searing pain in his side. Grimacing, he opened his eyes to find Syn checking the bandage over his ribs. As he realized he was in a hospital, everything came rushing back to him.
The attack.
Draygon. . . .
And Ture refusing to get into the ambulance after Maris had told Darling he loved him.
Shit. The fallout was bound to be nuclear.
Syn jerked his head up to meet his gaze as Maris tried to speak. “Easy, Mari. I’ve got you locked down.”
Unable to speak, he used his one free hand to sign to Syn.
“Darling’s outside with the others.”
Maris had just started asking about Ture when the bathroom door opened, and Ture drew up short.
“He’s awake?”
Syn nodded. “He just opened his eyes.”
Ture rushed to the opposite side of the bed. Leaning over the rail, he smiled at Maris as he brushed his hand through his hair. “Hey, baby. You gave us all a big scare.”
Confused, Maris tried to make sense of this. He’d expected Ture’s anger.
Not his love.
Syn pulled the mask off his face, then handed him a small glass of water. “Sip slowly.”
Ture helped him with it.
Maris coughed then met Ture’s gray eyes. “You’re not mad at me?”
“For what? Getting stabbed? I don’t think you did it on purpose, did you?”
“No...for Darling.”
Ture duplicated his frown. “For Darling what?”
“For what I said to him.”
Now he looked irritated. “That you loved him?”
Maris nodded.
Ture rolled his eyes. “Why would I get angry over that? I know you love him. It’s not like you ever kept that a secret.”
“Then why didn’t you get in the ambulance?”
His features softened as he brushed his hand over Maris’s face. “I was afraid you’d be attacked again, love. I wanted men with you who know how to butcher something besides a steak.”
“Really?”
Ture sighed heavily. “I am not jealous of you and Darling, Mari. How many times do I have to say that before you believe me? I would never come between the two of you, and what you’ve shared. And in the future, when you’re dying, for the love of the gods, please call the one capable of saving your life and not the one who can’t.”
Maris laced his fingers with Ture’s. “You are my life.”
Ture smiled at him as he lifted his hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “I feel the same way about you, which is why I want to beat you for calling me when you should have called an ambulance.” He glanced over to Syn. “So how’s he doing, Doc?”
“Better.” He locked gazes with Maris. “You still took one hell of a stab, though. Your brother nicked your artery and went straight into your intestines. Recovering from it is going to hurt.”
“What can I say? Dray’s good at what he does. I didn’t even see him until he had me.”
Syn curled his lip. “Don’t praise that bastard to me. I want his heart in my fist. And speaking of...” He began detaching the monitors from Maris’s body. “You’ll do better if we can get you into the tub for a little while. I’m going to assume you’d prefer Ture help you with that.”
“If you don’t mind, I would.”
A smile broke across Syn’s face. “Well, as much as I love seeing you naked, Mari, I’ll gladly surrender you to your boyfriend.”
Maris arched a brow at those words. It was the first time ever that Syn had teased him like that. Normally, he was the one harassing Syn. He’d respond to it, but the last thing he wanted was for Ture to take him seriously and get his feelings hurt. Syn pulled back. “You want to try and walk or should I call someone?”
“I’ll walk.”
“All right. Give me a few minutes to run the water and I’ll be back.” He headed for the bathroom.
Ture lowered the rail and sat on the edge of Maris’s bed. “They shaved your beard off.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll grow it back for you.”
Tears filled Ture’s eyes at those words. “For what it’s worth, I don’t ever want to feel like this again, Mare. When the line went silent and I thought you were dead...” A single tear ran down his cheek. “I haven’t hurt like that since my baby sister died. And what I felt when I thought you were dead made a mockery of even that.”
Maris pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. “I feel terrible that I scared you. That I hurt you, but...” He let his smile loose. “I do love you, Ture.”
“I love you, too. But don’t ever die on me.”
“I have no intention of it.”
Ture carefully laid his body against Maris’s and held him. Pulling back, he wiped at his tears. “By the way, the size of your family scares me.”