“Sometimes.” Kane laughed heartily. “Usually when I needed to pee and the bathrooms were all taken. But now, it’s all good. I like most of them. Ian’s an ass, but I think it’s because he’s pissed off Ryan came along and he wasn’t the baby anymore.”
Miki yawned and rubbed at his eye with the heel of his hand. Kane moved his hand when Miki brushed against his wrist, but the singer shook his head and shifted forward until they touched again.
“You should get some sleep,” Kane whispered. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know,” he mumbled under his breath. “I heard you talking to Kel and Edie. I’m guessing she’s pissed off.”
Kane’s face burned a bit under Miki’s scrutiny. “I was going to tell you about that crap when you woke up.”
“It’s okay. I’m kind of used to it. I’m kind of mad about the photos, but those guys have said all kinds of shit about me over the years. At least this time, it’s sort of true.”
“You were never a whore. You were a kid. There’s a big difference there.”
“I was never a kid, Kane,” Miki whispered, his breath hot on Kane’s palm. “He wouldn’t let me go. Neither would Shing. I stayed with Carl because I had no where else to go, and at least he fed me. If that doesn’t make me a whore, then I don’t know what does.”
“You did what you had to in order to survive.” Kane stroked Miki’s mouth once with his fingertips, then leaned in to steal a brief kiss. “That doesn’t make you a whore. It made you a survivor.”
“A kid shouldn’t have to survive his childhood.” Miki lightly bit Kane’s lower lip, then nuzzled in closer. “I don’t mind being called a whore. At least it makes it sound like I had a choice.”
Chapter 11
Butterflies and whiskey, catching fire to the moon.
Death’s calling to me but I tell him it’s too soon.
Songs to sing, places to see.
I don’t want to go but Death sure wants me.
—Death Calling
DESPITE the chill on his skin, Kane’s cock ached from spending the night against Miki’s lithe body. He’d woken up when Miki got up to let the dog out and then again when Dude came back in. The dog’s weight dipped the mattress slightly as he turned around a few times near Kane’s feet, but Dude settled down quickly, falling off into a snoring heap before Miki shed the sweats he’d worn to hold off the morning cold.
Shivering, the young man crawled back under the blankets and shuffled in close to Kane’s body, leeching as much of Kane’s warmth as he could. Miki’s nose was a sharp bite of ice on Kane’s nipple and he bit back a yelp when Miki rested his cheek on his chest, his breath as hot as his face was cold. Kane’s cock, already hard from its morning drowsiness, stirred and thrust up, reaching out in vain to pierce his boxers. Scolding his libido, Kane shifted, working his hand down to adjust his dick, then wrapped his arms around the sleepy man curled into his torso.
If Kane could have slept a few more hours cuddled up against Miki, he would have easily traded his left nut to do so. His bladder began to complain, pressing down on the hurry up button in his groin. Groaning, he extracted himself from the man’s arms and stumbled to the bathroom to piss. A quick search through the bathroom turned up unopened packages of toothbrushes, and he scrubbed the scum off his teeth until he foamed over like a rabid dog.
The night left its stink on his body, and Kane did a mental inventory of the spare clothes he had left in his SUV. Connor had thrown in a backpack of T-shirts, underwear, and sweats he had in his truck, but Kane wanted his own jeans, not his brother’s too-big hand-me-downs. He ran the shower as hot as he could stand it, then switched over to an icy cold pour from the waterfall spout set into the tile overhead.
His cock apparently still held a grudge at being told to shut up and go back to sleep, because it flared when he began to lather up with Miki’s soap.
A flick of the hot water knob turned the pour lukewarm, and Kane leaned against the stone-tiled shower wall. The glass-enclosed space was large enough for five people, and Kane wondered what exactly the interior designer was thinking Miki would be up to in such a big shower.
Looking at the long sauna bench built against one wall, Kane’s dick sent a ripple of ideas toward his brain about what he could do to Miki if given the chance.
His hand was a poor substitute for Miki’s mouth, but Kane wasn’t going to go begging for affection from the young man he’d left alone in bed. Despite his emotional and physical exhaustion, Miki fought his way out of sleep for the first few hours after Kane lay down next to him. He’d wake, tense and short of breath, his hazel eyes wild with fear. Kane held Miki loosely, rubbing at the small of his back with a gentle brush of his fingers. The frenzied fits and starts slowed. Then Miki’s limbs finally went slack, and Kane wrapped them up in a soft cocoon of blankets, cradling Miki against him when sleep took them both.