He strained the tea leaves and poured two cups. Everything was silent but for Opal’s soft coos and Percy’s purring.
“Here.” Ryder handed Liam a cup. “I’m taking a shower.”
Liam sipped the tea and nodded.
“Are you staying?”
“Do you want me to?”
Ryder’s stomach lurched. His lungs tightened painfully, but instead of dodging the question, he nodded. “Yeah.”
Liam didn’t look at him. He just kept petting Percy and stared down at his lap.
Ryder stalked into his bedroom before he could say or do anything else to ruin whatever they’d started. Had anything started? Or was everything a mess of circumstances coming together soon to be dismissed or forgotten? Liam was there, in his apartment. Liam was there, offering to stay, and still Ryder’s uncertainty crept between them. He turned on the shower, prepped a fresh syringe, and stripped. The heat fogged the mirror, obscuring his reflection. He waved a hand into his bedroom and the candles lit, then the incense.
A deep breath later and he was sliding the needle into his thigh.
“Does it hurt?” Liam asked. His magic stirred the air before he did, but Ryder didn’t bother turning around.
“Yeah,” Ryder said. He pulled the syringe back, capped the needle, and opened the cabinet to drop it in a red container. Embarrassment nagged at him, which was ridiculous considering what they’d done. Ryder resisted the urge to glamour himself. “Just like any other shot does.”
Liam’s fingers dusted the wing of his shoulder blade. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
Lips touched his neck, faint and timid. “Did you mean it?” Liam’s mouth traced the shell of Ryder’s ear. “When you said you were in love with me, were you serious?”
“We’re in a circle. We all love each other,” Ryder said. A hot blush dripped across the bridge of his nose.
Liam hummed. His pants hit the floor, followed by the rest of his clothes. He nudged Ryder toward the shower. “That’s not an answer.”
The water was hot enough to turn Ryder’s skin pink and make Liam flinch, but neither of them bothered to turn it to a cooler setting. Liam’s hands rested on Ryder’s hips, his chest pressed along Ryder’s back. Were you serious? He didn’t know what to say—if there was anything to say. Yes, he did love Liam. Yes, he had meant it. But after tonight, he didn’t want to get into the details of it.
Instead, he took Liam’s hand from its place on his waist and pulled it to his stomach, slid it over his bellybutton, past his hipbones, between his legs.
Liam’s fingers pressed against him, rubbing in slow, teasing circles. He smiled against Ryder’s throat. “Still not an answer.”
Ryder chewed on his bottom lip. His back arched and he dug his fingernails into Liam’s wrist, feeling the tendons flex every time he moved. His other hand was firm against the shower wall, head bowed and eyes closed. Liam’s free hand coiled around Ryder’s chest and settled low on his throat.
“Do you need an answer right now?” Ryder bit back a soft moan when Liam’s index and middle fingers pressed hard against his clit.
Liam shook his head. The hand on Ryder’s throat crept below his chin, and Liam pushed his head to expose the long line of Ryder’s neck. He bit and kissed, sinking his teeth in deep when Ryder’s hips rolled against his palm.
Ryder whimpered when he came. He gasped and his spine bent, fingers scrambling to clutch Liam’s wrist.
His heartbeat was a symphony. Magic buzzed contentedly under his skin. Fuck, why hadn’t they been doing this for weeks or months or years? Why hadn’t they taken showers together, or been in bed together, or fucked on old rusty cars, until the week Ryder’s dark magic decided to go haywire?
He craned away from Liam’s teeth in his neck to turn around. Water dripped off Liam’s eyelashes and the tip of his nose. It clung to his lips and beaded up on his shoulders. He looked beautiful covered in his element, glimmering and powerful and relaxed. His eyes were half-curtained, dancing around Ryder’s face.
Somehow, the shower hadn’t gone cold. Ryder pressed his hand flat against Liam’s chest and forced him against the white tiled wall out of the water’s reach. He kissed Liam hard, because he could, and because they were alone, finally. Liam’s tongue dipped smoothly between his lips, stroking against his own and clicking against the back of Ryder’s eyeteeth. It went on like that, with Ryder sucking on Liam’s tongue, and Liam panting into his mouth, until he reached between them and wrapped his fingers around Liam’s cock.
Liam’s breath turned shaken and weak. The sound of it, labored inhales followed by quivering exhales, brought a coy smile to Ryder’s face.
“What do you want?” Ryder asked.
Liam’s hand rested on his cheek. His thumb slipped into Ryder’s mouth, and he hummed appreciatively when Ryder flicked his tongue against it.
He kissed Liam’s palm, leaned forward and kissed his lips, then dropped to his knees.
Liam traced Ryder’s cheekbone, his jaw and bottom lip, and he sucked in a sharp breath when Ryder’s mouth dragged along the underside of his cock. He tasted like the sea, like melted snow and fresh rain.
“Is this okay?” Liam gripped his chin and tugged him, pulling Ryder where he wanted.
Ryder glanced at him from under his lashes and gave a curt nod. Two of Liam’s fingers pressed between his lips, and Ryder opened his mouth, sucking hard until his throat flexed.
“Do you know how many times I’ve thought about this?” Liam asked, voice low under the sound of water splattering the shower floor.
Ryder scraped his teeth across Liam’s digits, kissed his hipbones, bit his inner thigh, and then closed his lips around Liam’s cock.
A deep, gritted moan echoed in the shower. Ryder loved it. He loved the roughness, and the little bit of pain. He loved the weight of Liam in his mouth, the way his throat fluttered when Liam pushed on the back of his head. He watched Liam through his lashes and fought another jump in his throat when Liam’s hips jerked and he slid deeper, grip tight on the nape of Ryder’s neck.
He held onto Liam’s legs and flattened his tongue, sucking hard whenever Liam pulled back and gave him room to breathe. Ryder’s jaw was sore, but he didn’t care. Liam’s gasps and whines were clipped and breathy, softer than Ryder imagined they would be. He swallowed around Liam until his eyes watered, and pulled his magic to the surface. Heat filled his mouth, and Liam choked back another moan. He was slick between his legs, but he was too over-sensitive to touch himself.
“Fuck, Ry,” Liam whispered. A low groan rumbled in his throat. He dug his fingernails into Ryder’s skull, the only warning he was given before Liam pulled back and came on his face, across his mouth and jaw and cheek.