Page 28 of Up In Flames
As she left, the rest of us looked at Nex, eyes round and lips twitching.
“Don't fucking say it, you assholes!” Nex growled.
“Oh, Nexy, you're the sweetest,” I cried.
“And you're the second sweetest, Emby.” Nex yanked me off the bench. “You're going with me to put them at ease.”
“All right, all right.” I pushed his hand away. “You could have just asked. I already told you I'd talk to them.”
“Have fun, Nexy,” Xaedren called after us.
“I will shave you in your sleep, Ladrin!” Nex called back. “Try me!”
Xae went silent.
Chapter Fourteen
That afternoon, Graysen returned to the citadel with his Wraith Lord escort for their scheduled break. I was at sword training when he arrived, but he found me.
“Hey, you ugly asshole!” Graysen shouted across the yard. “I didn't think you could get worse with a sword, but you've proved me wrong.”
Several men looked his way, but I was the only one who smiled as I did.
“Look who's talking!” I shouted back as I passed Xae my sword. “You're the ugliest thing I've seen since Ranor's cat hacked up a hairball!”
Xae rolled his eyes but took my sword, knowing I needed Gray's friendship. And boy did I. Even after Taroc had been more than a lover to me, I still wanted a simple friendship with someone I wasn't in love with. Nex was busy with his mating, Finn had once flirted with me so talking to him could get weird, and Caleb, well, I was still trying to stay away from him. I did have friendships with other Wraith Lords, But I wasn't close enough with them to talk about everything. Gray, however, was a true friend. Not only could I share anything with him—and I mean anything—but he was also human and a soldier. Heunderstood me in ways that no one else in that citadel could. And I hadn't seen him in weeks.
When I'd been his escort on his recruiting missions, we'd had a schedule that brought us back to the citadel often. But after my men and I stopped serving as escorts, the recruiters decided to do longer stints so they could get the watchtowers manned as soon as possible. With the Emperor's mages building the towers, they were going up fast and several didn't have anyone to man them yet. Not beyond a few soldiers from Graysen's group. That's all to say that Gray stayed away longer these days.
I ran up to Gray and hugged him. That's how happy I was to see him.
“Ugh!” Gray hugged me back for a moment, then shoved me away. “Fuck, you're getting all your man juices on me. Gross, motherfucker.”
I snorted. “Fuck you.” Then I wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him close to rub his face in my sweaty tunic. “How about I juice all over your face?”
“Eeew!” Gray laughed even as he shoved away from me. “You're so fucking disgusting. I can't believe I'm friends with you,” he said in a high-pitched voice and slapped me limp-wrist style. Then he returned to his normal voice to say, “Oh, who am I kidding? Juice on my face, baby! I love it!”
We chortled together.
“You have lunch yet?” he asked.
“Nope. We usually do magic training after swordwork, then we eat.”
“Well, you're changing your schedule for me because I'm fucking starving and your man-juice isn't even an appetizer.”
I glanced back at my lovers, and they were all wearing various degrees of indulgence. Rath nodded at me with a grin. I blew them all a kiss and headed inside with Graysen. They were nice enough to stay behind and continue training. Once, they'd been nervous about Gray, but now they knew he was like a brother to me. All right, maybe not a brother, but a friend I wouldn't fuck. Not anymore.
It was an off-hour for lunch so the dining hall was mostly empty, with just a few lords eating, including Graysen's new escort, Lord Liam. Gray waved at him on our way to the buffet table, and Liam nodded back.
As we were filling our plates, Gray said. “I've totally been fucking him.”
I looked over at him with rounded eyes. “Lord Liam?”
“Yup.” He grinned at me. “He's a bottom and evidently there aren't a lot of bottoms in the Wraith Lords.”
“I don't see how that works out in your favor. That only means he should have his pick of lovers.”
“It does. So that's an even bigger compliment to me. I'm human and he still wants me.”
