Page 7 of Regal Feather
A shiver wracked down my body. I bit my lip.
I was close, too close to be able to stop myself if I didn’t right this second.
There was no way I could explain to anyone how I flopped to my back and grabbed my phone, unseeingly. If I focused on buying the cage Sir Ismael had ordered me to—conveniently, one that offered express delivery—I could get some of the satisfaction that came from being a good sub. It wasn’t as good as an orgasm, but it was close enough that I could slump down and get some rest.
I’d considered going to Plumas tonight, but I’d be too keyed up.
Tomorrow.
There wasn’t any workshop going on or anything, I’d just thought I’d hang out with some of them. If María was there, she might be open to tying me up. I’d started talking with her more, and she was a pro at all things shibari and suspension bondage. The last time I’d tried rope was with a few newcomers who almost got me outed, so I hadn’t walked into the dojo at the club since, but María was part of the inner circle. I could trust her.
THREE
santos
Exhaustion didn’t begin to describe how heavy every single muscle in my body felt as I finally spotted my duffel bag on the conveyor belt. From there, the exit was close. Some of the energy came back to me as I crossed the arch that separated the two areas of the small airport. Ever had texted to assure that he’d be picking me up. I hadn’t seen him in years, and he’d been quite cryptic, but…
Fuck.
I couldn’t wait to have him near. I didn’t fully agree with his parents’ obsession with giving him a security detail, but if we were being honest, I was going to spend most of the time following him around like a puppy. This just made it less embarrassing for me.
Not as embarrassing as how I froze, gaping at my fucking best friend once I spotted him. It wasn’t hard. Everyone was stealing glances at him, a mixture of lewd and disgusted glances that threatened to stir a sleeping monster in me, a fucking growl rising up to my throat. It was animalistic, and primal, and Neanderthal of me, and not the best fucking thing to do when everyone saw the Air Force hoodie I had on and already felt wary about the military.
It was that Neanderthal need to protect that had me almost dropping my bag with the hurry to get to him and shield him from it all.
“What the fuck?” I said it to myself as he chewed on his lip before I was dragging him to me.
Ever had never gotten a diagnosis, but he’d always been more prone to get nervous and overthink things.
Fuck.
I’d always been protective of him, and this—the skirt that felt mid-thigh but looked devilishly short, the top with frilly lace around the sleeves, the hair he’d let grow longer than usual, the sheer stockings—wasn’t helping.
I was supposed to try to keep a distance, or an appearance of it. I’d convinced myself of it the entire flight here. Ever had been dodging all the bodyguards his family had given him because he didn’t like to feel suffocated. I knew we had agreed I was his bodyguard in name only, but it felt like the cautious thing to do when everything else was in shambles.
“Uh, hey. Hi.” Ever pulled back slightly where I’d crushed him against my chest—already fucking up the whole not suffocating him thing. “How was your flight?”
“How was my flight?” I repeated. I couldn’t help it. I was still processing. Last time I’d seen him, Ever was trying out lip glosses and things like that. It was nothing like the full get-up he had on right now. I didn’t even know if the way I was thinking about it was right, or if I was being incredibly offensive somehow. “What the fuck? You look…”
Nope. Words failed me. I had no idea what I was supposed to say.
“You don’t…” Ever fidgeted. Double fuck. I never wanted to be the reason he doubted himself. “It’s a new thing, but I…I…”
“You look amazing, Ever,” I whispered. The longer I kept him close, the longer I kept my hands around him, the more interestwe were gathering. I didn’t give a fuck about that. I only cared about the light dimming in his dark eyes and getting it back there. “I’ve never seen you this fucking pretty.”
Ever chuckled. The light was back in his eyes, so all was good.
“You’re still the only one who calls me that.”
I huffed. “Good.”
And it was; a good thing that had all my caveman instincts puffing up my chest. He’d told me about how his new group of friends called him Ev, but I liked Ever. It had started out because of an anime we’d been watching while our parents thought we were sleeping in different rooms, and it had stuck. Anything that didn’t remind him of his mother and the pressure she put on him from the moment he was born was good.
“Uh, I thought we could get takeout from a Vietnamese restaurant that opened last year, it’s on the way, and we can eat at home, and like, catch up.”
“Sounds good.”
I’d been talking for ages about how much I missed Vietnamese food, and Ever was a people pleaser. It wasn’t a shock that he would’ve remembered.
