Page 3 of Lay It Bare

At least not air he could get into his lungs. He kept a tight grip on Lisa’s hand and punched the button for the elevator. One of them opened at once. He stumbled inside, still squeezing Lisa’s hand. There was no one else but them. The door closed.

“Floor?” Lisa said.

Rei managed to pry his hand from his stomach and jabbed the numeral eight. The elevator rose. Neither spoke. Rei kept his grip on Lisa’s hand all the way to the door of the condo. He could barely press the buttons to get inside, but somehow he managed. As soon as they were through the door and it had locked behind them, Rei’s knees gave out. He fumbled with his shoes.

But he couldn’t pass out, not yet. Lisa might still be faking. He needed to make sure nothing was wrong. Then he could crash. Rei yanked off his boots and pulled Lisa’s off as well. Lisa let him. Rei found his feet again and led Lisa into the living room. He pushed the other man into one of the chairs, glad that non-Merchari-sanctioned work was out of sight.

“Jacket off.”

“Ah . . . ReiRei, rules. You know. Masters.” Lisa waved to the general air above their heads. “Us. Slaves.” He gestured between them. For a moment he looked vastly younger than his roughly twenty-seven years.

“You’re a liar who lies.” Rei jerked on Lisa’s sleeves. “Show me.” He started patting Lisa down. No visible blood. No winces from broken bones. Just cold emanating from every inch of fabric and visible skin. “How long were you out there like this?”

“Not long.”

Rei gripped Lisa’s slender fingers. “You’re cold.”

Lisa shrugged but didn’t pull away. If anything, his eyes were smiling. “I’m always cold without you.”

“You should have just told Sevastyan you needed to come over.”

Lisa’s eyes darkened and his bottom lip pressed up into his upper one in a pout. “Don’t need Sevastyan. Can find you on my own.”

Rei growled. “I’m getting tea. You’re going to drink it.” He let go of Lisa’s hand to walk to the kitchen.

Lisa sprang out of the chair, following close behind. “Don’t be mad.”

“Don’t be mad?” Rei spat. He kept his back to Lisa as he put water in the electric kettle and started it heating. Lisa was thin. He had always been slender, but this time he actually felt underweight. His skin had a more burnished glow than normal, more so than his natural look of completely indeterminable heritage usually granted him.

Rei washed out his mug and ascertained that the only tea stocked in the condo was ginger or Earl Gray. But there was cream in the fridge. He poured some into a glass and put it in the microwave to warm.

“ReiRei,” Lisa whispered, reaching out but not quite touching.

“I worried.” Rei slammed his hand down on the counter, swinging around to fix Lisa with his eyes. “Worried! You looked like you were dead. I’m still worried.”

“Wanted to see you.”

“I know.” He gave Lisa his back, trying to breathe. He’d gone outside. All the way outside, without Sevastyan. Just thinking of it was enough to make his heart start pounding all over again. Sevastyan needed to come home so he could confess.

Lisa wrapped his arms around himself. “I’ll tell Sev to punish me instead.”

Rei rubbed at his eyes. “I’m not worried about the punishment.”

Lisa scooted closer, leaning against the counter but carefully not touching. “What did I do wrong?”

“I thought you were dying.”

“Oh.” Lisa’s shoulders slumped.

“Yeah.” Rei took another look at Lisa. He still did not look good. “Are you sure you’re not dying?”

Lisa shrugged. He looked up at Rei through his lashes, an impressive feat for someone at least ten inches taller.

“You haven’t been eating.”

Lisa looked away. “Didn’t want to.”

Well, fuck. All over again. “Does Alexi know you’re here?”