Page 159 of Breaking Storm

In any other moment, Daven would have wanted to keep him talking. He would’ve dragged every thought out of that beautiful head one piece at a time until he understood exactly where his bonded had gone just now.

But not right now.

Right now, he was still half hard and trying not to drag Ryneth into his lap in front of the driver partition.

Taking another drink, Daven stretched his arm along the back of the seat behind him, close enough that his fingers brushed the ends of Ryneth’s hair when the car banked.

From the side, every part of his bonded was a distraction. The slow pull of breath in his chest. The line of his throat. The way his knees had drifted apart like he already knew exactly what that did to Daven.

Ryneth was talking about death. Daven was thinking about pulling him down on top of him.

“What would drive a man that desperate to join a rebel organization like Attica?” Ryneth continued, still staring out at the city. “To sell drugs to innocent people and watch them slowly dig their own grave?”

Daven’s hand landed on his shoulder like it belonged there. His thumb slid once over the torn edge of Ryneth’s collar, catching warm skin underneath, and he had the brief, completely unhelpful thought that if he dropped to his knees right now, Ryneth would probably still finish the sentence before he realized what Daven was doing. “I don’t know, baby.”

Ryneth kept talking anyway. “And Bekn stood there acting like he was the only one who ever suffered.”

“Hm.” Daven’s mouth curved. “Bekn never wanted justice.”

Ryneth finally turned his head. “You’re right. I think somewhere along the way, he got so lost in hate that he forgot how to love.” Then his gaze dropped to Daven’s mouth, and he gave him a small shove with his shoulder. “Are you even listening to me?”

Daven’s hand tightened where it rested on him. “Barely.”

Ryneth cleared his throat. His gaze dragged over Daven once, slower this time, and his eyes widened just a little.

“You seem to be at a loss for words for once.” Daven reached over and took the glass from Ryneth’s hand before he could lift it again.

Ryneth blinked. “What are you doing?”

“You’re thinking too hard.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

Daven set the glass aside and turned back toward him, one hand sliding to his collar, thumb hooking beneath his chin. “I don’t think. I make excellent decisions very quickly.”

Ryneth’s breath changed as he settled back in the seat. “That so?”

Daven’s mouth curved. “I kissed you in the middle of a firefight. I’d say that proves the point.”

Ryneth’s eyes dropped to his mouth again. “That wasn’t deliberate. That was reckless.”

“Yeah?” Daven turned toward him, their knees already pressed together. He slid his thumb beneath Ryneth’s jaw and tipped his face toward him until there was barely any space left between them. “It felt very deliberate to me.”

Ryneth snorted, but he sounded breathless. His dilated pupils had blown most of his eyes, leaving only a thin silver ring. “I wasn’t afraid up there,” he whispered. “I knew I’d find you.”

He just looked at him.

Fuck. That hit somewhere deeper than Daven wanted to name. Low and brutal, with something dangerously close to tenderness under it. It made the whole cabin feel too small. Made him want to drag Ryneth into his lap and keep him there until the sun came up, just to prove he could.

His thumb slid once under Ryneth’s jaw, slower this time. “You really did, didn’t you?”

Ryneth held his gaze. “I did.”

Something sharp and hot moved through Daven’s chest.

“How did you know where to go?”

Daven’s hand stayed at Ryneth’s throat. “I could ask you the same thing, and I will. But at the hospital, the footage kept looping back to that platform. I couldn’t explain it. I just knew I had to be there.” His jaw tightened. “Like whoever was coming for you was waiting there.”