Chapter 17Dinner that night was subdued. Everyone picked at their food while the carcasses of snakes were being pulled away by different animals. Wiley still had a little pain at the bite site, but he was confident that Dane had taken away the venom. It was nothing more than a slight ache.
Baer’s guilt over the bite was another thing entirely. The emotion poured off him in sickening waves, and Wiley couldn’t wait until they were alone so he could set his mind at ease. He was running with superheroes, after all. Getting hurt would happen. And with Dane handy, that wasn’t even so bad.
But that snake had scared the crap out of him. He shivered, remembering the feeling of fangs sinking into his flesh.
They all quietly cleaned up and went their separate ways. Everyone was obviously too tired to hang out that night. They made plans to go through the spell books the next day.
Wiley made his way upstairs, counting each step under his breath. He shook off his morose feelings as he entered the room he was sharing with Baer. The redhead was already in a pair of pajama pants. Baer had mentioned that he usually slept naked, but that had been put on hold when Wiley appeared. He kind of wished he still would. Seeing him in all his gorgeous glory would go a long way to cheering Wiley up. Then he noticed Queenie on Baer’s lap. He was stroking her fur, and the little princess had stretched out to enjoy it.
“She was having a friendly moment,” Baer said with a low chuckle. “Wanted her chin scratched.”
“She’s a sucker for a good chin scratch. Just don’t rub her belly. She’s fickle and can turn on you faster than you can blink.”
“Yeah, I was told flat out that wouldn’t fly.”
“Where’s Ruby?” Wiley asked as he gathered up the clothes he’d be sleeping in.
Baer closed his eyes for a moment, then smiled. “Sleeping on the family room couch. She’s fine. A little freaked out over getting locked up.”
“Poor baby.” But Ruby being downstairs was probably why Queenie was up here. The two still hadn’t made friends yet. “I’m going to grab a quick shower.”
Baer nodded and continued to rub Queenie.
Wiley showered and threw on a pair of sweats. He stared at the T-shirt he’d grabbed before deciding against it. Sex was definitely on the menu for tonight, and he wanted more skin-to-skin contact.
He left the bathroom to find Baer staring at him.
“I’m so sorry you got hurt, Wiley,” Baer said, his voice low. “I never would have sent you into the house if I’d known those snakes could get inside. I’m still confused how they did.”
“They were compelled, so they found ways in. It’s not your fault and I’m fine, see?” He lifted his arms. “We’re lucky to have Dane.”
“Thank the goddesses for him.”
“Did they give him his magic, or did it come directly from Clay, do you think?”
“I have no idea how the soul mate thing works.” Queenie jumped off Baer’s lap and sauntered out of the room.
Wiley shut the door behind her to give him and Baer some privacy, then turned to face the man on the bed. “You’re holding on to a lot of guilt about what happened today, and I don’t want you to.”
“I can’t help it. I’m supposed to protect you, and I sent you directly into the line of fire.”
“You had no way of knowing what was happening when we got home. It was chaos. And it’s not your fault.” He approached the bed and sat next to Baer on his side of the bed. “I’m really fine. It was scary, I’ll give you that, but look at me. All good now. In fact, I’m great and ready to have a little you and me time.”
Baer grinned and tugged him closer. “What did you have in mind?”
“Naked, fun time.”
“Oh, yeah?” Baer stroked his hands down Wiley’s chest, tweaking his nipples on the way. “You need to lose those sweats.”
Wiley pulled at the waistband of Baer’s pajama bottoms. “Why do you even own a pair of these when you normally sleep naked?”
“To wear when I go downstairs.”
“Planning to go downstairs?”
“Nope.”
“Then why’d you put them on?”
“I didn’t want to come off too eager.” He grinned again and quickly lifted his hips to tug the pants down. His dick was already hard and leaking. Baer glanced at it and his lips quirked. “Guess the eager part is pretty obvious anyway.”
“I like that I do that to you.” Wiley reached out and wrapped his fingers around that gorgeous cock and stroked. “I want this in my mouth.”
“Fuck, yes,” Baer breathed as he stretched out on the bed.
Wiley stood and tugged off his sweats, then crawled onto the bed. He hovered over Baer, his gaze roaming his beautiful body with avid eyes. He looked over the colorful tattoos and ran his fingers through the hair on Baer’s chest. He leaned over and took one nipple into his mouth, running his tongue around it before sucking it in.