Knight was already getting into his car, and Gray followed, taking a seat in the back. Without thinking, Shadow opened the door on the opposite side and slid his ass right into the middle, until his thigh touched Gray’s. The flash of electricity trailed all the way to his neck and feet when their legs rubbed against each other, chasing away the pain of losing a part of the ruby at his core.
His happiness didn’t last long, as Gray pushed him right back to the empty seat. “Stay there. What did I tell you about touching people?”
“But people touch each other, and I’m human. I want that too.” So maybe he hadn’t been born human, but he had a body now, and that body wanted to consume Gray. Not to kill him, pull him apart into pieces and roll around in his body parts, but to feel all of him alive.
“Do you remember when you were born, then?” Knight asked, already starting the car. Gray tried to protest, but Knight shushed him with a gesture.
Shadow sat back and focused, trying to reach into the jumble of thoughts in his mind. On the Other Side there was no before or after, they just were. He was them, they were him, and they were all one swarm. All shadow.
But he was separate now, and things weren’t happening all at once anymore. He could clearly put together in his mind that first they got the chest from the lake, then he obtained his body, and then they traveled to the tree.
Most vividly, he remembered the few times he’d touched Gray. Like spikes of heartbeat on a cardiogram, those moments left a permanent mark in his memories.
“Yes. Tonight. In the chest. After finding the chest. Before coming to the tree.”
Knight sighed, but his smile was right back. “Oh well, I tried. You’re going to have so much fun with him, brother.”
“I’m sure,” Gray said, resting his cheek against the window on his side of the car. Vapor covered the glass every time be exhaled, creating beautiful patterns where the heat produced inside Gray’s flawless form met the cold surface.
Shadow wanted to feel that breath on his skin. His mouth watered, and a strange, warm shiver went down his body, all the way between his legs, contributing to the swelling that had been present there since he and Gray had touched thighs.
“Yes, I can be fun. People like shadows.” He wasn’t sure whether that was a fact, but he would like to make it one.
Gray stared him down. “When they are tiny figures to amuse children with, not grown men without shoes or underwear.”
“You’ll just have to take him shopping,” Knight said, driving fast down the empty road between trees and bushes.
Shadow’s hand inched toward Gray’s thigh but was shoved away before it got anywhere close. “I can get shoes. And underwear. Is that what you like in other humans?”
Knight snorted. “Absolutely. A man that’s Gray’s type definitely wears shoes. Right, Gray?”
“I don’t have a type,” Gray said, even though something about his tone suggested otherwise. Now Shadow needed to know. What was Gray’s type?
He hadn’t even realized he’d said it out loud before both men glanced his way.
Knight snorted. “Tall, strong, and loud. And don’t forget the big dicks! Practically a requirement,” he said, ignoring the way Gray shook his head, covering his eyes with one hand.
A pang of physical pain went through Shadow at the thought of Gray touching anyone else than him. He pulled down the waistband of his sweatpants and had a good look at the stiff cock that bobbed from underneath the fabric, so hot against the cool air Shadow half-expected it to generate steam.
“Mine’s grown. Is this what you like?” He pushed the pants lower and pulled on Gray’s hand to let him feel what Shadow had to offer. Gray stiffened and yanked his arm back, pressing into the door with his eyes growing wide as if Shadow intended to burn him.
“What the fuck? Cover this. Why are you hard anyway?”
“It’s because he luurves you so much,” Knight said from the front seat.
“Shut up! I mean it. Those jokes stopped being amusing years ago,” Gray shouted, shaking his head so rapidly some of his silvery strands escaped the ponytail and were now framing his lovely face.
Shadow pulled up his pants, frustrated with the negative reaction. It was as if he couldn’t get anything right. “I don’t know, I just am.” He tried the trick with working backwards in his mind again. “You breathed on the window, your hand was warm, you smelled so good—”
“Stop talking. Nobody needs to know this.” Gray leaned forward and rested his elbow on his thigh.
The large building where Gray lived came into view when the car drove between the trees and rushed down the driveway, toward the bright lights in some of the windows.