Sex and orgasms were nice—okay, really fucking nice—but holding the man who owned his heart ranked pretty high up there as well.
“We should get dressed,” Caelan said around a yawn, not budging an inch from where he lay. Drayce tilted his head to find that Caelan’s eyes were closed, his long, dark lashes placing two delicate fans on his pale face. He was exhausted and sleep would do him a world of good.
Drayce tightened an arm around Caelan’s waist, sliding him closer so that part of Cael’s head was now resting on his shoulder. “I think we’re fine just how we are. Comfy. Drift right off into sleep,” he replied, keeping his voice at a whisper.
“Except that I need to go wake up Vale. I can’t just keep her asleep like that. It’s not fair to her.”
Drayce had a few thoughts on what was fair when it came to Vale, but he bit his tongue. Caelan could probably guess Drayce’s opinion on the matter, which was why he quickly pushed on.
“We also need to get something to eat for dinner and come up with some more options for getting through the gate.” He was sounding more awake, but one of Caelan’s hands had moved up Drayce’s chest to rest at his neck. He could just barely feel the tug on his hair as Caelan played with a lock. Drayce was definitely against moving now. Fuck, for the first time in his life, he had zero interest in food.
“Can’t we stay here for a little while longer? Let Rayne and Eno have some private time. They’re in a new relationship. Mom and Dad need some quality time without the kids.”
Caelan choked on a laugh and lifted up on one elbow to grin down at Drayce. He didn’t like the new distance between them, but he loved that look of amusement. It was a good trade-off.
“Do you think…?” Caelan started and then trailed off.
“That they’re screwing like bunnies in the other bedroom?” Drayce finished with a wag of his eyebrows. “Gods, I hope so. It means they weren’t listening to us.”
That earned him a shudder as Caelan glanced over his shoulder at the door. “Yeah, rather not think about that. Eventually, we have to go out there and face them.”
Drayce snorted. “You’re king. You can do whatever and whoever you want.”
“Oh sure, because that’s worked so well for me in the past. Have you forgotten Rayne’s ‘I can’t believe you did that’ glare?”
Drayce cackled and pulled Caelan down against him. Their knees bumped and Caelan huffed softly, but he settled his head on Drayce’s shoulder again. “I haven’t forgotten. I was sure that was what his face looked like all the time when we first started hanging out.”
“Rayne and Eno dating. That’s just insane,” Caelan murmured. “They’re…they’re just so different, but when I see them together now, it just works because they are different. Honestly, when I found out that Rayne and Shey had dated, it was like watching two puzzle pieces snapping together. There’s something about them both that rings as similar in my mind.”
“And possibly boring together,” Drayce muttered. “Shey and Rayne are too similar. No conflict. No mischief.”
Caelan started to laugh but finished by poorly covering up in a cough. “Maybe,” Caelan hedged. “But I’ve always admired how Rayne and Shey jump in and handle a situation with so much confidence.”
“You do that too.”
Caelan made a derisive noise. “I only make it seem like I’m confident. Everyone else doesn’t see what kind of a mess I am on the inside.”
“How do you know Rayne and Shey aren’t the same way?”
His lover shrugged but didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “True. I guess I always assumed it was an age thing. Rayne and Shey have something like seven, eight, ten years on me. I figured I’d have a lot more time to develop that kind of unflinching confidence.”
“Eight years,” Drayce corrected. Caelan’s head popped up, a quizzical expression on his face. Drayce smiled. “Today’s Rayne’s birthday. He’s thirty-one.”
“Oh, shit!” Calean jumped up even farther as though he was intending to hop out of bed. “I totally forgot.”
A dismissive noise escaped Drayce and he pulled Caelan on top of him. “Rayne forgot. We all forgot what day of the week it was. Relax and let Eno wish him happy birthday properly.”
Caelan huffed softly, but he settled on Drayce’s chest where he fell silently back into thought. Drayce remained quiet. There was no point in offering Caelan a lot of useless platitudes and empty encouragement. It wasn’t what he needed. He’d had a lot of insanity thrown at him in a short period of time as well as having had a king’s crown plopped on his head while in the middle of a war. Drayce couldn’t imagine anyone coming through that and still feeling confident.