Dex chuckled as he tried to regain his breath. “I’m glad you approve.”
“I don’t think approve is the right word.”
“Man, when Hudson said it would feel euphoric, he wasn’t kidding.”
“What do you mean?”
“He came by today to see how I was doing.” Dex rolled over to face Sloane. “He didn’t buy the whole ambush thing either, but then he’s a doctor. Kind of hard to hide injuries from him. Anyway, he knew I had questions about being marked, and he offered to answer them.”
“Questions?”
Concern came onto Sloane’s face, and Dex leaned in to kiss his worry away.
“Hudson’s the only one we know who’s marked. I hadn’t asked because I didn’t want to bring up anything painful. We had a really good chat. He said it was normal to feel loss when you left, and when you returned it would be almost euphoric. That my body would soon get used to it.” Dex propped himself on his elbow, and wriggled his eyebrows. “Not that I’m complaining.” He scrunched up his nose when he recalled the other side of it. “The being sick part I can do without, though.”
Sloane sat up. “You were sick? When?”
“This morning. After you left. I didn’t really think anything of it. I was kinda groggy after I woke up.”
Sloane frowned, and Dex sat up. He went when Sloane pulled him onto his lap, followed by a soft kiss to his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It only came to me after we talked. I was hungry. It’s weird. I can’t really remember. I must have really been out of it.”
“And Hudson said it’ll pass?”
Dex nodded. “He says it’s my body trying to get used to the thought of you leaving me.”
“But I’m not going for good,” Sloane replied thoughtfully.
“I know that, but my body hasn’t gotten the memo.” Dex planted a kiss on Sloane’s shoulder. “It’ll catch up. In the meantime—” He trailed kisses up Sloane’s neck before nipping at his stubbly jaw. “—How about a little more reassurance? You know how hardheaded I can be.”
Sloane slipped his fingers into Dex’s hair to give it a gentle tug, tilting his head back. His amber eyes glowed wickedly. “You know me. Always happy to help.”
OH MY God, this suuuucks.
Dex washed out his mouth in the sink before heading for the couch. He and his body were not getting along. Usually they got on like—what was that saying Hudson used? Like a house on fire. That made absolutely no fucking sense to Dex. Surely a house on fire was bad. How was someone’s residence engulfed in flames a good comparison for people getting along? Brits were weird. Then again, Hudson thought the same about Dex. No argument there.
For the last two days after Sloane left for work, Dex had to run to the kitchen where he proceeded to lose the contents of his stomach. Although it wasn’t as bad this morning as the previous days, it still sucked. Why now? Why was he feeling sick now? Everything kept coming back to what
happened with Wolf. What if whatever that shit was that he gave Dex triggered something? Did it have to do with his bond to Sloane? It had to. It would explain why he only felt sick when Sloane left for work without him, and why he was so damned horny when Sloane got home. Not that Sloane didn’t normally make him horny, but this was something different altogether.
Dex dropped onto the couch with a huff. Not even his music was cheering him up. He felt like a prisoner in his own home, and he’d never felt that way. He loved his house and never had any trouble entertaining himself. Now he felt caged. He stood and paced. Two days left. How was he supposed to get through another two days? He’d spent a fortune online ordering random crap to keep himself busy. He’d watched movies, read, even masturbated while wearing Sloane’s T-shirt during a particularly intense moment of missing him.
The doorbell rang and Dex sprang from the couch. At this juncture, he’d welcome any distraction. Even Ash. Dex opened the door, and threw his arms out in excitement.
“Cal!”
Calvin gave a start and pulled back a fist, his eyes wide. When he realized it was only Dex, he put his arm down, and let out a heavy sigh. “What the hell, man? You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” Dex said with a laugh. He moved so Calvin could come in. “Just excited to see another living person.”
“Didn’t you see Sloane this morning before he left for work?”
Dex closed the door and motioned to the living room where he followed Calvin in. “Yeah, but that was this morning. It feels like decades ago. It’s driving me nuts.” He dropped into the armchair, taking note of Calvin’s amused expression.
“Nuts, huh?”
“More so than usual, smarty pants.”