Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Kyle collapses against one side of Elias, spent. Drake on the other. Elias, the seed of three men all over him, inside him, full of sweat and out of breath.
“Wow,” moans Drake, running a hand through his blotchy pink-blond hair, wet from exhaustion.
“I feel so used,” groans Elias, happy grin spilling over his face. He turns. “How about you, babe?”
Kyle hasn’t quite recovered yet. All three of their emotions still rocket around inside of him. Playing with his heart. Dancing in his nerves. Swimming through his blood. They’ve done this so many times by now, and Kyle can never get used to it. It’s the first time, every time.
“Can someone untie me?” Elias then asks. “I think I can’t feel my wrists anymore.”
“You got it, blood boy,” calls out Drake, already back to full energy, hopping off the bed to oblige.
Sometime later, Kyle and Elias are in the bathroom together, cleaning up. Elias catches Kyle by surprise in front of the mirror, bringing his arms around him from behind. “You smell so good.”
Kyle smiles sleepily back. “Yeah?”
“It’s barely midnight. You look like you’re crashing.” He puts his head on Kyle’s shoulder, the two of them gazing at the sweet reflection of both of them in the foggy, post-shower mirror. “Still exhausts you, huh? All three of us and your Reach?”
“There are worse things to have to suffer,” says Kyle, leaning back against Elias and nuzzling his head against his shoulder.
“Like my sneak-attack kisses?” asks Elias before demonstrating with an onslaught of them on Kyle’s neck, causing him to forget his aches and instead give in to laughter.
Elias has become so in tune with Kyle’s feelings, knowing just what he wants at all times, it’s almost as if he has his own Reach.
Perhaps that’s exactly what being trapped in a town together for nearly four months will do.
Has it really been four months already?
An hour later, the three of them, Elias, Drake, and Kyle, lean against the back of the couch, side-by-side, cuddled within the same big blanket, as they watch snow flutter past the window, a cup of coffee in Elias’s hand, a bottle of beer in Drake’s. Outside, a string of colorful Christmas lights dangle from the finished front porch, which nearly extends to the road and covers the entirety of the driveway like an awning. A long picnic bench sits in its center with a powered ceiling fan overhead. Along the edge of the porch are normally sitting an arrangement of potted plants—rosemary, aloe vera, lantana, prickly pear cactus—but all have been brought inside for the colder months, three of which surround the record player, currently playing a vinyl of AC/DC at low volume. Upon a pile of blankets by the front door sits their cat, bathing herself.
“I’ve always hated cold weather,” says Drake. Then he lays his head on Kyle’s shoulder with a sigh. “Maybe I just lacked the right people to enjoy it with.”
Kyle feels a pang of Drake’s sadness. Over the past months, it comes and goes. “Thinking about them tonight?”
Drake struggles with his reply for half a second before leaning toward the truth. “Not as … much as usual.”
“I tell myself a story,” says Elias, like a suggestion. “I decide Vegasyn fell like the Roman Empire. My mother is freed. No one can touch her anymore.” He shrugs. “See? Easy as that.”
Drake takes a swig of his beer, squints through the window. “The story I’ll tell myself is … my family found a way to survive. Laz isn’t as bad on his own as he feared he’d be. Salazo realized he didn’t need a pet at all. The rest of my aunts and uncles took up my suggestion of robbing a blood bank. Not ideal. Still ethically terrible. But the tradeoff is not hunting humans anymore. They’ve all taken off to California, holed up in a sizeable condo with their stolen riches used to pay for it, set for life, and the only thing they keep in their fridge is an endless supply of O-positive, and maybe a little AB-neg for rare occasions.”
Elias and Kyle sit with that for a while. “Disturbing in parts,” says Elias. “But acceptable,” says Kyle, nodding.
Drake smiles, satisfied. “Though …” His smile wavers. “If we are being honest here, I’m not sure where La-La fits into all that. Oh, I know! He’s a yoga instructor offering midnight sessions at a private resort where half-remembered D-list celebrities go.” Kyle and Elias remain silent. Drake peers at them. “Too soon?”
Kyle closes his eyes. In the house next door, he picks up with ease the fluttering heart of his brother and the calm and collected temperament of Raya. The pair have grown a lot closer over the months, and if it weren’t so cold and snowing, Kyle’s certain the five of them would be sharing a midnight meal right now.