9. The Reprieve

Making it upstairs to his room left Micah damp with sweat and breathless. He leaned against the wall closest to the stairs, a blurry Andrew hurrying determinedly into the bathroom. The handles on the faucet spun with a squeak and bathwater thundered forth.

"I already changed the sheets on the bed." Andrew folded onto his knees next to the tub, picking out several containers from the cabinet under the sink. When Micah didn't reply, he glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "You need to relax and then go to sleep. I thought that was obvious."

Micah crossed the length of his patterned rug runner and came into the bathroom, dropping to his knees next to Andrew. Gripping his neck, Micah pressed his mouth to Andrew's and swallowed Andrew's small, surprised puff of air as he slipped his tongue into his mouth in a brief swirling dance before he moved back to press their foreheads together.

Micah shook his head slightly. "You're too good to me."

Andrew cupped Micah's cheeks between his hands, the corners of his slender lips turning up in the coquettish smile that had stolen Micah's heart from the moment he first saw it. "I'll be the judge of that." He picked up a jar of dried lavender, sprinkling it in the churning water along with a generous heap of pink sea salt. Then he drew Micah back to his feet and stripped him out of his sweats and boxers with such a gentle touch Micah barely felt him. Lastly, he lifted the sling off Micah's shoulder and slid it off his forearm, hanging it on a towel hook behind them. Then he pressed his lips to each bony tip of Micah's clavicle, then the apple of his throat, all the while delicately holding his forearm immobile.

As Andrew helped Micah step into the tub, Micah said, "You don't have to—"

"Hush." Andrew's dark gaze stoically avoided Micah. "I couldn't fix your arm. I need this."

As the fragrant waters pulled Micah into their warm embrace, he loosened a heavy sigh. "Fine," he purred, eyes fluttering shut.

After the dials squeaked the tap off, Andrew's feet dipped into the bath on either side of Micah's shoulders. Soft curly leg hair tickled Micah's skin as Andrew settled onto the edge of the tub with Micah between his knees. Micah leaned his head back to take in the hills and valleys of Andrew's lightly muscled torso, his perfectly pink nipples, his defined collarbones. The serious expression on his narrow fox-like face made Micah's breath stop in his throat. The faint pucker of his lips, the hitch in his brow, the sweep of his auburn lashes over his dark gaze…it was a look that would nestle into every bruise of fear in Micah's brain, steeped in love and tenderness.

Feeling Micah's gaze on him, Andrew's eyes flicked up from the clay mug he filled with water. He hummed a wordless question that Micah simply answered with a smile, his head growing heavier and more limp on Andrew's thigh as the fragrant water from the mug warmed his scalp and soaked his hair. Andrew flipped the cap on a beige shampoo bottle and squirted some of it into his hand. Carefully keeping Micah's shoulder dry, he worked the shampoo into a lather, fingers twined through the vines of his hair. Andrew's eyes were fixed on the muscles rippling in Micah's throat, the square edges of his jaw, the faint part between his plump lips. Having to pin his attention to the task at hand was almost impossible as Andrew rinsed out the soap with a hand cupped against the nape of his neck to stop the drips. Micah's water-bright strands looked like seagrass swaying in a coral reef. He took a small scoop of coconut oil from a jar on the sink, melted it between his fingers, and massaged it into Micah's hair.

Micah lay silently with his head back, water dripping into the tub from his hair. The bone-deep throbbing of his shoulder faded beneath Andrew's caress. It was its own kind of magic, a promise that Andrew would stop at nothing to keep Micah safe like a knight would his lord.

Drowsy with comfort, Micah blinked open one eye to peer up at Andrew, who was already gazing at him with a faint crease between his eyebrows as he tucked his hair behind his ear. Andrew used the pad of his thumb to trace the curve of Micah's lips from the dimpled corners to the philtrum below the tip of his nose.

Drawn to the coconut smell clinging to the other man's fair skin, Micah caught Andrew's wrist and brushed his lips over his palm, goosebumps rising on Andrew's creamy skin in response. He pressed a long, lingering kiss to each knuckle, and then every fingertip. Then he glanced up toward Andrew to find his eyes closed and his lower lip caught between his teeth like a ripe bite of peach. Heart somersaulting, Micah slid his hand further up Andrew's thigh, toward his groin; muscles clenched under his touch.

Turning around to kneel before Andrew with a swish of lavender, Micah fitted his shoulders between Andrew's thighs to spread his legs further. Scooping coconut oil onto the tips of two of his fingers, he used it as a lubricant and gently probed inside Andrew's warm, tight hole. He relished seeing Andrew's hands dimple his thighs, and admired his angular jaw fully displayed as his chin tipped back and he released a ragged sigh. Under the curtain of his long lashes, Micah's irises glinted silver as he took Andrew into his mouth.

When he started to feel breathless, Micah twined his arm around Andrew's hips and pulled him into the water with a splash. A surprised gasp hardly got out of Andrew's lungs before Micah sloshed them into the end of the tub, leaning back into his good shoulder and clamping Andrew onto his lap.

Grinning, Andrew melted back against Micah's chest with his legs folded to fit into the tub. Micah was all over him in an instant, lightly grazing the banded muscles of his neck with his teeth, palms flat against his pectorals. He circled each nipple with his fingernails, making Andrew shiver. When he pinched their small points, Andrew's back arched and he dug his fingers into Micah's knee as he swallowed a moan.

"Pleasuring you always takes my mind off my worries," Micah said into Andrew"s ear, his voice like the lowest notes on a violin.

Twisting so their faces could meet, Andrew's dark eyes were veiled with desire before they slipped shut as he kissed Micah and teased his mouth open with his tongue. Micah's hands dipped beneath the water, Andrew tingling with anticipation as they closed around his hips.

Andrew's breath hitched and cascaded into a shuddering moan as Micah took him in his hand and entered him at once.

On fresh sheets, in fresh clothes, with fresh bandages, Micah felt deeply weary as Andrew tucked the covers up to his chin. He hated sleeping on his stomach. He thought this was over. And the ice pack on his shoulder was going to be a staple of his day; Julian had set an alarm for every two hours to rotate in a fresh one.

But when Andrew leaned in and kissed his brow, Micah's lips curved. His eyes swirled into a warm blushing lilac. "You're an admirable man." Micah's voice slurred with fatigue.

"How's that?" asked Andrew, the damp ends of his hair draped over his wrist as he propped himself on his elbow, close enough to Micah for his breath to ghost across his bangs.

"If I had to be around anyone else you've ever kissed…I'd go feral. I'd climb you like a tree and start throwing shit." Micah's eyes started sliding shut. "Probably literally. Like a monkey."

Andrew snorted. He grazed his finger over Micah's eyebrow before resting his hand against the contours of his face. "I mean, I didn't bring Diana here because I was excited to hang out with her."

"It had to be…" Micah yawned, "…kinda fun calling her out though."

Andrew raised his brows for a moment. "If you insist."

Dubious, Micah smirked at him.

Pinching Micah's dimpled cheek, Andrew allowed himself a satisfied grin. "She was so easily flustered."

"Literally the funniest," giggled Micah, which made Andrew laugh with him.

Andrew grew serious. "She had the knowledge I hoped she would. That degree she's working on is very tempting. I looked it up."

"I fully support it if you want to go back to school," Micah mumbled. "That's sexy."

Andrew's heart leapt. "Yeah?"

Micah hummed his assent.

"That means a lot to me, love." Andrew kissed his brow.

Eyes closed, Micah smiled warmly, his cheeks rising to create a crinkle with his eyelids.

Andrew's fingers ran over the bandages on Micah's shoulder, which was much warmer than the rest of the half-Fae's body. "I'm just sorry it didn't work. I'm sorry it made things worse." He lowered himself onto the pillows, cupping Micah's cheek. "Seeing you suffer is agonizing."

"I'm confused about it," Micah said slowly, lashes fluttering as he leaned into Andrew's caress. "Is witchcraft not real magic then?"

Andrew looked past Micah's bandaged shoulder, his gaze unfocused against the far wall near the bathroom, which still wafted the smell of lavender across the room. "I think you and the Folk can create magic. I think you're made of magic. I don't think witches are. I think they have power to some degree to harness magic, like the skills a sculptor has to make a figure out of formless clay."

Micah's lips twitched.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just so smart. It's sexy."

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes, sir."

"Your eyes are closed. How did you know?"

"I felt it. The sass."

With another deliberate roll of his eyes, Andrew continued, "I bet they were able to utilize your energy because they wounded you last month. It seemed like they put some kind of counter-curse on you when they cursed your wound in your dreams last night. Like a tripwire. I don't know. Mum's Druid magic isn't focused on spells and incantations like that, but this seems to be logic-based in their oldest form like the spell we were going from. If the curse is attempted to be lifted, then the wound begins to eat itself."

Micah cringed. "Very apt description. No more, please."

"Yes." Andrew slipped his arm over Micah's waist. "That's all right."

"What do we do now?" Eyes closed, Micah yawned again.

"Take the curse-giver hostage?" Andrew offered, as if he'd been thinking about it all night. He had. "Force her to lift it? If she refuses, we kill her. Presumably, then, it would lift itself, but I imagine those books Diana left here have something we could use to ensure that."

Micah's lashes flicked open. His darkened gaze accosted Andrew. "Brutal."

A muscle jumped in Andrew's jaw. "I told you, I am not losing you to this. No matter what."

Micah nodded faintly. He carded his fingers through Andrew's long hair until he saw the crease between Andrew's eyebrows soften. "Maybe Ostara's a crazy idea. Maybe we need time to…survive this."

Frowning, Andrew gave Micah a light kiss. "Hold tight. We plan for Ostara. If things fall apart, we change our plan. But I won't surrender our union for discord."

"Bet." Micah nuzzled into Andrew and released a long sigh against the nape of his neck. As usual, Andrew's warmth and softness made all Micah's worries fall away. He was safe. He was loved.

He fell asleep almost at once.