Diligent or avoiding Devan? It was hard to tell once the pull between them reignited, Devan’s close proximity, though he’d yet to glance Zio’s way, bringing Zio to life.
Zio took an unconscious step forward. Stopped. Stepped back. Michael noticed his struggle and nudged Devan. Blue eyes found Zio’s. Devan set his spatula down and shouldered through hungry wolves to get to Zio.
He stopped a foot away, hands twitching at his sides. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Zio kicked at a stone. “What’s all this?”
“Thought you might be hungry.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve been out all night. Come. Eat.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to crash.”
“Uh-huh. After breakfast.Come.”
Devan’s tone shot heat straight to Zio’s groin. Warmth pooled in his belly, and his treacherous feet reclaimed the step he’d retreated. “I need to sleep.”
But his protest was weak, rooted in nothing. Devan took his hand and tugged him to the fire, and Zio was powerless to resist.
He sat beside Danielo as Michael and Devan served breakfast to the returning patrol and then handed out leftovers to the rest of the camp. They’d cooked enough for an army far bigger than Zio had, and even when he was full, the food kept coming.
Danielo was like a pig in shit, but Zio’s appetite—though he was hungrier than he cared to admit—was far smaller. At Devan’s third attempt to refill his plate, he pushed him away. “Stop. You’re going to kill me.”
Devan flinched.
Zio’s overfull stomach turned over. “I didn’t mean it literally. I’ve just had enough, okay?”
Devan shook himself. “Of course. Sorry. You want to go to bed?”
“Please—”Gods, stop talking.Zio cringed and tried again. “Yeah. I’m knackered.”
He stood and backed up, expecting Devan to stay put. But Devan ditched the plate he’d been brandishing and darted to his side. “Come on then.”
“You’re coming with me?”
“Yup. Unless you’d rather I slept with Danielo and—”
“What? Fuck no.”
Devan stopped walking. “I can, you know. I mean, not sleep with Danielo, but swap tents or try and not be around when you need to sleep. I can’t go far... I can’t be away from you like that, but if it’s easier for you if I’m not here, I can make that happen.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Go anywhere.” Zio gave in to the urge to grab Devan’s hands. “I know it’ll probably make things worse, but I’m so fucking tired, I can’t deal with you not being close. It hurts that we can’t...bewhat we want, but I just need... fuck, I don’t know what I need.”
Devan’s gaze pierced Zio’s soul as he read Zio, tasted his every emotion, and for once Zio didn’t mind that his heart was no longer private. That it had belonged to Devan long before either of them had known it. If their connection saved him having to explain the riot currently occupying his entire being, he could dig it.
He closed his eyes.Please.
Devan cupped Zio’s face with a warm, grounding palm. “Of course. Let’s go.”
Hand in hand they drifted to their tent. Far from the chaos Zio had left it in the previous evening, Devan had apparently been busy. Michael too, if the scent lingering in the air was anything to go by.
“He had a couple of pillows,” Devan replied to Zio’s obvious curiosity. “And he pinched some blankets from somewhere.”