I grabbed his wrists and coaxed him out of the shower. Our clothes were all gone, in their place a stack of clean towels.
I grabbed one, rubbed it over Alexei, then dropped it. “Don’t pick it up.”
“You are staying wet?”
“Yeah.”
I tugged him out of the bathroom. Cam was stretched out on his bed, texting. Again. Still. Whatever. I ripped the phone from his hands and tossed it, my reward a faint smile.
“Don’t break it. Gonna need it later.”
“You don’t need it now.”
I was still clutching one of Alexei’s wrists. I pulled him in front of me, aware that he was allowing it. That he could incapacitate me with his little finger.
Water dripped down his chest. Cam watched every drop, chest collapsing with the deep breath we all needed. He rose to his knees and reached for Alexei, his gaze clear and bright, as if he saw Alexei stepping away from the abyss before any of us.
They kissed, but Cam was gentler than I’d ever seen him, holding Alexei like fragile glass. His eyes met mine over Alexei’s bruised shoulder and he drew back with a subtle nod.
He eased back on the bed, taking Alexei with him, kissing him again, melding them together like fucking poetry.
I was still hard. I palmed myself, biting my lip, drinking them in as they writhed together. It was such a perfect picture that I struggled to find my place in it. Then Alexei’s blank eyes bombarded my brain.Give him what he needs.
Cam manoeuvred Alexei to lie against him, back to chest, still kissing him, his hand at Alexei’s throat, a comfort, not a threat. A protector, like he was born to be.
He caught Alexei’s lip between his teeth.
Alexei’s eyes rolled as Cam bit down, a flush on his pale chest.
Move.
I opened the drawer of Cam’s bedside table. It was full of condoms, lube, and sex toys I wanted to burn. I grabbed a condom and a bottle of lube.
“No.”
I jerked my head back to the bed. Alexei was staring right at me. “No condom. Unless you want it. I am negative. My strange brain makes me check every month.”
Because he had OCD, but I’d have bet my left lung he’d never admit it. Regardless, I believed him, and I’d only ever fucked Cam bare, a decision that hadn’t been a decision at all, despite knowing he was already having unprotected sex with Alexei.
The trust I had for them was staggering.
But it didn’t feel wrong.
I chucked the condom over my shoulder.
Cam rumbled a laugh.
Alexei fired his stare hotter, and it burned my synapses. His desire for me pumped my blood harder, stole my breath, and I crawled onto the bed, splitting his legs apart.
Cam’s warmth was all around us. I met his gaze for a wild moment. He reached for me and his kiss was hungry. Untamed. Giving me the energy he was too scared to give Alexei right now.
I took it.
Banked it. Like the very first time we’d kissed and Alexei had given us the will to stay. To stop running, from each other and ourselves. Was I a different man now?
On the street, no.
With them, always.