Page 46 of Indecent

“Why?” Daniel demanded.

Chaol sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear your apologies. I want to know why.”

He gestured to Daniel’s left hand. “Your ring. I knew you were connected to the paladins right away. I knew Amon was killed there. It was safe to assume you wouldn’t help me get to Earth if you knew I was associated with someone who might’ve killed friends of yours.”

Daniel folded his arms across his chest. “But later, after we… Why didn’t you tell me later? Once you knew you could trust me?”

“What would you do to someone who hurt your brother?” he asked.

Daniel’s face hardened, then relaxed. “Okay. I get it. But you could’ve told me.”

“I knew you would want to stop me.”

“Then what was the plan? Get here, kill them, and hope I’d forgive you?”

“I—I don’t know. I didn’t have a plan. I wanted to get to the surface. That goal never changed. At some point, it became more about getting here with you than for that. I didn’t know what I planned to do. I knew I should tell you, but I didn’t know how.” He scrubbed both hands over his face. “I knew you wouldn’t want me to. And I thought maybe I could let it go in order to be with you, but then we just showed up there, and I was suddenly face to face with them. And Talon—” He broke off, letting a snarl burble out of him.

Daniel bobbed his head. “He can be an asshole, yeah. He provoked you, and he knew it. He actually apologized to me after you left.”

“Apologizing won’t bring Amon back.”

Daniel blew out a breath, trudging over to the bed and sitting down. “So, what then? If you see them again, you’ll kill them?”

“Would you let me?” They both knew Daniel could stop him if he wanted to.

Daniel didn’t look amused. “That’s not what I asked.”

Chaol sat down beside him, staring down at his lap. “No, I wouldn’t. You don’t want me to, and I’d rather have you. If I kill them, I’ll have my revenge, but I’ll still be alone. If I leave them be, I might still have a chance with you. That’s… That’s more important to me now.”

“You might still have a chance with me?” Daniel repeated.

Chaol blinked, uncomprehending. “Well, yeah. Aren’t you pissed at me? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to see me again. I⁠—”

In the blink of an eye, he found himself on his back with Daniel hovering over him, pressing him down into the mattress.

“You are mine, Chaol,” Daniel said. “Do you understand that? Mine. No matter what. Do I want you to kill them? No. If you did it anyway, would I let you go? No.”

Do you promise? Chaol wanted to say, but the words clogged in his throat.

“It would complicate everything. My friends would come after you for hurting them. I would hate having to choose between keeping you and fighting them. So no, I don’t want you to kill them. But nothing would make me let you go.”

Relief flooded through him. He hadn’t fucked this up. Daniel still wanted him.

Words weren’t needed. He leaned up, closing the distance between them and crashing their mouths together. Chaol whined into the kiss, rutting up against Daniel. He poured everything he felt into their touch, how much he regretted his actions and how much he still wanted Daniel. And Daniel, he gripped Chaol with possessive eagerness, one hand sliding into his hair and the other going under the arch of his spine, plastering them together.

At one time, Amon had chosen Lilith’s vendetta against the paladins over what remained of their clan. Now, Chaol wouldn’t let himself feel guilty for choosing Daniel over that half-baked quest for revenge that had gotten him through those first few weeks of solitude. He’d clung to it, because he needed something. Revenge had been his only comfort. He’d only wanted it because it hurt to be alone.

He wasn’t alone anymore. Daniel was his and he was Daniel’s, and his world finally made sense again.

Daniel’s teeth raked against his lip, soothed by his tongue as he wrenched Chaol’s fly open. He shoved his pants and boxers down. Daniel had showered at some point, but Chaol hadn’t. Streaks of dirt still stained his skin, and he was sticky with cum. Daniel growled, the sound completely unnatural and sending a shiver straight down Chaol’s spine. How quickly they’d gone from Chaol being the protector to Daniel being the strongest between them. He didn’t think Daniel realized yet just how much their dynamic had shifted. He was now one of the most powerful demons that Chaol had ever met.

He kicked his shoes off, and Daniel got up just long enough to yank his pants all the way off. Then he was back, blanketing his body over Chaol’s.

“Danny,” he whimpered.

Neither of them cared to spare the time for prep. They’d done this just a few hours ago, and Chaol was too needy to wait. He reeled Daniel closer, hooking his legs around Daniel’s waist. Their mouths crashed together as Daniel finally sank inside him. Chaol’s body went boneless as burning heat scorched through him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and teeth sank into his throat with possessive need.