Lovesick Gods

by Amanda Meuwissen

  Cho glanced away with a half-amused, half-chiding chuckle. “So dramatic. Besides, who says my gear is ever far away from me?”

  Also good to know, not that Cho needed a costume to be dangerous.

  They finished their meal and Cho got up to clear everything away while they divided the rest of the wine between them. The training instilled in Danny by his parents kicked in, and he got up to help, carrying dishes to the sink and putting the remaining food in the fridge, though he left the plate of cookies out. When he was done, he handed Cho his wine glass.

  “Keep spoiling me, Sparky, and I’ll never let you out of this apartment.” Cho took the wine, and this time when he trailed his gaze down Danny’s body, he bit his lip as he got to the tight stretch of his jeans.

  Stepping closer into Cho’s body, Danny kept his voice soft. “Yeah? Have me walk around in a speedo all day or just an apron maybe?”

  “Apron…” Cho repeated. “Hmm…”

  Danny giggled as he leaned closer, forcing Cho’s gaze to meet his. “Filed away in your list of things to drape me in…Mal?”

  Cho shuddered. There was nothing more satisfying than causing that reaction in an Elemental made from ice. “Definitely,” Cho said and closed the gap between them.

  They kissed. It was immediately apparent that their wine glasses were in the way. Danny pulled back to take them both and set them on the counter, then returned full force, grasping the curve of Cho’s jaw to pull him closer. He tasted of the wine, spicy and strong.

  Gripping Cho’s hip with his other hand, Danny started to pivot them, backing Cho up until he felt resistance as they reached the island. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he huffed against Cho’s lips, thumb tracing the man’s faint stubble, the fingers at Cho’s hip slipping up beneath his sweater.

  “Yeah…?” Cho breathed back, barely any space between them. “Tell me.”

  “The way you felt. How good you felt when I was inside you. How good it’s gonna be when you’re inside of me.”

  This time, Danny felt the tremble work its way through Cho’s body and would swear the man’s skin felt a few degrees colder beneath his touch. “Anything else?”

  “Your mouth.” Danny kissed it briefly then pulled at Cho’s bottom lip with a gentle bite. “God, your mouth. Anywhere. Everywhere. And my mouth on you…” As Danny spoke, he let his hands travel to Cho’s jeans and started to undo them, opening them up right there in the kitchen. They could move to the sofa or bedroom later.

  Cho looked pleasantly flushed as Danny dropped to his knees.

  “Killer Queen” erupted from the man’s jean pocket and he dropped his head back with a frustrated groan. Danny didn’t try to hide his frustration either because that was obviously Lucy’s ring tone.

  “Is there some sort of cockblock tracker attached to both of us?” Danny lamented, letting his hands drop but staying on the floor.

  Cho laughed as he pulled the phone from his back pocket. “For the record, she chose that ringtone for herself.”

  “Oh, I believe you.”

  “I’ll keep it brief.”

  “I sure hope it’s the only thing you’re planning to keep brief.”

  Smirking, Cho answered the call, “Not a good time, Luce,” but his smile dropped as he listened to what she had to say. Holding up a finger, he moved out of the kitchen to talk with her in private across the room.

  Damn it. That meant it was important. Getting up from his knees, Danny watched Cho wander toward the slit windows behind his desk, his words hushed and sharp. This called for more wine. Grabbing both of their glasses, Danny set them on the island, where he leaned his elbows next to the cookies and ate one before polishing off more of his drink.

  The disruption had a sting of anger swirling through him, making his grip on the glass a little too tight. Danny needed this. He needed something he could lose himself in without interruption or complication. Cho was the one thing in his life making any sense right now. Why did something have to keep breaking into their time together and pulling him down from his high?

  Noticing Cho turn back to him, even though he was still on the phone, he raised his voice for Danny to hear as he shrugged helplessly, “I’ll meet you in a half-hour. On the nose, I swear. Am I ever late?” then turned toward the windows again, muffling his words.

  Half-hour? That wasn’t enough time. Danny spent at least eight hours at the precinct most days, countless hours patrolling, not to mention the time he’d lost lately trying to balance family and friends and sanity. It was as if the universe didn’t want him to have even a moment to himself.

  One day. Just one day, one single day, enjoyable from start to finish, without anything to upset the delicate tightrope walk between happiness and losing his god damn—

  “Danny!”

  It was Cho’s voice that brought Danny back, not the wetness of the spilled wine on his hand or the pain of the glass embedded in his skin. “Oh shit, shit.” Standing up straight, Danny stared at his bleeding palm and the mess all over the counter. “I am so sorry, I just…” Had he really squeezed the glass so tightly or had his powers erupted enough to shatter it?

  “Here, give me that.” Cho was suddenly beside him, the phone gone, presumably back in his pocket. When had he hung up? Danny couldn’t remember hearing anything. Cho pulled him over to the kitchen sink, and Danny followed along in a daze.

  “My mind wandered and I…I…” He couldn’t gather his thoughts. How could he explain? He was so angry at Lucy for calling and stealing Mal away from him that he shattered a glass? That sounded crazy. Too intense. Too…frightening.

  “Relax, Sparky, it’s just a glass,” Cho said. Turning on the faucet, he let cool water run over Danny’s palm as he carefully picked out the larger pieces and either set them on the counter or let the barely visible ones run down the drain. It stung and Danny hissed at the sharp pain he hadn’t felt at first, but Cho’s touch was gentle. Practiced. One hand on his wrist to hold him steady while the other set to vigilant work.

  There was still a mess of glass left on the island, too near the cookies, which meant those would have to be thrown away. What had Danny been thinking? His thoughts felt as fractured as the shards in his skin. He needed to salvage this, needed to focus.

  “Now isn’t that interesting?” Cho said as he brushed his thumb over Danny’s palm. All of the cuts were superficial, nothing deep enough to require stitches in a normal person, so for Danny, the damage was already healing.

  He focused on that, clung to it, and summoned a smile. “You know I heal fast. How else could I handle your blasts of ice so well?”

  Cho nodded but didn’t say anything more. He stood very close to Danny as the water ran over their connected skin. For the most part, Cho’s blue eyes watched the healing cuts in fascination, but his gaze was soft yet heated whenever he looked up.

  “Your pulse is high,” he said as he thumbed Danny’s wrist.

  “It’s always like that.”

  “I meant high for you.” Cho smiled but seemed curious. “That must have been some violent daydream.”

  “No,” Danny said too quickly. “I mean…sorry. It was just…” He trailed again, which he had to stop doing, he had to organize his thoughts or else Cho would know that he was broken and all of this would be ruined. But he couldn’t lie. Maybe it was okay to be a little vulnerable to accomplish his goals. Not that he expected Cho to care, but he couldn’t stop the words from leaving him. “It’s been tough. Lately. Stressful, you know.”

  “I figured. You’re here with me. Had to be some sort of crisis in your life.” Cho never ceased the gentle swirls of his thumbs over Danny’s skin. “You take on the responsibility of protecting an entire city, Danny. It’s understandable.”

  Everyone kept saying that—that it was understandable why he’d be upset lately—but that just made it worse. Like it was no
rmal, when the last thing Danny felt was normal.

  Was he really any better than Cho after the things he’d done? Any better than Thanatos?

  “Although I think we can both admit,” Cho continued, “life would be boring if you didn’t deal with an Elemental like me once in a while.”

  “Boring is not the word that comes to mind, but compared to other Elementals, I do prefer you.” Danny said it too quickly to deny it was the truth. He looked into Cho’s eyes just as the other man turned off the water and grabbed a nearby towel to dry their hands. All of Danny’s cuts were healed.

  The contact was nice and charged differently somehow. Little by little, Danny’s pulse slowed to its usual hummingbird titter, like a livewire from his lightning.

  With the towel still bunched in their hands, Danny and Cho leaned forward at the same time. They kissed again. Softer. Slower.

  “Some of our promises will need to wait until next time,” Cho spoke quietly between them. “I don’t want a time limit when I take you apart. And I will return that favor soon. Apologies for Lucy, it’s…not something I can reschedule. But half an hour is still plenty of time for a little fun.”

  “Yeah…” Danny said, telling himself to be patient. If he wanted to draw things out and make Cho yearn for him, then these interruptions played in his favor. He just wished he didn’t want the escape the man offered him as badly as he did, that he didn’t feel like he’d lose his mind without it.

  Time. He needed time, and it would get easier. He didn’t need Cho. It was just that he hadn’t had such good sex in so long, maybe ever.

  “Let me…” Danny pulled his hands from Cho’s beneath the towel and gestured at the glass on the counter.

  “Don’t worry about it, I can—”

  But Danny shook his head and cleaned the remaining glass anyway. Depositing all of it in the trash safely, he wiped the counter, reluctantly tossed the cookies in the trash as well, and left the kitchen practically flawless.

  He held up his hands when he was finished. “I was careful. No more glass, I promise.”

  Tossing the towel next to the sink, Cho crossed his arms in thought. “Might need to make a game of it, Sparky, just to be safe. Make sure you use your mouth only.”

  “Sounds fun. Come here, Ice Man.” Danny reached for Cho’s sweater and twisted his fingers in the fabric, tugging as he started to back up. “Let’s debauch your sofa again.”

  ß

  Hades was doing his namesake proud—he knew everyone’s secrets now.

  The details about Prometheus’s upcoming heist had been overheard only too easily at Haven, but while keeping tabs on the man, Hades had watched him welcome into his home the very detective currently working his case.

  Daniel Grant.

  Hades had watched with interest, since there was no greater leverage to use against a criminal than sleeping with a detective, and vice versa. But there was something unique about their rapport and the way Prometheus called the Lightning leaning detective ‘Sparky’. Everything became clear when Grant shattered a wine glass with a flash of yellow light.

  Zeus was sleeping with the enemy. Hades couldn’t have planned their combined downfall any better if he’d gotten them together himself.

  For now he’d bide his time and plan something grander for his next theft, really let Detective Grant and the OCPD feel the pang of failure as another impossible-to-solve case reared its head while they were still working on the first one. Something to give them a reason to look into him.

  Yes. He knew just the place to rob next.

  Chapter 12

  Mal was on his way home from another stakeout with Dom when he decided to stop by Andrews’ Electronics to check on Priestly. It was the next week, a little earlier than Priestly said he’d be finished with their amplifiers, but it didn’t hurt to get a progress report. Plus, it gave Mal an excuse to walk a few extra blocks around the neighborhood to make sure Dunkirk wasn’t lurking.

  Lucy had spotted him the night Mal was last with Danny, throwing a wrench into his plans for the evening. Dunkirk had high-tailed it when he saw Lucy, but she’d insisted that Mal meet her. She’d followed him as best she could, but by the time Mal caught up with his sister, she’d lost track of Dunkirk heading into the heart of the city toward his father’s territories.

  He was looking for Carla, and he wasn’t going to stop. He knew she didn’t have long before the baby was due. It meant he might get reckless, dangerous, and throw aside the truce that currently resided between the Titans and the Irish.

  Mal’s mind was in three different places as he entered the electronics shop—Zeus, the heist, and Sean Dunkirk’s idiocy. Mal didn’t mind mixing business with pleasure, but business and unpleasantness was plain annoying. Unpleasantness that disrupted his pleasure was even worse.

  A couple other customers were in the shop today, so when Arty spotted Mal, he nodded and said, “If you’re checking on your order with Priestly, he’s in the back.”

  Offering his thanks, he slipped quietly through the curtain. Priestly was hard at work at one of the tables, tinkering with a thin black cuff using the tiniest set of tools Mal had ever seen, like the kind used to fix a screw on a pair of glasses.

  “Ask and ye shall receive. That mine?” Mal said.

  Priestly didn’t look up. “You’re early.”

  “Not expecting miracles, Hart. Just checking in.”

  “A few more days, then you can test it. Otherwise, breathing down my neck doesn’t make me work any faster.” Finally, he glanced up after setting the cuff aside. “Unless you have a complaint about the aesthetics, and in that case…too bad. I like what I came up with, and I’m not changing it.”

  Mal snorted. He had an MO with the people who worked with him, who were closest to him—they challenged him every step of the way but were loyal to a fault.

  Craning his neck to inspect the cuff, Mal noted that it could easily be mistaken for a fashion statement with its delicate design. It was nothing like the power-dampening handcuffs the police used or the amplifiers the feds gave their pet Elementals.

  The governments of the world didn’t like people with powers living free. Elementals either stayed in hiding, registered and lived with dampeners permanently, became criminals, or agreed to use their abilities in defense of their country.

  “Why, my dear Prometheus, what have you been up to lately?” Priestly said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “Or should I say who?”

  Straightening instantly, Mal hadn’t realized that his stance while examining the cuff allowed one of his many marks from Danny to peek out of his shirt. “That’s personal, Hart. And I’ll ask that you not tell my sister about it if you see her before I do. Though she suspects I have a regular.”

  “Didn’t think you dated.”

  “I don’t. Conflict of interest most of the time. This is recreation only.”

  “Lucky you. I could use some recreation,” Priestly sighed wistfully.

  “Any particular reason you’re not pursuing any?” Casting his gaze toward the front of the shop, Mal didn’t mean to get involved, but he couldn’t help his curiosity. Lucy said it was his big brother complex, which he vehemently denied.

  Priestly took a moment to process what Mal had implied. “Please. Arty is so…lowbrow.”

  “And you’re a snob. I know. But every beauty needs a tumble with a beast now and again. As long as he’s a gentle beast in the bedroom, or else I’ll have to ice him on your behalf.”

  That pulled a real smile from Priestly; Mal always managed a few. “I can take care of myself. But thanks. The thing about you, Cho,” he pushed back from the table and summoned some of his flirtatious nature, “is I can never tell if you’re the beauty or the beast when it comes to your sex life.”

  “I like to play both sides,” Mal said honestly, “depending on my mood. And my partner
.”

  “Is that a cultured versus uncultured rebuttal or a sign of your sexuality?” Priestly eyed him just shy of devilish.

  Chuckling, Mal leaned in closer to the kid. “This beast you want nothing to do with, Hart. Trust me.”

  Priestly rolled his eyes as if disappointed, but Mal could read deeper into his tells; he didn’t want Mal other than harboring a passing crush. But Arty… “Well,” he interrupted Mal’s thoughts, “whatever beauty does have your attention, they certainly don’t have much restraint with their mouth.”

  That was true enough. And Danny was indeed a beauty. Endearingly charming. Sexy. Not to mention dirty. And sad.

  Mal shouldn’t be affected by that knowledge. Shouldn’t want to know the reasons behind the darkness in the depths of Danny’s eyes these days or why his smile quivered, struggling to be real. Mal had thought he was reading too much into it, imagining that his hero had some edges to him that hadn’t been there before—until the other night.

  The glass. The way Danny’s careful façade had cracked like the shards and he’d been honest with Mal for a moment—really honest. Mal’s affair was with Zeus, but Danny had made a brief appearance that night, before sliding effortlessly back into his masked persona.

  Mal could…use that. Yes. That’s what he should do with the knowledge that Danny was faltering enough with some aspect of his life that he’d chosen to seek solace in an enemy. Mal could turn that to his advantage if things got complicated. He could… He…

  “Cho?”

  Mal looked up to find Priestly staring at him, amused but also questioning. Mal didn’t know what he would do about Danny. He didn’t have a plan. He always had a plan. He needed to come up with one, and quickly, but when he was with Danny, his usual common sense and meticulous focus eluded him.

  His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he avoided Priestly’s stare by checking it. Speak of the devil.

  You free tonight? Danny had texted.

  “Just focus on finishing those amplifiers, Hart, and the comms,” Mal said, tucking his phone away until he could answer Danny privately. “I’ll be back with Dom soon.”