“We will.”
“Okay, sure. I’m still going out. You can stay here if you want, but I’m going.”
Nysys nibbled on his lower lip. He’d go with Morin, of course he would, even if he didn’t like it. “Fine. It’s not like I can tie you to your bed, so I’ll come with you.” Maybe he could convince him to do something inside, maybe a museum or something. This was Nysys’ first time in New York, after all. He just had to keep most of his attention on Morin.
“Well, you could tie me to my bed if you wanted to. I wouldn’t complain.”
Nysys gaped. “What?”
Morin shrugged again. “You asked for it.”
“Where did the serious guy I’ve lived with for the past week go?”
“He has a day off. Oh, I know. We’re going to the zoo.”
“No! We have to stay inside.”
Morin wasn’t listening anymore. He was already up and heading toward the hallway. “Like I said before, you can stay here if you want. I’m going to the zoo.”
Nysys thumped his forehead against the cool marble counter. “Seriously? The zoo?”
Morin wasn’t even there to answer anymore, so Nysys got up and quickly threw away the rest of his cereal, then put the bowl in the dishwasher. He hurried to Morin’s room and knocked on the door when he found it closed.
“Yes?”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
Nysys opened the door and immediately regretted it. How was he supposed to stay away from his mate when the man flaunted his body that way? Morin was standing in the bathroom door, drying his face with a towel. The T-shirt he’d been wearing only minutes before was abandoned on the bed. Morin’s chest was exposed to Nysys’ hungry gaze, and Nysys had to consciously look away. Not that it helped much. The image was now seared in his brain, and Nysys knew it would pop up regularly from now on, probably in inopportune moments.
“Did you need something?”
Nysys shook his head and kept his focus on Morin’s face. Well, as much as he could, anyway. It wasn’t completely his fault that his gaze kept sliding down to trace the wide shoulders Morin usually kept hidden under a suit, or the slightly furry chest Nysys had never seen before.
“Nysys?” Morin’s voice was amused, and it was obvious he knew exactly what Nysys was doing.
Nysys straightened and held his chin high. “Are you sure about the zoo?”
“Yes. Have you ever been to one?”
“No. I don’t go out in the human world that often. I can’t, not with my ears.”
Morin moved closer to Nysys and dropped the towel on his bed. He raised one hand but stopped before actually touching Nysys. “Can I?”
“Sure.”
The first touch of Morin’s fingers on the shell of Nysys’ ear made him shiver. Morin chuckled but didn’t move his fingers away, and Nysys steeled himself. He needed to resist, to avoid showing the man in front of him just how much impact his touch had on Nysys.
“You hid them when we went to dinner with my mother.”
“Yeah, well, I had my hair down then.”
“You can wear it like that today, too. Or you can put a hat on, but I’m not sure it would be a good idea with this weather.”
“It’s too hot for a hat.” Nysys didn’t particularly want to leave his hair down, but he also didn’t have any alternative. He sighed. “Fine, I’ll keep it down.”
Morin’s hand moved from his ear to his hair and Nysys froze. Morin gently petted his hair, then buried his hand into it and lightly scratched Nysys’ scalp. He couldn’t stop the little moan from escaping his lips and clamped them together immediately. Morin just smiled and continued stroking Nysys’ hair. “I like it better like this, you know.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Because I can’t stroke it when it’s all spiky and stiff from the gel you use.”
Nysys took a step backward.
Morin’s hand fell.
“I don’t really take what you like into account when I dress or do my hair.”
“I know that, and I’m not asking you to.”
“I’ll go dress.” Nysys risked a peek at Morin’s face, but he didn’t look angry. He was smiling like someone who had a secret and wasn’t about to spill it, and of course it made Nysys want to know what he was thinking about. Or maybe not.
He quickly left Morin’s room and walked in the one that was now his. Apart from the hair, he was going to dress exactly the way he wanted. Okay, maybe using all those bright colors wasn’t exactly what he wanted to wear, but he’d found early on that annoying someone would get you the beating right away rather than having to wait until they decided to beat you up. It also had been a way to attract attention to himself. Nysys had hoped someone would notice him and the fact that he was beaten regularly and do something. It hadn’t worked.
Of course, no one had touched him since he’d moved to Whitedell, but by now that loud, obnoxious persona was part of Nysys’ shell against the world, and it was hard to shed. Even for his mate. Morin hadn’t touched him in anger yet, but it was always when Nysys started to trust that people showed their true colors. He couldn’t rule the possibility out yet, as much as he wanted to.
With a heavy heart, Nysys set out to dress as flashily as he could. He stripped his pajamas off and pulled on an orange tank top, than a pair of turquoise shorts. He paired the outfit with his black and pink sneakers and grabbed his pink backpack to go with it. He hesitated, wondering if he should put some jewelry on, but he decided not to. The only jewelry he liked was his piercings anyway.
He left his hair down, cursing the curls and limiting himself to making sure his ears were covered, then headed out to meet Morin.
* * * *
Morin had expected the clashing colors, but not the slightly sad disposition. “Something wrong?”
Nysys looked up. “Huh? Oh, no. I’m fine. Excited. I’ve never been to a zoo before.”
Moring knew Nysys was lying, but he couldn’t do much if Nysys wouldn’t talk to him. He decided he’d try to help by making sure Nysys had fun. “What are we waiting for, then?”
He guided Nysys outside and locked the front door.
“Are we taking a cab?”
“Unless you want to take public transportation.”
Nysys wrinkled his nose. “No, thanks. Why don’t you have a driver and a car, though?”
“I don’t like that someone always knows where I am, and parking in this city is hell.”
“Huh. I’d never thought about it. I’m used to Whitedell.”
“How is it, living there? With so many people?”
“Nice, but overwhelming. I love them all, but sometimes I can’t stand them. I feel like there’s always someone with me, that I’m never alone.”
“Why don’t you move out?”
“To go where?”
“Don’t you have a family?”
Morin immediately regretted asking that particular question when he literally saw the shutters come down in Nysys’ eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay. I’m just not used to talking about it. My friends already know.”
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
“I won’t. I’ll just say that no, I don’t have a family, not a birth one. My family are my friends and my make-shift tribe.”
“Your tribe?”
“Uh huh. Nix live in tribes. I’m kind of the leader of mine, although it’s not really an official one.”
Morin liked the way Nysys’ face lit up when he talked about this.
“It’s really just me and a few friends, but we’re like brothers, you know?”
Morin nodded and smiled, then hailed a cab. They climbed in and Morin told the driver where to take them. “I’d like to meet them sometime.”
Nysys looked at him. “Why?”
“Because they’re obviously important to you.”
Nysys nodded but didn’t push for a deeper explanation, and Morin was glad. He felt strangely off-balance since he’d met him, like he wanted Nysys to know everything about him and to share his life even if they didn’t know each other all that well yet. He didn’t know much about the man sitting next to him, but he wanted to, so much it surprised him. Nysys had told him he lived in Whitedell and Morin knew he was a member of the council he’d soon meet, but that had been about all until today. Nysys had let several names slip during their conversations, but he’d never really talked about anyone.
“So, have you called home recently? Apart from earlier, I mean.” That hadn’t been a pleasant chat, and Morin wished he could take the words back.
Nysys looked away from the window and straight at Morin. “Yeah. I called this morning, in fact. Before...”
Before Morin was nearly shot. Yeah. “I hope everyone is fine.”
Nysys gave him a perplexed look. “Uh, yeah, everyone’s fine. You know, if you want to ask me something, just ask.”
“I’m not sure you’ll answer.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t ask, though.”
“All right. I just want to get to know you, but you never talk about yourself.”
“That’s because there’s nothing much to say.”
“Why don’t you let me judge that? Come on, tell me something about you.”
“I like tattoos.”
Morin scowled. “I already knew that.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. How about... I’m an only child.”
“Okay, that’s something. It’s... nice?”
Nysys chuckled. “You don’t seem too convinced about that.”
“That’s because I wouldn’t know what being an only child feels like. I have two younger siblings, a sister and a brother.”
“Sandra didn’t mention other kids.”
“That’s because we all have different mothers. I don’t see them as much as I’d like, to be honest, but when they were younger and my father was still married to their mothers, I used to spend a lot of time with them, you know, babysitting and stuff.”
“How old are they?”
“Ana is nearly twenty and Matthew is fifteen.”
“And you’re...”
“Thirty-three.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of difference.”
“It is. I don’t see Ana a lot because she lives in Texas, but Matthew is here in New York. I see him at least once a week.”
“Uh huh. So your father was married three times.”
“I think he just divorced from his fifth wife, actually. He remarried a few times after Matthew was born.”
“That’s... a lot of wives.”
“He’s not an easy man to live with.”
The cab slowed and Morin looked out the window. They were there. He paid the driver and exited the cab. He’d been at the Bronx Zoo a few times when Matthew was younger, but it had been a while.
“So where do we go?”
Nysys was looking around, his eyes darting from one side to the other. Nervousness poured out of him in waves.
Morin sighed. He wanted the man to relax, but he obviously was having a hard time with that. Morin smiled and took Nysys’ hand, ignoring his indignant squawk as he led him toward the entrance. He had to release Nysys to pay, but he put a hand on the small of his back to guide him as they stepped inside the zoo.
Nysys frowned at him and tried to keep his distance, but it was half-hearted at best. It really served only to encourage Morin to touch him every chance he got. “This is the Asia Gate. The closest animals are in the Jungle World. Do you want to go on a camel ride before we go see them?”
Nysys looked at him in surprise. “A camel ride?”
“Yes, you know, camels?”
“Of course I know camels. I just didn’t know we could ride them”
“Well, you can if you want to. Do you?”
Nysys bit his lower lip and Morin didn’t even try to resist this time. He reached out and tugged the lip from Nysys’ teeth, then leaned in and kissed it. Nysys leaned away, but Morin hadn’t expected him to do anything different, so he smiled and pointed the right way. “It’s over there.”
Nysys nodded slowly, his gaze riveted on Morin’s lips, and Morin chuckled. He took Nysys’ hand again and tugged him toward the camels.
A few hours later, Morin was already beat. They’d ridden the camels, seen monkeys, tigers, and countless other animals, taken the monorail and the shuttle. At the moment they were sitting in the zoo main restaurant and eating. Nysys was talking a mile a minute, and had been ever since he’d climbed down from the camel. He looked a bit like a child, his eyes shining with wonder and darting to every animal they’d encountered as if it were the first time. In fact... “Is this really your first time in a zoo?”
Nysys looked up from his meal. “Yeah. I told you this morning.”
“I know. I hope you’re having fun.”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’d ever have come if it weren’t for you, so thank you. This place is incredible.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
Nysys chuckled.
“No, really. I’d forgotten how nice it is to watch someone discover things for the first time.”
“I know I look like a kid.”
“Maybe a bit, but I find it delightful.”
“You do?”
Morin reached for Nysys’ free hand. Nysys didn’t try to pull it away for once, and Morin took advantage of it, stroking his thumb over Nysys’ knuckles. Nysys’ skin was soft and smooth, and Morin smiled. “I told you, it’s nice to see you so excited about something. We spent most of the week you’ve been here at home or in my office, and you didn’t have much to do.”
Nysys tried to pull his hand away, but Morin resisted.
“I’m not a kid you have to entertain.”
“This is as much entertaining for me as it is for you, believe me.” Morin raised Nysys’ hand and kissed the top of it. He smiled when he saw Nysys look everywhere but at him. “So, what do you want to do next?”
Nysys’ eyes widened in delight and he reached for the map he’d kept close. Morin briefly regretted mentioning it because he’d lost Nysys’ hand in the process, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that Nysys was having fun.
“I really want to see the penguin feeding, but it’s still a few hours away. Still, we should stay around here if we don’t want to miss it. We can go see the Aquatic Bird House in the meantime, or go pet the animals at the children’s zoo. Or maybe go see the Madagascar pavilion, or the birds of prey. What do you want to do?”
“Whatever you want, hon.” Nysys shot Morin a curious glance at the endearment, but Morin didn’t care. He just smiled and pointed at the map. “What about the Komodo Dragons?”
Chapter Four
Nysys was softening, and he knew Morin knew it. He also knew his mate wouldn’t push him too much, but he wouldn’t stop trying to get into Nysys’ pants—and in his heart.
Nysys didn’t know what part scared him the most at this point. Would it really be so bad to tell Morin they were mates? He hadn’t touched Nysys with anger yet, even if Nysys was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He thought it was too good to be true, but he couldn’t help starting to trust Morin.
Morin had done a lot for him, even if he didn’t know it. Dominic and the pride had given Nysys a safe home, but Morin was giving him happiness. He’d taken Nysys to the zoo, to the aquarium, to Central Park. He’d made sure Nysys always had the water he needed to survive, and not only in a bathtub. Nysys hadn’t even asked for it—Morin had probably asked Dominic, or he’d checked the company’s data for information on Nix.
Morin never said anything about the way Nysys dressed. He hadn’t said anything when Nysys had managed to make the microwave explode. He’d just checked Nysys over for wounds, then cleaned the mess and bought a new microwave. He
hadn’t even forbidden Nysys to use the kitchen again.
He was sweet and caring, always touching Nysys in some way, as if he couldn’t stop himself, but without being overwhelming. He made Nysys feel cherished and cared for, which wasn’t something that happened to him all that often.
“I have to go to the office for a few hours.”
Nysys frowned at Morin over the kitchen counter. It had become a routine of theirs over the three weeks Nysys had been living with Morin—Morin went running while Nysys took care of breakfast, and they ate together when Morin came back. “I don’t get your job patterns.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why aren’t you going in every day anymore?”
“Because I have something better to do.”
Nysys tilted his head to the side and observed his mate. “What’s that? You haven’t been anywhere without me for the past few weeks.”
Morin smiled indulgently. “Exactly.”
Nysys thought about what Morin had just said and looked at his hands when he got it. This couldn’t be real, he couldn’t be so lucky. “I don’t want to create problems.”
“You’re not. Believe me, I’d tell you if you were. Anyway, don’t you remember what day tomorrow is?”
“We have to go to Whitedell.”
“Yes. I want to take today off to... think, I guess.”
Nysys nodded. “I’ll stay in my room.”
“There’s no need to do that. I don’t really want to be alone, just quiet.”
Morin sipped his coffee, his gaze never leaving Nysys. It made Nysys both flustered and a bit uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to being the center of someone’s attention, and it intimidated him. It also made him all the more aware of what he was hiding from the man sitting in front of him. “I can shimmer you to your office if you want.”
“Thanks. That’ll make it even faster.”
It didn’t take them long to get ready and shimmer right in Morin’s office. Nysys left him to his work and settled on the couch in the corner of the room with his e-reader, but his brain couldn’t seem to settle on the book he was reading. His thoughts kept going to Morin, to the small gestures the man always had for Nysys, to the secrets Nysys was hiding from him. He needed someone to tell him what to do, or at least someone who could be objective about the situation.
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