by Lyra Evans
“My friend is visiting from out of town,” he said casually, his expression shifting to conspiratorial. He leaned in to Rangi. “I’m trying to show him all the—ah—attractions of Maeve’s Court before he heads home, if you know what I mean. But he needs some new threads if they’re going to let us in at the best clubs. Think you can help?” Niko offered Rangi a wink, and Rangi smiled brightly. He turned to Cobalt, who was very focused on Niko, and immediately went slightly wobbly. The usual swoon in Cobalt’s presence lasted only a moment or so, as Rangi was apparently a professional, and he clapped his hands together.
“Oh, I can definitely help with that,” he took the harness from Niko and nodded approvingly. “This is a great start.” He began moving busily about the shop, occasionally glancing at Cobalt for size. Cobalt, meanwhile, was staring unabashedly at Niko. And for once, Niko found himself rather pleased. He gazed back nearly expressionless, locking them both in a peculiar game of chicken. Eventually, Cobalt nodded slowly, though Niko wasn’t sure at what, and turned toward Rangi who offered him a stack of various pieces of clothing and pleasure gear.
Cobalt took the items, considering them each in turn. “Shall I model them?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at both of them. Rangi just about fainted at the thought, but Cobalt’s gaze passed over Rangi to Niko.
“Oh, what’s life without surprises?” he asked, putting on the same overly mischievous voice as earlier. “Just pick your favourites.”
Rangi deflated slightly, but Cobalt nodded. As he disappeared into the fitting room, Niko felt himself relax slightly. Running a hand back over his neck, he found he was sweating. Rangi turned to him, eying him up again.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked. Niko thought about it. A coil of heat was slowly drawing down deep into his belly. Running his tongue over his front teeth, he shook his head slowly.
“Oh, I’m well equipped already,” Niko answered with a smile.
Rangi waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, I bet you are.” With a tilt of his head and the slightest sigh of disappointment, he walked by Niko. “Let me know when you’ve chosen, and I’ll ring you up, love.”
Niko settled against the wall next to the fitting rooms, pulling out his phone to scroll through some emails while he waited. He was also in the direct path of the air conditioning vent, which was no accident. He let the cold air blast him, hoping to soothe his heated skin. A series of emails from work helped that along, but the email from Uri effectively doused his rising temperature.
I know you, Nik. I know you. You aren’t won over by the pretty boys so easily. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were partnering with someone else, let alone a consultant, but him? He’s just looks. He can’t make you feel the way I can. I know he can’t. If this is revenge for what I did, I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. Have your fun if you need to, but please… come back to me. It’s us, Nik. Us. We can’t give up this easily. I need you.
Niko frowned at the phone, swiping the message away. He wasn’t sure he had ever been in love with Uri, but he’d been happy in the relationship. Happy enough, anyway. Or so he thought. It had never been bad, that was certain. Uri was affectionate and attentive. Maybe too much for Niko, but he hadn’t thought that was necessarily a bad thing. Not at the time. But the time Niko spent undercover was—well, it changed him. Or maybe he had always been that way. He’d tried to tell himself, when he was in the hospital, that it would be good to go back to someone like Uri. That it was healthy. But then Uri did what he did…and when Niko thought about it, he realized that in all that time undercover he never thought about Uri. Not once.
“Let it go,” he breathed, wishing he could make Uri obey.
“Let what go?” Cobalt asked, emerging from the fitting area with a pile of clothes only slightly smaller than the one he went in with.
Niko almost started, clenching his jaw as he straightened. “Nothing,” he said. “These your picks?”
Cobalt nodded. “Rangi has a good eye,” he said. “They fit perfectly.”
Niko nodded vaguely. “Hand them over then,” he said, holding out his hands.
Cobalt cocked an eyebrow. “What for?”
“To pay?” Niko half-asked, half-said. “I was joking before. I’m not going to make you purchase clothes you’ll only use once.”
Cobalt moved by him, clothes still firmly in hand. “Who is to say I’ll only use them once?” he responded, making his way toward the counter. Niko watched him go a moment, then moved to follow him.
“Oh, these are fabulous choices,” Rangi said as Cobalt laid out the garments on the counter. He began ringing them up, folding them each with care before wrapping them in tissue and sliding them into a sturdy paper bag with the store’s logo on it. “And these trousers, aren’t they amazing? You’d never expect this kind of fabric to be comfortable or breathable, would you? But that’s Fae craftsmanship for you. You should consider a whole new wardrobe while you’re in town.”
Cobalt smiled at Rangi, pulling a card out of his pocket. It was the size and shape of a regular credit card, but this one was iridescent like the bag he’d plucked out of the ocean. There was no banking logo, no name on the card at all. Rangi flipped it over several times in his fingers, mildly confused by it.
“It’s from my home Court,” he said. “There shouldn’t be a problem, though.”
Rangi nodded, swiping it as he would normally. After a moment, the machine beeped, and he handed it back to Cobalt. “All good. Thank you for shopping with us. I hope you enjoy your purchases. And please come again soon.”
Cobalt took the bag, offering a quick goodbye to Rangi, and he led the way back out into the street. Niko followed him back to the car. As they got in, Cobalt settled the bag at his feet.
“What’s the next task?” he asked, and Niko breathed in the ocean smell that followed Cobalt around. Momentarily swept away in it, he caught himself quickly and turned the key to start the car.
“You should probably shower,” Niko said. Then deciding he didn’t intent to offend his temporary partner, he added, “You must have sand on you from this morning, I’m sure.”
Cobalt smirked. “Sand has never bothered me,” he said. “But I take your point. To yours, then?”
Niko nodded, ignoring the strange feeling in his stomach. They drove the rest of the way to Niko’s apartment complex in relative silence. Between partners or friends, the silence might be characterised as companionable, comfortable. But Niko and Cobalt were not friends, not even truly partners. They’d known each other less than a day. Still, when Niko retreated into himself, when he pulled back from what was going on in any way, Cobalt allowed him that distance. There was no judgment, no awkwardness, no undertone of anxiety coming off him during those moments. When he pulled into his parking spot in the apartment’s underground garage, Niko found he had actually managed to relax somewhat, even in the company of another person.
The garage was poorly lit and cooler than surface temperature, as underground places tended to be. Niko popped open his trunk as he emerged from the car, remembering the box of things he’d collected from Uri’s that morning. Wedging the box between his arm and his side, Niko slammed the trunk closed and led Cobalt over to the elevator bay. He pushed the button and played absently with his keys as Cobalt took in the surroundings.
There was nothing much to see down here. The walls and ground were both concrete and dingy after years of use and wear. The elevator doors were painted a steel-grey colour, as though to mimic stainless steel. It did a poor job of creating the illusion of better quality, though, particularly since whoever had painted had done a half-assed job of it.
Niko stepped into the waiting elevator when the door dinged open and pressed the number nineteen once Cobalt followed him in. He stared out the door as the elevator closed, his eyes barely seeing the scattering of old-model sedans parking throughout the garage. Once the elevator started rattling up toward the nineteenth floor, the full reality of Niko’s apartm
ent building began to set it. The inside of the elevator was panelled with old wood, peeling in places where the stain began to recede from the surface. There was no screen to indicate which floor they were passing, and half the buttons did not light up when pressed. The very real rattling noise was no more reassuring than any of the other details.
In another life, Niko might have been embarrassed by any one of these things. But Niko had spent quite a while living in much worse conditions than this, and when he came back, he decided that anywhere would work as long as he could be in his own space. Uri had not been on board with that. Not with his decision to move out, nor his choice of apartment building or neighbourhood. But Uri didn’t actually get a vote on the matter. This apartment had become available, was partially furnished, and fit comfortably within the range of what Niko could afford. Given how little time Niko tended to spend at home, it also didn’t matter much in the end.
They came to the nineteenth floor, and Niko walked out and to the right down the hall. He stopped at apartment 1909 and slid his key into the lock. The doors along the hall were all the same, heavy metal painted blue in an attempt to give the building a sense of liveliness. The brass numbers of the room were nailed to the wall by the door, and they were rusted and tarnished enough to almost blend in with the strangely patterned wallpaper. The ground was carpet and shampooed perhaps twice a year. Niko wasn’t sure. He hadn’t seen it happen yet. The lock stuck a moment, a common occurrence, and Niko had to jiggle it slightly for the mechanism to free itself and let them in.
Cold air hit Niko’s skin the instant the door was open. The one thing Niko had insisted on was a building with air conditioning. This wasn’t a huge ask for Maeve’s Court, considering the heat was year-round, but there were still some older buildings in the rundown areas of Court that hadn’t managed to upgrade to a building-wide system yet. Niko breathed in purposefully, allowing the smells of home to wash over him. Though he didn’t do much to keep his place, Niko did ensure it never smelled bad. The air was lightly scented with sandalwood and spice, with a backdrop of clean linen and candle wax.
Dropping his box of things on the counter as he walked in, Niko turned back to Cobalt, intending to—he wasn’t quite sure what. The apartment was reasonably sized, with the main area completely open. There was no break between the kitchen and the living room, except for the counter that jutted out from the wall. The floors were parquet and poorly finished, but their appearance somewhat disappeared beneath the strangely industrial look of the rest of the place. The kitchen was old and needed updating, with off-white cabinets, a small refrigerator, and a coil stove. But Niko hadn’t cared about the kitchen as he never cooked.
The main area was more interesting. The wall opposite the kitchen was exposed brickwork, which both puzzled and interested Niko when he had come to check it out. The pull-out couch was comfortable enough, in dark blue, and sat against the wall with a simple wood table in front of it and a television Niko also rarely used. This area was cut off from the bedroom and bathroom by a wall of glass connected by steel rods. The glass was textured and frosted in odd places, and a doorway in the centre of this wall lead to the narrow hallway. At one end of the hall was the door to the bathroom, and at the other, set to the right, was the door to the bedroom. The barn-style bedroom door was set along a rail below the ceiling, to be rolled back and forth. Niko hadn’t understood that design choice either, but there it was.
Cobalt stood just inside the door, considering the apartment. Niko felt the tension in his neck and shoulders but fought to ignore it. There was no reason he should feel judged. What Cobalt thought of his apartment didn’t matter. No one’s opinions mattered. This was home for Niko. It was his space. No one else had any say here.
“Well, this is it,” Niko said, beginning to grow unnerved by the lack of response. “I told you it wouldn’t be—”
“It’s rather amazing,” Cobalt said, and the rest of Niko’s words shrivelled on his tongue. He stared at Cobalt, but the Selkie didn’t seem to be mocking him. “The brickwork and the glass,” he said, though he did not elaborate. “Have you only recently moved?” he asked, nodding toward the stack of boxes against the glass wall next to the kitchen.
Niko shot the boxes a look. “Sort of,” he said, deciding there was no need to tell Cobalt he’d moved in more than three months ago. “The couch there pulls out,” he said, sidestepping. “I’ve got clean sheets and some extra pillows in the bedroom. You can put your stuff wherever suits you.”
Cobalt set his bags down next to the couch as Niko disappeared into his bedroom to collect the sheets, pillows, and a set of towels for Cobalt to use. When he returned, he found Cobalt sitting back on the couch, looking rather comfortable. He’d taken off his shoes and placed them neatly next to his bags. The sight of his bare feet brought back the sight of him walking through the water toward them on the beach. Niko shivered.
“Here,” he said, offering the towels. “For your shower.” He felt awkward. What was he supposed to do with a stranger staying in his home? Niko hadn’t stayed in the same apartment as another person since he got out of the hospital. Why had he suggested this?
“Of course,” Cobalt said, rising to his feet and taking the towels. Again the smell of the ocean enveloped Niko. He felt himself breathe in, the space between him and Cobalt rather small. As Niko tried to snap himself out of it, he thought he saw Cobalt leaning in to him, breathing in just as Niko had.
“You’ll have to use my shower gel and shampoo,” Niko said, searching for a life-raft in open sea. He stepped back under the guise of setting the sheets and pillows aside to make the bed. “I don’t know how Selkies—I mean, what’s different—” He forced himself to stop, the smirk on Cobalt’s mouth frustrating him. “I hope that’s okay.”
Cobalt nodded. “I’m sure it will be,” he said, stopping to pick up his bag and taking it to the bathroom with him. “Shall I dress for our outing tonight, then?”
Niko removed the first cushion from the sofa and nodded. “Sure,” he said. “I guess I’ll figure out something for us to eat in the meantime.” Hesitating over the second cushion, he turned to Cobalt. “Is there anything you—don’t eat?” It was an awkward question, much as the rest of this interaction seemed to be. Niko needed a grip on himself.
“I eat other food than fish, if that’s what you mean,” Cobalt said. “And I’m more than happy to try anything you want.”
He disappeared into the bathroom, and Niko stood motionless in his wake for more than a few seconds. Heartbeat erratic, Niko felt himself listening, waiting for the sound of water running. The moment it did, he collapsed onto the remaining cushion on the sofa, head falling back against the wall. A low groan threatened to escape him, but he bit it back, fighting the onslaught of imagery in his mind. He was hard and heaving and desperate for release with no logical cause. A shudder running through his body, Niko clawed his way back from the edge, grasping at an anchor to reality. He felt as though he was losing his mind.
It had been a long while, granted, since he’d been fucked. Longer than he wanted to think about. And there came a point where self-pleasure wasn’t quite enough to cut it. It had just been too long. That was all. That, coupled with Cobalt’s undeniable appeal, was making Niko crazy. Maybe it was a Selkie thing. Other people certainly seemed to react strongly to Cobalt as well. He just needed to clear his mind of Cobalt and get himself laid. Or something.
Forcing himself to his feet, Niko struggled through making the pull-out bed for Cobalt. But even as he set the pillows down, his erection throbbed painfully against his jeans. There was also an increasingly turbulent pain in his stomach, which reminded him he hadn’t eaten. He grounded himself in that need over the other, walked to the kitchen and pulled out some flyers for nearby restaurants. As he held the glossy pamphlets in his hands, he could only think of Cobalt in the shower, water sluicing down his firm body. Niko groaned as quietly as he could, a strangled sound.
Pulling out his phone, he tap
ped into an app he used all the time, calling up his go-to favourite for take-out. With shaking hands, he tapped a few buttons on the screen and food was ordered. He placed the phone down on the counter, bracing himself against it, trying to rid himself of his need by sheer force of will.
But it wasn’t working. He couldn’t continue this way. Not if they were going to a pleasure club in a matter of hours. Niko needed to be attentive and alert. For the case. He needed to focus. The only thing he could think of to help was to jerk off. He didn’t have a lot of time or options.
Pushing off the counter with determined steps, Niko made it to the short hallway before glancing in the direction of the bathroom. When he did, he realized two things: one, that the door was open, and two, that Cobalt was getting out of the shower.
Niko’s mind went blank, his every attention drawn to Cobalt’s naked body, dripping slightly onto the bathmat. His skin glistened in shades of deep brown with a subtle wash of blue. The swirling lines of black and blue and gold that formed the mantle on his skin shone the way magic sizzles on the air. Niko let his eyes trail down from the shimmering Soul Stone beneath his collarbone, along the ridges of his abs and dipping just a little lower—
Cobalt turned to him, and Niko snapped his gaze away. He felt himself grow hotter than he already was, his skin so flushed he barely felt the air conditioning blasting. Gritting his teeth, he stared determinately at the wall.
“Close the door next time, would you?” Niko shot, and he made a move to turn toward his bedroom, to escape and relieve the pressure in his jeans. But in a flash, Cobalt was up against him, his hands on Niko’s arms, knocking his back against the brick wall. Every nerve ending in Niko’s body lit up in pleasure, his muscles tense, waiting for the next move. He allowed himself to be pinned, to be crowded, his eyes shut as his head thudded slightly against the brick. Jaw tight, he opened his eyes slowly, afraid of what his pupils would give away, but more determined to meet Cobalt’s gaze without fear or intimidation.