Page 49 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

Myles subsided back into his own skin, breathless and blinking.

Over a kiss.

“Well, now.” Steven studied him, both hands still cupping Myles’s head. “That’s unexpected.”

“Yeah.” The agreement sounded like a bloated frog, and Myles gulped.

“You good?” Steven squinted. “You’re flushed.”

Myles didn’t have words for the turmoil. He couldn’t explain either the departure from his normal dynamic or the inexplicable desire to do it again. See if it was a fluke or something more. Something he’d never experienced before.

All the push and pull with Ozzy, the struggle for dominance had never resulted in that bone-deep touch of… something on his soul.

“Myles.” Concern laced Steven’s tone now.

He’d been quiet too long. Blinking, he pushed Ozzy out of his head and focused on Steven. “Yeah.” He swallowed hard. “I’m good.”

“Because you seem… off balance.”

“I should go check on the kids.” He stood, all but dumping Steven off his lap. Thankfully, the man was both lanky and limber. He gained his feet as Myles did.

“Myles.” Steven kept a hand on his arm. Not a grip. Just a hand.

It stilled Myles, keeping him rooted to the spot in front of the chair.

The table behind them meant Steven stood very close, almost touching from thighs to chests. Face turned up, his lips—inches from Myles’s chin—brushed his breath over Myles’s skin.

“I should…,” Myles whispered, not really sure what he thought he should do.

“The kids are fine.”

“I’ve left them alone for a long time.”

“Jet has your number?”

“Of course.”

“Has your phone buzzed?”

“No.”

“Then what makes you think you need to check on them?”

“I—” He swallowed again. Reason returning, reminding him he didn’t give up pieces of himself to other men, made him think he should do something other than risk it happening again.

“Come down here.” Steven’s hand on the back of his head was enough to pull Myles into another brain-numbing kiss.

The instant he was released, Myles slithered to one side, extricating himself from the tight space. “How are you doing this?”

“Kissing you?” That crooked quirk returned to Steven’s mouth. “It’s a pretty straightforward mechanic.”

“Where did you come from?” The confident, smirking man, standing there watching him, didn’t jive with the quiet, self-effacing one Myles had thought he’d met.

“Born and bred,” Steven said, voice gentle. “Right here.” He spread his arms. “Griffon’s Elbow native.”

“No, I mean…” Myles frowned.

“The guy who fainted at the sight of his own blood and worries his house will self destruct if he leaves it?” Steven pushed aside books and the computer to sit on the edge of the coffee table. “He’s in here.” He touched his chest, and even that gesture had Myles’s heart thundering, not like a jackhammer so much as a mustang kicking up a whirlwind of gritty panic in its wake.