"Kieran, can you come out for a minute, we still have a problem." Marsel's voice is heard from just outside Kieran's room door.
Kieran hesitates.
Again, he hears Marsel's voice, but his body refuses to move.
He knows he should. He needs to.
But his arms stay locked around Ace, as if the very act of letting go might shatter something inside him.
Ace's body is warm against his own, his scent filling Kieran's lungs, soothing and electrifying him at the same time.
His fingers tighten unconsciously against Ace's waist, his breath shallow.
It's been too long since he last held him like this, since he last felt him this close.
And after what almost happened_ after seeing Ace so close to binding himself to that bastard_ Kieran feels like an oxygen-starved man finally breathing again.
He needs this. No, he craves it. His whole being demands it.
But Marsel calls again, for the third time_ his voice more urgent this time.