Sentries Box Set

Chapter 2-3

“I…um…your stuff is in here. I didn’t know how you’d want it put away, so I figured you could arrange it how you liked it, your books and all. The couch is one of those that opens up into a bed. I know it’s not much bigger than a closet. Okay—it was a closet; I changed it into this. I thought you’d feel better having your own area until…” Todd’s voice trailed off.

Nick stood in the doorway to the small space, taking it all in. It was nothing more than a set of heavy wooden shelves, a tall, narrow dresser, and a couch. Nick could see that once the couch was opened to a bed there wouldn’t be much room. The entire room wasn’t any bigger than the one he’d grown up in, but this one was different. The wood had been sanded and stained to a soft glow. The couch had several plump pillows. A few blankets were folded on one end, and, even without touching them, Nick saw they weren’t thin and scratchy but thick and soft.

Eyes wide, Nick simply stood there with his mouth open, staring into the room. No one had ever done something like this for him. His brain couldn’t form the words to begin to express what he felt.

“I thought once you…we…it’d be nice to have a place to work…Nicky?”

“This is for me? It’s mine?” Nick didn’t mean for the words to just blurt out that way.

Todd sighed and laughed, short and soft. “Yes, Nick, it’s for you. I made it for you.” Todd took Nick’s arm and turned him so he was facing Todd.

“Nicky, this…” Todd’s arm traveled in a circle, indicating the entire apartment. “This is your home, our home. All of this is yours, too. You’re safe here. If I’m not here or unavailable, you don’t have to let anyone in here if you don’t want to. It’s the law. No one comes in unless I say so. If for some reason I can’t, then no one can force you to let them in here. If we ever get separated, I want you to come back here and lock the door until I get back. Okay?”

Nick nodded mutely. He was having a difficult time wrapping his thoughts around that fact, and then Todd hit him with even more.

“And, Nick, one other thing.” Todd reached around Nick and picked up the wooden box containing Nick’s collar. “You have…by law you know you have to wear this whenever we leave this apartment, right?”

Again all Nick could do was stand there and nod. He’d thought he’d have to wear it all the time and was surprised Todd hadn’t insisted upon that yet.

Taking a few deep breaths, Todd seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. His eyes broke away from Nick’s and skipped around the apartment before coming back to Nick’s face. “I don’t…you don’t…Shit. You belong to me. We both know that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to want more. I’m not going to force you to have s*x with me, Nick. But I’m not going to sleep in the same bed with you either if we don’t…if I can’t…” Todd’s shoulders squared in a move Nick had already learned meant he was shoring himself up for something. He pointed at his bed. “I want a partner, Nick. A willing one. I won’t force you, but until you’re ready”—Todd pointed to the small room—”you sleep in there. If you want to sleep in my bed, you know what you have to do to be my mate, for me to be your mate. Then your collar stays on all the time, and you give yourself—we each give ourselves—completely and I’ll give you everything I am.”

Nick couldn’t do much more than stand there blinking stupidly at Todd. No one had ever made anything for him, and no one definitely ever gave him a choice in anything his entire life. When Nick’s stomach churned and growled, Todd quirked an eyebrow and snorted. Todd set the box back on the dresser and took Nick’s hand.

“Come on. I can fix that.”

Todd led Nick to the small kitchen and sat him on one of the chairs. He rubbed Nick’s shoulders a few times. Then Todd’s warm, strong fingers were gone, and he was stepping away from the table. Nick folded his hands in his lap and lowered his eyes. That’s when he saw a small box on the plate in front of him. He jumped a bit when Todd’s finger poked his shoulder.

“Drink this. It’s apple. You should like it. You like candy, and this is sweet, too.”

Daring a glance up, Nick took the glass Todd was holding out to him. “Thank you.”

Todd smiled, making his eyes twinkle and Nick’s heart flutter, his stomach dip in a good, excited way. Todd’s head tipped toward the box. “That’s for you.” He shrugged. “Not much. A little welcome-home gift.” Todd turned back to the counter opposite the table and picked up two plates.

Nick drank some of the juice before carefully setting the glass on the table. “This is good.” His hands shook, and he was acutely aware of Todd’s eyes on him as he reached for the small box and opened it. He took out the object inside and set it in his other palm, staring at it. His face broke into a smile before he even registered what he was holding. “You’re giving me this? It’s great. I love it.”

“Yeah?”

A plate with four thick chunks of toasted bread slathered with butter and jam were set in front of Nick.

Todd swung into the other chair and began talking while they ate. “You always wrote about the volcano.” He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. “So, I was on a job closer to the caldera and there was a store, and they sold these things. I like bears, so I thought you might, too.”

Todd nodded at the plates. “You get toast for now. I need more. I’m hungry. You can have something else when your stomach is better.”

Nick set the small carving of a bear next to his plate. He knew he was beaming while he ate the toast. The pounding of his head was easing off, and his stomach was settling more and more with each swallow of the elixir, toast and juice. Relaxing back into his chair, Nick twisted far enough so he could see the framed drawing. “You kept that.”

Todd focused on the drawing and nodded. “I liked it. I’ll take you to the caldera. You can see it for real when you’re healed a bit more.”

An hour later, after a shower and drinking some medicine Todd had in a bottle, Nick was tired and drained. The ache of the brandings had quieted enough that they wouldn’t keep him awake. He opened the couch and stretched out. He’d put the carved bear on the shelf beside the box with his collar, where he could see them both. A few yawns and his eyelids refused to stay open.

Nick welcomed the sleep that washed over him.