“Yeah.” Duke nodded, looking as uncomfortable as a man could look. “I know.”
Bryson smiled at him. “But, yeah. Like you said, this conversation isn’t what you signed up for.”
“I’d rather be doing just about anything but,” Duke agreed.
“Like…me?” He dropped his hand off Beau and turned to face Duke. From one beast to another, he slipped his hand across Duke’s chest.
Duke caught Bryson’s hand and put it up and around his neck. Then he wrapped his arm around Bryson’s waist and pulled Bryson against him, hip to hip, chest to chest, while Duke looked down and Bryson looked up and that being-held-in-the-arms-of-his-knight fantasy kindled in Bryson’s imagination all over again. Bryson had never considered himself to be a small man, but being in Duke’s arm made him feel as slight as a child.
