The cave was dark. Neve's heart was doing something unreasonable.
'It's finally time,' he thought.
He stood very still in the dark cave with winter starting outside and Cael warm behind him.
'It's finally time to sleep with a man,' he told himself.
Cael's hands settled on his shoulders. They were large, the palms broad and rough with calluses, but his touch was soft. His thumbs pressed into the tense muscles at the base of Neve's neck, rubbing slow circles. Neve's breath hitched. His red ears, usually perked and alert, twitched and then flattened slightly against his skull in a mix of apprehension and something else... a deep, instinctual recognition of the predator behind him.
"You're shaking," Cael observed. His voice was a low rumble, closer now. His breath stirred the fine hairs at the nape of Neve's neck.
"I'm just cold," Neve lied, his own voice thin.
