Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
The doctor in him, the one trained in emergencies, kicked him into gear. First, put the food down, then canvass the apartment; he might very well be in the bedroom, it wasn’t like Salem could see through to the room with the door shut. Don’t panic just yet, he could just be out getting dinner or—
“Salem?”
He whipped around, spotting Gregori coming out of the bathroom, sleep pants on and nothing else, damp hair loose around his shoulders. Relief sucker punched him in the sternum so hard he bent a little under the force. Still here. Gregori was still here. Thank fuck.
The takeout boxes hit the table a little harder than he intended as Salem dropped them. He also didn’t care. Reaching this man was the absolute priority.
Salem more or less threw himself at Gregori. The dragon didn’t expect it, rocking back on his heels, almost losing his balance. Salem locked his arms around Gregori’s waist and held on tightly, face buried against the bare skin of Gregori’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. He wanted to speak louder, but Salem’s throat was so tight with emotion it was hard to force anything out. “I’m so sorry.”
Those large, warm hands pulled him in, Gregori wrapping himself around Salem.
Normally Gregori was effusive and talkative, so this silence from him was strange.
Panic made Salem babble. “I didn’t think of it as flirting. I was trying to de-escalate the whole thing without pissing him off. You know how men get when they’re rejected, most don’t take it well, but I didn’t think of how it looked from the outside. I’m not interested in him, but I should have been clearer on it. More firm, I guess. I’m so sorry. Next time this happens, I’ll shut it down immediately.”
He could feel it in Gregori’s body language when he accepted it and settled.
“I’m sorry—” Gregori breathed.
“What?! No, don’t you dare apologize. This wasn’t on you.”
“Still—”
“No. Okay? No. This really, truly isn’t on you. This was my screwup. Hell, if our roles had been reversed, I would have done more than yell.”
A hint of a smile lurked in Gregori’s voice. “Is that right?”
“I’m the bad tempered one, this is established, you know damn well I’d have been throwing something. Hands, tables, something.”
Something of a laugh might have come from Gregori before he impossibly tried to hug Salem harder.
There was something about this moment. Some sense of foreboding. Like something was out of place but Salem couldn’t put a finger on it. There was a sense of desperation in Gregori’s grip, and he wasn’t saying much, when normally he’d make the first move and not shut up. This whole thing felt very, very wrong.
Had Salem screwed up so badly? Was that it?
And why had Gregori come out of the shower? It was kind of the wrong time of day for it.
Salem’s doctor brain kicked in. Was Gregori sick? Could dragons even get common colds?
Leaning back, he put a hand to Gregori’s forehead. No, temperature felt fine. Breathing sounded fine, too.
Gregori caught his hand, smile more genuine. “I’m fine, doctor.”
“You’re damn fine, but that’s not my concern right now. You’re acting kind of off. Why are you coming out of the shower? Are you feeling cold, or—”
Gregori shook his head, smile increasing a little. Like Salem’s concern pleased him. “I went for a flight earlier. I was washing off the sweat.”
All right, that sounded plausible on the surface. It could very well be the truth. Still, his doctor sense insisted something was very wrong. It just wasn’t readily apparent. People took longer hot showers if they were battling loneliness or depression. The heat and water helped allay the symptoms. Was that the other reason for the shower?
Gregori had never lived outside of his clan. Never been this far, for this long, away from other dragons. He had to be feeling homesick, at the very least. But he wasn’t complaining about it. Shouldn’t he be complaining or at least commenting on it?
Ugh, Salem really was an asshole. He should have been monitoring Gregori’s condition better than this. He knew it was uncharted territory. Gregori didn’t feel confident confiding in Salem, probably afraid of showing a weakness Salem could use in an argument, which was also on him.
He kicked himself a few more times. Stupid asshole. Why did he have to be such an asshole when Gregori had been great this entire time?
“If you’re feeling sick, or even just off, you have to tell me, okay?” Salem hadn’t been the best listener before now, but he was damn well changing this immediately. “Don’t bury it, talk to me.”
“Well, right now, I feel hungry.” Gregori straightened enough to look toward the table, his nostrils flaring in a dramatic way. “I smell favorite foods.”
All right, Salem would let this go for now, but if Gregori thought the conversation done, he was very mistaken.