Daniel presses a kiss to the corner of Liam’s mouth. “I’ll feed you. I won’t let you out of bed, Daddy. We’ll be okay,” he says, and the sadness is there. “It was hard for you, Daddy.”

It feels like forgiveness, this recognition that Liam is only diminished because he loved Daniel too well. He did. He does.

“I’ll make it up to you. I swear.”

“I feel numb now. The suppressants have just made everything dull and unimportant. But I still want you. Not like I did before, an inferno of need where I just needed to be owned by you for as long and often as possible, but you’re still the most important thing in the room. You’re everything to me. My brother… I don’t… well. I do love my brother but you’re my life. You’re what I want. I need my nest, Daddy.”

And then Liam is kissing his mouth, licking into him, and Daniel surrenders with a little sigh, mouth opening, shyly kissing him back, his arms sliding around Liam’s neck.

19

Daniel calls his brother in the car. “Daniel, is everything okay?”

“I’m going home with Liam, Loge. I need that. They took me from my Daddy and put me into cryo and I have to go home for a while. We’ll come visit when things are more settled.”

“Daniel, I don’t think—” Logan starts.

“I want to make one decision for myself. I’ve earned that. I don’t care whether you like it or not,” Daniel says, determined.

There’s a long pause as Logan digests the venom in his words. He’s a little surprised at himself, too. At the animosity lurking under the surface. He doesn’t want to be angry at his brother when they were both controlled by his father, but he needs to belong to Liam. And it’s heartbreaking to see how much Liam has missed him.

The last few years have wrought physical changes—the early graying of his hair, the weight of grief that clings to him. And he’s thinner, still lean and strong and muscular, but now he has a runner’s build. When they met, Liam was wider and densely packed with muscle.

But he’s still unbearably handsome. And Daniel can feel the pull of Liam’s dominance even though both of them are suppressed.

Liam’s hand settles on Daniel’s leg, palm flat and fingers spread, and Daniel stares at it and wants.

Daniel’s desire is there but it isn’t overwhelming. His desire is dulled. His sense of smell and probably his reflexes are dulled, too, from the drugs. But he still knows the man beside him is meant to be his. He still wants to be touched and kissed and held and had.

“You deserve to be happy, Daniel. Of course it’s your choice,” Logan says.