“Mm-hmm.”
“Truth be told, I think Alonza set me off on the full moon, saying I didn’t understand what it was to have a partner. Which is not my fault, thank you very much, as I’m only twenty and he never had anyone before this year, either.” Dagan’s eyes flashed with annoyance even as he gently, carefully finger-combed Hendrik’s hair out of his eyes. “And yes, maybe I’m a little too much of a people-pleaser, and maybe I like the attention being a well-known flirt and lover gets me, when I’m at home.
“But I was training to be a scout when I was slutting it up, and it’s not the kind of life where you settle down with a partner and raise children—unless you have multiple partners who can be there for them while you’re out roaming the wilds, like Gareth. What was I supposed to do, if I wanted to fuck and people wanted to fuck me? Say no? Why? Who, if they enjoy sex half as much as I do, would ever? And not only do I like it, but I’m good at it, which frankly adds as much to the appeal as anything else.” As he went on, Dagan’s voice grew louder, his face more expressive, until he looked positively angry by the end.
Hendrik found this impassioned explanation both charming and perfectly understandable. He opened his mouth to say so, but Dagan winced and beat him to it, saying, “Apologies. Apparently, I have a lot of feelings on the subject.”
“It’s true, though,” Hendrik said, squeezing him. “People always make snide comments at you. Even Bartolo—well, I don’t think he was being a smart-ass, but still.”
“He wasn’t, but that might be why it cut deeper,” Dagan said. “And frankly, if I still wanted to slut it up, that would be perfectly fine; I just happened to find a very large, intensely blue-eyed man in the woods and then immediately decided I wanted him to want me to the point of jealous madness.”
Hendrik’s laugh felt like a release, it was so full and real. “Do you really? Because if you want me to act possessive, I can. Just say the word.”
“Really?” Dagan pressed a kiss to Hen’s throat. “I’m a little ashamed of how much I liked it.”
“That I got jealous? I mean, I’ve been jealous of you before. This was just the only time I had even the slightest right to be.”
Dagan sighed dramatically. “No one’s ever wanted me to themselves. I didn’t expect it to be so thrilling.”
“You really are the most beautiful menace,” Hen said, all appreciation. “I find it hard to believe no one’s tried to keep you.”
“Well, there was one time,” Dagan said thoughtfully. “But she just thought we’d have pretty babies. And we would’ve.”
“Really?” This was a new story for Hendrik. He couldn’t imagine Dagan surrounded by a gaggle of smaller Dagans, though. It was so domestic. Dagan was so…wild.
“Yes. Perhaps the one time being a little slut really backfired on me; I did feel slightly bad to turn her down. Only because she’s very sweet. Not because I was interested in that life, I assure you.”
“I can’t even imagine you in it,” Hen admitted with a smile.
“By all the gods, no.” Dagan rubbed the tip of his nose against Hen’s, humming happily, then slid his hand down to Hen’s ass and left it there, cupping one cheek. “How do you imagine me, darling? I’m just aching to know.”
He had to put it like that, didn’t he? Hen tightened his arm around Dagan’s waist. “All kinds of ways.” He tilted his hips slightly, to make it perfectly clear which part of him was currently doing the imagining.
Dagan made a sweet little sound, tinged around the edges with hunger, and slipped his thigh upward between Hen’s legs. But he said, “No, I mean, of course most of my fantasies about you are intensely horny, sweetness, but what about the other ones? Daily lives intertwining and domestic bliss, and all that.”
“I don’t see you as very domestic,” Hen admitted. “Was just thinking that. Do you have those kinds of fantasies?”
“Well, no, domestic is the wrong word. But certainly, I’ve thought about a life with you outside of our blankets. Mostly after we’ve already gotten off once or twice in a given day, but still.” He laughed once more, stomach tightening against Hen’s deliciously, warm breath against Hen’s lips. “Coming home to you after a long moon in the woods. You unbraiding my hair and getting me into a hot bath. That sort of thing.”
Charming but plausible. Fucking incredible. Though Hen had to admit, “That sounds really horny, Dags.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” He pressed another kiss to Hen’s throat, this time down lower, near the hollow. “I’m sure I’ve had some that don’t end with us naked. Let me think. Oh, I did like sharing the little house with you. Maybe somewhere quieter, though.”
“On the edge of a settlement,” Hen agreed.
“Yes, exactly. Near enough that you won’t be bored while I’m gone.”
“I can entertain myself,” he protested.
“But you shouldn’t have to. People adore you, once you stop scowling at them. And you could find a new profession, if you liked, or maybe just keep house for us and learn to cook. I like the idea of you in a baker’s apron.”
Hen chuckled. “I feel like this is about to get horny again.”
“It already is. I wasn’t picturing you in anything but the apron.”
“Nice.”
Dagan chuckled and kissed his lips now, giving his backside a squeeze. Hen returned the kiss, parting his lips, and Dagan took the invitation, flicking his tongue over the back of Hen’s front teeth. There was something in the physical connection between them that felt different, in that moment; it felt more like a promise than a fleeting sensation he was desperate to hold onto.
After a few moments, Dagan closed off the kiss and mumbled, “I nearly died of thirst for you, these past few days. I’m so sorry for being ridiculous.”
“Same. And I’m sorry for being so thick. I should’ve figured all this out; I know you. It hasn’t even been two moons but I know I know you.”
“Mind-reading is sadly not a magic even my people understand.” Dagan laughed breathlessly.
“Is that a thing?”
“Only in fairy stories.”
“Oh. Thank all your forest gods for that. My mind is not a fun place, most times. Except when we’re like this.” Hendrik frowned. “Does that make me pathetic? That I can only be happy when someone else gets me there?”
“I don’t believe you can only be happy when someone else gets you there,” Dagan replied immediately. “I’ve seen you perfectly content on your own; I’ve seen you crave silence and solitude. But you also crave companionship. It’s in both our natures.”
That last bit was definitely true, so that made it easier to accept the first bit.
“We both love attention. Affection. And we constantly think about fucking.” Dagan kissed him quickly, smiling into it. “We’ve just dealt with it differently in our lives because you were thrown in with Kass, and I was alone in a sea of people.
“The before made us who we were when we met. It doesn’t have to make us who we are together.”
