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“Don’t you understand that Rahim is arrogant and powerful and will take what he wants—”
“Answer my question, Raider.”
Arms still crossed over his bare abdomen, Raider glared at Seth. Fuck. He was jealous.
Seth shook his head. “Look. You are way off base. Rahim may want to recruit me. Curators do sometimes abandon the Arcanum to work more profitably for lords and princes. He’ll soon learn I’m not that kind of Curator. Tomorrow I’ll discuss my mission with Malik. Of course I’ll have to bargain with him—and, by extension, Rahim—for what I need. While I have their interest, I have to make use of it.”
“Well, you’re certainly doing a fantastic job.”
“That is my job, Raider. I need access here. Access to information, to resources. I need clues. I need a goddamn direction. I can’t throw away the possibility of finding one, so I can’t overreact just because someone fucking smiles at me.”
“Oh, so you did notice.”
“You’re turning it into something it’s not! Don’t you understand that I have to navigate this court carefully if I want help—”
“You already had help. You had my help. But if you prefer help from that slimy sycophant, then maybe you don’t need me here at all.”
Seth felt his lip curl back from his teeth. “So I should just pay you and let you get on your way, is that it?”
“Is that what you think this is about?”
“What the hell is this about, Raider? Because it’s not about Malik, not really. You’ve been distant all goddamn day. You wouldn’t even look at me this morning.”
“I’m surprised you noticed, now that you have more important concerns.”
“Oh, I noticed. And you better answer my fucking question.”
Seth stalked toward Raider, who yielded step after step until Seth had him against the wall. Raider’s arms uncrossed and his hands came up. They pressed against Seth’s chest, holding him back. Seth’s cock, already partially hard, thickened further at the contact, at the tension between them, at the absolute knowledge of where this was going.
“Answer my question,” Seth demanded in a low voice. “What is this really about?”
Raider’s throat moved as he swallowed. He didn’t answer. He wasn’t going to.
A growl of frustration, with both Raider and himself, rumbled past Seth’s lips as he crushed them to Raider’s. Raider opened to the kiss, though his tongue seemed to battle with Seth’s, stroking with hunger and a little anger. Raider’s aggression took Seth’s cock from thick to rock hard, but it also sparked a carnal need to make him submit.
Why couldn’t Raider just say how he felt?
But then … Seth couldn’t seem to either.
Breaking the kiss, Seth nibbled along Raider’s clean-shaven jaw, loving the access to his skin. Raider tilted his head, briefly yielding his throat to Seth. Then Raider changed his mind. Bringing his head down, Raider clamped his teeth on the juncture of Seth’s neck and shoulder. It sent a hard throb into Seth’s dick—and snapped something inside him.
He shoved Raider off and grabbed him by the throat, pinning him to the wall as he’d done in Shalaa.
Raider’s eyelids fluttered as Seth choked him. With his free hand, Seth unknotted and stripped away Raider’s sarong, baring his swollen cock. Seth closed his eyes as a fierce wave of arousal assaulted his body. He forced his eyes back open to indulge himself in the sight of that gorgeous cock, its long, thick shaft threaded with veins, the head flushed dark and flaring hard, weeping for him. And, fuck, was it weeping.
Now, suddenly, Seth understood what this was really about. He felt it, how Raider needed this, needed him—just as he needed Raider. Even if neither of them could say it, here, now, with both of them calming down as they showed each other what they needed, it couldn’t be denied.
Seth hadn’t intended to make Raider jealous. He still thought Raider was way off in his interpretation. But Seth couldn’t help that it soothed him to know that Raider wanted him enough to react like that, that he needed Seth to take possession of him. And there was nothing in the world that Seth wanted more than to do just that.
As he choked Raider rhythmically, careful of the pressure, careful to let Raider breathe periodically, he watched Raider’s cock twitch upward as his muscled belly contracted. Precum dripped from his slit in a long, tantalizing thread. Seth let Raider’s frustration build, idly stroking Raider’s thigh as his own cock pulsed and wept at the sight.
When Raider reached for himself, Seth knocked his hand away and rasped, “Don’t touch that, it’s mine.”
Raider’s belly contracted harder and his body thrummed with tension as he neared the limit of his submission. Seth made him wait another moment because, gods, he loved watching that cock weep for him, loved seeing Raider need him. Then he eased his grip slightly on Raider’s throat and smoothed his other hand up the inside of Raider’s thigh to cup the heavy weight of his balls. Raider made a sound of relief at the contact.
Seth hadn’t yet found Raider’s limit on roughness, but he was pretty sure he’d come close to Raider’s limit on denial. Raider wanted to be touched. He needed it. Raider’s throat vibrated with a moan as Seth gently tugged his taut sac then pressed his fingertips into Raider’s taint behind it.
It was strange to Seth how calm he suddenly felt, how easy it was to control his actions when they did this. All his fears about losing control, about hurting Raider, vanished—because this wasn’t about hurting him. It was about using his dominance to give them both what they needed, and, fuck, it felt good.
