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There was no way to know, then, where the Wind Keeper’s tales really came from or what they meant, but they were wonderful. He told fantastic stories of the djinn, elemental beings whose ethereal garden-cities shimmered in the deserts far to the east. He told of troublesome ifrits, who liked to bargain deceitfully with men and women.
The Wind Keeper spoke, too, of an ancient city, one finer and lovelier than any today, a city full of lost knowledge. Then he clapped his gnarled hands together in a final sort of gesture.
“What did he say?” Seth prompted Raider in a whisper.
“He says they sought too much knowledge and that they found it, and it destroyed them. He says that is what comes of greed.”
Then everyone laughed at something the Wind Keeper said. Raider, also laughing, aimed a grin at Seth and explained, “He says that we are greedy, keeping an old man from his bed.”
As the crowd thinned around the dying fire, people drifting off to their tents, Seth found himself lingering beside Raider. The dimming firelight painted the muscled contours of Raider’s abdomen and chest. It brushed his prominent cheekbones and rendered the striking planes of his face somehow even more exotic.
“You’re looking at me,” Raider said softly, still gazing into the fire.
“I am.”
The last of the gathering broke apart, and voices faded into the darkness. Seth let his eyes roam along Raider’s body, watching the contraction of his stomach as his breathing quickened. Raider’s cock lay partially swollen under his loose pants, but he didn’t move, didn’t even look at Seth.
Seth had pushed Raider away—a lot.
Even though Raider was turned on right now, he might reject Seth on principle, or to protect himself from future rejection. It would be fair. It would serve Seth right.
But that was a risk he would have to take.
Raider, however, did not draw back when Seth leaned near to brush his lips. A man like Raider, Seth should have known, wouldn’t. Because he was fearless. Because he wasn’t petty. Raider lived for beauty and pleasure, so he gasped at the kiss, opening to it instantly.
When that happened, Seth had a brief, searing, terrifying realization: that Raider was his perfect counterbalance. He was exactly what Seth needed. He opened pathways that Seth couldn’t. He let Seth be himself.
No. He forced Seth to be himself.
Maybe it was the wine Seth had drunk. Or maybe it was the night of music and dancing. Or maybe it was just how much he wanted Raider.
Whatever the case, Seth was able to let that terrifying realization flash through his mind and fade away so that he could yield himself to the moment—to the man—before him.
Seth gently explored Raider’s lips, learning their contours as he hadn’t taken the time to do before, learning how Raider answered him with a curiosity of his own. Seth tasted wine and the particular something that was uniquely Raider.
The man was simultaneously so fierce and so soft, so open. He was so fucking beautiful.
When Seth swept his tongue into Raider’s mouth, the vibration of Raider’s moan and the answering stroke of his tongue had Seth’s cock throbbing in the confines of his pants. Raider had been resting back on his elbows, but now his arms came up, hands grabbing for Seth. He tugged Seth over him. Seth hooked one arm around Raider’s torso. His other hand planted in the sand on the other side of Raider as he braced himself to deepen the kiss.
Gods, he loved kissing this man. He loved the taste of him, the feel of him, loved his answering hunger. What a fool he’d been to think he could resist. What a fool he’d been to waste any of the nights he could have spent kissing Raider, touching him, fucking him.
Seth pushed to his feet, hauling Raider up with him. The movement broke the kiss, so Seth let his lips explore any skin in his path. He kissed his way along Raider’s throat, loving how Raider’s head tilted to give him access.
Raider’s pulse beat rapidly under Seth’s lips. When Seth gently nipped him there, Raider convulsed slightly, making his hard cock brush against Seth’s through the barriers of cloth. Seth needed those barriers gone. He needed to touch that cock, needed full access to the ass that his hands were roaming over, gripping through the slick silk.
Seth felt his head forced back as Raider nudged his way under Seth’s jaw, nipping at him in return.
Raider growled against Seth’s throat, “You better fuck me after all this.”
In answer, Seth grabbed one of Raider’s hands and directed it to his engorged cock. Raider let out a breathy sound as he squeezed Seth through the heavy cloth. A fierce wave of arousal had Seth rocking into Raider.
“You’re so fucking stubborn, you know,” Raider told him, grazing his hand up and down Seth’s shaft, letting the material abrade him.
Seth rasped, “I know.”
Raider nibbled teasingly along Seth’s neck. “How many nights have you wanted to fuck me?”
“Every night. Every goddamn night. But especially,” Seth went on, gripping Raider’s hair at the scalp and tugging him away so Seth could nip at his throat. “Especially since I felt your body tighten on my cock as you came.”
