He took a deep breath and reminded himself that someone was plotting against the royal family and Evan’s job was to find out who it was using any means possible. Obviously, Evan’s first duty was to keep the king and his husband safe—and as the Captain of the Guard, that should be Thomas’s main concern as well, not whether a man he’d kissed twice was shagging for king and country.
But he couldn’t help the possessive streak that burned low in his belly whenever he was around the duke. Something about Evan set Thomas alight in ways he’d never experienced. He found himself overcome with a deep, aching need to put his hands all over Evan and claim him. He wanted to pin Evan under him and make him squirm, make himbeg, to see his usual devil-may-care attitude replaced with wide-eyed desperation as Thomas took charge and wrapped a hand around both their cocks and stroked them to completion.
To say that Thomas had had a lot of very detailed fantasies about the Rogue over the years was an understatement—and he had every intention of bringing at least some of them to life, if Evan ever bloody well turned up.
He huffed in frustration and paced the length of the room once more, trying his best to reassure himself that Evan would be here. Thomas had found him to be a man of his word. Well, apart from that whole spying thing, which didn’t apply here.
Picking up the poker, he crouched to prod at the fire that was blazing merrily in the hearth. He was so intent on his task that when a hand landed on his shoulder, he dropped the poker with a clatter. His heart pounded with a mixture of relief and anticipation when he looked up to find Evan standing behind him, a pleased smirk on his face. “I didn’t hear you,” he said,standing to his full height and running his hands down the front of his uniform.
“No, well, you wouldn’t. Spy, remember?” Evan dragged his gaze slowly up and down Thomas’s body, his voice rasping when he said, “You left the uniform on.”
Thomas swallowed, nerves fluttering, and dragged a hand through his hair. “You said you liked it.”
“I like it very much,” Evan said, “but I think I might like what’s underneath better.” He took a step closer.
Thomas’s breath caught and his heartbeat thundered loud in his ears. “I thought you weren’t coming,” he confessed, and immediately felt like a fool.
Evan gave a lazy shrug. “The ambassador is a rambly drunk. We had to circle the castle twice before he stopped talking. I left him asleep in the kitchens.”
“Did he let anything slip?”
“Nothing useful, and I don’t want to talk about it right now. I have other things on my mind.” Evan looked him up and down again and his mouth curved up. “He did tell me I’d chosen a handsome bedmate, though. And I tend to agree.” He licked his lips. “I’d rather like to kiss you now.”
Thomas found himself leaning forward without any conscious thought. Evan met him halfway, their lips clashing in a desperate, hungry kiss. Thomas closed his eyes and soaked in the taste of red wine and the sensation of Evan’s tongue curling around his. All thoughts of ambassadors and plots and spying left his head when Evan pushed himself up on his toes and plastered himself against Thomas’s front, tangling a hand in his hair and kissing him with an urgency that stole his breath away.
When they finally broke apart for air, Evan’s eyes were dark pools and Thomas saw his own need reflected there. It seemed only natural to hook his palms under Evan’s thighs, hoist him up, and carry him over to the bed. Evan wrapped his armsaround Thomas’s neck and buried his face in the curve of his throat, leaving a trail of clever kisses that burned like hot coals and threatened to set Thomas completely alight.
Setting Evan down next to the bed, Thomas tugged at the shoulders of his jacket and Evan slipped out of it easily, letting it drop on the floor before grasping the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head with lithe grace. The shirt joined the jacket on the floor and Evan ran a hand through his dark locks, his mouth curving up in a teasing grin as he stood there with his hands on his hips, putting himself on display.
Thomas’s cock was already half-hard, but it stiffened further at the sight of Evan shirtless, his mouth curled up in a wolfish grin. He was lean but Thomas knew for a fact that there was a lot of compact strength packed in that limber frame. Evan boasted a generous dusting of dark chest hair and Thomas reached out and ran his fingers through it, tracing patterns against Evan’s skin.
Evan let out a shuddery breath. Emboldened, Thomas grasped Evan by the hips and kissed him again, slow and deep this time. Moaning against his mouth, Evan settled his hands at Thomas’s waist and pulled him close as he started to grind against him, his body rolling in a slow, sensual rhythm.
Thomas shivered at the press of Evan’s body, the prominent bulge in his trousers rubbing against his own rapidly hardening cock, and then Evan let out a breathless laugh and hooked one leg around Thomas’s calf, tipping them sideways so that they landed on the bed in a tangle of limbs.
Thomas was caught off guard for a moment, but his earlier fantasies of pinning Evan to the bed came flooding back and with a single deft move he rolled them so that he was on top and Evan was caught beneath him. Grinning at him, Evan slid his hands down and clutched at Thomas’s arse, and the strength of his grip and the extra pressure of their bodies rocking togethersent Thomas’s heartrate soaring as his cock did its best to break out of its fabric confines.
Suddenly, Thomas was hungry for skin on skin, desperate to be rid of the barrier of clothing between them. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling his boots off. There was the distinctive clatter of metal on stone as the small stiletto knife he kept hidden in his boot hit the floor.
Thomas froze for a second and Evan sat up and glanced at the discarded knife. “Tell me, Captain, what other weapons do you have hiding under that uniform?” he asked with a teasing smile, his gaze lingering on the obvious bulge in Thomas’s trousers.
“Why don’t I show you?” Thomas said, returning Evan’s grin. He continued to undress, his heart beating faster in anticipation as he shed his shirt and jacket. He fumbled with the fastenings, his fingers clumsy with haste, but he finally succeeded in undoing his trousers. He shoved them down along with his smallclothes in one sweeping motion and kicked them away.
Once he was naked, he faltered for just a moment, but then Evan let out a low, appreciative groan and said, “Oh,lookat you,” and any lingering nerves Thomas might have had fled. He clambered back onto the bed and sprawled out, looking at Evan’s clothed body expectantly.
It was Evan’s turn to sit up, and he kicked his own boots off with such vigour they landed halfway across the room. There was the unmistakable clang of metal bouncing on stone—not once but twice—as a pair of tiny but doubtless deadly daggers hit the floor. Evan stilled, then gave a grin that was decidedly roguish. “Um, ignore those.”
Thomas laughed and nodded toward his own knife. “I won’t mention yours if you don’t mention mine.”
“Deal.” Evan finished undressing with impressive speed and climbed back onto the bed, and when Thomas got a good lookat the entirety of Evan’s naked body, any hidden weaponry was forgotten.
Evan wasgorgeous. His body was built of smooth skin, long lines and lean muscle, and he moved with a predatory grace. His erection bobbed against his stomach as he propped himself up on one elbow, the other hand wrapping around his cock and moving in slow, lazy pulls.
Thomas’s mouth went dry, and hewanted.
He leaned forward and pulled Evan against his side so they were pressed together chest to hip and kissed him for all he was worth. Evan’s skin was warm, and his erection was a solid line of heat. Moaning into his mouth, Evan made little hitching movements that set Thomas’s cock throbbing and his blood racing, and he shuffled an inch higher up the bed and thrust his hips forward so that their cocks dragged against each other. Thomas ached with the need for more and reached between them, but then he hesitated, unsure if he had the right to take control.
Evan must have sensed his uncertainty, and he broke their kiss long enough to rasp out, “You’re in charge,Captain.”
