The effect was immediate. Evan’s eyes snapped open, he sat bolt upright, and between one breath and the next he’d grabbed Thomas around the waist, shoved him onto his back, and straddled him, holding a forearm across his throat while he thrust his other hand under the pillow—only for it to come back empty.
Thomas’s head spun with the speed and grace of Evan’s movements, and was it wrong that despite the threat to his person, his cock gave an interested throb at Evan’s deadly display of skill?
Probably.
Still, he was heartily glad he’d insisted on removing the knife the night before. “Looking for something?” he said drily, pushing Evan back off him with a grunt and standing next to the bed, safely out of reach.
Evan blinked and glanced between Thomas and his empty hand and back again, and he had the decency to look at least slightly sheepish. “Would you believe me if I said it’s almost reflex at this point?”
“I would actually,” Thomas said, “which is why I took your pointy toy off you last night.” He bent down and picked up Evan’s knife from the floor, balancing it upright on one fingertip before tossing it upward in an arc and catching it by the handle with ease. He spent a moment examining the knife before holding it out to Evan on the flat of his palm. “That’s a nice piece of weaponry.”
“Only the best,” Evan said, tucking the blade back under his pillow and patting the spot with his palm. Thomas didn’t think he even knew he’d done it.
Evan stood and stretched. Now that he was more awake, Thomas was fairly sure his murderous urges had abated, so he risked stepping closer and cupping the back of Evan’s skull in his palm, pulling him in for one lingering kiss before releasing him with a sigh. “I have to go,” he said, fishing about on the floor for his clothes and pulling them on. “Early patrol.”
“And I need to inform Leo and Felix about their unexpected trip,” Evan said, running a hand through the dark tangle of his hair.
Thomas tugged his boots on. “How do you think they’ll take the news?”
Evan shrugged. “Leo trusts me. Felix does too, despite how he reacted when he became chancellor and found out the truth of my position.”
“Was he upset that the king was keeping a secret from him?”
Evan laughed. “No, he was mad at himself for not seeing it. He glared at me every day for a week.”
“I can imagine,” Thomas said, grinning. “It’s quite the shock to discover you’re not a bumbling fool.” He turned toward the door and then paused. He wanted to ask when they could do this again, but he wasn’t sure if Evan wanted that, and he didn’t know how to broach the subject without coming across as demanding—or worse, needy.
He was still searching for the words when Evan said, “You know, if Leo and Felix ride out with Vasily and Mother, the rest of the guests will have to leave too. And do you know what that means?”
“Apart from a hellish day for the staff?”
“That, yes. But it also means that if you stayed here for the night, neither of us would have to rush off in the morning.”He flashed Thomas a bright smile. “We could do this again, if you’re not busy.” He made a vague gesture in the direction of the rumpled bedclothes, and Thomas took ‘this’ to mean ‘fun, dick-related things that end with orgasms’.
Thomas wanted nothing more than to say yes, but the temptation to keep Evan on his toes was too great—and he deserved at least a little teasing, what with the whole ‘tried to pull a knife’ thing. Thomas schooled his expression. “It happens that I am busy.”
“Oh.” Evan’s face fell. “I suppose you do have other duties.”
He looked so crestfallen that Thomas didn’t have the heart to continue. He bit back a smile and said, “Just one. As Captain of the Royal Guard, it falls to me to keep a close eye on the only member of the royal family in residence.”
A smile lit up Evan’s face when what Thomas had said registered, and he perked up immediately. “Oh! Well, I’m all in favour of you keeping a close eye on the royal member. Perhaps a hand as well.”
Thomas snorted and Evan’s smile widened. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow after supper?”
“Of course,” he said, warmth flooding his insides. It still didn’t seem real that someone as clever and attractive as Evan wanted to bed him, but obviously the attraction was there, even if this was only temporary—and it had to be temporary. Thomas had never heard of the duke entertaining a serious affair in all his time working at the castle.
His stomach twisted, and Thomas told himself it was hunger. Still, he decided he wasn’t going to think too hard about what would happen if and when Evan grew tired of spending his evenings with a lowly soldier, or the time came for him to start travelling again.
Instead, he was going to make the most of their arrangement, however long it lasted.
Chapter Eleven
The meeting took place in the same unused cottage just before dawn. Leo leaned his arse against the edge of the rickety table and pinched the bridge of his nose when he heard the news that someone on their staff was probably in cahoots with their would-be assassin and they’d be leaving for Koroslova the following day.
Or as Felix so eloquently put it, “Well, fuck.”
“It’s fine, sweetheart,” Leo said soothingly, running a hand down his husband’s arm in the dim morning light. “Evan will take care of it. He’s excellent at ferreting out information.” But his creased brow and grim expression told Evan all too clearly that he was more worried than he was saying.
Felix wrapped his arms around Leo’s neck and pressed their foreheads together. “You promise?”
