Thomas hesitated but only for a heartbeat. There really was no need to station the guards overnight. It wasn’t like anyone was going to attack the castle.
Besides, if there were no guards on duty, nobody would come seeking him out. The night would be his—his and Evan’s.
“Fine,” he said. “No overnight shift, just this once.”
Sam beamed at him and practically skipped back to his table, confirming Thomas’s suspicions that he wasn’t the only one with plans for tonight.
Evan had slipped away while Thomas was talking to Sam, so he took his time leaving the kitchen. Once he reached the staircase, though, he jogged up the stairs and was slightly out of breath by the time he reached Evan’s bedchamber door.
Habit had him pausing to knock, and Evan let out a low chuckle. “Come in.”
Thomas eased the door open and slipped into the room, and he’d barely turned the key in the lock before he found himself being spun around and pressed against the wall as a shirtless Evan kissed him, slow and deep. Thomas let out a low groan and his hands brushed bare flesh as they traced up Evan’s spine, then back down again to the curve of his lower back.
Evan’s skin was warm and satiny smooth under his rough palms, and he slipped one hand inside the waistband of Evan’s trousers. Evan sucked in a sharp breath when Thomas cupped his perfect arse and squeezed, and the next minute Evan was unbuckling Thomas’s sword belt and tugging at the lacing of his trousers.
Thomas didn’t need any further encouragement.
He kicked his boots off, ignoring the clatter of knives, and shimmied out of his clothes. Evan did the same, the two of them trading messy kisses as they undressed, and when they were naked Thomas didn’t hesitate to get his hands under Evan’s thighs and lift him up. Evan’s face lit up with a delighted grin and he promptly crossed his ankles and clung to Thomas’s shoulders. The sensation of their rigid cocks brushing against each other sent shivers down Thomas’s spine.
When they reached the bed, Thomas threw Evan onto the mattress in one swift movement and followed him down so that they landed in a messy heap with Evan pinned beneath him.
Evan stared up at him, wide-eyed and breathless, then gave another delighted grin and surged up, tangling one hand in Thomas’s hair and kissing him.
Thomas closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the taste and feel of another man as he explored the inside of Evan’s mouth. They spent long minutes just like that, exchanging hungry kisses and hungrier touches, until Thomas’s cock was so hard it ached. His hips rolled forward instinctively, and the drag of his shaft over the ridges of Evan’s stomach muscles sent waves of pleasure through him that had him tensing in an effort not to spend all over the quilt when they’d barely even started.
He stilled his movements and broke their kiss, breathing hard. Evan blinked up at him as he reached out and dragged a fingertip over Thomas’s chest. His mouth curled into a slow, lazy smile and he said, “Tell me, Captain, will you fuck me?”
Thomas’s mouth went dry.
He wanted nothing more than to pin Evan down and fuck him senseless, and Evan clearly wanted the same thing, but a lifetime of deference to the crown had him hesitating. Was he really going to put his cock inside the second in line for the throne of Lilleforth? Thomas was a commoner, and his family was hardly what anyone would call respectable. He found himself saying, “Are you sure? It might not be proper.”
Evan raised an eyebrow. “Ifanythingwe do tonight is proper, I shall be most disappointed.”
Thomas cleared his throat. “It’s not that I don’twantto fuck you. I can’t think of anything I want more. But you’re a duke, and I serve the crown. I’m beneath you.”
“I think you’ll find that I’m the one who’s beneath you,” Evan said, “and that’s the way I like it.” He worked a hand betweenthem and grasped Thomas’s cock. “I don’t give a damn if you’re a guard, or we wouldn’t be here in the first place. Now will youpleaseput this magnificent beast inside me?” He stroked Thomas’s cock, slow and firm, running his thumb over the swollen, aching head, and the heat of his touch was enough to take Thomas’s breath away. His breathing stuttered and his cock throbbed urgently against Evan’s palm.
Then Evan arched his back and pressed their bodies together, his leaking erection leaving a damp trail against Thomas’s skin. It was an effective reminder that whatreallymattered was that he had a handsome, naked, willing man in bed with him right now who was literally begging to be fucked—and if their social standing didn’t matter to the duke, Thomas decided, then it didn’t matter to him.
He leaned in and kissed up the side of Evan’s throat before murmuring, “Do you have any oil?”
Evan squirmed beneath him for a moment before giving a frustrated huff. Thomas found himself being rolled onto his back and then Evan was straddling him. He leaned over the side of the bed and reappeared a moment later holding up a small flask and flashing a wicked smile. “Shall I get myself ready?” he asked, and without waiting for an answer he drizzled the oil onto his fingertips. Thomas watched, entranced, as Evan raised himself onto his knees and reached behind himself, the curves of his body gleaming in the lamplight.
Evan was gloriously limber, his body lean and tempting, and Thomas couldn’t resist reaching out and running his hands down the contours of Evan’s chest, his thumbs skating over his nipples.
Letting out a soft grunt as he sank his fingers inside, Evan splayed his other hand against Thomas’s chest to steady himself. The room was filled with the wet sounds of well-oiled fingers sliding in and out of his arse as Evan working himself open ata leisurely pace, letting out soft little moans and gasps. Thomas thought he might actually go mad if he didn’t get to fuck Evan soon.
“Let me,” he said, voice rough.
Chest heaving, Evan blinked down at him for a moment before rolling off to one side, planting his feet against the mattress, and spreading his knees wide. Thomas knelt in the vee of Evan’s thighs and fumbled with the stopper of the flask before managing to pour oil on his own fingers. He slid one inside the soft clutch of Evan’s arse and Evan let out a breathy exhale. “Oh, I do love a man with big hands.”
Thomas grinned, working his finger in and out until Evan began to squirm with need. “More?”
“Please.”
Thomas added a second finger and Evan’s mouth dropped open. He let out a low groan as Thomas pumped his fingers in a steady rhythm. When he curled them upward and his fingertips grazed over that sweet spot inside, Evan’s hips bucked up and he let out a shout, so Thomas did it again.
“Stop teasing and fuck me.” Evan might have meant it as a command, but it came out as more of a plea.
