The fire crackled. The iron fittings finally went still. His hand, wet with my cum, rested on my hip. My mouth was swollen. My body was liquid. My brain was performing a full system reboot and finding that all previous operating parameters had been overwritten. His free hand started to move, his calloused thumb drawing slow, soothing circles at the base of my spine. I lay on top of him, a complete mess, and took his soft cock back into my mouth.
He traced slow, lazy circles on my back, massaging me until I was relaxed and limp. My cheek was on his thigh as I suckled him softly, still enjoying the taste of my treat. The fire was warm and the room smelled like woodsmoke and sweat and sex, and I never wanted to leave.
Chapter 10
Aeldryc
Thefirsttacticalerrorwas letting him stay. The second was the weight of his head on my chest, the slow, even puffs of his breath against my skin. The sum of these errors was a fire I was meant to contain, now roaring out of control. And there was nothing I could do, not with him curled against my side.
Because I couldn’t possibly ask him to move.
He was sprawled against me, with one leg hooked over mine, his head on my chest, his breath slow and even against my skin, and it was far too perfect, which made no sense.
Not because he was a man, but because I didn’t do passion, or perfection, or snuggling, for that matter. I was a soldier, and had always been a soldier, and the entirety of my sexualexperience had been about meeting base needs. I didn’t cuddle a pretty young thing and think about how perfectly his body slotted against mine. And I definitely didn’t wash my lover’s undergarments and hang them by the fire to dry.
But I had, because I wanted to see him wearing that scrap of fabric like it was an acceptable item of clothing again. Preferably every single goddamn day. Preferably in my bed, back arched as he begged for me to use him in every filthy way imaginable. I traced a hand down the supple curve of his spine, and he made a happy sound and snuggled closer.
His breathing shifted with a small catch. His eyelashes fluttered against my chest, and his body stiffened for a fraction of a second before it relaxed again, and I cupped his ass, hauling him closer, rewarding him for that.
“You’re sleeping with me,” he said. His voice was sleep-thick and unguarded, different from his usual cheer. He pressed his face into my chest and the shape of his smile pressed against my skin. “What time is it?”
“Late. Past the evening bell.”
“We slept that long?”
“You slept. I was thinking.”
He lifted his head. His hair was a mess, pressed flat on one side and spiked upward on the other. There was a crease on his cheek from where it had been smashed against my chest, andstill he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He also looked like someone who had been thoroughly ruined and was pleased about it. His lips were swollen, his eyes still a little glazed.
“Thinking about what?”
About seven hundred and fifty years of impeccable self-control unraveling in two days. “Military strategy.”
“Liar.” His finger traced a slow line down the scar on my chest, the long diagonal from the Battle of the Ashenmoor, three centuries old. The lightness of his touch was at odds with the gravity of the mark, full of gentle caring that I was not accustomed to.
“Pip.”
“Aeldryc.” He drew out the syllables, savoring them.
“Fine. I was thinking about how you came to be here.” Also a lie, but I couldn’t very well tell him I’d been thinking about how his cute little round ass fit perfectly in my hand. “Perhaps you could tell me the story with every detail you remember.”
He was quiet for a moment. His breathing slowed, and his finger stopped tracing the scar.
“Why? Are you trying to send me back where I came from?” The tone was light, but the words held a note of fear I couldn’t dismiss.
“Pip, I can’t protect you if I don’t have all the details. If you are a pawn, you are in danger.” I let my hand settle on the small of his back, the solid muscle there a surprise. He was stronger than he looked, a compact line of coiled energy beneath my palm. “And I will protect you.”
“I think I told you everything?”
“No detail is too small. Just tell me what you remember from the beginning.”
“Club Vortex, I think I mentioned Club Vortex? It was this brand new club, in this strip mall near downtown San Jose. I know, a night club in a strip mall sounds so tacky, but it was pretty nice. It was a basement, with a sexy underground vibe. Anyway, we were getting ready for opening night.”
“Tell me what you do at this club.”
“They have music, and people dance. Like a… well, I don’t know what you have here. A tavern?”
I nodded. “We have taverns.”
