“Yes,” he agreed. “Fin’s room.”
There was a logical answer. “You want me to move out?”
“That’s one possibility.”
I frowned. “You want me to share with one of the new men?”
“That is another possibility.”
“Is there a third?”
“I could move in with you.”
Rug. Pulled. Out.
I looked at him. “That seems a … sensible suggestion. We know we can spend time together. We know each other well enough.” My breathing hitched. Maybe that evening in my bathroom could be repeated? Did he want that? I didn’t know, we didn’t talk of it. And I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.“Are you sure that you would be happy to give up your room? Your privacy?”
“My room is a single room. Like any other barracks. There are no special accommodations here. It’s one of the reasons that the Sky Commander does not like to stay here. Moving from my current room to Fin’s room means only that I have less distance to walk from the stairs to bedroom, and I am sure you can appreciate that there are nights when that is a welcome bonus.”
“Yes, sir.” I controlled the smile threatening to blossom on my face.
“Then we will move my belongings together. Tonight,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“That will be all, Sergeant.”
* * *
We had dinner in the communal dining room, then moved his belongings: clothes, books, a few trinkets. None of us had much. Riders tended to travel light, for all that neither he nor I had travelled much in the last fifteen years. I left him to sort out the room as he wanted it. I’d already cleared the couple of mementos Fin had left behind and relocated them to my room.
I was sitting by the fire when he came out. We shared a drink, discussed what would happen over the next few days, but finally it was time to settle to sleep. We both stood up, and I gathered my full courage. Taking his hand, I raised the other to cup his cheek, leaned in, pulled him towards me and kissed him. This wasn’t the kind of thing we’d shared in the past, a late-night peck on the cheek. Not this time I placed a very deliberate kiss on his lips.
Pulling back, I searched his face for his reaction. But the only thing that I sensed was his grip on my fingers.
He wasn’t pulling away, which gave me the bravery to shift and head towards my bedroom, our joined hands tugging him after me. He didn’t pull away when I opened the door to my room and we walked in. I closed the door and moved to stand in front of him.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his again. “Very sure.”
Ang swallowed and licked his lips. “Sullivan, this isn’t a game to me.”
“Nor me,” I promised. “I don’t know what this is, but I want to explore it. If you want to?”
Now he leaned forward and kissed me lightly. Then his hands were at my waist, pulling my shirt out of my trousers. Once that was gone, our mouths met again, but this time the kiss deepened, the thrust of his tongue drove me wild. I sucked gently and enjoyed the taste of him exploring me as we started tearing our own and each other’s clothes off.
We had to pause the kissing for removal of tops and boots, but all rather quickly we were falling naked on the bed, snuggling under the blankets. Then we were lying together, skin to skin. I wanted to kiss more, to touch more, but Ang pulled back, asking me to wait. So each of us on our sides, we faced each other over the pillows.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Had I done something he hadn’t liked?
“Nothing.” He smiled, running his fingertips over my cheek. “I just wanted to say that, if you’re not sure, tell me to stop. I don’t want to rush you into anything.”
“Rush me?” I asked. “After fifteen years?”
“You aren’t normally this way … inclined.”
He looked worried, and I understood that. I picked up his hand and kissed one fingertip. “I went to an all boys’ school.” Ikissed the next fingertip. “So this isn’t as new to me as you might think.” The next fingertip I lingered over. “I’ve never fully … you know.” The last fingertip I sucked into my mouth. He dragged in a tight breath. “But I’ve got a fairly good idea.” I sucked again on his finger as I reached down and wrapped my hand around his magnificent, hard rod. He was longer than I expected, and I revelled in the way he twitched into my palm.
