Page 34 of Badmouths & Bards

“You’re so eager,” Ameriden said, unlacing his own pants. “Fuck, you’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

“Amer,” Casimine whined the moment he fell back into his arms. “Damn it.”

“You don’t have be shy, Casi, I thought you weren’t that school boy anymore,” Ameriden taunted, his hand reaching between them.

“I’m not,” Casimine denied. “I—”

A choked gasp escaped his parted lips when Ameriden wrapped his hand around them both, pressing them together. The shock of them touching, both hot and messy with how eager they were—

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Ameriden used his other hand to guide Casimine’s to wrap around the other side of them. His hand was smaller than Ameriden’s, but his fingers were longer and managed to wrap more snugly around their bases. A quick melody of magic, and suddenly their hands were slick to help the glide. By the time Ameriden encouraged them to move, Casimine couldn’t think straight. His mind was too lost to Ameriden’s words, Taldesa’s face, and the pleasure of every frantic thrust.

“Can you imagine it?” Ameriden groaned. “Her between us? How do you think she’d feel? Do you think she’d be quiet or loud?”

Imagining her was doing awful things to Casimine’s self control the more Ameriden whispered nasty things in his ear. He whimpered, pushing more tightly against him as he neared the edge.

“Come on, Casi,” he goaded. “Imagine it. Imagine both of us inside her at the same time—”

When he spilled over their joined hands, Casimine yelped her name. He thought he heard Ameriden do the same a moment later with a guttural groan.

Chapter 15

Taldesa

The only reason Tala didn’t message Avie immediately that morning was because she needed Avie to do it first.

The half baked plan was to wait for Avie to disclose her exact location, steal a horse, and abandon her mission. That had been the plan the night before. The other reason why she couldn’t bring herself to do it was because Tala was certain she would confess to what she heard during the night. Or rather who she had heard.

I’m not ready to touch that, yet.

Tala did her best to keep the memory distant as she patrolled in the early hours of the new day. There were no new faces outside of a few traveling merchants in the dining hall of the inn, but Tala doubted they were interested in a couple of blue bards. She snagged another breakfast basket directly from the barmaid. And if she requested enough food to feed three, well, it wasn’t anyone’s business, was it?

By the time she made it back to the bards’ room, there weren’t any mysterious gifts waiting outside. A relief—though false, as it didn’t change her suspicions. Whoever had sent the ring knew Cashmere Fantasy very well. They knew them enough to know they were already in Eshorion, despite not slated to arrive months later. The timing of the delivery—exactly when Tala wasn’t around—was trickier to know. There was a good chance whoever did it was waiting for the halls to be empty, but they could also be aware of Tala’s real purpose.

She wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that she was affiliated with a temple. Most clerics and paladins wore symbols of their deities, while disciples like Cercel wore the colors and clothing of someone who was quite obviously a monk. While the Moon Maiden was legal in Eshorion, she wasn’t as beloved or well known as the Sun Bringer or the Dauntless Verity. That didn’t mean she could rule out not being clocked by someone.

Not to mention the organized crime, Tala thought as she knocked on the door.

Ameriden answered after a short moment, swinging it wide open. Tala wanted to bark at him for being careless—he didn’t even ask who was at the door—but her throat dried upon seeing him. His hair was wet—freshly washed by the looks of him. He was wearing a shirt that was way too tight, sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms. Tala was pretty sure the buttons were holding on for dear life.

Worst of all, he looked good.

“Morning,” he smiled. “Come on in,”

He smells like incense, Tala thought as she brushed past him.

“We’ve been waiting for you.” Ameriden locked the door. “Casi, our guest has arrived.”

The inkling of suspicion was already in Tala’s mind, but it grew exponentially when she observed the room. All the windows and curtains were drawn closed. The furniture had been pushed away from the coffee table with ornate blankets and plush pillows surrounding it. There was incense burning and candles scattered throughout the seating area.

What the fuck…

“Good morning,” Casimine greeted as he appeared from the bedroom with a ceramic blue bowl in his hands.

Tala internally cursed. Fuck, he looked good, too! Casimine was far more lithe than Ameriden, but that didn’t diminish how gorgeous he was. His blue green hair was partially swept back in a half bun, showing off the silver earrings and ornamental designs on his pointed ears. But what caught Tala was the fact that Casimine was wearing the sluttiest shirt she had ever seen. A sheer, light purple long-sleeved blouse that was open past his naval. The ends were tucked into his pants—which hugged his lower half—

What in the fucking sex kitten—no, no, no! You are better than this, Tala. You are NOT going to ogle these two pompous dickheads this morning!