Gerard clambered off him and ran to the trunk on the floor. Elias propped himself up, watching Gerard in the golden light of the flickering fire. Gerard flung open the trunk and rummaged inside. Gerard’s clothing was scattered across the floor.

  “Fire and flames! Where the fuck is it?” Gerard muttered.

  Muscle moved beneath skin as Gerard searched. Elias’s gaze lingered on his broad shoulders before travelling down to his toned waist. Elias reached down and gripped his own cock in hand. He stroked.

  “Found it!” Gerard rose, turned towards Elias, and took a step. He froze, oil in hand. His green eye fixed on Elias pleasuring himself.

  “Sorry.” Elias panted. “Couldn’t resist. You’re too fucking beautiful.” He let his gaze roam Gerard’s naked body, all on display. “Every inch of you is beautiful.”

  Gerard walked towards the bed, climbed on, and dropped the oil. He leaned over Elias. His hands pressed into the sheet on either side of Elias. “I believe you mean that.”

  He reached down. Elias released his cock, and Gerard took him in his big, calloused hand. He squeezed. Elias gasped. He hooked his leg around Gerard’s thigh as Gerard worked him. He tilted his head back.

  Gerard’s lips pressed against Elias’s throat as he stroked Elias’s dick. “You want me. You desire me. No one else sees me as beautiful. But somehow you do.” The awe in his voice was unmistakable.

  “They’re fucking fools!” Elias cried out as Gerard pumped his cock. “All of them are fools! You’re stunning!” He squeezed his eyes shut, thrusting into Gerard’s tight grip.

  Gerard’s lips against Elias’s throat curved into a smile. He shook his head. “I don’t need anyone else to desire me or find me beautiful. They don’t matter. Only you do,” he said, voice low, warm breath brushing against Elias’s skin. “You’re the only one whose opinion means anything to me.”

  Then Gerard released his grip on Elias’s prick and reached for the oil.

  Elias panted and spread his legs wide. He angled his hips, showing Gerard his hole. It clenched. “I need your cock inside me. Please, Gerard!”

  Gerard opened the oil and poured some over his fingers. He reached between Elias’s thighs. Elias bit his lower lip as Gerard’s slick fingers rubbed at his rim. Then a finger slid in, pressing deep. Elias gasped. A second finger joined the first. Gerard stretched him. He added a third.

  “I’m ready. I’m so ready for you.” Elias rocked on the digits.

  Gerard tugged his fingers free. He poured oil on his hand, slicked himself, and moved between Elias’s spread legs. Gerard positioned his dick at Elias’s entrance.

  Elias held his breath.

  “I love you, Lightning Prince.”

  “I love you, Dragon Warrior.”

  Gerard thrust.

  Chapter

  Sixty-Eight

  Gerard groaned as he buried his dick in Elias’s tight body. He pulled back, until only the cockhead remained inside. He pistoned his hips, revelling in the tight heat. Elias’s whimpers and cries filled the air as Gerard began a slow and steady rhythm.

  Elias held Gerard tight, as if never wanting to let Gerard go. And Gerard did not want to be let go. Not by Elias. Not ever.

  Gerard pressed his face to Elias’s throat. He breathed in his skin, smelling sweat and dirt. So different from Elias’s usual clean, soapy, and perfumed scent. Still, he adored his smell all the same.

  He nuzzled, touching his lips to the skin of the man he loved and could not imagine ever getting enough of.

  Gerard angled his hips. Elias shouted, fingernails scratching Gerard’s back, letting Gerard know he’d hit that spot deep inside him. Gerard leaned back, and Elias loosened his hold on him. Gerard gripped Elias’s knees, pressing them back, bending Elias in half.

  Elias’s messy white hair tangled around him. His flushed and dirtied skin shone with sweat. His hard cock dripped pre-cum onto his abs. Then Elias reached down and gripped his own length in hand and stroked.

  Gerard shoved in and out of that tight ring of muscle that stretched around him. He grunted with each thrust. He picked up speed, chasing his peak.

  Elias jolted with each shove of Gerard’s hips. His mouth fell open. He sucked in air. Elias’s hand on his cock moved faster. He gasped.

  “I love you,” Gerard whispered. He raked his gaze over Elias’s body before watching his cock fucking Elias. His balls tingled, pulling up tight against his body.

  “Love you too,” Elias said between sharp pants. His head flung back. He cried out. Cum splattered across his torso, a few drops smattering against his throat.

  Elias’s inner muscles tightened and squeezed Gerard’s length. Gerard shoved forward. He shuddered and filled Elias with his seed. He collapsed on top of Elias, and Elias wrapped his arms around Gerard.

  Their breathing and heart rates slowed as they held each other.

  A few moments later, they washed at the basin. Once clean, Elias went over to his trunk. He knelt and searched. Finally, he took out a glass pot and opened it.

  The faint scent of a mix of fragrant herbs filled the air. Gerard could not name the specific herbs. But the smell of the salve was so familiar to him. It seemed their healers had given them the same salve to use for their old scars.

  Elias sat on a stool before the wash basin and slathered the salve over the scars that covered his leg. Gerard had smelt the salve on Elias before. But he’d never actually seen him apply it.

  “You’re not too tired to do that?” Gerard asked.

  “I am,” Elias sighed. “But since I didn’t get around to doing it yesterday, I should do it now. If I don’t, I’ll notice it tomorrow. The skin will be tighter and dryer.” His nose scrunched up.

  There was no hesitation in his movements. He did not flinch or avoid looking at the scars. He just smoothed the salve into the skin as if it was no big deal whatsoever. As if his scars were nothing unpleasant to look at. Nothing to be ashamed of.

  Gerard stood unmoving, watching him.

  “Feel free to take some if you want.” Elias nodded at his pot of salve. Then he glanced up at Gerard. His movements stilled. “What’s wrong?”

  Gerard did not know what his face must have shown to elicit such a response. “I … Seeing you …” He cleared his throat. “You are just far more comfortable with your scars than I have ever been with mine.” He let out a broken laugh, but it quickly died on his lips.

  Elias gave him a sad smile. “I can cover mine. I imagine that makes it a lot easier to deal with.”

  Gerard sat on the stool beside Elias and dipped his fingers into the pot. He stared down at the cream on his fingers.

  “I’m not so sure.” He met Elias’s gaze. “There is something … defiant about you. I imagine if someone gave you grief over your scars, you’d not take their shit for a second. You’d tell them to fuck off. I’ve never been like that. When people said things about my scars, I wasn’t defiant. Just hurt.”

  Gerard touched his fingers to his chest, smoothing the salve into the skin. He grimaced. He tried to keep his movements fluid and casual, like he was not doing something he despised. “It’s ridiculous. I’m meant to be the dragon warrior! Yet the words of others affect me so deeply.”

  Elias leaned forward. “I’m sorry, Gerard.”

  Gerard met his gaze. “I don’t blame you. How could I? I mean, I was planning to kill you when you hit me with your lightning strike. If you hadn’t attacked, I would have killed you. And I would not have felt guilty about it.”

  Elias laughed. “I know. Still, I am sorry all the same. I don’t like that I was the cause of your pain.” Then he lifted his fingers over the pot of salve. He dipped his fingers in. “May I?” He gestured to Gerard’s chest.

  Gerard’s lips twitched. “I’ve never let anyone else do that. Not even the healer.”

  “I don’t have to,” Elias said softly. “I’m just finished with mine. So I’m happy to help you. But no pressure.”

  Gerard studied Elias’s face. After a second, he nodded.

  Chapter

  Sixty-Nine

  Gerard placed both his hands on his knees. Elias smoothed the salve over Gerard’s torso. His fingers felt softer than Gerard’s own. He didn’t rush, like Gerard always did.

  Elias didn’t speak for several moments. Then he asked, “Is the pressure okay?”

  Gerard nodded, fingernails digging into his knees. Despite everything, he still expected Elias to wrinkle his nose, or curl his lip, or for something cruel to fall from his mouth.

  But Elias just smoothed the cream into his skin, like he’d done with his own leg. As if this was no big deal.

  “Turn around so I can get your back,” Elias said when he’d finished with Gerard’s torso and throat.

  Gerard turned. He had to admit, reaching the scars on his back had always been difficult.

  “At least the smell is pleasant,” Elias said. “Not like some other salves. They used one on my leg when the wounds were still fresh. It reeked! I’m glad that was only temporary.”

  Gerard smiled. “I might have been given that same salve too.” The smell had been revolting. But at least the wound had healed.

  “There. Finished with your back.”

  Gerard turned to face Elias. Only his face remained. Without giving himself a chance to think it over, Gerard removed his eye patch and placed it beside the washbasin. He closed his eyes.

  Elias massaged the salve into Gerard’s face. A month ago, Gerard could not have imagined allowing anyone to do this. Ever. He could not have ever imagined letting someone see his scars or his damaged eye without wanting to cover and hide them.

  But here they were.

  Gerard felt his good eye sting. He let out a breath.

  “You okay?” Elias asked, voice soft.

  Gerard nodded. He could not manage more than that.

  “I love you, Gerard. All of you. And your scars are part of you,” Elias said as his fingers smoothed cream into Gerard’s scarred eyelid. “They are a part of you and your history.” Elias huffed. “A part of our history, I suppose.

  “I wouldn’t change this part of you, even if I could. Not for my sake, anyway. I happen to think the scars make you look strong and distinguished.”

  Gerard let himself believe Elias. And as he sat in that moment with Elias’s words and actions washing over him, they soothed some of the jagged cuts that had tunnelled so deep inside Gerard.

  Soft lips pressed against his own. “There. Finished.”

  Gerard opened his eyes as Elias closed the lid on the pot.

  Elias smiled. “Is it time for bed? I’m exhausted.”

  “One moment.” Gerard rose and walked to his trunk. He’d seen the wooden box briefly when he’d been searching for the oil. He pulled it out and opened it.

  Inside lay his mother’s black titanium ring hanging on a chain. He undid the clasp and removed the ring from the chain, which he placed back in the box and in the trunk. Taking a deep breath, he returned to sitting across from Elias.

  “This belonged to my mother. When she wore it, I used to play with it on her finger.” Gerard looked down at the scuffed metal. “When she died, it became mine. I always dreamed of giving it to my spouse one day. Then …”

  “Then you discovered you would be married to me,” Elias finished.

  Gerard nodded. “It is not much. During her life, she owned jewellery far finer and more valuable. But this had been made by her grandfather when she left her village to come to court. It meant a lot to her. It means a lot to me.”

  He looked from the worn ring to Elias’s face. He remembered thinking how someone like Elias would never wear such a plain and tattered piece of jewellery. After all, it wasn’t Elias’s style. Elias always dressed so pristinely.

  “Would you like to wear it?” he asked, although there was no doubt in his heart what Elias’s answer would be.

  “It would be my honour to wear your mother’s ring.” And Elias took the black titanium band from Gerard’s fingers. He slipped it on the second finger on his right hand.

  “It fits,” Gerard said, throat tight.

  Elias stroked the band. “It’s like I was always meant to wear it.”

  Gerard took his hand, staring down at the black band around Elias’s slender finger. He leaned forward and kissed Elias’s knuckles. “Now we should go to bed and get some sleep. Who knows when we’ll be called upon.”

  A knock sounded on the door as if in response to Gerard’s words. They glanced at each other, both sitting naked.

  “I think we might have missed our opportunity to sleep,” Elias said as he rose.

  Still, Gerard couldn’t regret it. Not with everything at peace between them.

  He did not know who was knocking or what lay beyond that door, but Gerard was certain that he and Elias would be okay. After all, they loved each other. Somehow, he thought he could face the whole world with that knowledge.

  He placed his eye patch back on and grabbed a blanket to wrap around himself. He might feel comfortable with Elias seeing his scars. But that was Elias.

  Elias reached into his trunk and pulled out a coat. Doing up the buttons, he walked towards the door. The coat covered to his mid-thigh.

  Elias glanced back at him. Gerard nodded, and Elias opened the door.

  Senta stood in the doorway. She looked between them. She quirked her lips, clearly aware of what they had been getting up to. “Get dressed. Properly. You’re needed.”

  Chapter

  Seventy

  Now dressed, Elias strode with Gerard and Senta down the corridor.

  “They’ve just brought the queen consort to us,” Senta said. “We’ve put her in one of the rooms. She arrived back at the White Monastery a little while ago, but a healer monk assessed her before she was brought here.”

  Senta looked between them. “We thought we’d get the two of you before we questioned her. We decided against going to Father. He is not well enough, and who knows when he will be.”

  Gerard nodded. “And I imagine it will be quite a shock for him to learn how his wife betrayed him. Who knows what the effect of learning that would have on his recovery.”

  “Our thoughts exactly,” Senta said. “Grand Shield Dahlia also informed us that the bodies from the battle have been brought to the monastery.”

  “Already?” Elias asked. “I thought it would take them a while to locate all of them.”

  “Several necromancers went with them and assisted with finding the corpses.” Her lips pressed together in a firm line. “But the grand shield said that none of the bodies could be identified as the robed figures you, Gerard, and Father spoke of.”

  “What?” Elias frowned. “How?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “What happened to them?” Elias gazed ahead as they walked. He had killed them! He knew he had. So where were they now? What had happened to the bodies?

  Cold dripped down the centre of his spine. Could more robed figures have gone in and removed them before the grand shield and her people got there? How many of them were there?

  He’d seen four. Three of them he’d killed. So at least one more was out there. But could there be more? And could they have really been so organised as to get there so quickly?

  Hopefully they could find out something from the queen consort. Elias couldn’t tell if he was too strung out and tired, but he just couldn’t make sense of any of it.

  Up ahead, Konrad, Luther, Onyx, and Juniper stood along with the grand shield, two warrior monks, and four Draconian guards.

  “I was thinking for the interrogation, it might be best if not all of us go in,” Konrad said as the three approached. “That would overwhelm her.”

  “I agree,” the grand shield said.

  “I think it best if Elias and I are present,” Gerard said immediately. “We’ve spoken to her already, and she seemed willing to talk to us. Elias in particular was very good at getting her to speak.”

  Elias held back a smile. He’d never been known by others to be competent at—well, anything useful. He found he quite liked it.

  Konrad stepped towards the door. “I should be there too. Since Father cannot be and I am crown prince.”

  “I would advise you to bring no more in,” the grand shield said. “She is in quite a … fragile state. I worry any more individuals might overwhelm her and tip her into hysteria, and she will become unable to answer questions.”

  “That makes sense,” Senta said, although Elias could hear the disappointment in her tone.

  The others nodded. They did not seem perturbed to be left out of the interrogation.

  “We could threaten her with death if she does not speak.” Konrad stared at the closed door. “She might be queen consort, but she is still a traitor to the kingdom. Death is the punishment for traitors.”

  “I would advise against that. At least to start with,” Elias said. “I think I can get her to talk. I can lead the questioning. I believe I understand her and how her mind works.”

  Gerard nodded immediately. Warmth suffused Elias all the way to his fingers and toes at Gerard’s instant trust.

  However, Konrad stared at him assessingly for several long moments. Finally he let out a breath. “Fine. But I’ll step in if needed.”

  Elias did not know how Konrad would determine if it was needed, but he supposed that would have to do.

  Elias, Konrad, and Gerard entered the bedroom. Two Draconian guards stood just inside the door. The queen consort’s wrists had been shackled, and Elias immediately recognised them as the ones that would stop her from being able to shift.

  The queen consort sat on the bed, hunched over. She lifted her head as they entered the room. Tears streamed from red and swollen eyes. They fixed on Elias immediately.

  “You will make sure everyone knows, won’t you?” she pleaded. “You’ll tell them my children had nothing to do with it. I told you where the attack was happening. I did what you said!” Her voice broke as she sobbed, body heaving.