Those long lashes blinked as he thrust into my hand. “Your hand is rough, your fingers strong. The hand of a warrior. Crafted over years of wielding a sword. I would have you run those calloused hands all over me, Pasil.”

  And so I did. I released his cock so I could explore him fully. I tasted his mouth, intrigued by the taste of a tea that I’d yet to try. Perhaps I would after we were done fucking. For now, I would sip from his lips.

  “You are delicious,” I ground out as I moved from his mouth to his ear. I took the chain between my lips as I flicked a nipple with my fingernail. He gasped. A light laugh mixed with arousal. I gave the elegant chain a tug, the charms resting on my tongue. I tasted metal and oil. Releasing the charms, I took a moment to study them as they fell onto his shoulder. Intricate golden shapes I was not familiar with. Sandrayan letters, I could only assume. I kissed each one as they rested on his flesh and returned to his mouth. He eagerly returned my kisses. My head spun, my cock throbbed, and my balls held tight to my body. I walked a fine line of restraint.

  “That is…so lovely. You are so lovely. So broad and hard.” His fingers skipped down my shoulders to my biceps and then back up, down my ribs, pressing into the flesh to feel each curved bone. “By the goddess, if you do not sink into me soon I shall spend all over my stomach.”

  He writhed under me, his skin slick with bath oils. As I ran my hands over his skin, the oil clung to my fingers. His nipples were darkest brown, tight little nubs that I plucked with one hand while I delved under his balls with the other. Seeking his hole, I toyed with the furled edges, and Teryn cried out softly. He lifted his arse off the bed as he clawed at me. The bath oils had spread between us, my skin now coated as well. I ran my finger into the crease where his leg joined his body to gather more of the scented attar. As my mouth worked a hard nipple, my finger returned to his hole, sliding effortlessly inside.

  “There…” Teryn sighed as I worked a finger inside his heat. My cock kicked as if jealous of the digit now embedded inside this glorious man. “There, yes…Pasil, that is…yes…I am ready for you. I have been ready for you since the moment I saw you on the dock.”

  I eased that finger out, ran my palm over his belly, and then slathered the sand sage emollient—a smell I would forever associate with this man—over my weeping cock.

  Glancing at Teryn, I could not help but smile. He was spread out for me like a buffet of treats from a land that I had never seen. I vowed I would taste every inch of him before the morning bells for prayers, but now I had to ease into him.

  “Your gaze sets me on fire,” he whispered as he wrapped his slim fingers around his cock. “Burn me with your love, Pasil.”

  The way the man spoke ensorcelled me. If I had not known that my want for him had been so strong, nothing could have prevented us from coming together. I surely would have thought he had bewitched me with Sandrayan magicks. But I knew the truth of it. This night was destined to take place. Perhaps his goddess had foretold it. Perhaps Ihdos had prophesied it. I knew not. All I knew was that I had to join us now. I pulled two fat pillows from under his head and shoved them under his tanned arse. Unable to hold back any longer unless I wished to come before I was even inside him, I worked the oils onto my cock once more, tip to base, and then lined my cockhead up with his pink hole.

  “Now, Pasil, enter me now before I burst,” Teryn panted, tugging on his prick, his golden eyes molten now. Knowing I would get lost in those eyes if I gazed for too long, I focused my attention on my cock as it slowly stretched his opening wider and wider. Teryn cried out when I sank in to the root, his cock spewing spend over his abdomen, chest, and even into his chin whiskers. Grabbing one lean leg, I flung it over my shoulder and began rocking in and out, each thrust in milked another cry of passion as well as a spurt of seed from him. I lasted long enough to watch his eyes flutter closed as he melted into the bedding—perhaps ten powerful pumps into his tight hole—before I felt the white fire of my release racing up my spine. I drove in hard, as deep as I could go, and filled him up. Head bowed, body tense as a bowstring at full draw, I pumped all I had into his arse, the room spinning with the scent of sex, man, and sand sage.

  “Give me…all you have,” I heard him plead. He sounded far away on the moon sisters perhaps as my balls contracted over and over. “Yes, yes…divinity thy name is lover. Lover thy name is Pasil.”

  My legs buckled. I caught myself with one arm as my cock slid free from his body. Spend smeared along the inside of his thigh as I tumbled to my side, my cock still kicking lazily. Dazed in the afterglow, I cupped the head of my prick to catch the last few spurts, heaving chest slowing, eyes closing as I tried to catch my ragged breath. Teryn moved around beside me, his touch light on my arms and hip, pressing me gently onto my back.

  I let him move me as he wished. Truly, as weak as I was, I doubted I could stop the smaller man even if I wished. I’d never had such an experience with any lover, male or female, in all my years of seeking companionship. The bed shifted. Eyes fluttering open, I saw Teryn stretching over me, his gold charms tickling my armpit. With a snort, I wiggled slightly. His amber eyes found mine, and a smile that could charm the dwarves out of their mines lit up his face.

  “You take up considerable room,” he teased and returned to his task. He came back to the bed with a pleased little sound, lying beside me to dab at the seed dotting his chest. “So, Pasil, was it just me or did you feel the land quake just now?”

  I chuckled before moving to my side to stare at him. “I could not be sure as I was soaring up to touch the smooth face of the moon sisters,” I replied, nudging his cloth aside when he brought it to his face. I flicked out my tongue to lick the delicacy off his goatee. He sniffled a little, an amused sound that I wanted to hear again, so I licked his face clean. Like a dog with a beefy platter, rolling him to his back amid his increasing laughter. Once I had him under me, I hoisted my upper half up, arms locked, to stare down at him. Something in my breast clicked into place. Unsure of what it was, I pushed the odd twitch to the back of my mind.

  “Would you like some tea?” he asked, his voice soft and sleepy. I claimed his lips in a kiss that went on for long moments, a gentle searching kiss that crested and fell like the waves crashing over the rocks far below. “Was that a yes or a no?”

  “A yes, but later.”

  His fingers were carded through my hair. It needed to be cut as it was dangerously close to touching the collar of my civilian clothes. “Your hair is lovely. Thick and black as a raven’s wing. What a pity your laws dictate that only nobility may have longer tresses.”

  “I do not mind,” I replied, moving to my side once more, my arms growing weary of supporting my weight. “Long hair is dangerous in battle. When we were beset with assassins on the journey back from the Lavender Steppes to bring the queen to Celear, an enemy wrested King Aelir from his mount with a handful of his hair.” He nodded in understanding before gently rising from the bed as if he were just feeling the pummeling I had given him. “Are you in pain?” I asked, pushing up to rest on a bent arm as he slipped from the tangled covers.

  “No, well, not much.” He tossed me a satisfied smile over his bare shoulder. The trinkets on his ear chain caught the waning firelight. “It is a good twinge. Nothing that will be noticeable come morning.”

  I was familiar with the burn of a lover’s possession as I enjoyed giving and receiving in equal measure. He made his way to the bathing room. I stretched out, spreading my toes wide as I reached over my head to grab the ornate headboard. My muscles pulled taut but then eased into the stretch. Listening to Teryn washing himself off, I found myself lost in a fog. I’d crossed a rather bold and possibly troublesome line, cock first. Something that I had not done in many seasons. As a young buck, yes, my prick had led me into a few notable predicaments, but since I had signed onto the guards under V’alor, those wild ways had passed. For the most part.

  Now, after years of service to my king and country, a stiff cock could very well see me disciplined. I knew of no laws of conduct concerning bedding a foreign dignitary. It happened quite often, if the whispers of the maids and grooms were to be believed. And I did believe them. The rich and powerful thought little of taking what they desired from those who served under them. I personally had held myself a bit above such things since being promoted and handed the bronze armor of the king’s personal guard. As V’alor had done before me. If the commander of the guard could see me now, I was sure his face would be drawn into a disapproving scowl. Yet, even knowing that to be the case, I already yearned for another tumble with Teryn…

  The mattress gave slightly beside me. I looked over and into the bright round yellow eyes of Pehdra.

  “Have I taken your spot?” I asked and got a twitch of a long whisker.

  “She will use all of her feline skills to make you feel great guilt,” Teryn called from the bath as he splashed about in what had to be chilled bathwater. He emerged a moment later, skin dappled with water beads, the aroma of sand sage strong once more. Passing by the bed, he slowed to place a rounded glass bottle on the small cabinet beside the bed and hand me a wet cloth. “Do not let her move you from my bed. I’ve dreamed of seeing you like this for the past many nights.”

  A flush ran over me. “You’ve dreamt of me?” I washed my cock and balls off I spoke.

  “Mmhmm, many times. Daydreams as well as nightly fantasies.” He poured us two cups of tea and returned to the bed, handing a dark sienna cup to me before shooshing the cat to the end of the bed. She went, but not without a scowl directed at me. “It should be just right for sipping.” He sat at my side, legs folded into a loose knot, and took a taste of his tea. His lashes closed in rapture. “That is almost as wondrous as making love to you.” My eyes flared in mock anger as I wiggled up to sit. “Almost. Nothing is as delightful as being under you.”

  “You were pleased?” I asked, suddenly shy for some reason. No, perhaps not shy. Anxious. Worried if he had not enjoyed the encounter, for I surely had.

  “Pleased does not adequately describe the feel of the ground shaking under your feet,” he answered, dark eyes mirthful as they found me over his teacup.

  “I am glad.” I’d always been what I hoped was a conscientious partner in bed. I took a sip of the red tea and coughed. The heat of the black pepper caught me off guard. “Oh, that is…that is quite zesty.” I drew in a breath through pursed lips to cool my tongue.

  “You will find, my beautiful guardian, that most things from my lands are well-spiced and tangy.”

  “I see that to be the case,” I replied, placing my teacup on the round table beside the bed so I could caress Teryn’s shoulder. “You are a beautiful man.” I ran my hand up the side of his long neck and played with the charms dangling from his ear. There were several things I wanted to say—some romantic, some decidedly not. I wavered between telling him that his eyes held me enraptured and asking what he felt should come next. Should we part now? Yes, that seemed the right course of action. We’d slaked our thirsts. Leaving this bed, this chamber, and this man behind would be wise. I knew it. And yet, the thought of not being at his side for however long these negotiations dragged on felt like a death from a thousand cuts.

  “Your thoughts have taken you elsewhere.” He placed his tepid teacup on my stomach and spread my legs with his hands. Steadying the cup, I watched, enthralled, as he knelt between my thighs, his rump on his heels, and took my flaccid cock into his mouth, his gaze on me as he ran his tongue around the head. With a deftness that spoke of experience, he eased the foreskin back to suckle just my cockhead. My back arched, my prick fattening quickly. He pulled off gently, spittle on his lips. “I am just egotistical enough to demand my lover’s full attention when they lie naked in my bed.”

  My lips ticked up at one corner. “Please continue. You have my full attention now.”

  With a smug wink, he lowered himself down once more, sucking me into his mouth and down his throat. His mouth was slick and wet. He rolled my stones, tugging on them just hard enough to send a rush of pleasure/pain throughout me. When he had me breathless and on the edge, he shimmied over me, found the ornate glass bottle, and poured out a handful of bath oil into his palm.

  “Now that I have all of your most urgent focus,” he purred as he coated my cock with so much oil it ran over my balls to soak the sheeting under us. The washerwomen would not be pleased with us on the morrow. “I find that I’m still in the mood for riding.”

  “By Ihdos,” I gasped when he eased himself up and then sat down on my glistening prick after tossing the teacup aside. This joining was slower, less rabid, gentler in many ways. We kissed and teased as he rode me until we both found release in crashing waves that robbed us of our breath and our senses.

  With him lying atop me, bathed in sweat and seed, with a cat curled beside my foot, I held him to me as he drifted off to slumber. My hand lay on the curve of his back, just above the taut orbs of his arse, my other rested on my brow. I should dress and leave. Thank him for a night of pleasure that I would carry with me forever and put it behind me. Yet I lingered, the sound of the sea and the soft snores of the man resting peacefully on me lulling me into a deep, sated sleep.

  We slept undisturbed long enough for the candles to burn down to nubs. What woke us was not the call of nature, nor the urge to seek each other out for another heated tumble. What woke us, at roughly the same time, was a loud exchange outside Teryn’s door. He sat up, his confusion clear as he rubbed at his bleary eyes. I, trained to snap awake faster, moved him from my chest just as the door was kicked in and several guards—Sandrayan and Melowynn—exploded into the chamber like a knotted ball of playful pups. Only these men and women were not playing. The door hanging off one hinge proved that.

  I pulled a dark blue covering over my groin and bellowed. “Halt!”

  My men responded. The Sandrayans did not. Not until Teryn barked at them in their native tongues. Only then did they lower the pronged spears that they had been using as staves to beat back my guards. My guards, who also had weapons drawn.

  “Sheath your swords!” I roared, getting to my bare feet, unwilling to think about what those who served under me thought of finding their guard captain in such a compromising position. Pehdra darted out into the hall, tail bushy, as I bent down to fetch my trousers from the floor. “What in the name of Ihdos is this about?” I asked, dropping the sheet to step into my pants, my backside bared to all for a moment. When I turned, cock and balls hidden, my cheeks still aflame, I glowered at the tense group. “I asked what this is about!”

  “Captain, the king and his advisors have decreed that all Sandrayans in the castle be brought to the throne room immediately,” a lesser guard—a blond boy I had not seen before—crisply replied. I shot a look across the room to Teryn, who had pulled on a robe, a thicker one than the one he had modeled for me earlier this eve, praise the moon sisters. He was as confused as I, it seemed.

  “That is absurd. It is the middle of the night,” I countered, my mind still fuzzy with lingering sleep. I’d not touch on what remained, dried like cobbler’s glue on my chest and stomach. “What reason would King Aelir have for such a decree?”

  “Captain, sir, Prince Al’fur and Princess Alfina have been kidnapped. The nanny is unwell and presumed poisoned, and Royal Ward Guardian Plumwax lies near death. There is the lingering residue of dusk spear bloom on a jug of goat’s milk found in the nursery, the healers are saying.”

  I glanced at Teryn for an explanation. He looked stricken. “Dusk spear cactus blooms only at twilight along the southernmost cape of our homeland. When ground, the flowers and thorns cause paralysis. It is highly regulated by our clerics. I do not…” He ran his hand over his chin. “I see how this may look to the king, but this was not done by my entourage, I vow it.” I looked at his guards, poised and ready to strike, and then at my men, almost eager to lash out at their dark-skinned cousins.

  “By Ihdos,” I whispered as my sight darted once more to Teryn, pale as butter curd, now surrounded by a half dozen Sandrayan guards on full alert. “We shall head to the throne room now. Lower your swords. These people are not our enemies.”

  I prayed that last statement proved to be true…

  TENSION WAS AS THICK AS WIDOW POPPY’s dark berry pudding as we made our way to the throne room. No one spoke. Teryn, still in his robe and barefoot, seemed lost in thought. I had pulled on the casual clothing that I’d donned last night before I’d been so delightfully sidetracked by Teryn. With the pallor of dread already creeping through Castle Avolire, a small, ugly voice whispered to me. Was Teryn part of this kidnapping scheme? Had he waylaid me from heading to town? No, that made no sense. Whether I was in a pub or in his chambers would not have made a difference. Even as I shoved that nonsensical thought aside, the fingers of distrust lingered, and I loathed its arrival.

  I turned to the blond guard who had spoken up earlier. “Are we sure the children are not in the castle? They have done this before, hidden so deeply in one of the many vast parlors or the upper tiers of the royal library that we had to bring in one of the hunting hounds to locate them.”

  “There are no signs of them so far, Captain. And the nanny and their assigned protector being laid low with Sandrayan herbs points to a kidnapping.”

  Shit. Yes, sadly, the paralysis of the adults in the nursery did not bode well for our guests. I glanced over at the envoy, his stride sure but relaxed, his jaw tense though. Gone was the ruddy afterglow from our hours of loving each other.

  “Yes, of course.” I pushed into the throne room after passing several squadrons of guards, all on high alert, placed at every exit of Avolire. Stepping inside, my sight flew to the two dozen or so Sandrayans lined up against the far wall, their eyes darting about the gilded room that housed the ivory throne. Teryn bolted to his son and daughter, the only two given seats to rest in. The three of them hugged. Teryn cupped their cheeks, searching their faces for signs of abuse. They spoke in hushed whispers in their lyrical tongue. My sight flew to the king, Umeris, and Le’ral, all rumpled from sleep, their worry a dark cloud over their heads.