The Toymaker's Hoard

by Megan Derr

  Cadmus managed to take enough time to eat and make himself some tea, but he'd barely managed two bites before he simply couldn't contain himself anymore. Throwing everything open, he immersed himself in his hoard and getting everything back where it belonged.

  *~*~*

  Four days later, just two days before he had to be out of the city, Cadmus was content enough with the state of his hoard to leave his home. He took with him the watch for Serena, a small jewelry case music box for Temnis, and the automatons for Harren and Sula.

  He deliberated briefly on where to go, but in the end headed for Sula's home. Thankfully, he was able to hail a hackney with no trouble, and the trip across the city was uneventful. He set the heavy boxes with the automatons on the stoop and knocked on the door.

  It was opened, of all people, by Serena, looking flushed, slightly mussed, and mightily pleased with herself. She shrieked when she realized it was him and pulled him into a tight hug. "You're here!"

  "I am," Cadmus said and cleared his throat. "So are you."

  Serena grinned and held out her right hand, displaying a beautiful ring with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds arranged to look like a pair of roses. "I'm visiting my fiancé."

  "I thought your fiancé had a fiancée."

  "It's complicated. She's coming home in a few more months; Temnis is going to speak with her. Lord Sula and Papa wish we would not cause so much trouble, but they've settled into minor grumblings. But come in, come in! Oh, my goodness, I know what those boxes mean! What did you bring?"

  "Alas, I've not made one for you yet," Cadmus replied as he finally got inside. She closed the door and immediately returned to his side, a million questions on her face. He offered the pink velvet box bound with a white silk ribbon that he'd put her gift in. "This one is for you."

  "Really? That's so sweet of you." She immediately opened it and shrieked so loudly Cadmus jumped and nearly toppled to the ground as he tripped over one of the boxes. "This is the rose quartz! Oh, you really are a master at what you do." She hugged him tightly and kissed both his cheeks, then did it all again.

  "Unhand the toymaker, Rena, good grief."

  "Papa! Look what he made me! Oh, and I have just the dress to show it off at tea tomorrow at Lady Snippy's house."

  "One day, you're going to call her that where she can hear you, and there will be all kinds of hell to pay."

  Serena tossed her hair. "What can she possibly do when I am your daughter and Temnis's fiancée?"

  "Let's hope we never find out. Now go away."

  "Oh! Wait!" Cadmus fumbled in his satchel. "Would you give this to Temnis for me?"

  Serena took it, kissed his cheek again, and bolted off.

  Harren chuckled as he watched her go. "Her mother was the same way. How are you?"

  "Doing better," Cadmus said. "I've had all manner of people knocking on my doors, trying to get interviews and the like. I'll miss my shop, but honestly I'm starting to think the six month banishment is a favor, not a punishment."

  "I think it's helping everyone, honestly," Harren said. "That's one of the things we need to discuss. Sula has made plans and intends to see them through. I've found it's best to just do as told, but you can try to argue if you like." He stepped in close. "May I have a hello kiss?"

  Cadmus smiled and cupped his face. "Of course. I've missed you."

  "I've missed you too," Harren murmured right before he gave Cadmus a kiss that positively took his breath away, slow and thorough, tongue pressing deep, every touch and slide sending shivers down his spine and making him ache for a chance to do so much more.

  But thinking of that reminded him of what had happened the last time he'd been in this house, which brought Sula back to mind, which brought his curiosity and fear right back to the fore. Drawing reluctantly back, he said, "Why are you and Serena here?"

  "Because I'm being harassed too. People will throw bricks through my window, but they don't dare do the same to someone like Sula."

  "Who doesn't dare do what to me?" Sula asked. "Cadmus! Why did nobody tell me you were here? It's my house!" He strode down the hall to join them, sweeping Cadmus up into a hug and kissing him hard and quick on the mouth. Setting Cadmus back on his feet, he toed one of the boxes and said, "What's all this?"

  "Gifts for you and Harren."

  "You made us something?" Harren asked. "Cadmus, you didn't—"

  "I did, and I wanted to," Cadmus said. "Please."

  "Let's open them in the library." Sula took one, and Harren the other, and they led the way into a beautiful library that was filled with sunshine from large windows, some with ordinary glass, some with stained glass, all of it done in floral designs. The rest of the room followed that theme, and it was so easy to tell that after the garden on the roof, this was Sula's favorite space.

  Sula closed and locked the door, then shrugged out of the sweater he'd been wearing, dropping it and the key on a nearby chair. He then carried the box he was holding to a large table in the middle of the room. "How do you open them? I can feel magic, so sealed by you?"

  "Yes." Cadmus stepped forward, anticipation thrumming through him. This was his favorite part of his job: the reveal, the delight, the admiration. He loved seeing people excited over his pieces.

  He nudged the box trimmed around the bottom with a blue ribbon across the table to Harren. "This one is yours." He gestured to the red-trimmed one. "And that one is yours."

  They lifted the tops of the boxes eagerly—and then both went silent, intent and wide-eyed, as they delicately lifted the automatons from their velvet beds.

  "Touch the flowers on the base and they'll start moving," Cadmus said, tugging at the bottom edges of his jacket, which was his best blue one, dark and trimmed in white and pink flowers. Did they like them? Why weren't they saying anything?

  He continued to wait, and watch, gnawing on his bottom lip as they each started their automaton. The figurine on Harren's lifted his coffee cup and spread out the papers on his desk, which were made from the thinnest pieces of silver and covered in gold writing that had taken Cadmus ages to do properly. Behind the figurine, curving along part of the base, was a backing of stained glass in three parts—the middle part and the sides, which were slightly shorter, each one arched at the top. In the rightmost panel was a figure that represented his wife, and in the left panel was a representation of Serena. In the middle was the pentacle symbol of the police force.

  Sula's figurine had a similar backing, but the stained glass displayed his son, his ex-wife, and roses.

  "They go together," Sula whispered, making Harren startle slightly. They looked at each other, then pushed the automatons together, and went back to more silent gawking as the movements changed—the first figurine sharing his coffee, the second putting flowers in the first one's vase.

  Sula's eyes were glassy as he finally looked at Cadmus. "These are the most beautiful things I've ever seen. How did you do this in such a short time?"

  "I had a lot of time to think," Cadmus said, "and I wanted you to have them before I left the city. You—you've both become important to me, you must know that."

  "You're important to us," Harren said. "That's what we wanted to talk to you about: giving the three of us a try. It's a madcap idea I probably never would have thought of on my own, but Sula thought of it quickly enough."

  "Well, I'm selfish," Sula said with a small smile. "Why else would I insist on breeding flowers and plants that would normally try to kill each other in the same area?"

  "I—" Cadmus swallowed, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing. "I felt awful for wanting that, and then… then everything went horribly wrong, and now I'm a killer of four men and—" He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "The past two weeks have been rough."

  Sula hugged him, brushing soft kisses to his head and temple. "If you want to go back to your hoard or rest upstairs—"

  "To be honest, I'm rather sick of being alone right now, for all I am a dragon. I'd rather be here, or
wherever, with the two of you, than alone with my own thoughts for one more minute. I don't care what we do, as long as it's fun and distracting."

  "Well I can think of plenty of things that are fun and distracting, but we'll have to do them in my bedroom because I don't trust that locked door with Serena in the house."

  Harren sighed. "I should be offended on my daughter's behalf, but I confiscated a lockpicking kit on our way here, and I'm fairly certain it was the dummy I was supposed to find."

  Cadmus laughed. "Will they be upset their fathers are lovers now when they're getting married?"

  "Problem for another day," Sula said. "Can I kiss you now? Properly and for real?"

  "Please," Cadmus said.

  Sula swept in, scooping him up and kissing him like a man too long deprived. He tasted sweet, like sugar and cream, probably from a cup of tea that had barely any tea in it. Cadmus sank his hands into that beautiful hair he'd wanted to touch for so long, feeding at Sula's mouth like he would die if he did not taste every curve and crevice. That got him a beautiful moan and fine shivers he could just barely feel beneath his fingers.

  When they finally drew apart, Cadmus was pounced by Harren, who still tasted of coffee and a hint of cinnamon. They didn't draw apart until Cadmus was panting heavily and Harren was rubbing at his own cock through his stiff slacks. "Let's get upstairs before I make the walk up there even more awkward than it's going to be."

  Cadmus laughed but only said, "But I haven't seen you two kiss. That doesn't seem terribly fair."

  Sula grinned, but Harren, of all things, looked suddenly shy. It was the most adorable thing Cadmus had ever seen. "Have you… not kissed yet?"

  "Once," Sula said as he grasped Harren's wrist and reeled him in, then tucked a finger beneath his chin and tilted his head up. "When I admitted how I felt in the most ridiculous way possible, then panicked and tried to recover and made it worse, and he shut me up with a kiss."

  "And here you are again, talking and talking and—" Harren grunted as Sula's mouth ended the sentence and wrapped his arms around Sula's neck to kiss him back.

  It was an absolutely beautiful sight, the small but fierce Harren wrapped around tall, elegant Sula, who lifted Harren off his feet so they were better matched in height. His grip slid to Harren's thighs, pulling them around his hips, making them both moan.

  Cadmus did a bit of moaning himself, pressing the heel of his hand to his straining cock in a futile effort to ease the tension. After the past couple of weeks, such a beautiful, sexy sight was almost too much.

  They finally broke apart, and Sula let Harren slide back to the ground.

  "Why am I always surrounded by ridiculously tall people?" Harren groused. "Stop picking me up like I'm some child."

  Sula gave him a look that had Harren swallowing. "I do not pick you up like a child, trust me."

  "Whatever, let's just go upstairs before something happens that we would all hate," Harren said, cheeks red.

  Snickering, Sula unlocked the door and threw it open—and sighed as he saw Serena and Temnis trying very hard to look like they were simply lingering in the hallway because that was the done thing. "Temnis, I think she's a bad influence."

  "No, no, I was always this bad. You're just catching me more now," Temnis said with a grin.

  Sula just sighed again. "Go away. This is my house, and I would like to enjoy it with my lovers without worrying my son is going to see me doing so."

  Temnis's face went red, while Serena crowed. "I knew it!"

  "Oh, my goddess," Temnis said, and dragged her away, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the questions already spilling out.

  "Well that went better than I'd dared hope," Harren said. He offered a hand to Cadmus, who took it with a smile, and they followed Sula through the house, up the stairs to a large room as vibrant, comforting, and beautiful as every other space Sula brought to life.

  Sula closed the door, locked it, and tucked the key into his jacket, which he then started to remove. Harren sat down on a bench at the foot of the bed and went to work on his boots. Cadmus was content to linger by the door, enjoying the scent of roses that permeated the whole place. There were at least seven different pots of them all around the room, with countless more plants joining them. One corner even had a little pond, complete with waterfall, with all kinds of plants in and around it.

  The bed was up on a dais, big enough for four, with sheets, duvet, and drapes that gave the impression of sleeping amidst ivy and roses. It was sumptuous and whimsical, which described Sula well.

  "Our dragon still has all his clothes on," Harren said, startling Cadmus, who whipped his head back to his companions just in time to be pounced by two half-naked, devastatingly handsome men. Sula dragged him into an utterly delightful, wet and messy kiss that left him reeling, and somehow in the midst of it all Harren managed to get Cadmus's jacket off.

  He was turned around, his mouth thoroughly plundered by Harren while deft hands worked on his shirt from behind, pulling it off and leaving them all pressed skin to skin. Cadmus was intoxicated, lost in the scent of lust tinted with fragrant roses and spiced vanilla. He finally managed to do some touching of his own, one hand exploring whatever of Harren's torso he could reach, the other arm reaching back to keep Sula's delightful mouth right where it was feasting on his throat.

  Eventually, when they were mussed and hard and panting, Sula drew back and said, "Let's move this to the bed, shall we?"

  "If you insist," Harren replied, with a hot, taunting grin that was utterly delightful—but not nearly as delightful as the way Sula crooked a finger and Harren went easily into his arms for another round of hungry kisses that Cadmus could happily die watching.

  To think he could have this—they could have this. He didn't have to be in the middle of them at all, except in a way they'd all approve of. He shivered at the lovely images that filled his head and set to work on the rest of his clothes, leaving them in a marvelously messy trail on his way to the bed.

  When the other two eventually drew apart, they looked around briefly for him—and both smiled with burning approval as they spied him on his knees in the bed. "I do like the way you look there, toymaker," Sula said. "Wherever, or however, we eventually settle, this will always be one of our beds now."

  That got a soft, pleased noise from Harren, who set to work with deft fingers on Sula's remaining clothes. "Part of me is vexed we could have been doing this a lot longer than we have, but…"

  "But then we would not have had the sense to invite Cadmus into the mix," Sula finished, and did some clothes removing of his own, though they spent so much time teasing and touching, it took ten times longer than necessary.

  Not that Cadmus was complaining. He could watch them forever—Harren with his small, powerful frame, the long dark hair so unusual to see when police were well known for keeping their hair extremely short. His warm brown eyes, how easily he smiled when given half a chance. All the scars and marks that showed his difficult life and the tattoo representing his wife and daughter. Sula beside him, tall and elegant, hair a dark brown, silver-threaded cloud around his head, skin not as dark a brown, with yellow undertones. His skin was flawless, save for that single small shaving scar on his neck, and his gray eyes were more like silver as he turned them back to Cadmus. "Is the entertainment adequate?"

  "I'd rather it come over here so I can participate," Cadmus replied, and touched the tip of his tongue to his upper lip.

  "Well, let's not keep our toymaker waiting any longer, then," Harren said, and they prowled toward the bed, eyes intent. Cadmus might have whimpered, but the noise was rapidly lost as they pounced him, pushing and dragging him into the bedding, touching and kissing and fondling.

  In all his years, Cadmus had only ever had one partner at a time. Arrangements like this were always something other people did; it had never occurred to him to try it himself until now. At least where these two were concerned, he was so far deeply enamored of the practice.

  H
e licked a strip along Harren's collarbone, then nibbled his way up the long line of his throat, skin scratching on stubble before he took that lovely mouth and feasted on it. Harren's hands cupped his ass, grinding them together before he dragged Cadmus with him, sprawling on the bed with Cadmus on top of him.

  Sula pressed behind him, warm hands slick with an oil that smelled of his ubiquitous roses, along with honey flower and orange. His fingers trailed along Cadmus's skin, leaving warm, slick trails that gleamed on his skin. "You're beautiful," he murmured, kissing Cadmus's neck, then leaning past him to share a quick, hard kiss with Harren. "You both are. I cannot believe I have you here."

  Harren only grunted and pushed so that Cadmus was toppled into Sula, who grabbed him and pulled him flush against that long, lean body, resting so he was splayed across Sula's thighs and spread wide open to whatever Harren wanted. His faced burned, but Harren's eyes were infinitely hotter.

  Retrieving the bottle of oil that Sula had left nearby, Harren slicked a hand and wrapped it around Cadmus's cock, mouth working every bit of skin he could reach while he stroked. His other hand cupped and fondled Cadmus's sac, and every now then reached further back to press a finger against his hole but infuriatingly never pushing in.

  "You're evil," Cadmus panted out. "I need someone to fuck me before I expire from wanting."

  That got him matched groans, and then, mercifully, Harren pushed a finger inside, stretching him carefully, thoroughly feeding at his mouth all the while. Sula still held him fast, spread open and at their mercy, his mouth, teeth, and tongue rendering Cadmus incapable of anything but needy moans and desperate pleas.

  Then they were shifting ever so slightly, Harren's fingers sliding out as Sula adjusted their angle so that Harren could slide right into him. Cadmus's head fell back to rest against Sula's shoulder, and he was helpless to do anything but take it as Harren fucked him in earnest, punctuating each thrust with a sharp kiss or greedy bite to his throat, each stinging touch chased by Sula's warm mouth.