by T. J. Klune
“We are pretty stupid,” Gary agreed.
Probably. But fuck a destiny of dragons. I had a destiny of dick ahead of me. I didn’t need anything else. Especially from—
you think this but you have no idea what’s coming
I stopped. Took a staggering step.
“Sam?” Gary asked. “Are you—”
i’ve seen what lies in the future
The crowd around me was cheering even as they began to slow down, like they were moving underwater. It was like we were in a painting, the colors dripping and wet, bleeding together as it melted. I took a great gasping breath and—
i’ve seen the darkness that burns at the heart of the world
—tried to focus, but my blood was rushing in my ears, and there was green and gold and it was mine (not mine), and I took another step toward the King, because I had to protect the King, I had to keep him safe, it’s what I’d been taught, it was my duty to make sure—
it calls for you sam of wilds it calls for you because it needs you
—he was protected in case we were under attack. There was a sharp burst in my head, colors exploding like a kaleidoscope, and I’d never felt this before. Never felt this out of control, that my magic could spill forth at any moment and destroy everyone and everything in this castle, in this city, and it—
i have come because the gods have shown me the truth of all things
—couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. I didn’t want this. I didn’t need this. Things were fine the way they were, and she had come here, into my home to try and take this all away from me like it’s—
Vadoma Tshilaba whispered in my ear. She said, “The stars will fall from the sky and chaos will consume this world unless you accept what it is you are being called on to do.”
I opened my eyes.
I stood in the gym in the bowels of Castle Lockes.
Gary and Tiggy were to my right.
Morgan, Randall, and the King were off to my left. My parents were too. And Justin.
Ryan and Ruv were on the chin-up bars.
The crowd still stood around me.
But they were all frozen, stuck with smiles on their faces, shouting and jeering silently. The women were swooning. The men were laughing. But not a sound was made. Not a single movement occurred.
I croaked out, “You’ve got my attention.”
“Do I?” Vadoma asked from somewhere behind me.
I whirled around. All I could see were the faces of the crowd behind me, twisted and unmoving. There were shadows encroaching along the edges of the gym, crawling along the stone walls.
“Because your attention is not what I need,” she said, and it was like she was above me. I jerked my head up, but there was nothing there. “I need your cooperation.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, gathering the green and the gold, discarding the old words from my thoughts because I didn’t need them. I’d shown that before. Magic didn’t have to be recitation. It could be will alone. Vadoma thought she knew me.
But she had no idea what I was capable of.
“Because you wouldn’t listen any other way,” she said from somewhere in the crowd. They stood like flesh-covered statues, and I fought to keep from looking at those I loved. And then, like she could read my thoughts, “They are distractions, aren’t they?”
“No,” I said, taking a step into the crowd, ducking under an arm raised here, stepping over a leg raised there. “They can’t be. Not ever.”
“Oh, chava,” she said, sounding disappointed. “There is much for you to learn.”
“I’m not like you,” I told her, stepping around Pete, my old friend Pete, a small smile stuck on his lifeless face. I shuddered as his shoulder brushed mine. “I don’t just banish those I love because they don’t follow the path I lay out in front of them.”
“And yet here you are, hoping I would be banished for a path I’ve laid before you.”
“I don’t love you. I don’t know you.”
“I am your blood.”
My skin itched. “There is so much more to this world than blood.”
“Chava,” she said. “There will not be a world. The things I will show you. What is to come. You will be begging me to lead you. Because the only way to keep them safe is to leave them all behind. They will burn in the fire of a thousand suns unless you accept your destiny.”
There was a moment of tense silence, and then the world snapped back into place. The crowd erupted around me, cheering wildly. I spun in circles, trying to find Vadoma in the throngs of people. She was nowhere to be seen.
“Sam?” Gary called above the noise. “How the hell did you get all the way over there?”
The raucous jeering around me gave way to groans and sounds of confusion. I turned back toward the front to see Ryan had dropped from the bar, eyes wide as he pushed through the crowd toward me. “What happened?” he asked when he stood before me. He gripped my shoulders tightly, fingers digging in almost enough to hurt. “You’re… I felt it. Something.”
I smiled weakly at him. “Nothing,” I said. “It was nothing. Just thought I heard… it was nothing.”
He frowned like he didn’t quite believe me. “Sam, are you—”
“And what was happening in here?” I asked, deflecting as best I could. “You look like you’re showing our guest the assets of Verania.”
“Um,” he said, flustered enough that his grip on me loosened. “Would you believe me if I said I had no idea?”
I watched as a droplet of sweat trickled down his neck to the hair on his chest. “Not at all,” I said, though I might have squeaked it out just a little bit. I kept reminding myself that pretty much everyone in the castle was staring at us right now, including my parents, so it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to lick my boyfriend’s chest, no matter how much I wanted to. Even if it was right there. With nipples and everything.
“You sure about that?” he said, moving close enough that I could smell his skin. That swagger was back, that infuriating, sexy-as-hell swagger that made me want to punch him in the nuts as much as suck on them. Vadoma’s voice was echoing in the back of my mind, but this was Ryan. Not even her thinly veiled threats could wash the sight of him from me.
I glared at him, standing my ground as he tried to crowd me. “It looked to me like you trying to prove something you don’t even need to worry about.”
“Oh, I’m not worried.”
“No?”
He shook his head. “I’ve got it on good authority that you’re a sure thing.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Keep talking like that, Knight Commander, and you might find yourself with pull-ups as the only form of physical release you’ll get for a long, long time.”
He laughed at me openly. Gods, how I loved that sound so much. Because when I heard it, it wasn’t from a dashing and immaculate Knight Commander with a chip on his shoulder, but a green-eyed boy who I wanted everything with. “You sure about that?” he asked again, but it was soft and playful.
“Oh my gods,” Gary groaned from behind us. “Would you two just go fuck already? This is so godsdamned disturbing to watch. It’s like you’re face-fucking me with a dick made of sugar. Stop it. You stop it right now and go fornicate before the rest of us get sucked into your black hole of love.”
I pulled away from Ryan to find everyone in the gym staring at us with varying looks of lust and disgust on their faces. I was pretty sure the elderly man next to me had an erection that he kept trying to touch me with.
“I like you,” he whispered to me.
“Uhh,” I said. “That’s sweet. And also terrible. We’re gonna go somewhere else that’s not where you are.”
Ryan grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the exit. I heard his knights hooting and hollering after us. “Get some, Knight Commander!” one of them yelled. “You’ve got that shit!” He didn’t even turn around but raised a fist in victory to acknowledge he’d heard.
Of course he tripped
over his feet when my mother said, quite loudly, “Young man, no one has gotten that shit, because that shit is my son. Let me tell you a little bit about respecting your partner—”
I squeezed his hand as I laughed. I could see the blush on the back of his neck.
I stopped laughing when I saw Vadoma out of the corner of my eye, standing near the back of the crowd.
Soon, she said, mouthing the word.
It felt like things were starting to spiral.
Ryan glanced back at me. I smiled at him as best I could.
He believed me, though.
That’s what was important.
IT STARTED in the empty hallway near the top of the stairs. I’d been trailing behind him the whole way, barely taking my eyes off his ass in front of me. He wore low-slung trousers, the tip-top crack of his ass visible with every step he took. The muscles in his back rippled, and he didn’t let me go.
I almost crashed into his back when he came to a stop. “What are we—mmgh—”
His mouth was on mine as he pressed me up against the wall. Keeping in mind that sexy is as sexy does, I just sort of sagged against him as his tongue swiped over mine. He rolled his hips against me, a quick, practiced move that never failed to make my knees a little weak. His hands were on my hips, his sweat-slick chest bumping mine. He broke the kiss and trailed his lips along my jaw. I turned my head to give him better access to my neck.
“You know,” I said, slightly strangled, “I’m totally on board with this plan, but maybe we could—” And then he did that one thing he did so well involving his teeth and my ear. I jerked my head back, smacking it against the wall. “Ow. Motherfucking ow.”
He chuckled against my face, reaching up to put a big hand between my head and the wall. “You’ve got to be more careful,” he chided gently.
“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t be so good at eating my ear.”
“Eating your ear. Gods, Sam, way to make that sound erotic.”
“I didn’t know we were going for erotic. I can do that if you like. I’ve been practicing. Oh, side of beef, put your mouth hole back on my hearing hole and eat it out. That’s the ticket.”
He leaned back, face twisted up in a grimace. “Mouth hole?”
I shrugged. “My erotic writings are intended for a specific audience.”
“A dead one?”
“Whoa,” I said. “Look who’s got jokes while I’ve got a boner. One of those things should stop. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not my boner.”
He reached between us and gripped me tight. I refused to let my eyes flutter shut, only because having him this close, sharing breaths, was a heady thing. “I’m going to take care of this,” he said, jerking me through my trousers once, then twice. “And you’re going to take care of me. And then we’re going to talk about how you’re deflecting again and how I won’t stand for it. Are we clear?”
Right then, I probably would have agreed to about anything. “Crystal,” I managed to say.
“Good,” he said before leaning in for a lingering kiss. “Now come on. You’ve got some work to do.”
“Why does even that sound hot?” I mumbled, letting him pull me along again.
“You’re twenty-one years old,” he said, glancing back at me. “Everything makes you hot.”
“Only your everything,” I said. “Which apparently I need to remind you of before you try and do even more pull-ups. Because you’re that ridiculous.”
“Did more than him,” he muttered under his breath. “And besides, I had to do something to get you out of our room that you locked me out of for two days.”
And shit. I felt bad about that. Because Ryan had essentially moved in with me a few months ago, abandoning his small single room down in the barracks. It’d been strange at first having someone in my space all the time, but then he’d pointed out he hadn’t actually spent a night in his own room in almost a month beforehand, and I got over whatever weirdness I had going on. “Yeah, about that. Um. I’m sorry? I didn’t…. Shit.” I stopped walking, pulling on his arm until he turned around and faced me. “That wasn’t fair of me,” I said when he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have— Did you do a shirtless pull-up contest just to get me out of the room?”
He grinned at me. “I’ve got brains and brawns. Felt like a good time to put them together. And since you’re a Foxy Lady, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
I gaped at him. “That was… devious. In a completely sexual manner. I approve, Sir Foxheart. Well played.”
The grin softened on his face. “Next time,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me on the tip of my nose, “don’t cut me out, okay? It’s rough, Sam. I know it is. But you can’t just push me away. We’re a team. And it sucks when I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
I absolutely did not get choked up at that. “Yeah. A team.”
“For all I knew, you were trying to figure out ways to break up with me to run away with Ruv,” he said, laughing. But his eyes darted away for a split second, and even though he knew that was a ridiculous thing to say, it was still coming from a place that held a kernel of truth for him.
But I chose to follow his lead. “Like I could ever do that,” I said. “Dude, I’ve put so much work into you, you have no idea. The idea of starting over with someone else just sounds exhausting.”
He made a face at that. “Good to know.”
“Where did you sleep the last couple of days?”
“Down in the barracks with the boys. I told them it was for morale. They didn’t believe me and were convinced you’d kicked me out because I’d pissed you off somehow. It was an uncomfortable time for everyone.”
“Did they try and shave your eyebrows again?”
“They weren’t even subtle about it.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? They love me. If you ever leave me, they’ll make your life a living hell.”
He rolled his eyes even as he leaned forward to kiss me again. “All the incentive I’ll ever need.”
“Okay, so are we gonna sit here and continue talking about feelings and junk, or are we going to get to the boning? I have needs.”
He leveled me with a flat look. “Boning, Sam? Really?”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheeks and nose and chin. “Sorry, baby. Are you going to let me make sweet, sweet love to your mouth and butt holes with my throbbing member?”
He laughed as he shoved my face away. “That’s it. You are not allowed to dirty talk ever again. I have never been more turned off in my life.”
But his eyes were darkening, the green going from spring to a summer storm. He was still sweaty, little goose bumps on his shoulders. I didn’t move, just let my gaze crawl all over him, starting from his bare feet and moving slowly up. He swallowed with an audible click, flexing his hands at his sides.
“Here’s what I think we should do,” I said, taking a step toward him, closing the distance between us. My knees knocked against his. We were almost chest to chest. He was breathing a little heavier, gaze never leaving my face. “I think we should go back to our room.” I leaned forward and kissed him softly. “And I think you should remove the rest of your clothes.” I trailed my hands up his arms. His breath hitched in his chest. “And you can get yourself ready while I watch. And when you’ve gotten three fingers in you, I’ll come take care of the rest. That sound all right?”
He nodded once, sharp and quick.
“Good,” I said. “Go.”
He went, glancing back at me to make sure I was following.
I did, because it’s what he expected of me.
We learned this about us as we navigated our relationship. Out there in the real world, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart was in charge. He carried the weight of his knights and the Crown on his shoulders. He did it well. People respected him. They feared him. They mocked him mercilessly for almost fucking up our relationship before it even started. He took all of it with a cocked eyebrow and regal stance. He was dashing an
d immaculate. He was of the people, by the people, for the people. Verania loved him. The women wanted to sleep with him. The men wanted to be him (and some wanted to sleep with him too). The children wanted to grow up to be him. He was everything anybody could ever want.
And that was all well and good. He didn’t let it go to his head (well, not too much, anyway—he was still a cocky bastard, after all). He’d worked hard to get where he was, gave up a lot to become a Knight Commander. And it’d almost doomed us, given the oaths he’d made.
But a funny thing happened after all that was said and done.
I learned that I, Sam of Wilds, was a sex god.
And that’s meant to be as humble as possible. You see, Ryan was in charge in most things of his life. As the Knight Commander for the Eighth Battalion, he oversaw a hundred knights as part of the Castle Guard. He ran their training sessions. He was their teacher, their instructor, their therapist, their punching bag, their bro, their dude, the man. He was calm, assertive.
He was also a big fucking bottom who liked it when I took charge in the bedroom.
“Holy shit,” I’d said after the fourth time we’d had sex (which turned out to be the day after he was an asshole and almost got married but waited until the last second to confess his undying love for me). “I’m a sex god.”
“Oh my gods,” he’d muttered. “That’s not—”
“I’m so good at this. You like it when I tell you what to do, and I’m so good at that.”
“It’s good, yeah, but we have to—”
“And I’m just a natural at being in charge. Right? Like, you’re all grr rawr swinging dick when you’re with the knights, but in here, you’re all, take me up against the wall, you savage brute.”
“That’s not what I said—”
“Not that I have a problem with that,” I’d assured him, just in case he was worried. “I’m finding that I rather enjoy being in charge. I was doing some research, and it’s come to my attention that I’m probably a power top.”
“Research? When the hell would you have had time to do research? We haven’t even left the room!”