by Marcy Jacks
Dravick reached down for his cock, taking himself by the base and needing to break off their kiss for only a moment to do the rest.
“Hurry, hurry,” Aaron said, his oil-slicked hands sliding across Dravick’s chest, fingers pinching his nipples before soothing away the hurt.
The pain and the pleasure of that brought a moan from Dravick’s throat and almost made him forget about what he should be doing in this moment.
“I’ve got it,” Dravick said, batting away Aaron’s teasing hands. “Distracting pest.”
“You love when I distract you. Now hurry up and distract me.”
Dravick gave Aaron a hard look. “Commanding your king now, are we?”
Aaron tensed beneath him, pulling back his hands.
It seemed they were still not in good enough standing with each other for those sorts of jokes to be made. Dravick very quickly leaned in and pressed his mouth to Aaron’s, and when he pulled back, it was barely enough space to move his mouth. Their noses continued to touch, even.
“How do you know I always love when you do that?”
Aaron blinked then smiled. His king was not angry then. He was still playing.
Dravick pressed the head of his dick against Aaron’s too-tight hole.
Aaron hissed and arched his back. “That’s what I want,” he said, raising his knees.
Dravick wasn’t even inside of him yet. He had to put his other hand in the water and press it against Aaron’s asshole, pushing one finger inside of his pucker and using it to lever the bulb of his cock inside of Aaron’s hole.
Some men were able to take it easily, but those were also the sorts who claimed to enjoy fisting from time to time, and Dravick could never understand the appeal.
Also, he enjoyed that his lover was still tight for him. Whenever they did this, Aaron was always tight.
Dravick had brought up the suggestion of using his entire first once, just as a test, and he’d been pleased by Aaron’s horrified expression.
With the use of his finger, the swollen head of his dick popped through, and Dravick quickly pulled his finger back, a little too quickly it seemed because the man hissed and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.
“Are you hurt?” Dravick asked, grabbing the edges of the marble tub. He stared down at Aaron, the man he loved, and though it nearly killed him to have to do it, he didn’t push forward. He waited while every muscle in his body trembled and shook with the effort of holding still.
“I’m...I’m fine,” Aaron said, blowing out a sigh between his words. “You can move now.”
Dravick could still feel the man’s body, as tense as ever, beneath his. He would wait.
“Don’t ask me to fuck you when it would hurt you,” Dravick said. “King or no king, I would never command that of you.”
Aaron managed to get his eyes open, and then his lips spread apart in a wide smile, showing off bright white teeth. He nodded. “All right. But you’d best remember that.”
“You think I won’t?”
“One day, maybe. You might be so desperate for a quick fuck that it’ll damn near kill you to hold still.”
It was damn near killing him now. Regardless of that, it brought about a flurry of questions that Dravick wanted to ask, but didn’t dare. What sort of lovers had come before him that Aaron thought such behavior to be acceptable? Were all humans so rough with their lovers?
He waited and waited until he finally felt Aaron’s grip relaxing against his shoulders, his thighs no longer quite so tight or holding Dravick into place.
The clench of his hole was as hot and tight as ever, and that was enough.
“Aaron,” Dravick said, on the very ledge of losing his control.
“Do it,” Aaron said, leaning forward just enough to press his lips to Dravick’s throat and then his collarbone and chest, lips making that soft kissing noise that Dravick enjoyed so much. “Move, right now. Fuck me.”
Dravick did. With a groan he pushed his hips forward, no longer feeling Aaron’s body attempting to push him out. It accepted him now, sucking him in, and it tried to keep him there when he pulled back, just to thrust forward again and again into that tight, slick channel.
The lubricant that Aaron had used was even more slippery than the oil in the bathwater. Dravick’s cock could have been in the warm grip of his...of his...Damn! He didn’t even have the words to describe that soft yet firm pressure that held his body and soul in such rapt pleasure! He was losing control already. No warrior or king should humiliate himself with something as petty as an early orgasm, but it was coming, and he could feel that building inside of his balls as they hardened inside of his sac. That sensation warmed inside of his belly, at the lower end of his spine, and shot down into his feet. His toes curled, and the water sloshed around them. Some of it splashed onto the floor, but he didn’t care.
Aaron’s eyes were tightly shut again, his mouth parted as his head was thrown back. His thighs held Dravick tightly in place once more, and his hands… his hands were wonderful.
They moved and explored, even though Aaron kept his eyes closed. His palms rubbed against Dravick’s abs and chest, his fingers pinching Dravick’s nipples once more in that tight hold that sent a shock of pain through his body.
“I’m...I’m close,” Aaron said, his next words coming out on a sigh. “Oh, yes, I’m close.”
“Call me by my name. Say my name,” Dravick demanded.
Aaron already called him by his name, but it wasn’t the same unless he was shouting it out in rapt pleasure, his asshole tightening around Dravick’s thrusting cock as it pushed and pulled, striking deeper and deeper inside of Aaron’s body.
“D-Dravick! I’m close!” Aaron shouted again, and then it was Dravick’s mission to make the man come before he did.
And he did. There was a movement out of the corner of his eye when it happened, but then it didn’t matter if there was a flutter in the drapes by the door or whatnot because his cock was in that tight grip of Aaron’s clenching hole as the man yelled and shouted, and that had Dravick coming as well.
Aaron’s hands found their way into Dravick’s hair, his palm stroking the back of Dravick’s head, holding him close when Dravick leaned in for a kiss.
“Mmmm. Ooaagh,” Aaron said, making those same, pleasurable noises that he always did as the aftershocks of his orgasm still flicked through his sensitive body.
Dravick had to kiss him again, holding on to the back of his warm neck just to have that added contact.
It wasn’t enough that his cock was still inside of the man.
Then they were looking at each other, and then they were not as Aaron shouted and flinched back. His sudden movement splashed more water over the edge of the tub as he stared toward the door, eyes wide and terrified.
Dravick turned his head. His heart fell at the sight of Novik.
The man had a black walkie-talkie in his hand, and his eyes were round and wide as he stared at the scene before him.
Aaron tried to dip himself as low into the water as he could without drowning himself, apparently, because he was refusing to look the warrior in the face.
Wonderful. Just fucking perfect. Of course his cousin had a key to his room and the stupid idiot had decided to use it now. Right when it was most inconvenient.
Novik cleared his throat, a harsh sound. “Your Majesty,” he said, something he called Dravick only for formal occasions.
Dravick glared at him. “Novik,” he said, glancing down at Aaron, who was still attempting to hide.
Such a pity. Dravick would have liked to take the man to bed, but it seemed unlikely he would be doing that now that Novik had seen him here.
His cock was still firm when he pulled it free from Aaron’s body, causing the man to wince. He wanted to apologize for it, but he could not. He doubted Aaron would accept it now that there was an audience.
Novik was already holding a towel, and he held it out for Dravick to take.
His eyes were also averted, somethi
ng that had never happened before. Was he embarrassed?
Dravick needed to fix this. Right now and without putting Aaron in harm’s way.
He straightened up and looked down at Aaron in the bathtub. “I will take Novik into the study now for a word. Thank you for your service. You may begin cleaning this now,” he said, flicking his finger around the soapy water on the floor and the mess in the tub.
Dravick was going to need another bath just to get the oils off of him.
Aaron did not look at him, but he nodded.
“Actually,” Novik said. “I need you to come with me.”
“Why?” Dravick demanded, irritated that he couldn’t stay, that what Novik wanted wasn’t some quick and easy thing that could be over and done with so that Dravick could return to Aaron’s arms for the night.
Novik finally stopped looking embarrassed, or angry, and his eyes lit up with the excitement that came only after a won battle. Dravick couldn’t help but also feel that same energy flowing inside of him. “What is it?”
Novik held up the walkie-talkie and wiggled it. “Kraigan returned, with Jason. Both are alive and well.”
And just like that, Dravick’s irritation fled him. He turned to look down at Aaron, who was no longer sticking his face in the water but finally looking up at him, his expression clearly interested.
Dravick may have confided in him that he was worried for Kraigan. Aaron knew that this was important to him.
“I’ll come back,” Dravick said, and he quickly grabbed his bathrobe, donned it, and he and Novik quickly left Dravick’s rooms, leaving Aaron behind, and by himself.
Chapter Four
They were less than twenty feet away from Dravick’s rooms when he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Let it out. Say what you need to say.”
Novik’s fists clenched, as though he wanted to start punching the walls, turning them to dust.
Or turn those fists onto Dravick. He was fairly sure he even saw a vein popping out of the man’s neck.
“You fucking hypocrite.”
Dravick sighed. “Listen, cousin—”
“No, you listen,” Novik seethed. Dravick didn’t think he’d ever seen such anger. Not directed at him, at least. “I went through hell with you, trying to gain your acceptance of Adam. You didn’t want it, wouldn’t have it, and I had to walk on eggshells around you just for your approval. Now you want to fuck that little servant boy and pretend that everything will be well between us?”
Novik snorted and turned away from him, continuing his march down the hall, as if that were the end of it.
Dravick sucked in a deep breath, every muscle in his body tensing and readying for a fight. He wanted to fight now, wanted to smash Novik’s face into the stone floor for what he’d just called Aaron.
He held his temper. Novik was his most trusted friend and the commander of his warriors. It wouldn’t do for there to be rumors that the two of them were fighting.
He wasn’t sure he could hold himself back if Novik opened his mouth again, however. He hoped the man was done with his insults.
“It’s not as simple as that. Aaron is a servant boy. I was lying with him. That was all. You’ve done the same with others before Adam came into your life.”
“With other dragons,” Novik said, still staring ahead and that spot in his neck still jumping. “You know what would happen to that boy if anyone found out about it? It’s one thing for me to want to have a mate who is human—”
“Half human.”
Novik glared at him. “And you will keep that to yourself until I can find a way of telling him. But for now, it’s one thing if I do it, and the nest barely accepted that. You’re the king. There will be fights breaking out in the halls. I would be shocked if someone doesn’t attempt to slit his throat for the offence he caused by lying with you.”
“I’m his king. If I command him to lie with me, that’s not his choice, and it’s not the business of the damned nest.”
Novik’s eyes widened, and Dravick mentally scolded himself. Of course he should not have said that, but it was out now, and there wasn’t anything he could do to take it back.
“You would command him to risk his life? For what? Why not just get a dragon to do it? You can pay finer looking men to warm your bed for a night.”
Dravick snarled at him. A harsh noise escaped his throat at the suggestion. A growl. He was growling at his cousin, best friend, and the commander of his army.
“Hmm,” Novik said, a short sound in the back of his throat as he turned away. “I thought so.”
“You thought what?”
“You’re in love with that human.”
Dravick grabbed Novik’s shoulder and rounded on him, slamming the man against the stone wall of his hallway as though Novik actually had insulted him.
Or Aaron.
“Don’t you ever speak those words out loud again. That is an order,” Dravick said, baring his teeth.
Novik hardly appeared frightened. Or impressed. His expression was a bored one, and Dravick hated that on him. Why couldn’t the bastard at least pretend that he was cowering? Something.
“It’s not true anyway,” Dravick said, letting his hands fall away from Novik’s shoulders.
“I doubt that,” Novik said.
“Why didn’t you knock on my door anyway? You know I don’t like it when you barge in.”
“I did knock. You did not answer, so I used my key.”
Dravick bit down on his lips, his ire rising again. “Then why did you not stay back when you could plainly hear I was with someone?”
Novik continued to stare at him with that same unimpressed and empty expression that Dravick was growing weary of. “Because I’ve seen you with an escort before, and I didn’t care if I happened to see you again. I knew you wouldn’t care if you were seen having sex. I half expected to come in and speak with you while you still finished with the man. The fact that the servant boy was so frightened by my appearance was an indicator that the two of you expected this liaison of yours to be a secret, and the way you were looking into his eyes when you finished told me you love him.”
“Stop saying that!” Dravick hissed. Though he was mostly certain that the halls were empty, he still turned his head about, making sure of it.
“So many of the humans were taken by traitors to our own nest. Your mate included. Do you really think I want the entire nest knowing about this?” Dravick asked. “And I do not love him. I enjoy his body. That’s it.”
Novik lifted a brow. “That’s all? He’s a scrawny human. What’s to enjoy about that?”
Dravick narrowed his eyes at the man. “Says the dragon who demanded to take a human for a mate.”
Novik shrugged. “Adam is smaller than myself, yes, but he has some muscle on his bones. Years of hard work have given him an excellent physique.”
Dravick hated the man in that moment. He despised the worthless look of affection in his eyes as he clearly thought back to Adam.
Dravick nearly punched him. It was bad enough that he had to speak such things about Aaron, a man he did love, despite his lack of muscle, but that he had to do it with such a conviction in his voice that he was hurting himself by hearing it.
Thank God Aaron was not here to listen to this.
“He is a serving boy, nothing more. I use him because he is available and willing.”
“Then you’re a fool for putting his life in danger to settle your cock,” Novik said. “And lying.”
“Novik,” Dravick said, clenching his fists tightly enough that his fingernails stung his palms. “I don’t care what you think you know. You will speak of this to no one. Do you understand me? That is an order.”
“I understand,” Novik said, nodding.
Dravick wasn’t done. “If anything happens to him because you could not keep your damn mouth shut—”
“I said I understand,” Novik said, also unwilling to give in and to be made out to be a fool. “I won’t tell anyone
about your hypocritical love affair.”
“It’s not that simple, and you know it!” Dravick said. His voice was somewhere between hissing and yelling as he put himself into Novik’s space and got into the man’s face.
Novik still did not move, though a brow lifted. At least that was something.
“You’re right,” Dravick said and then decided to be a coward and not admit to what Novik was really right about. “If the rest of the nest finds out about this, especially after those betrayals, he could be hurt. No amount of laws or commands I give will be able to stop that.”
And it was true. Fanatics were fanatics. Even when it came out that Adam was part dragon, that wouldn’t be enough for some people. Hell, for most of them. They would still sneer at the thought of a dragon mating with anyone who had human blood in them.
Many were accepting already, but Novik wasn’t the king. There were a good portion of people in the nest, who had accepted Novik and Adam, who would not accept a human standing beside their ruler.
If Dravick had any shred of decency inside of him at all, then he would have turned Aaron away when the man came back to him. He would have said it was right that they not be together. It was too dangerous. For Aaron.
Instead, like the spoiled child he was, Dravick had welcomed Aaron back with open arms and could feel only relief. Relief because Aaron was his once more, even though they could never be together publicly and that Aaron risked his life by being with the king at all.
If only it was so simple. If only he could make a law, flick his wrist, and make a command that his people would have to follow, but it was not as simple as that. Nothing in the world ever was. Dravick was a king, and he couldn’t even have the one thing in the world he wanted more than anything else.
Novik’s strong hand touched Dravick’s shoulder, gripping it tight. That warm grasp was comforting, but not by a lot.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Novik said. “I swear to it. Not because you’re my king, but because you’re my family and because I also know that, despite your pestering me about Adam, you still allowed it.”
Dravick rolled his eyes and shook his head. He then rolled his shoulders, needing to release some of the built-up tension that had collected there. “This is infuriating.”