by Jana Downs
“Don’t say things like that,” Corrin said, swallowing hard. He had to get a handle on his own emotions before he went crazy.
Adrian’s gaze drilled a hole through Corrin. “It’s the truth. I always tell the truth, remember?”
“I remember,” Corrin whispered. His cock started to harden. The truths Adrian had told him all those nights ago haunted him. “But, we didn’t come together to discuss that. We came to discuss the land your court wants to purchase from my court.” He had to change the subject. He drew back his hand, though he was acutely aware of Adrian’s close proximity. Of course Adrian wouldn’t allow him to direct the conversation in such a manner. He put his hand on Corrin’s thigh underneath the table. The Seelie jumped as if he were being burned.
“Our situation is just as important as the one between our courts,” Adrian said. He rubbed his fingers in gentle circles on Corrin’s inner thigh and gave a pleased grin when Corrin shifted to give him better access.
“Please, don’t,” Corrin begged, glancing at the door in a panic even as he spread his thighs like a wanton.
“Why, Princeling?” Adrian asked in mock innocence. “If it doesn’t matter, push my hand away.”
Corrin closed his eyes, searching for inner strength. “I…can’t,” Corrin whispered finally, staring into Adrian’s ice-blue eyes.
“Why?” Adrian demanded. Just as he had when he’d questioned Corrin in the club months ago, his question was forcing him to face his own desires. He thought that if he pushed long enough the Seelie prince would run out of places to run…Corrin resented the fact that Adrian was right.
“Because…” Corrin hesitated, searching for words. “Because it matters.” He said the last in a barely audible tone.
“Why does it matter, Corrin?” Adrian pushed, rewarding him by stroking the underside of his balls through his soft pants.
Corrin’s breath hitched, and he began to pant. “Because you said it does. Because you matter.”
“Good boy,” Adrian growled using his other hand to grip the back of Corrin’s neck. He leaned forward and crashed his lips down on Corrin’s own. The Seelie prince moaned and opened his mouth under Adrian’s onslaught. Their tongues clashed in a bruising kiss that stretched on and on. Adrian pushed the table away from the two of them and dragged the Seelie prince halfway into his lap.
“God I missed you,” Corrin admitted, breaking to pant before diving back into the tangle. He was sprawled in Adrian’s lap eating at his mouth and gripping his shoulders as if he was afraid to let go. “I know that’s stupid to say, but…I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too, beauty.” Adrian groaned, grinding the ridge of his erection against Corrin’s clothed bottom. Suddenly Adrian pulled back with a curse and pushed Corrin back into his chair.
“W–what’s wrong?” Corrin asked in confusion. Just as he spoke, the door swung inward and his bodyguards soldiered through the door.
“My lord, we thought we heard something. Are you quite all right?” Richard asked, glaring at the Unseelie prince with barely concealed disgust.
“Does it look as if I’m quite all right?” Corrin snapped, praying his lips didn’t look as kiss swollen as they felt. Richard raised his eyebrows and motioned toward the overturned tea cups and scattered food on the table which Adrian had moved.
Corrin swallowed. “Things got a bit heated, but I see no reason for you all to burst in here like there is a fire.” He hoped the disdain in his voice was believable.
“But you never get ‘heated,’ my lord,” Richard said incredulously.
“What’s the matter, Rich? Never seen an example of what happens to a room when two people get involved in some rough loving?” Adrian drawled, a nasty grin on his face. He was playing up the Unseelie image apparently. Corrin cringed. Goddess.
“How dare you!” Richard snapped. “Don’t you dare insult Prince Corrin in such a manner, you filthy Unseelie bastard!”
“Enough!” Corrin shouted. Corrin never yelled, and he knew that his bodyguards didn’t remember the last time he’d done so. “Do not insult an emissary in my presence, Richard. I will deal with his words in a manner I see fit. You have no opinion in the matter. Do you understand me?” Authority rang in his voice, and Richard hesitated. Please, just this once, can you forget that you practically raised me, Rich?
“But, my lord—” Richard began.
Corrin cut him off. He motioned for Richard’s second, Gael, to move forward. “Gael, Remove Captain Richard immediately. I want it noted to the magistrate that he deliberately questioned my orders. Also make a report to my father that you all interrupted the negotiations between myself and the Unseelie prince. In the future, if I make it known that we are to be left alone, neither you nor your men are to interrupt no matter what you ‘hear.’ Is that understood?” He said all of it in the icy tones of an aristocrat.
Gael looked sad as he bowed, which just confused the hell out of Corrin. “Of course, my lord prince,” he murmured, taking Richard’s wrist and motioning the rest of the troops out of the room.
“That brought back memories,” Adrian commented dryly as Corrin stood and quietly shut the door behind them. “You sounded just like your father sounded when he told me under no uncertain terms what an insignificant worm I was at my trial.”
Corrin sighed and rubbed his suddenly aching head. “They still treat me like a child. They’ve been my bodyguards since the beginning. Richard is overprotective as hell, and Gael is equally paternal. Both of them have to learn to take my orders as they would my father’s. Unfortunately, the process is slow in coming.”
“It is not your nature to be as gruff as your father,” Adrian observed, motioning him to come closer.
“No. It is not,” Corrin agreed, coming to sit in the chair opposite Adrian. “That was close.”
Adrian shrugged. “I knew when they hit the hallway. The benefit of being one of the night court is that my hearing and night vision is greatly improved.”
Corrin gnawed on his bottom lip. “You could’ve exposed me then. You could’ve taken the choice out of my hands and got me banished with you…Why didn’t you?”
Adrian snorted. “And have you resent me for the rest of our lives? I don’t think so. Corrin, I wasn’t kidding. I want you to choose me, willingly.”
“I–I need to think,” Corrin said, his hands starting to shake.
Adrian nodded. “Of course. I dumped a lot on your lap a few minutes ago. I’ll leave you to your rest. Summon a servant to take me to my chambers. Speaking of chambers, where are yours in case I need you?” Adrian asked, standing.
Corrin smiled softly and motioned to the closed door on the other side of the room. “My bedchamber is through that door, and your bedchamber is connected to it by another door on the other side of my bed.”
Adrian raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Oh? So I needn’t sneak around the hallways looking for you?” He was smiling that familiar warm smile of his, and Corrin couldn’t help but return it.
“If I would’ve known it was you, I would’ve put you in the other wing of the house,” Corrin joked, playfully swatting at Adrian’s smirking form.
“Ha. You would’ve relocated us both in the dungeon and let me teach you the meaning of submission,” Adrian said, his tone was filled with heat once again. Corrin didn’t comment but thought he was probably not far from the truth.
Chapter Ten
A week passed. “I’m telling you, Gael, the way that Unseelie looks at Corrin is positively outrageous. He’s like a cat that’s spotted a bowl of cream, licking his chops in anticipation,” Richard railed, reclining against one of the walls at the far end of the great hall.
“I haven’t seen anything inappropriate,” Gael said patiently, playing a game of solitaire at one of the tables. “If anything, the Unseelie’s behavior could be considered an unconventional courtship. They go on walks through the surrounding countryside and take midnight swims. Since Corrin isn’t reciprocating the intere
st, I see no reason for us to take action. After all, it may actually help in negotiations over the land. From what I hear, they’ve almost got the details down. Prince Cadence will be leaving the day after the spring equinox. So it’ll only be another week.”
“I’m telling you, that monster is trying to corrupt our prince,” Richard groused. “I remember when Adrian was a pup running around as a Seelie. He has corrupted other men before.” Richard continued, oblivious to Gael’s words. “The other day after their midafternoon tea, Corrin came out of the room and looked positively flushed and his hair was all a mess. If I didn’t know better I’d say he looked thoroughly kissed.”
Gael’s eyes snapped to his. “If that is true, then you need to bring your suspicions before the magistrate. If we catch it early enough, if Corrin is being corrupted by the Unseelie prince, then there is a good chance that he can be rehabilitated.”
Richard snorted. “Like you?” he asked, recalling how Gael had once been brought before the magistrate for being in a ménage relationship with another male and female who were later exiled to the Unseelie court.
Fury painted Gael’s expression. “Yeah like me. I’ve done nothing inappropriate since, and it is deplorable that you bring it up now.”
A heavy silence stretched between them until Richard sighed. “I apologize, Gael. You’re a good friend and an exemplary Seelie warrior. You’ve confessed your indiscretions to me, and I used it against you. I’m just so worried about Corrin…He seems so vulnerable.”
Gael nodded, clearly accepting his excuse. “He’s always been vulnerable, Rich. He is a gentle soul, unlike his father. He has his mother’s good heart. He was more suited around the humans than here at court. I’m more afraid of what the court’s demands are doing to him than the influence of one Unseelie emissary.”
Richard pushed off the wall and sat down opposite Gael. “I hope you’re right about him being immune to the Unseelie’s charms, Gael. I hope you’re right.”
* * * *
“Oh yes. Adrian!” Corrin gasped out. He was taking his “punishment” for telling Adrian “no” when Adrian had commanded him to initiate a kiss with him. The Unseelie prince had barked out for him to lace his hands behind his head and not to move. Then after an excruciating moment, Adrian had dropped to his knees and undid the buttons on Corrin’s pants.
“Don’t you dare come without permission,” Adrian had said with that come-fuck-me voice of his. “If you move, I’ll stop and send you to bed with orders not to come.”
“Yes, Master,” Corrin whispered. He knew he should be fighting this, should be fighting the commanding tones of the Unseelie prince, should be rejecting everything he offered with the vehemence worthy of the white courts. But goddess help him, it felt so right.
They’d discussed how far they could safely take their Dominance/submission play here. Adrian said that he would get Corrin used to taking his orders as a part of initial training. He also said he wouldn’t take it any further until Corrin made his decision about their relationship. Corrin still wasn’t sure if that was incentive or nicety. Either way, it led to temptation.
Adrian sucked him deep, working his throat in such a way that Corrin wanted to buck his hips at the sheer pleasure of it. The way Adrian’s mouth was working his cock had Corrin panting for more in a matter of minutes. He groaned, and his arms trembled with the effort to stay behind his head. His eyes rolled into the back of his head when Adrian took one of his balls into his mouth to gently suckle.
“Oh goddess! Please, please let me come,” Corrin begged hoarsely. They were in an isolated stretch of woods on the eastside of the castle grounds just in case Corrin wanted to scream. He could scream to high heaven, though he was trying very hard to remain quiet.
“No,” Adrian said, going back to what he was doing. The torture continued for endless minutes. The sight of Corrin’s hard cock shuttling its way in and out of Adrian’s beautiful mouth caused him to spurt another helping of pre-cum.
“Please, Adrian! Master, let me come!” Corrin said, strangled.
Adrian froze. “What did you call me, boy?” he asked, drawing off Corrin’s cock with a soft pop.
“Master. I called you Master. Let me come. Please.” He felt wild and desperate as he answered Adrian without question or embarrassment. Adrian worked him with his hands until Corrin was crying out in pleasure again.
“I like when you use the honorific, Corrin. Will you ever question my orders again? Are you going to look around to make sure no one is around before kissing me?”
“No. I swear, no.” Corrin groaned.
“No, what?” Adrian asked, pushing him to the next level of submission again. It made Corrin dizzy.
“No, Master. I won’t question you again. I swear.”
Adrian chuckled. “Good boy. Come for me.”
He renewed his effort on Corrin’s cock. He increased the speed and intensity of his head bobbing up and down on the dripping dick in front of him. With a strangled cry, Corrin came. He took the Seelie’s body deeper into his mouth, taking every sweet spurt of seed that Corrin gave. When Corrin was finished, Adrian pulled back with one last lingering lick. Corrin sighed contentedly but remained in position.
Nothing felt as good as coming together with Adrian. At first, he’d been determined not to have sex with him, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy one another in other ways. The “no touch” rule had quickly fallen away as Adrian’s courtship had gotten under his skin. If he were honest, Corrin would admit that he’d been anticipating the second they were truly alone so they could come together in some way, even if it wasn’t sex.
“You pleased me,” Adrian said, coming up from his knees and kissing his Seelie square on the mouth. Their tongues met, and Corrin tasted himself there. Adrian smiled and pulled back.
“You are so beautiful when you’re experiencing pleasure.” His Unseelie lover stroked his cheek and kissed the side of his neck. Corrin sighed again in contentment.
“Can I move my hands now, Master?” Corrin asked. The title was coming easily now. The words “Adrian” and “Master” were all but synonymous with one another.
“You may.”
Corrin’s arms immediately wound around Adrian’s shoulders as the kisses began to turn into sharp nips. “Do it, Master,” Corrin surprised himself by saying. “I know you’ve been wanting to for a while now.”
Adrian laughed and gave a hard lick to Corrin’s pulse. “You won’t let me fuck you while I’m here, but you want me to bite you? Didn’t anyone ever tell you that a bite from an Unseelie Vampire is just as intimate as a sex act?”
“I know,” Corrin said, stroking his hands through Adrian’s black hair. “I want it. I need to feel closer to you.” Adrian began to rhythmically lick at the pulse point, obviously debating Corrin’s request. “Give me your pain, Master. I need it.” His words called up the memory of Corrin’s pale flesh reddening beneath the hard swats of Adrian’s hand. He needed pain like that again. Without warning, Adrian sank his fangs into the soft column of Corrin’s throat.
Corrin cried out at the intensity. His whole body felt like fire was racing through his veins. It seemed deeper than when Adrian had fed on him before. Like there was an invisible cord tying his groin to the steady draws of Adrian’s mouth on his neck this time. Even though he’d just come, Corrin felt his body stirring back to life. The benefit of being descended from fertility gods was painfully obvious by his renewed arousal. He wanted Adrian to touch him again, to bring him pleasure as he drew his blood between his lips. Adrian stroked his back as if sensing his thoughts.
Corrin realized he was being selfish. Over the past few days Adrian had given him so much pleasure yet taken very little for himself. He knew that the Unseelie wanted to fuck him again, but Corrin had to keep that last barrier between them for his own sanity. If he ever wanted to let Adrian go at the end of the week, he was going to have to keep some sort of wall between them. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t give him
pleasure of some type.
“Master, may I pleasure you?” he asked, his voice a wispy thread of pleasure.
Immediately, Adrian took his hand and put it on his cock. Adrian unbuttoned his pants and allowed Corrin the privilege of taking him in hand. Corrin’s hand tightened and mimicked the rhythmic draw on his throat. Adrian licked at his pulse like a cat, making little noises of pleasure with each stroke of Corrin’s hand.
With a final lick he drew back, giving Corrin free rein. He rested his forehead against Corrin’s as the Seelie prince jerked him off. “I want to fuck you, Corrin,” Adrian said, his eyes piercing his Seelie lover. A trace of blood could be seen on his bottom lip, and Corrin had the insane urge to lick it away.
“No,” Corrin said, dragging his gaze away from Adrian’s lip.
“Do you know why blood is so important in the Unseelie court?” Adrian asked, pulling his hand away from his body. Corrin shook his head, wondering why he brought it up now. He wanted to pleasure him, and Adrian was talking instead. “Blood is the essence of life. Just as water is the blood of the Earth, we consider blood a sacred element. When you offer me your blood, you’re saying you trust me above all others and give me a part of your soul. It is more sacred to us than marriage. If we exchanged blood, we would be bound by Unseelie law. Don’t you understand that you are getting Unseelie cravings, Corrin?”
Corrin jerked back. The minute he lost skin-to-skin contact with Adrian, his head spun as if he’d just got off a roller coaster. The Unseelie reached out to steady him.
“Easy,” Adrian murmured, bringing Corrin flush against his chest. “You’re a pint lower than you were a moment ago. Don’t do anything too quickly.”
“I don’t have Unseelie cravings,” Corrin said, shaking with dizziness and fear.
Adrian snorted. “Is this coming from the same boy who begged me to bite him, spank him, and master him?”