Ignoring the protests of his body, Daks pushed out of the chair and crouched next to Ravi. When Ravi finally glanced up at him, Daks cupped one flaming cheek in his palm and said, “There’s nothing weak about you. And you saved my life too, remember?”
“I didn’t do much.”
Daks frowned. “After nearly drowning, you somehow got me out of the water and all the way up here. You could have left me there. Hells, you could have left me here and taken the horse to find help, but you didn’t. You stayed and took care of me, kept yourself awake for two days watching over all of us. That’s not weak. I owe you my life.”
Ravi’s blush only deepened, heating his palm, and Daks grimaced. This conversation had gotten far too serious and perilously sentimental. Time for a different tack.
Forcing his lips into his best grin and dropping his voice low, Daks added in Rassan, “And as far as begging me to touch you, you don’t ever have to beg for that, beautiful. I’ll give you as much or as little as you want, anytime, anywhere.”
He half expected Ravi to huff and glare at him, or possibly even shove him away, so he was stunned when Ravi lifted heated eyes to meet his gaze. His tongue poked out to wet pink lips before he whispered, “You think I’m beautiful?”
“I know you’re beautiful,” he replied honestly.
Ravi’s answering smile was the sweetest Daks had ever seen, before it turned wry and sexy. “And if my response to your offer is: a lot, right now, and right here?”
The sudden huskiness in his voice went straight to Daks’s cock. Forgetting all about any pain or exhaustion, he sank to his knees between Ravi’s spread legs, cupped Ravi’s jaw, and captured those soft pink lips for the first time. Ravi tasted of the porridge they’d just eaten and an underlying salty sweetness that had Daks groaning and pushing deeper. Ravi’s kiss seemed a little unsure at first, reminding Daks that he probably needed to slow down. But the soft sigh Ravi made as he opened up and his tongue came out to play made it difficult to think beyond the need to have more.
As Daks slid a hand behind Ravi’s back to draw him closer, Ravi wrapped his arms around Daks and pulled himself up, as if seeking as much contact as possible.
“Maybe we should go somewhere a little more comfortable,” Daks murmured breathlessly against Ravi’s lips between kisses. “Can’t quite get to all of you like this.”
“Good idea.”
Ravi let go and rolled away. After he got to his feet, he began shucking his clothes, any hesitation gone, so Daks happily did the same. His movements weren’t quite as graceful, but he didn’t care anymore. Lust had a wonderful way of making things like pain, exhaustion, and embarrassment seem stupid and unimportant.
Before Daks could look his fill, Ravi slid that hot, lithe, long-limbed body beneath the pile of cloaks and clothes. Next time, he promised himself.
As soon as he scooted into their nest, Ravi wrapped those long legs and arms around him. The way Ravi clung to him made it feel like he had eight limbs instead of the usual four, and Daks grinned.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered into Ravi’s ear before kissing the shell and working his tongue downward.
Ravi arched and moaned before tightening his hold. “You almost died,” he whispered back.
Daks stopped his kisses long enough to give Ravi a good hard squeeze in return, before running his palm in soothing patterns over Ravi’s back, flank, and ass. “You did too. But we’re okay now.”
“Are we?” Ravi gasped as he pumped his hips, rubbing his already hard cock against Daks’s belly.
Daks grabbed a firm, round asscheek in each palm, encouraging him to move, as his own cock slid along Ravi’s crease. “We will be.”
He kissed Ravi again, long and deep as they explored the planes of each other’s bodies. When they were both sweating and panting, with cocks hard as stone and leaking, Daks ordered, “Lie back.”
Ravi’s expression turned just a little uncertain, and Daks smiled wryly.
“Trust me.”
Ravi hesitated only a second longer before releasing his hold and settling back onto their makeshift mattress, staring up at Daks with so much trust and need, Daks’s heart squeezed. He smoothed a palm over Ravi’s chest until the bruising across his sternum caught the firelight.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Daks asked, running a gentle finger over the mottled skin.
Ravi quirked an eyebrow and reached for the puckered, reddened skin along Daks’s ribs. “Are you?”
A wry smile spread across Daks’s lips. They certainly made a pair.
Without answering, he gently lowered himself to cover Ravi’s body and kissed him slow and deep. Their cocks pressed together between their bellies, and Daks slid his hands down to Ravi’s thighs, tugging, encouraging Ravi to lift them to cradle him again. They both moaned when he pumped his hips. Ravi’s long fingers slid up his back to tangle in the bushy mess of his hair, tugging and dragging his nails along Daks’s scalp as they rutted together and kissed messily.
Ravi gasped and moaned against his lips as Daks groaned and his need built. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and he arched up, spat in his hand, and reached for their cocks. Grasping them both in his calloused palm, he pumped Ravi’s long, pretty cock alongside his own. Watching them slide through his fist was so damned hot, he didn’t want to take his eyes away from it. But when Ravi gasped and his hips jerked, Daks’s gaze shot to Ravi’s face.
His cheeks had flushed a deep red. Sweat beaded along his hairline and glistened on his throat. Even as he panted, moaned, and arched beneath Daks, gripping his shoulders convulsively and squeezing Daks’s hips with his thighs, he never took those gorgeous eyes off Daks’s face.
When Daks thought he might not be able to hold his own orgasm off any longer, Ravi finally closed his eyes, threw his head back, and cried out. Hot seed spurted from his cock onto his belly and Daks’s fist, adding to the slickness in his palm. Daks continued pumping until Ravi collapsed back into their nest and let go of Daks’s shoulders. Daks released his spent cock and pumped his own fast and rough. He was so hot, it didn’t take long before he let out a long, low moan and his seed mixed with Ravi’s all over his belly and chest.
He watched in deep satisfaction and pleasure as their releases puddled and joined on Ravi’s lovely warm olive skin. When he finally glanced up, he caught Ravi watching too, and Daks grinned smugly at him before collapsing against Ravi’s side. As the rush from his orgasm faded, all of his injuries reminded him of just what he’d put his body through recently, and he had to stifle another moan of the not-so-good kind. He took small consolation in the fact that Ravi wasn’t exactly springing back demanding a second round either.
Choosing the wiser and much less fun option, Daks snagged the shirt he’d removed earlier and handed it to Ravi to clean up as he said, “We should get some sleep. We have at least a few miles to travel tomorrow and only the one horse.”
Ravi rolled to face him and frowned uncertainly. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”
Daks gave him a gentle smile as he cupped Ravi’s cheek. “I didn’t say it was what I wanted. I said it was what I thought we should do. There’s a difference.”
Ravi’s lips quirked into a shy smile before his expression turned unreadable as he searched Daks’s face.
“What?” Daks asked.
Ravi flushed. “I…. You… you didn’t, uh….”
“Didn’t what?”
Ravi groaned and rolled so his back was to Daks. “Never mind.”
Daks might have been exhausted, but he’d have to be dead to let that one slide. Grinning, he pushed himself up and scooted until he’d spooned Ravi’s back. Ravi tensed at first. But when he relaxed and pushed back against him, Daks hooked an arm around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“Didn’t what?” he poked again.
After blowing out an aggrieved sigh, Ravi said, “Obviously, I don’t know a lot about this sort of thing. Not being able to touch anyone for ten years severely
limited my, uh, interactions. But I’m not naïve or stupid either. I know what the men who approached me in alleys and on the streets at night wanted. I knew what some of the others who stayed with us did for coin when work was scarce or, hells, what they did with each other for fun when they could find a quiet corner. I guess I was expecting you to want to—”
He flung a hand in the air and waved it around instead of finishing that sentence, and Daks’s grin widened. He was tempted to make Ravi actually say the words, but decided to take pity on both of them. He was too tired.
He nuzzled playfully behind Ravi’s ear. “There were a lot of things we didn’t do tonight. And I’m very much looking forward to doing all of them that you’ll let me… once both of us have seen a healer, had a chance to get a little more rest, and we’re safely tucked up in a real bed.” As he spoke, he reached for Ravi’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “Eben’s inn in Pazar has wonderful soft beds, fine food and drink, warm fires, and a bath house out back with barrels of steaming hot herb-scented water big enough for two. When we get there, you and I are going to eat and drink our fill, soak every last ache away, and not leave one of those beds for a whole day at the very least,” he promised.
Ravi shivered in his arms and pushed his ass back, making Daks’s cock twitch, but he told it to be patient. He wasn’t in any kind of shape to follow through on any of its promises right now.
“You make it sound like Quanna’s gardens of plenty,” Ravi replied, a smile obvious in his voice.
He pressed his cheek to the top of Ravi’s head. “Not quite. But once I’ve had a little rest and healing and we’re in that bed, I’ll get you to those gardens, don’t you worry.”
Ravi snorted, and Daks could almost feel the man roll his eyes.
“Sleep, Ravi. Save your strength for the journey tomorrow.”
“Are you taking the first watch?” Ravi asked around a yawn.
“No. We’ll both sleep. You did a great job with this place. The door might be old and a bit beat up, but it’s still solid, and so are the walls and the barricade you made. Plus, we’ve got Horse over there, a proven fighter. We can let our guard down for the night. The wolves should be well-sated with what they’ve scavenged from the river bank. They shouldn’t bother with us.”
“Ew,” Ravi murmured, and Daks winced.
That was a sure way to kill the mood.
“Sleep,” he ordered, curling protectively around Ravi’s body. “Trust me.”
Chapter Twelve
THE TRIP up to Pazar might have been arduous and long, but Ravi didn’t remember much of it once they reached the inn Daks had waxed so poetic about. He’d spent far too much time dreamily reliving the night before, eyeing his strong hands, and leaning back into the warmth and solidity of that broad chest. The weight of that big body on top of him, surrounding him, holding him with those thick arms, kissing him with those lips that could be so soft and then so hard and needy….
He groaned silently and surreptitiously pressed a palm to the front of his trousers as they handed Horse off to a groom and turned toward the inn. Riding in a saddle with a hard cock for hours had not been a comfortable experience, but with Daks so close, he couldn’t seem to help it. It was like a switch had been flipped inside him, and all he could hear was his dick and his skin begging for more. Daks hadn’t helped matters either, teasing him relentlessly. Ravi’d been tempted to walk the rest of the way, just to get a little relief, but after their journey and another dunking in a river in Horse’s packs, his old boots might not finish the journey.
Even now, as Daks greeted the mountain masquerading as an innkeeper in Sambaran and Ravi struggled to keep up with the foreign words, his eyes kept straying to Daks’s mouth, his hands, and his ass. When Daks caught him, his lips twisted into that smug, infuriating grin, but for some reason Ravi’s cock had decided it didn’t hate that grin in the slightest.
Daks finally seemed to remember Ravi wasn’t Sambaran and switched to trade speak with an apologetic smile, and Eben, the innkeeper, followed suit, just in time for the conversation to turn inevitably to the flood.
“It was terrible,” the huge, tawny-bearded man said. “The inn is high enough up, we didn’t know it was happening until we heard the shouts and screams from down by the water.”
“Did you lose any people?” Daks asked solemnly. “Did anyone else from the ferry survive?”
“Weren’t sure who all was on the ferry, mind, but the ferryman was one of ours, and he hasn’t been found. Old Taun runs the horses and the crank on this end. He was injured. Broken leg. One of the horses had to be put down. He said a few waiting for the ferry were swept up in it. I think Mawd lost her nephew, cracked his head on a rock, found him a half mile downriver.” Eben grimaced. “A few houses flooded, but we’ll be fixin’ ’em up soon enough. Ferry rope snapped. That’ll take a bit more time, but we’re still here, and boats are running across until then.”
“Have you seen a Cigani woman in town?” Daks asked.
“You mean that woman you traveled with before, right? I remember her. But no, haven’t seen her, sorry.”
Daks’s face fell. “If she’d been able to get a message across, it would have been delivered here. She knew where we were headed.”
Ravi shifted uncomfortably, wanting to touch him, to give what comfort he could, but he wasn’t sure what the rules were between them yet, so he held himself still.
“Sorry,” the innkeeper murmured again. “If a message comes, I’ll let you know. And I’ll keep an eye out and spread the word you’re looking.”
“Thank you,” Daks replied, his voice sounding weary and tight. “We need to find your healer. Can you tell us where?”
Eben nodded. “Hers was one of the houses caught in the flood, so we set her up in Aver’s common house, down near the market, since he has the room. Lots of cuts and bumps around these days; you may have a wait.”
“You think you can find me a spare pair of shoes or boots until I can get to a shop?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks. We’ll visit the healer after we’ve had our meal, and then come back for the bathhouse, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course. We’ll be ready for you. The spring waters will do you good too, mark my words.” Eben gave them each a nod before heading toward what Ravi assumed was the kitchen, but he stopped halfway and came back. Leaning in close, he whispered, “Now, I don’t traffic in gossip as a general rule, but you being from the Council and all… the few boats that’ve come across since the flood have carried tales of a wizard on the other side, if you didn’t know already.”
“A pain priest?” Daks asked sharply, making Ravi’s stomach jolt.
“Nooooo. No robes. No stone ’round his neck. They’re saying he just lifted his hands and pushed the waters back from the town.” Eben shrugged as if embarrassed. “Now, I know what the waters did on this side, and I never heard of a wizard strong enough to do that on his own, with no time to prep or potion… except maybe in the old tales. So I don’t know if it’s true. But since I can tell you’re worried about your friend, I thought I should mention it. If this man did as the people are saying, and most of the town was saved from the worst of it, chances are, she’s okay.”
Ravi shot Daks a startled glance, but Daks looked just as confused as him.
“You think that might be the same wizard—” Ravi began excitedly, hoping to offer Daks some comfort through words if not through touch, but Daks put a hand on his arm and gave him an almost imperceptible head shake.
“Thanks, Eben,” Daks said. “I hope you’re right.”
The innkeeper glanced between them for a moment before shrugging. “Like I said, I don’t know for sure if it’s true. But you shouldn’t give up hope just yet.”
“I won’t,” Daks replied.
When the enormous man lumbered out of earshot, Ravi asked quietly in Rassan, “You don’t trust him?”
“What?” Daks had obvi
ously been lost in his own thoughts because he frowned in confusion.
“You stopped me from talking about the other rumors we’d heard.”
“Oh, right. No. It isn’t that I don’t trust him. He’s probably heard the rumors already anyway. But if he hasn’t heard everything we have, I prefer to keep that to ourselves until I can report to the High Council.” He paused for a second and grimaced. “Sorry. I’m sort of conditioned to not share any more information than I absolutely need to. I shouldn’t have interrupted you. I’m sorry.”
Daks’s gaze grew distant again, and Ravi decided not to press. Shura wasn’t the easiest person to like, but Ravi found himself worried for her and Mistress Sabin too, and not only for Daks’s sake. It was amazing what sharing an adventure and almost dying could do to your feelings about someone. Perhaps he would have a tale worthy of writing down someday after all. The thought reminded him of what he’d been forced to leave behind on the ferry and his chest tightened with loss before he shoved the feeling aside. Dwelling on it wouldn’t make him feel any better. He’d meant what he said. He was starting over for the second time. It was time to leave his first life behind.
They dug into the heaping bowls of hot, meaty stew and warm buttered bread, while Ravi allowed his mind to wander to more pleasant things as he glanced at his companion frequently. Daks only remained mired in his own thoughts for a short while before he caught Ravi’s gaze and his lips curved slyly.
“Told you this place would be worth the journey,” Daks murmured.
“You did.”
Daks’s eyes hooded as he licked his lips. “After the healer, I’ll keep the rest of my promises too.”
Something fluttered in Ravi’s overstuffed belly, and his cock twitched.
Not now, he scolded his wayward dick. They still had to walk through the town.
Their inn rested alongside a few other shops and taverns at the top of a hill overlooking the town square and the river beyond. Ravi had been too distracted to note much else about Pazar when they’d arrived, especially since they’d come from the forest road rather than the shore. Daks had taken them inland from the cabin until they’d reached that road, possibly to make their journey easier, but also so neither of them would have to see any more of the devastation the flood had wrought or deal with too many scavengers.
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