After a brief peck on the lips, Daks climbed off him, leaving Ravi feeling surprisingly—and appallingly—bereft. Gods, he hoped that was only a temporary reaction to the sex and all the attention he’d received, because he didn’t like feeling this needy and vulnerable.
Luckily, Daks returned to the bed quickly, before Ravi had to explore that thought any further. Daks carried a small corked pot in his big hands, his cock proudly leading the way. The man really was thick all over, and Ravi’s stomach fluttered.
When Daks uncorked the pot, Ravi caught a nutty, sweet aroma he couldn’t quite place, but he stopped even trying when Daks dipped two thick fingers in and drew them out. They glistened in the light from the single window, and Ravi’s breath stuttered as his nerves jangled, despite the throb that pulsed through his cock. Back in Arcadia, he’d heard horror stories from some of the others… but he’d heard good stories too, and he trusted Daks. He didn’t quite understand why, but he did.
He relaxed back against the pillows and spread his legs in invitation. Daks drew in a sharp breath as he lowered himself to kneel between Ravi’s thighs and gazed down at him with heated eyes. He bent and kissed Ravi sweetly as he lifted one of Ravi’s thighs over his hip and gripped and kneaded his ass. Ravi wrapped his arms around Daks’s barrel chest, pulling him closer as the heat built between them again. But when Daks teased a single blunt finger against his opening, Ravi unconsciously tensed and had to force himself to relax.
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” Daks murmured as he placed tender kisses along Ravi’s jaw and down his neck. “There are plenty of things we haven’t done yet. You could fuck me instead, for instance.”
The finger massaging his hole stilled, but just the feel of it there made Ravi’s belly ache, now that he’d had a bit to get used to the sensation. He was so wrapped up in the feel of it, it took a few seconds to process Daks’s words.
When he did, his eyes popped open. “You’d let me?”
Daks’s lips curved in that grin that had somehow become more sexy and adorable than infuriating. “Like I said before, I’m quite flexible,” he murmured playfully, despite the heat in his eyes.
Storing that information for later, Ravi shook his head. “Not this time, but good to know.” Working up some courage to give the man a grin of his own, Ravi said, “I want you to show me how it’s done first.” He paused a beat before adding challengingly, “If you think you can.”
Daks quirked an eyebrow, and his grin widened. “Oh, I can.”
“Then stop talking and get fucking,” Ravi ordered with more boldness than he felt.
Thank the gods, Daks didn’t accept Ravi’s bravado at face value. Instead, he seemed to take hours teasing, caressing, and working him open until Ravi was a trembling, needy, breathless mess. His cock was so hard he could pound fence posts with it, and when Daks grabbed the backs of Ravi’s thighs, bent him nearly in half, and pushed his tongue into Ravi’s hole, Ravi almost lost control and came right then.
“Daks,” he gasped in a strangled whisper, “please.”
He felt Daks grin against his skin, his stubble rubbing against sensitive flesh, before he lowered Ravi’s legs to either side of his hips and draped himself over Ravi’s chest. “Please what?”
Despite the blissful tingles flooding his body, Ravi narrowed his eyes at the man, and Daks chuckled. “As you command,” he said. Then his grin faded slightly and he added, “It might be easier on you your first time if you roll over.”
Ravi shook his head. “I want to see you.”
Daks seemed surprised for a second before his expression softened as he nodded. He slid his big, rough palms down beneath Ravi’s thighs again and helped him angle his hips upward. Ravi sucked in a breath at the first pressure of Daks’s cock against the entrance to his body, but Daks had more than prepared him, and with gentle coaxing, Daks was able to push slowly inside. The stretch was strange and a bit uncomfortable at first, but the sensation of fullness was still incredible.
After a few panted breaths and giving his body time to adjust, Ravi needed more. He locked gazes with Daks and said, “It’s okay. Move.”
The first long slide in and out of his body had Ravi arching off the mattress, overwhelmed with sensation. He moaned and tightened his grip on Daks’s upper arms. Locking his heels together over Daks’s ass, he flexed his hips, urging Daks to go deeper. As he pressed slowly inside again, Daks bent and captured Ravi’s lips, kissing him long and slow. They rocked together for a long time, Ravi adjusting to Daks’s rhythm as the strangeness and discomfort morphed into pleasure like nothing he’d ever experienced.
Daks tightened the arm under Ravi’s shoulders, lifting him and molding their bodies as closely as possible while he fucked him, and Ravi simply rode the wave of sensation. Trapped between their bodies, his cock wept as Daks pushed into him over and over, hitting that spot inside him that made him gasp and dig his fingers into Daks’s ass and back, begging for more.
“Daks,” he panted, “I need….”
“What do you need?”
He drew back, which wasn’t what Ravi wanted at all. He craved the contact. But when Daks began stroking Ravi’s cock as he fucked him, Ravi’s world exploded in sparks of pleasure.
“Okay. That,” he moaned helplessly.
Daks barked out a breathless chuckle before increasing his pace, thrusting into him harder with each pump of his fist on Ravi’s cock. The pleasure built beyond Ravi’s ability to hold it back, and he arched off the bed with a cry as his orgasm swept over him, coming in spurts over his belly and Daks’s fist. Daks eased his grip on Ravi’s cock while the last of the aftershocks rolled over him, but didn’t let go completely as he pounded into him. When Daks threw his head back and grunted, stilling inside Ravi and flooding his channel, it forced a few last dribbles from Ravi’s cock.
Still inside him, Daks leaned in for another tender, wet kiss before pulling out of Ravi’s body and slumping to the mattress next to him. They both lay still, filling the room with the sound of their rapid breathing until that evened out as well. Without a word or opening his eyes, Daks snagged his robe off the floor and used it to clean Ravi off before tossing it aside and flopping onto his back again. Ravi’s body ached and his skin tingled in the absence of Daks’s touch, but that needy creature inside him finally seemed to have been appeased—for now, anyway. For the first time in days, he didn’t mind having a few minutes to himself to absorb everything that had happened.
His lips curved in what had to be an embarrassingly dopey smile as he turned to study Daks’s sprawled form. He had the oddest impulse to thank him but managed to bite his tongue. Daks’s contented smile was already smug enough. He’d be insufferable if Ravi spouted half the lovesick things running through his mind right now.
Daks’s eyes were closed, his hair spread out in a bushy halo around his head, and sweat beaded in several tantalizing places along his skin. All too soon, Ravi found himself licking his lips as renewed desire awakened in him. He was trying to decide if his body could possibly fulfill even half the promises his mind was making when a knock at the door made him jump.
More than a decade of fear and caution made his heart race as Daks grunted and rolled off the bed.
“Probably supper,” Daks mumbled on his way to the door.
Naked and still rumpled from sex, Daks just opened the door and bade the serving girl on the other side to enter, while Ravi yelped and scrambled to get under the bedlinens. The girl’s eyes widened and her cheeks pinked, but she scurried inside, set her tray down on the table, and scurried back out again.
“What?” Daks asked when Ravi glared at him.
Ravi spluttered at the man’s thick-headedness until he caught Daks grinning at him. The bastard knew exactly what he did. Ravi growled and threw a pillow, which Daks deftly caught out of the air.
Ravi was searching around the bed for something else to hurl at the man when Daks argued, “She’s seen worse, I’m sure.”
Rav
i simply glared back, and Daks tried to look contrite. It wasn’t convincing at all.
“Sorry,” Daks murmured, marginally more convincingly as he sidled to the bed carrying a slice of soft bread positively dripping in butter.
Instead of just offering it to Ravi, Daks climbed onto the mattress and kept coming until he loomed over Ravi, his smile turning wicked.
“Forgive me?” he asked, fluttering his eyelashes.
Ravi might have laughed at the absurdity of a scoundrel like Daks trying to act coy, but he was distracted by both his stomach and his cock clamoring for his attention at the same time. Both ended up winning.
He couldn’t call what happened next a meal exactly. There was too much kissing and fondling and licking going on. But at the end of it all, his stomach was full again, and his balls were empty, and he was so exhausted he probably couldn’t have climbed out of that bed if someone had set it on fire.
They made love once more, sometime in the night. Ravi’s ass was too tender to try that part again, no matter how tempted he was, but Daks was either incredibly imaginative or had tons of experience to draw from, because Ravi’s suddenly insatiable libido was not in any way left wanting.
For once in his life, the gods had been generous, handing him so much more than he would have ever thought to ask for. Which, of course, meant something horrible had to be waiting for him right around the corner, but he’d worry about that tomorrow.
Chapter Thirteen
DAKS HAD overdone it as usual. But he wasn’t sorry.
The sun streaming through the small window in the room Eben had given them made Ravi’s messy auburn hair blaze red and painted warm yellow streaks across his body, but luckily hadn’t woken him yet. Daks could have a few more minutes of laziness to look his fill without getting caught.
He’d tried to rouse himself earlier in the morning and at least go down and order breakfast, but his body had quickly countermanded that idea. Was he really getting too old to fuck all night? What a horrible thought. He’d blame it on being knocked unconscious for two days after nearly drowning instead.
He shivered. Even thinking the D-word made his stomach quail.
He forced his gaze back to Ravi and let it wander over the hills and valleys of his lanky body, which was a much more pleasant usage of his time. He couldn’t afford to deal with any of the rest right now. For one thing, Eben’s ale was far too expensive for him to buy enough to drown his sorrows in, especially since he wasn’t 100 percent sure the High Council would actually cover his expenses this time. And for another, he still hadn’t heard anything of Shura.
Ravi was awake and watching him when Daks’s gaze climbed back up to his face.
“Morning,” Daks murmured, grinning even wider when Ravi’s cheeks darkened.
He had a feeling that would never get old.
“Morning,” Ravi replied quietly.
But as Ravi continued to study him soberly, Daks’s grin faded.
“Something wrong?”
“Just thinking.”
Daks winced internally. Quirking an eyebrow and forcing his grin back in place, he rolled off the mattress and moved to collect his clothes, despite the loud complaints of his body.
“Thinking goes better on a full stomach. I’ll pop down to the kitchen to see what I can get for us.”
“Daks,” Ravi said, his tone far too serious.
Daks froze, bent over with his trousers half on, and reluctantly met Ravi’s gaze. “Yeah?”
“I had a Dream last night, after… you know.” Ravi’s cheeks grew a little darker.
Daks ducked his head and pulled his trousers the rest of the way on, though he didn’t bother to knot the ties at the front.
“A Dream about what?”
“I know what you’re going to do.”
Daks snorted and dropped onto one of the two plain wooden chairs by the table so he could tug on his boots. “Even I barely know from one minute to the next what I’m going to do.”
When only heavy silence met his words, Daks sighed, set his shiny new boots back down, and met Ravi’s gaze. Impatience, irritation, worry, and something else all chased across Ravi’s face. The man really was going to have to learn to hide his feelings better or the crusty old bastards at the Scholomagi would eat him alive.
“I Dreamed,” Ravi repeated. “But even if I hadn’t, I’m not an idiot. You’re going back for her. You can’t not go back for her, because you love her.”
Daks slumped against the back of the chair and dragged a hand down through his tangled hair. Ravi couldn’t have waited just a little while longer for him to have some caffe’ before bringing this up? He hadn’t even acknowledged the plan to himself yet. He kept hoping any second she would walk through that door. Damned Rassans and their prohibitions on magic. If they’d been able to carry message or tracking stones, he’d know she was safe. He wouldn’t have to cling desperately to hope.
“Because she’s family,” Daks replied tiredly.
“I know.”
Ravi’s tone was gentle with acceptance and even approval, and Daks met his gaze again as that familiar sensation fluttered in his chest.
“When will you leave?” Ravi asked neutrally.
“Tomorrow, I think.” No sense in trying to avoid it now. “I’ll make the arrangements today and give her just a little longer to get across or send a message, but it’s been three days since the flood. I should have heard something.”
“Yes.”
“Your Dream didn’t happen to say whether or not I was successful, did it?”
Ravi winced and shook his head. “Only that you were going. Which was as useless as always, since I could have figured that out on my own.”
Ravi’s jaw tightened as he scowled. He drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, forcing Daks to join him on the bed and pull him into a hug.
“It’s okay,” he murmured into Ravi’s hair as he pressed a cheek to the top of his head. “Can’t expect you to win all my battles for me.”
Ravi barked out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, right. I should have known the one time I actually want a Vision, my curse refuses to cooperate. When it could get me killed, I was having one practically every day, sometimes more than one. And now that it could actually be useful, of course they’ve stopped.”
“When we get you to the Scholomagi, they’ll be able to help you figure it out. Until then, no one, not even you, should blame you for not being able to control it. Give yourself a break.”
His leg was starting to cramp, so Daks eased back into the pillows and tucked Ravi more comfortably against his side. They lay in silence for a while until Ravi sighed and lifted himself over Daks, straddling his body and boldly meeting Daks’s gaze.
“I need to know something before you go,” Ravi said somberly. “I need to know why.”
“Why what?”
“Why did you help me?”
Daks frowned. “We already talked about that. It’s my job, remember?”
“And that’s it? It’s just your job? You traveled the length of Rassa, risking the Brotherhood and the King’s Guard. You dove in to save me from the swamp when you’re terrified of drowning. And you nearly drowned again trying to get me to safety, all because it’s your job?”
Daks squirmed, uncomfortable with where this conversation was going but unsure how to stop it, especially with Ravi essentially pinning him to the mattress.
“I gave you my word,” he replied, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.
“And that’s it? That’s your answer?” He paused, and when Daks couldn’t come up with anything to say, he sighed and nodded. “Okay. That’s what I needed to know.”
Ravi climbed off him and scooted to the edge of the bed. Unable to bear the sadness and disappointment he’d seen in Ravi’s eyes, Daks wrapped an arm around his middle and dragged him back. He didn’t think about what he was doing. He simply rolled Ravi onto his back and covered him with his body. Though he was obviously up
set, Ravi didn’t struggle or lash out at him, like Daks half expected him to.
“What do you want me to say?” Daks asked, his chest constricting.
“Nothing,” Ravi said without meeting Daks’s gaze. “I wanted the truth. Now I have it.”
Fuck.
Daks was screwing this up. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Especially before he’d had a chance to get some caffe’ in his system so at least half his brain would have been working.
“Why did you stay with me, Ravi? Why did you save me?” Daks asked.
Ravi met his gaze then, his amber eyes filled with cold anger. “No. You don’t get to ask me that. If all this,” he continued, waving his hand between them, “was just a bit of fun after a few hard days of work, then so be it. I would have had to be a complete idiot to think otherwise. Go make your plans, and I’ll make mine.”
That last pronouncement had a finality to it Daks didn’t like at all, and he tightened his grip on Ravi’s arms.
“Just give me a second here, okay?” Daks whined.
“Why?”
Daks growled and narrowed his eyes at Ravi. “I’ve got a lot on my mind, if you hadn’t noticed. You’re pushing me, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”
Ravi blinked at him for a second before he snorted out a laugh. Then he closed those oh-so-pretty eyes of his and sighed. “You’re right. You are who you are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m agreeing with you,” Ravi huffed.
“Well, stop.”
Ravi cocked an eyebrow at him and just stared until Daks couldn’t take it anymore. With a groan, he pressed his forehead to Ravi’s and closed his eyes.
“I care about you,” Daks whispered into the close space between them. “Is that what you want to hear?”
“Of course I want to hear that. Anyone would,” Ravi whispered back.
“Okay, well I do. I never would have agreed to be your first if it was just about blowing off some steam. I’m not an asshole when it really counts. I told you that.”
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