“From a young age, I knew. When my body started to change, my fathers sought the help of an herbalist known for uniquely effective potions. She provided them with one that would suppress the female aspects while encouraging male traits. I still drink a dose of it weekly to this day.”
“Perchance fate knows what she is doing after all.”
Trystan shifted sideways to see Marc’s face in the dim, orange glow. “By what powers of deduction did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“Fate brought to me a man whose flesh I crave to love, whose heart I seek to claim, for whom I would willingly give my life to protect, and who might also have the means to bear me a child, thereby giving me an heir. Everything I’ve always wanted in a life partner.”
The genuine excitement Marc held made Trystan worry. His heart raced and his chest tightened, anxiety pouring through him.
“And if bearing a child is not possible?” Trystan forced the words out as quickly as possible and held Marc’s unmoving gaze as the glow of the flames flickered in his eyes. He inhaled sharply and turned away, staring into the fire, unable to endure the painful silence that dragged like a knife through his heart. He closed his eyes and imagined himself beneath the oak tree, reading, and the thundering in his chest calmed.
“Why—the herbalist’s potion.”
Trystan breathed in deeply and quietly.
“I’m sorry, Trystan. I would never have mentioned it had I known.”
Trystan tried to pull away, needing to put some space between them, his heart aching. “Perchance fate is wrong about us.”
Marc tightened his arms and pulled Trystan into his embrace. “I already told you, I am not losing you again.”
Trystan pressed his lips into a tight, hopeful smile. “What do you know of the soul bond?”
“Admittedly, only what my mother told me years ago. A soul bond is rare, and one day, fate will require an immense sacrifice, but until then, the life and love we share will be consummate—fate’s gift for two star-crossed mates.”
Trystan nodded, squeezing Marc’s hand as it pressed against his chest. “The merest touch can bridge the connection. A kiss awakens the bond. The intimate coupling of the two lovers under the full moon merges their souls and hearts together and seals the bond, and in doing so, binds them to a course predetermined by fate. Knowing this, and what I am, would you still choose this path?”
“My heart had been incomplete and unsettled for years,” Marc whispered. “Until I kissed you. If I could move the heavens and bring the moon to its fullest tonight, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Marc’s breath ghosted over Trystan’s skin. His lips found a sensitive spot on Trystan’s neck, forcing a soft, fervent moan from Trystan. In the darkness surrounding them, Trystan turned his head. His nose brushed against Marc’s cheek and hair.
Marc wrapped his hand around Trystan’s neck and kissed him. The soft, sweet press of his lips on Trystan’s filled him with warmth and joy and something far deeper. Marc licked along the seam of his lips, pressing inward until Trystan opened up to him.
Marc’s tongue dipped inside Trystan’s mouth, sliding along his tongue, spreading heat and desire to every inch of Trystan’s body. The Prince slowly relieved both of them of their clothes and pinned Trystan’s naked form to the bed.
Trystan followed Marc’s eyes as they roved over his body, exposed to another man for the first time in his life. His muscles tensed under Marc’s dark, assessing gaze, and he wondered with some impatience what Marc was thinking.
Marc could not believe the beauty that lay beneath him. Trystan’s chest rose and fell with every nervous breath. Marc ran his hands over the layer of fine hair that covered Trystan’s barely developed breasts, reveling in the feel of hard muscle beneath his palm. He slid his hand down over Trystan’s firm stomach to the small member between his legs.
Trystan shivered as Marc cupped his groin.
“You are the most beautiful man I have ever seen,” Marc said, his voice low and soft. He worked his fingers over Trystan’s crevice, slicking his fingers and the puckered ring of his anus. He slipped one finger into Trystan’s tight hole, then out again, dragging his fingertips through the slickness and repeating the process.
“Marc, please…”
Marc removed his fingers and used the dew leaking from his own slit to coat his erection before carefully sliding into Trystan. Slowly, he sank all the way in, taking him as a man would take another man, until he could go no farther. He grabbed Trystan’s hand and placed it over the hard flesh of his enlarged clitoris. “Can you pleasure yourself as a man would?”
“Yes,” Trystan panted softly.
“Show me.”
Trystan took himself between his thumb and finger and rubbed and pulled, stroking himself as Marc pulled out and pushed back in. Marc thrusted repeatedly, and Trystan lost himself in the exquisite pleasure racing through every inch of his body, centering at the point where their bodies joined. He’d never been fucked while pleasuring himself, and now, knowing how wondrous it felt, he didn’t want to go without it again.
He rolled his head from side to side, the extreme sensations ready to burst from within driving him blissfully mad. Pressure built deep inside, coiling and begging for release. Above him, Marc groaned and grunted, slamming into him with forceful drives.
Trystan’s release exploded, ripping an uncontrolled scream from his throat. His body writhed and jerked as the intense sensation pulsed deeply and an unexpected stream burst from his member just as Marc grunted and stilled above him momentarily, his breathing slightly labored. Liquid heat filled Trystan, and the sensations faded as Marc moved again, sliding in and out with soft groans falling from his lips.
As their breathing slowed and skin cooled, Marc settled over Trystan, ignoring the wetness between them.
