“Are they mad?!” Viggo growled. Outrage brought a flush of heat to his face. “Why, I ought to?—!”
Evander hushed him and clasped his hand.
Viggo took a shuddering breath and tried to calm his anger. He knew how much Evander had done to improve the conditions of thralls throughout London. And not just thralls.
Evander was a man of deep integrity and honour. Someone who was committed to justice for all and not just the few at the very top of society. Someone whose lifelong wish was to stop another War of Subjugation and give thralls the rights and opportunities they had long been robbed of.
“I’m surprised you didn’t turn them all to ice,” the Brute ground out.
“I got close,” Evander murmured, amusement creeping into his voice as he stroked the back of Viggo’s hand with his thumb. “Winterbourne wasn’t happy.”
“Well, Winterbourne is wrong.” Viggo lifted his lover’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “Also, you have the patience of a saint.”
Evander smiled. “Some would say otherwise.”
Viggo leaned in and took his mouth softly. “Then they are fools.”
Evander’s lips quirked. “How goes the Liverpool plan?”
“Well enough.” Viggo hesitated. “Finn and Magnus leave London tomorrow.”
Surprise flared in Evander’s eyes. “Magnus is tagging along?”
“He insisted.”
“Oh.” Evander grew pensive. “It might just be what he needs right now.”
Viggo stared. “You think so too?”
Evander nodded. “I do.” He rose and stretched. “Speaking of which, we should discuss how we’ll manage our situation whilst abroad.”
Viggo tried not to stare at the way the mage’s shirt pulled taut across his delectable chest. It took a moment to register what his lover had said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we’ll need to be discreet.” Evander’s voice grew firm. “Fairbridge will be watching me constantly. We can’t afford to give him more ammunition than the Ministry already has.”
“So we have to pretend there’s nothing between us?” Viggo couldn’t quite keep the bitterness from his voice.
Evander sighed. “We already do that in public, Viggo. We’ll just need to be extra careful in private too.” The mage moved closer, close enough that Viggo could feel the warmth radiating from his body. He nudged Viggo’s knees open and stepped inside the cradle of his thighs. “I’m not saying we can’t be together, only that we’ll need to choose our moments wisely.” He brushed Viggo’s cheek with light fingers, tipped his chin up, and kissed him.
Viggo’s cock twitched. He clasped Evander’s hips and attempted to pull him down on his lap.
“Oh.” Evander broke the kiss and straightened, his expression brightening. “I have something for you.”
“I have something for you right here,” Viggo muttered heatedly.
Evander glanced at his swelling erection and rolled his eyes before crossing to his desk and producing a leather-bound volume from a drawer.
Viggo was about to complain about his lover’s lack of empathy when he saw the cover. His breath caught.
“The Odyssey,” he breathed. He met Evander’s eyes dazedly. “In the original Greek.”
“It took a while for my contacts to come through. I thought you might appreciate having it for the journey.” Evander’s smile was soft as he crossed the room. “Consider it an early birthday present.”
Viggo took the book with reverent hands. He’d been teaching himself Greek for the past year, slowly working through whatever texts he could acquire. But this—this was a firstedition, beautifully preserved and probably worth more than he earned in a month.
“Evander, I can’t?—”
