Deyvid’s hands slid beneath Petur’s hips, hitching them up so that he rubbed against his lover’s groin. Their skin was dry, almost painfully so, but Petur loved the feel of it. He loved the intensity, the desperation of it, theneed. He loved the way that it took Deyvid’s act from calculated seduction to turbulent longing. He liked kissing him so hard that he left Deyvid gasping for air, liked to hold him steady and fuck up against him until his lover almost forgot what Petur had asked of him in the first place.
Almost. Then again, Deyvid had never been one for forgetting, and Petur wasn’t surprised when Deyvid finally tore his mouth away and slicked his fingers.
“Don’t go easy on me,” Petur said, and Deyvid grinned, fierce and hungry.
“When do I ever go easy on you?” he purred, then slid two fingers straight into Petur’s ass without preamble. Petur stiffened like he’d been stabbed, the intrusion jarring andunsettling. It was always like this when he bottomed, though, and part of what he appreciated about it was how it was a disruption of their normal, quotidian lives. It was moments like this that he could recall later with perfect clarity—those fingers pressing deep and hard inside of him, finding and rubbing against his prostate until Petur’s flagging cock was stiff as a board and dripping onto his stomach.
Deyvid leaned down and sucked the head of his cock into his mouth just as he added the third finger, and Petur groaned in abject need.
“Fuck me,” he huffed. “Oh gods, stop teasing me and fuck me, fuck me now. I need, I need it, I need it.”
And because Deyvid knew him so well, he knew that this wasn’t the time to tease; he only raised his head, pulled his fingers free, and slid inside of him. Petur squeezed his eyes shut, desperate to capture every moment of it—the harsh glide of Deyvid’s cock within him, not overly slick, just enough drag to make him feel every inch of it. He panted with the need to take Deyvid like this, the need to feel him as deep as he possibly could, to be owned by him, to belong to him now …
If not quite ever again.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “Fuck, Deyvid,please.”
“I’m here,” Deyvid promised, kissing the center of his chest as he pulled his hips back, then pressed inside again, so slow, so controlled. “I’m here, I have you.”
For all that the initial entry had been harsh, now Deyvid went slow, steady, making sure Petur could feel every moment of it. He fucked him until the flame inside of him began to rage, desire igniting like a forest fire, so fierce that Petur had to remind himself not to squeeze his lover too hard as the shifter inside of him strained to get out. His eyes wanted to change, his teeth to lengthen, his claws simultaneously wanted to catch close and rend apart. Deyvid bore it all, every hint of change, every huff ofair, with a steady regard and a steadier body. He fucked Petur perfectly until it was simply too much.
“Touch me, touch me, ah, ah,ah.” One quick, tight squeeze of Deyvid’s hand, and Petur was gone, tipping over the edge into a white, blinding bloom of ecstasy. He couldn’t even tell exactly when Deyvid came, only that he had as he came back to himself and found Deyvid’s head resting on his chest, his breath coming low and unsteady, his own breath low and ragged as he pulled himself together.
“I love you,” Deyvid said hoarsely. “Gods, I love you so much. Please tell me you know that.”
Petur nodded his head as he closed his eyes, tears slipping out the corners despite how he loathed them. “I know.” He bit back the sob that threatened to break free of his quavering chest. “I love you too.”
Cleanup was regrettably fast and finishing the packing even faster. The escort for Prince Symon had to leave today if they were going to make Bekkon on time, and Petur was fully dressed in all his royal regalia as he saw his people off.
“Be safe on the road,” he said briskly, savoring the way his body throbbed; it was the perfect distraction from the dark places his mind wanted to go. “And for the gods’ sake, don’t get shot again.”
“I’ll do my best,” Deyvid assured him. “Make sure the adjoining suite is appropriately equipped for the prince before we get back, won’t you? See if you can’t get all the copies we have in the library brought to the shelves in there. I’ve heard he has a great love of reading, and—”
Petur waved the comments away. “He can arrange the room to his satisfaction himself once he arrives.”
“Petur,” Deyvid chided, “that’s not very welcoming.”
“I’m not a very welcoming person.”
Everyone in the party looked politely away as Deyvid closed the space between them, leaned in, and murmured, “All I ask is that you keep an open mind when it comes to this marriage. It might be, things might go better than you think.”
Petur wanted to scoff, but because this was Deyvid, he didn’t. “I’ll try.” That was all he could promise.
“Thank you.” Deyvid kissed him one last time, then turned and mounted his horse.
“Look after Commander Silver, there,” Petur called to the rest of the escort. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“He would never,” one of their cheekier lieutenants said with a wink, and Petur smiled despite himself. He managed to keep the smile almost until they were out of sight. But an open mind? Hmph.
Then again, ithadworked for him once before.
Perhaps Deyvid was right. Perhaps Prince Symon wouldn’t be as awful as Petur’s petulant side wanted to believe. Maybe, just maybe, the three of them would be able to make this work.
But he wasn’t going to hold his breath in the meantime.
Epilogue
Sy didn’t realize he’d gone a bit quiet until Petur pulled him aside a few days after the storytelling ended. It had taken more than a single night for them to get through it all—ten years was a long time, after all, and they’d gone down plenty of rabbit holes when it came to various missions, the fun things they’d done together, and the torturous times they’d spent apart. It was all interesting to Sy, of course, an almost entirely novel look into his lovers’ pasts. He liked knowing more of their history together and admired them even more for how determined they’d been to cleave to each other as the years went on. It just …
