“Do you have someone iron your clothes for you?” Finnian asked.
A laugh burst from Cassian, the harmonic sound echoing in the room.
“You do.” The chilled air hit his chest as Finnian worked his shirt over his head, disheveling his hair. “Your deities of Death iron your clothes for you.”
Cassian propped himself up on his elbows, bare-chested, grinning. “Not all of us are mages who can use our magic to do the task for us.”
“Do you see me performing magic to undress you?” Finnian traced the pads of his fingers down the lines of Cassian’s abdomen, his pupils dilating and swallowing up the playful glimmer in his gaze.
Cassian’s heart rate accelerated. The desire to become one with Finnian was as maddening as his own curses. He reached forward to undo the fly of buttons on Finnian’s trousers, but Finnian lightly pushed against him.
Cassian sank down flat on the mattress, allowing Finnian to explore every bend of muscle along his torso with his lips. Slow, wandering kisses explored his stomach, teasing above his waistband.
Cassian’s muscles quivered and his head fell back on the pillow.
Finnian’s fingers worked to undo the buttons of Cassian’s trousers.
“I want to watch you fall apart,” Finnian said, voice gruff.
Cassian twitched against the material, eager.
“I want to make a mess of you.” Finnian worked Cassian’s trousers off and crawled back up, settling his head between the crook of Cassian’s neck.
The crystals of Finnian’s necklaces were cool against the skin of his shoulder. Gooseflesh spread like water down Cassian’s nape.
“Hear you say my name.”
Finnian gently took him into his hand, swallowing Cassian’s hitched breath with a kiss.
A zealous heat burned in his bloodstream.
“I loathe you.” Finnian stroked, slow and languid.
A shiver blew through Cassian and his hips jerked.
Finnian nipped at his earlobe, the side of his neck, his clavicle. “And I long for you.”
Tension coiled further and further up Cassian’s midriff, a pleasure climbing against the swift beat of his pulse. It wasn’t enough.
He clutched Finnian’s shoulder, teeth gritted, hips moving to the pace Finnian set. “I yearn for more.”
Finnian’s thumb swirled at his tip. “More of what?”
Cassian trembled as he slid his hand into Finnian’s hair, letting the tendrils fall in between his fingers.
Dazed, he met Finnian’s eyes. “More of you.”
Finnian sat up then, straddling Cassian’s lap as he unfastened the buttons on his own trousers.
A thrilling tremor struck in Cassian’s chest as Finnian’s eyes drifted and darkened with intense hunger. He was a sight to behold with his tan cheeks tinted red, strands of his black hair stuck to his face. The pieces near his temples were curled.
A miniscule detail that spurred Cassian to say, “Remove your glamor.”
After all the changes he’d noticed over the years in Finnian’s hairstyles, he was sure of it.
Finnian paused on his buttons, head cocking with a wolfish smirk, his dimples cutting in his cheeks. “My, aren’t you observant?”
“You are ratherovertwith your glamor,” Cassian teased.
