"Thank fuck for that." He glances at me sideways, something shifting in his expression. We don't do this often, just the two of us. There's always someone between us, someone louder or more demanding or more obviously in need. Stellan and I tend to orbit the same people without ever quite landing on each other.
"You've been different since we left," he says. "More sure of yourself."
"I've been faking it."
Stellan snorts. "I don’t entirely believe that but even so, you're faking it well." The corner of his mouth twitches. "At that checkpoint, when you told the official to let us pass. I almost believed you had actual authority."
"I do have actual authority. I'm the Praestes."
"You're a twenty-something counselor who found out he had magic months ago."
"And you're a phoenix who failed out of the academy because nobody could teach you what you are. We're both making it up as we go." I bump my shoulder against his, and his fire responds, heat blooming where we touch.
"I'm tired of being treated like I'm fragile," he says quietly. "Jade won't let me lift anything heavier than a water skin. Rumi keeps checking my heartbeat through the bond. Even Ambrose has contracts specifically monitoring my vitals."
"You almostdied."
"I know I almost died. I was there." His fire sparks, irritation bleeding through. "But I'm not dead. I'm healed. Jade's essence made me stronger than I was before the spike, and everyone is still hovering like I'm going to collapse if someone breathes on me too hard."
"So what do you want?"
He turns to look at me, and the heat in his eyes has nothing to do with his phoenix fire. "I want someone to stop treating me like glass."
I'm not sure who moves first, maybe both of us at the same time, but suddenly his mouth is on mine and his fire is surging against my essence. Stellan’s kiss mirrors the way he fights, aggressive and uncontrolled, his hand fisting in my shirt and pulling me closer. I grab the back of his neck and give as good as I get, biting his lower lip hard enough to make him groan.
We break apart, both breathing hard. "That," he says. "More of that. No one being careful. No one asking if I'm okay every five seconds."
"I can do that."
I push him back against the wall and climb into his lap, my hands bracing on the stone behind his head. He grabs my hips and pulls me down against him, and the friction makes both of us hiss through our teeth. His cock is already hard against mine, both of us grinding through our clothes with zero finesse. It's graceless and desperate and exactly what we both need.
His shirt comes off first, then mine, and then we're skin to skin, his fire prickling across my chest, making my nerve endings sing. I bite down on his neck and he arches into it, his fingers digging bruises into my hips.
"Fuck, Skye—"
"Shut up." I grind harder against him, chasing the friction as his hands scramble at my waistband. We get our pants off through a combination of shoving and kicking that is the opposite of sexy, and then his bare cock slides against mine and we both stop breathing for a second.
I reach between us and wrap my hand around both of us, Stellan's head falling back against the stone. His throat is exposed, firelight flickering beneath the skin, and I lean in and drag my tongue up the length of it because I can.
"I want you inside me," he says, cheeks flushing.
My hand slows. "I've only topped once and it didn't exactly go well. I couldn't find a rhythm and it was over embarrassingly fast."
Stellan studies me for a second, something shifting behind his eyes. "Well, I won't pass up an opportunity to be inside you either."
"That's not what I — you're just switching it around?"
"You said you don’t want to top. I can. Problem solved." His grin turns wicked. "Unless you're saying no?"
"I'm definitely not saying no."
We stare at each other for a moment, and then Stellan bursts out laughing and I follow, both of us chuckling at the absurdity of this moment. Two grown men with five shared partners between them, and both of us are hilariously awkward running this show.
"Okay." I press my forehead against his. "Okay, let's figure it out."
"Inspiring leadership, Praestes."
"Shut up." I kiss him again, still grinning, and reach behind myself. "I'll ride you. That way I can control the angle and you just have to lie there and look pretty."
