“I’m going to come in you,” Rodian said, every snap of his hips sending his cock thrusting deep into Arkadi, coaxing a heady mix of pleasure-pain out of his oversensitive body. “But I want you to save your screams for when I can take my time with you.”
Arkadi shuddered, hearing the order in those words easily enough, even as the thought of a long night of sex with his Isar threatened to make him come a second time. He was already growing hard again, having never fully softened, youth and desire dragging him close to the precipice again. He shoved his own fingers into his mouth, biting down on them to stifle his cries as Rodian chased his own pleasure in Arkadi’s body.
It felt endless, time a meaningless thing as Rodian took him so deep and so hard everything became hazy. When Arkadi came a second time, the release practically forced out of him, he went limp, vision tunneling to a pinprick of light, choking on his own fingers. As he floated in that numb headspace, he felt the snap of Rodian’s hips lose their fierce rhythm. The cock inside him throbbed through a release that was as much a relief for Arkadi as it must have been for Rodian.
He distantly felt Rodian pull out, the slickness of his release dripping down Arkadi’s thighs. Then his trousers were pulled back up over his hips with gentle hands, and he found himself being gathered up in strong arms as if he weighed nothing at all and carried over to the sofa against the wall in the office. Rodian sat down, keeping Arkadi close. Arkadi weakly wrapped his arms around Rodian’s neck, burying his face in the older man’s chest.
Arkadi couldn’t speak, mouth dry from the pleasure Rodian had wrung out of him. He was shivering, still coming down from the peak of it all, and sighed when Rodian ran one big hand up and down his back in a soothing manner. Arkadi was dimly aware of the sharp ache in his ass from being so thoroughly taken, it made all his past lovers pale in comparison.
“Did I hurt you?” Rodian asked after a span of time Arkadi couldn’t be bothered to track.
It took a moment to remember how to make his tongue form words. “Only how I liked.”
Rodian hummed wordlessly before sliding an arm around Arkadi, pulling him impossibly closer. Lips pressed themselves to the top of his head, Rodian’s beard scraping over his scalp. The sensation made him shiver hard, remembering the burn of that touch on his most sensitive area. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve lain with anyone.”
Arkadi curled his fingers through the strands of wavy hair at the back of Rodian’s neck. “I find that difficult to believe.”
“There aren’t many men or women who are willing to take my cock on a more than temporary basis.”
“I suppose I should thank them,” Arkadi said, still not opening his eyes. “It meant you came to Matriskav with no partner for me to be jealous of.”
Fingers carded through his long hair, smoothing it away from his face. “Somehow, I don’t think that would have stopped you, little Blade.”
Arkadi went still, muscles rigid, and it took a few pointed motions of Rodian’s hand running down his back for him to relax again. “I’m sorry I never told you.”
“Hm,” Rodian grunted. “Who else knows?”
Arkadi swallowed, glad he wasn’t looking Rodian in the face as they discussed his past. “My mother.”
“No one else?”
Arkadi finally lifted his head, the cool air almost stinging against his warm cheeks. He forced himself to look up and meet Rodian’s gaze, seeing nothing but affection in those dark eyes. “The old Isar would have been told, but the unrest that would become the Infernal War two years ago was already starting. When I reached my majority, it was decided I and others would not be made known to the Isar.”
“And now?”
“The Midnight Star chose you. Any Blade who survived the Infernal War is yours to wield.”
A molten heat filled Rodian’s gaze, making it impossible to look away. “And if the only Blade I want is you?”
Arkadi parted his lips, the words almost impossible to speak, his desire for it nearly choking him like Rodian had. “Then I am yours.”
“Good.” Fingers caught Arkadi’s chin, tilting his head up and back, and all Arkadi could do was stare up at his Isar. “Because I mean to court you, my little gilded Blade. No one else will wield you save me.”
The surprised gasp Arkadi let out was swallowed by Rodian’s fierce kiss, and he could only curl his arms tighter around the older man’s neck and hold on as he was devoured all over again. When Rodian finally broke the kiss, Arkadi was dizzy for want of air, heart beating rapidly, thrumming in his ear.
“You can’t mean that,” Arkadi rasped, still in shock, as if he’d touched a live wire. “I’m not?—”
Rodian’s thumb pressed down on his bottom lip, silencing him as that warm hand cradled Arkadi’s face. “You vied for my friendship first before you vied for my heart, yet I am giving you both. Would you deny your Isar his heart’s desire?”
And Arkadi, ever the loyal ivoryan and Blade, could only surge up in Rodian’s embrace and kiss the older man with a fervor that left them both breathless and looking forward to the road ahead.
Fourteen
RODIAN
Their time in his office was short-lived, the political crisis on their hands unwilling to wait. Rodian had helped Arkadi dress again after a hasty cleanup, and both were more or less presentable when Sakka pounded on his office door.
“Brother, I demand you open up this instant,” Sakka shouted in an uncourtly way but which would not have been out of place in their old home.
