He swallowed and dropped his gaze to Gerard’s lap. He gripped Gerard’s knee. “But it’s not easy. It feels like I am going against all my own instincts.”
Still, he wanted Gerard to know him. So when Gerard cared for him, he cared for the real Elias, not some illusion.
Gerard placed a finger under Elias’s chin. Elias lifted his gaze.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Gerard said. “I hope you know you can trust me. I want you to trust me. I’d never do anything to hurt you. I hope I can keep showing that to you. And you can feel like you can keep opening up to me.”
Elias took Gerard’s hands. He held them tight. “I’d expected a purely political marriage. No feelings or emotions. But I like you, Gerard. I’m shocked at how much I like you. And I’d like this marriage to be something more. Something … real. Something true.”
Gerard lifted his hands and kissed Elias’s knuckles. “I want that too. Something true.”
Elias exhaled. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against Gerard’s shoulder. After opening himself up,he felt wrung out and like he was about to fall apart. Thankfully, Gerard wrapped his arms around Elias, holding him together.
And in that moment, Elias wished he could tell Gerard everything. When it was just the two of them, in Gerard’s cave surrounded by his hoard of fossilised lightning, Elias almost felt like he could spill all his sacred secrets.
But he could not. They were Voltaria’s secrets, and they were not his to share.
However, the war was over now. He was practically retired from being an archmage. So maybe it did not matter if he kept that one secret. He’d just be honest about everything else.
Elias hoped that would be enough.
Chapter
Forty-Five
Blinking his eyes open, Gerard stared up at the dark canopy above his bed. A soft breeze rustled the curtains. But otherwise, he could hear no sound.
So what woke me? There was … something … wasn’t there?
He glanced around the room. Nothing seemed out of place. But it was hard to detect anything in such darkness. Elias lay tucked beside him, body close. One of his hands lay splayed on Gerard’s chest. Elias seemed to be asleep.
So it doesn’t seem like he woke me.
Gerard’s own hand rested on the upper curve of Elias’s pert arse. But Gerard’s attention remained on the room and its shadows.
Something woke me.
He took a breath, preparing to leave the warm embrace of Elias’s body to search for what that something was. He’d check with the guards on duty outside the room.
Then Elias shifted. His hips pressed forward. He groaned, and a very hard cock rubbed against Gerard’s bare thigh. Gerard stilled.
Oh. So was it Elias who woke me?
He looked down into Elias’s face. But he could only make out a vague outline in the darkness.
Is he asleep?
Elias’s breath came fast, brushing against Gerard’s nipple, which tightened into a peak. Elias squirmed as his hard cock ground against Gerard. He whimpered.
Gerard’s own cock began to fill. He squeezed Elias’s arse with his hand. The man groaned and began to rock faster against Gerard, prick rubbing insistently. His fingers on Gerard’s chest stretched wide and then gripped.
Elias whimpered. Damp pre-cum spilled onto Gerard’s thigh. His nails dug into the skin and muscle of Gerard’s chest. Gerard’s cock reached full hardness.
He must be asleep.
He could not imagine Elias behaving quite like this if he were awake. He was all need and want right now.
And he must be having an amazing dream.
