He freed Val's prick from its confines, pleased when it sprang out from the loosened pants as if it were lunging for his mouth. Leaning forward, Jory licked the velvety tip, savoring the flavor of a new lover on his tongue.
A strangled moan from above made him smile. His strong, tough lover enjoyed a gentle touch. Relaxing his throat, Jory swallowed Val, letting his throat completely surround his lover's cock.
"Damn. Shit. Coming."
To Jory's surprise, Val lost complete control and came down his throat within seconds. Pulling off Val's limp member, Jory glared up at him. "You're going to have to work on your stamina, love. I barely got a chance to taste you."
Val blushed. "It might take a lot of practice, baby." Val grabbed Jory's arm and pulled him back to the seat. "That was incredible." A goofy smile crossed Val's face as he retied his pants.
With his pants back in order, he pulled Jory into his arms and kissed him silly.
"I like the taste of us together," he said, his eyes dark and serious.
"Me too." Jory laid his head on Val's chest. Cradled in Val's big arms, Jory felt at peace. Sighing, he brushed a hand over the armband. Maybe this entire thing would be easier than he thought.
* * * *
King Raiston Dragonsbreath looked over the crowd, depression digging in deep. Using his enhanced dragon sight, he watched the incoming people register for the mate hunt from a castle balcony. As a boy, Rai had dreamed of finding his mate, the perfect one created to be his other half. However, now, at thirty-five and fifteen mate hunts later, he'd all but lost hope.
So far no man or woman had pulled his dragon from its slumber. When was it going to be his turn to find a mate?
"I haven't seen one decent mate yet," his brother, Prince Lewn, proclaimed in a bored voice.
"Hush." Raiston looked around to see if anyone heard his younger sibling. "Someone will hear you."
"Good, then they won't come back next year and waste our time." The prince tossed his head, barely disrupting his perfectly arranged curls. Raiston would've teased him about it, but just then he caught sight of his greatest political rival, Duke Klarian.
As the duke came close to the registration table, Raiston could see Val had someone tucked in his arms.
Val had found a mate?
"The gods are laughing at us," Lewn announced, watching the duke.
The brothers leaned forward on the balcony to get a better look.
The usual expression of cold superiority stamped on the man's features was completely absent. Instead, the duke looked down at the man on his arm with open adoration, a sappy smile crossing his normally hard features.
The duke's arm around another man in public displayed an unprecedented level of affection. Previous lovers of the duke had complained loudly the man would barely look at them in front of others.
"Fuck me, he's gorgeous." His brother's comment drew Raiston's attention away from the duke and to the man tucked tightly to the duke's side.
His brain short-circuited, and his cock hardened at seeing the duke's companion gliding beside the larger man with feral grace. Tawny hair in a zillion shades of gold and brown covered an elegantly formed head. High cheekbones and a narrow chin gave the young man a sweet winsome quality. Rai longed to lick the man all over to discover if he tasted as sugary as he looked.
Inside, his dragon woke with a roar.
Mate.
"I'm so screwed," he whispered. In none of the previous mate hunts had he ever felt this level of desire for another person, and to have it be the one man the duke had chosen for his own was a special kind of torture. Today, he'd even given thought to maybe turning to women.
Raiston turned to the servant waiting at his side. "Bring me Zellyn," he commanded.
The servant scurried off.
"Rai, what are you doing?" His brother's eyes sparkled with mischief as if he could read Rai's thoughts.
"Getting my mate."
Lewn looked from Raiston to the duke. "Oh, please tell me you aren't doing what I think you are. You aren't going to try and steal the duke's mate?"
