He could pull away if he wanted to. Syrus wasn’t trapping him. He could step back and end this before it went any further. It would be the smart thing to do.
Eiri ran his hands up Syrus’ arms, feeling the corded muscle only hinted at beneath his somber shirts. He didn’t stop until he’d reached those shoulders that had held him together just a few minutes ago. Solid and warm beneath his hands, he couldn’t help but hold on, bringing them even closer, until he was again leaning against Syrus’ chest, trusting the other man to support him.
The touch on his chin turned to a gentle caress as Syrus traced his fingertips along Eiri’s cheekbone, up and down, before trailing down the side of his throat in a featherlight tease that sent a shiver down Eiri’s spine. His breath caught as Syrus’ exploration continued, callused fingers dipping beneath the edge of his shirt to the hollow of his throat, and a wave of soft heat bloomed low in his stomach.
There was a question in Syrus’ eyes when Eiri looked up at him, lips parted as he tried to catch his breath. He nodded, just once. In this moment, there was nothing he wanted more than this.
Syrus’ touch shifted, coming to rest on the side of Eiri’s throat, a gentle, soothing hold that steadied him as Syrus lifted his head, their breaths mingling for an instant before their lips met.
When Eiri was seven, he’d fallen overboard while out on the ocean with his parents. Beneath the placid waters, a riptide lay hidden, and it pulled him in before he could swim to safety. Trapped beneath the gentle waves, it swept him away, tumbling him head over heels until he no longer knew which way was up. In that instant, even at a young age, he’d known he wasn’t going to make it.
As the darkness closed in, a flicker of something fierce and wild sparked to life in his chest. It surged out of him, the cool water churning and pushing, the wavering sun beckoning him from beneath the waves until he broke the surface of the water, gasping for breath, his entire world remade as his nascent magic made itself known.
Kissing Syrus felt the same. Like his entire world had turned upside down, setting him adrift, and Syrus was the sunlight guiding him. The arm around his waist kept him close, but he wanted to get closer, to feel the heat of Syrus’ body sinking into him. The rough hand at his throat traced delicate lines across his skin as he tilted his head, finding the perfect angle to shift the kiss into something deeper. The desire unwinding within him for this man surprised him with its intensity, surging to life within him like his magic once had.
One of them made a noise, a soft moan, but he couldn’t be sure which of them it was. Distantly, he knew the others were waiting for them, but he couldn’t make himself care right now. He wrapped his arms around Syrus’ shoulders, shivered when the touch at his throat shifted to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, the heat of his own need matched by the desire inSyrus’ kiss. What had started as comfort became carnal, hungry and aching for more, more contact, more skin, justmore.
“If you two don’t open the door, I’m going to assume you killed each other and get the guards involved!”
Even muffled by the door, Xan’s words broke through the haze around them, shattering the bubble they’d built around themselves, and the real world came rushing back in, along with his thinking mind. The two of them were still as close as it was possible to get, and he could feel how much that kiss had affected Syrus, his hard length pressing against Eiri’s stomach. He wasn’t the only one, though. The force of his newfound desire for the other man shocked Eiri now that he could think clearly.
“Hey.” The gravelly rasp in Syrus’ voice did nothing to calm Eiri’s desire. He needed to step back, to put some distance between them, but Syrus’ arms kept him in place. He probably could have gotten free if he’d actually wanted to, but he let the other man stop him.
“We should let them back in so we can plan,” he whispered. It came out more breathless than he would have expected, exposing how much that kiss had affected him.
“We will in a moment, after we agree that we’re not going to pretend this never happened.”
Eiri looked up at him, startled. “I…” He wanted to say he wouldn’t do that, but would it be a lie? Once his common sense kicked in, he couldn’t honestly say how he’d feel about this. Instead, he just sighed. “This is going to complicate things.”
“I don’t think so,” Syrus said, shaking his head. “We’re already married. Actually liking each other could only help at this point.”
“Syrus? You didn’t actually kill each other, did you?” Ellis called through the door, and Eiri had to bite back a laugh.
“Just a minute!” Syrus said over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Eiri.
“I guarantee that our liking each other wasn’t what anyone had planned when they pushed us into this marriage,” Eiri reminded him.
“Good. They’ve fucked with us from the very beginning, so messing up their plans sounds pretty damn good to me.”
Syrus smirked, and Eiri couldn’t hold back his answering smile. “Me too.”
“No going backwards from here?”
“No going backward.”
This time Eiri leaned in first, pushing back the worries trying to creep up on him. This kiss was gentler, sealing the agreement between them without feeding the fire of want still burning low in his belly.
“We should probably let them back in,” Syrus murmured, but he made no move to step away.
“Probably.” Eiri hated being the voice of reason, but one of them had to be. “If we’re going to make this work, we actually have to come up with a plan.” He eased back and Syrus released him, his touch lingering a moment longer before falling away.
“There’s the Eiri I know.” Syrus took a moment to adjust his clothing where Eiri’s hands had rumpled the fabric, looking oddly pleased as he did so. While he went to let the other two back in, Eiri took a moment to do the same, tugging the wrinkles out of his soft shirt.
Xan and Ellis came back in a few moments later, bringing an odd tension with them. Xan went straight to the table and sat down, picking up the wine bottle and pouring himself a full glass without looking at any of them. Ellis, meanwhile, was flushed, his smile forced. When Eiri glanced over at Syrus, he got a confused shrug in reply to his silent question.
“Is everything alright?” he asked them, noting the way they carefully didn’t look at each other.
“I’m fine.”
