Bellamy
It doesn’t matter who Rakos really is. It can’t matter when Bellamy still wants him so much. All his suspicions crash into utter certainty, and the truth isn’t nearly so terrifying as Bellamy assumed it would be.
“Does this change anything between us?” Bellamy demands.
“No,” Rakos says, his voice ragged. “I’ll still take you back to Silaise. I’ll still protect you.”
“That’s all I need,” Bellamy says, and kisses Rakos again.
He thought he would feel different, hearing the confession from Rakos himself. But that new knowledge doesn’t change a thing. Rakos is the same man he was this morning, and Bellamy feels the same way about him as he did then.
Far less casual than planned.
He kisses Rakos like a starving man, and Rakos is just as starved. Every touch is hot enough to burn away the guilt of Bellamy’s own secrets. Enough to make Bellamy forget his exhaustion. He can’t give his true name to Rakos. But he can give him everything else.
“Fuck me,” Bellamy says, clawing into Rakos’s hair. He bites Rakos’s earlobe. “Fuck me now.”
Rakos swears, his grip on Bellamy tightening. “We should talk more. Or sleep.”
“But I want you now.” Bellamy has never been so shameless in his life. Rakos makes him feel like this. Like it’s all right to be shameless, daring, impulsive.
“That would be irresponsible.” Rakos’s hands wander under Bellamy’s clothing. “You’re exhausted. Look, you can barely stay upright on your own.”
“Then don’t make me stay upright.” Bellamy kisses under Rakos’s jaw. “Don’t worry, you can keep going if I fall asleep.”
“I assure you, you aren’t falling asleep,” Rakos says, and flips him over.
Bellamy just laughs as Rakos lays him out on a sleeping roll and kisses a searing line down his throat. Rakos bites at his neck, gnawing at his pulse. Leaving marks, and the thought makes Bellamy nearly explode with heat.
As they kiss, Bellamy fumbles with Rakos’s shirt. He manages to get it halfway up Rakos’s torso before Rakos has to lift his arms to help him the rest of the way. Bellamy takes the opportunity to run his hands down Rakos’s rippling abdomen. His every touch makes the muscles flex and jump. Everything he does draws a reaction from Rakos.
Buzzing on the edge of his waning strength, Bellamy skips the foreplay and fumbles with the laces of Rakos’s trousers. He curves his palm over Rakos’s thick cock through the fabric and savors the low groan he draws from Rakos’s throat.
“I’m going to come just like this if you aren’t careful,” Rakos growls.
“Then hurry up and fuck me.” Bellamy isn’t going to last much longer—not because he’ll come too fast, but because he’ll pass out.
He’s never shared his vision like that before. It was just something he thought of after watching the blood mages and their grails. There was something exhilarating about the connection. Like this is how Bellamy is supposed to use his magic. Not for mere identification, but for combat too. His magic suits Rakos’s power so well. If they trained together, they could become a force to be reckoned with.
If they shared a cause in real life, not just this dream of an adventure.
What if they could? What if Bellamy didn’t have to say goodbye at the end of this journey? What if they could work together, to fight and protect—
Impossible. Bellamy can’t leave Silaise, and Rakos wouldn’t move there. Even if he tried, Mother would never allow it.
Rakos takes hold of Bellamy’s cock, obliterating every extraneous thought from Bellamy’s head. Their clothes disappear quickly. Spread bare on the wagon floor, Bellamy stares up at Rakos, riveted by the faint outlines of his face in the shadows.
“I mean it.” Bellamy touches Rakos’s lips. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You’re incredible,” Rakos says.
Bellamy is starting to believe him.
Rakos grabs a bottle of salve, and anticipation thrums through Bellamy’s bloodstream. All his blood rushes down. He’s so hard, and there’s a thread of nervousness through it that makes it all the more exciting.
“Among things that don’t really matter,” Bellamy says, “I haven’t done this exact thing before.”
Rakos’s next words are strained. “Do you want me to slow down?”
