Page 111 of Eryx

When we both ran toward the door, we collided, our bodies too large to go through it at the same time.

“You are too slow, and in my path,” Axios said with a laugh, pushing me back so he could go through the doorway first.

“I think not!” I grabbed his sides and spun him around before running past him.

He regained his balance and chased after me. The sound of his laugh warmed me from the inside out. And for a moment, I remembered what it was like to be boys again. Boys who knew nothing of the reality of war. The shadows that had followed me since that day on the battlefield fled with our laughter and lighthearted game of chase.

We ran through the grass, me ahead of him. Although I couldn’t see him, I sensed him. I could even visualize the way the sun bounced off his black hair as he ran and how it caused a beautiful glow on his bronzed skin.

“Oof!” Axios exclaimed.

When I slowed my pace and turned to him, I nearly fell to my knees from laughter. Axios lay on his stomach in the grass, limbs sprawled every which way, but his dumbfounded expression was what amused me most.

“Ax, what have you done?” I asked through my laughs, and approached him. “Your mind must have been in the clouds once more. Consider this a lesson that you cannot think and run simultaneously.” Reaching him, I looked down into his irritated expression and barely suppressed another snort. “Or perhaps it was onlywhatyou were thinking that sent you tumbling toward the earth. Go on. What was it?”

Axios glared at me and rolled to his back. Dirt covered his chest. “If I admit the truth, I am certain you will laugh for days on end.”

Probably, I thought to myself. He never failed to amuse me. It was one reason why I loved him so.

I grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. My cheeks hurt from grinning so much. “Tell me.”

“I will after we eat,” he said, glancing at me before facing ahead. “I am starved.”

“Very well,” I said, suspecting it would be worth the wait.

Once we arrived at the dining hall, we sat with oursyssition. The men cast amused glances our way, and I covered my laugh with a cough when I noticed the sliver of grass jutting from Axios’ hair. I slyly picked it out and tossed it to the floor.

Theon sat beside me and Quill sat on the other side of Axios. They always sat together during meals, so it was strange.

“Why are you and Theon at odds?” Axios asked Quill before grabbing a handful of figs from the platter in front of him. He loved the fruit, and I admired his long fingers as he peeled one and pressed it to his lips.

I had never envied something so much in my life. I shifted in my seat as my cock began to fill.

Quill did not respond.

“If you ignore my question,” Axios said, wiping the juice from his mouth. “I will only continue asking it until you answer.”

Quill sharply exhaled and looked at Axios. “He is stubborn, foolish, and selfish. That is why. When I lay with a woman yesterday, he yelled at me for it. Went absolutely mad with rage and slapped my chest. It is unfair. Just because he is jealous does not mean I must stop living my life.”

“Jealous?” Theon scoffed. “You flatter yourself.”

“Do you see?” Quill motioned to Theon with an exasperated look. “He is overbearing. If he wishes to bed a woman so badly, he needs to stop being a coward and do it. The man has fought in war. Surely, he can find the courage to wet his damned prick between a woman’s legs.”

With a snarl, Theon stood from the table and stormed from the dining hall.

I stared at Quill, amazed that someone could be so stupid. Every man at the table could see that Theon had no desire to be with a woman. He only had eyes for one very silly man. How Quill failed to see it baffled me.

Axios eating another fig distracted me from Quill and Theon’s quarrel. I would gladly be reborn in another life as a fig if Axios was the one who plucked me and devoured me as sweetly as he did the one he currently held.

Once we’d eaten, we left the hall and walked toward the field to train our herd. Axios remained quiet as I eagerly awaited his explanation from earlier as to why he’d fallen. When he said nothing, I grew impatient.

“Are you going to tell me now?” I asked, bumping his arm.

“Very well.” Axios sighed and met my stare. “As we ran, I imagined sucking your cock and lost my footing.”

The visual his words created caused heat to spread from my belly to my groin. I stared at his plump lips and had to force myself not to tackle him to the grass and take him right there.

“After training, you can show me exactly what it was you imagined,” I said, holding his gaze. “And perhaps we can make it reality.”