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N iam needed Rufe. However, most of his people wouldn’t understand him summoning a Cormiran diplomat for an investigation, except as a witness, and even then, they’d likely wonder why Rufe had been there in the first place.

Rufe, Niam, the lieutenant, Eoghan, and Casseign gathered in Casseign’s crowded office.

Rufe sat in a chair, facing interrogation. Cass led the investigation and couldn’t be seen as offering Rufe special treatment. Niam also wouldn’t be overly trusting of anyone after Zanial’s betrayal. What might Zanial know? He’d not noticed Niam’s familiarity with Rufe, had he?

“Why were you following King Niam after dinner?” Casseign asked Rufe. Demanded of Rufe, more like.

Niam wanted to know who had called the captain away, so he wasn’t where he should’ve been.

“I was merely crossing the courtyard to my room.” True enough. One reason Mother put Rufe near Niam’s rooms.

“Have you ever taken this route before?” Eoghan asked. He shouldn’t call attention to himself. Niam hadn’t decided on his guilt yet .

Rufe suddenly found the ceiling of great interest. “As I’d only arrived yesterday, no.”

The questions were irrelevant to Niam, and Casseign questioned the wrong man, though Niam couldn’t say so openly. Then again, viewing Rufe as Niam’s lover might make Rufe even more of a suspect. After a murder, the lovers were always questioned first, right? And often found guilty.

Not Rufe. Never Rufe.

However, watching Eoghan said many things, when he flinched, when he looked away, the sweat glistening on his brow, though he showed no clear signs of guilt during his own questioning. Innocent, or a good liar?

Niam snapped out of his musings to hear, “King Niam found hay on the ground near the knife, so after ensuring the king’s safety, I went to question anyone at the stables.”

“Alone?”

Of course, Rufe went alone, not knowing whom to trust. But where had Vihaan been? He wasn’t here to ask.

“I wanted to get to the guilty party before he escaped,” Rufe answered casually, as though the question meant nothing.

Eoghan persisted. “And where were you when the alleged assassin was killed?”

“He was with me,” Captain Casseign replied from his spot leaning against the wall, muscular arms crossed over his chest. “He’d caught our suspect, shouted when he heard my men. We went to him and found Com… Lord Rufe holding the suspect.”

“That still doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved,” Eoghan snapped .

Niam had had enough. “Lord Rufe Ferund has no motive to harm me. He needs me alive to complete his diplomatic mission. Had he wanted to kill me, he’s had better opportunities when no one would have been the wiser, like when he escorted me from Renvalle and we became separated from the others.

” By Niam’s design, but still. Even though Delletina kept itself apart from the empire, eventually, someone would realize Rufe’s military background and maybe even his ties to the Renvallian king and the Cormiran emperor.

Whether the connections would help or hurt the case remained to be seen.

Eoghan sat stony-faced.

Casseign said, “That is all for now, Lord Ferund. I may have more questions later.”

“Which I will happily answer,” Rufe replied. “May I go now?”

“You may, as can you, Eoghan, but don't go far. We might have more questions for you as well."

Rufe left the room, not looking back, which would have given away more than he and Niam wanted.

Cass said, “King Niam, I’m putting additional guards on your doors, as well as on the princes’ and the queen mother's, personally chosen by me. Guards I trust implicitly.”

“Thank you. Do you mind explaining why you weren’t there to guard me? You were called away during dinner, were you not?”

Casseign scowled. “Patrols found two of my best men dead, stripped of their uniforms, and thrown into a ravine outside the Dellamar gates. I went to investigate. ”

Two more dead, and their uniforms taken.

“Thank you, Captain. Now, the hour is late. Can you assure my safety and continue the investigation if I retire?” Niam asked the question as a courtesy and out of respect.

The captain carried out his duties to the best of his abilities, and Niam wouldn’t stand in his way.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Captain Casseign, will it disrupt your work if I request you stay close as part of my primary guard?” Cass knew Rufe’s actual position in Niam’s life and would never divulge the information, making him the best choice.

The captain dipped his chin. “Your Majesty, I would be honored.”

Niam trudged from the room with a heavy heart despite having Casseign at his side. If not for the late hour, he’d check in on his sons and mother, but to do so now would only scare them. They were well protected. He’d speak with Mother in the morning.

Cass searched the rooms before Niam entered, then, accompanied by another guard, took up a position outside the door.

The moment Niam locked the door, a panel by the bookshelf opened. Rufe stepped out, darting looks around the room before taking Niam into his arms. “Are you all right?”

Niam nodded, his stubbled face brushing against Rufe’s plain cotton tunic. “A bit shaken, but otherwise okay. How did you know how to get here?”

“Your mother told me.” Rufe retreated but kept one hand on Niam’s shoulder. “You need to lock this panel or post a guard. If I can get in so easily, others can, too.”

“I’ll have to be careful who knows about the door. I don’t want the family’s escape routes known.”

“Cass and Vihaan know. How about the boys? Your mother? Are they safe?”

“They’re fine, and their entrances to the hidden passageways aren’t directly in their rooms. This room’s passage wasn’t simply an escape route, but access for mistresses, which only encouraged secrets.” Oh, the family history—ripe with philanderers.

“We’ll find someone you trust if you’d rather not overburden Cass.” Rufe cupped Niam’s cheeks between his palms, devouring Niam’s soul with a piercing dark glare. “Nothing bad can happen to you. Understand? I won’t let it.”

Rufe’s declaration went further to calm Niam’s fears than a platoon of loyal soldiers. Rufe slammed his mouth down on Niam’s, conquering, tasting, and likely reassuring himself of Niam’s continued well-being.

Niam gave in return. How could a confident, self-assured man like Rufe want a spoiled princeling who could scarcely wield a sword?

Rufe ended the kiss, eyes full of regret. As though reading Niam’s thoughts, he said, “I wish Yarif were here to teach you, but we need to find someone who can, so you can protect yourself.”

“I learned basic knife skills from Mother, but I’ll never be a warrior. I tried to learn, but my father’s swordsmen said I’d never amount to much. Then again, the training I received was intended for someone far larger than myself. ”

“The warrior who trained Yarif was his size and trained in methods of fighting we’re unfamiliar with, no less deadly for his lack of bulk.

In fact, he was more so, given others’ tendencies to underestimate him and the speed associated with a limber body.

Did I tell you about the standoff when I met Yarif? ”

“Only a little.” Yarif had hinted at a less-than-cordial first impression but hadn’t gone into details.

“He was holding off several soldiers determined to get to his brother and sister. He used a rapier, not a broadsword, and moved in ways I’ve never seen, using his body as his weapon.

Beautiful, lethal. Draylon would rather fight with Yarif by his side than any other man, even me, and he and I have fought many battles together. ”

Rufe and Draylon had done more than fight, which also concerned Niam, not that they still entertained a physical relationship. Still, Draylon’s hard musculature differed from Niam’s less-defined physique if Draylon represented Rufe’s tastes.

Rufe likely misread the doubt on Niam’s face. “We’ll find you a teacher. One for your sons, too. Not your mother. I already wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark room.” He chuckled, lightening the mood.

As soon as the laughter died down, Rufe stiffened. “I could have lost you tonight.” He kissed Niam again, hard, demanding.

This time, Niam broke the kiss, grabbing Rufe’s arm, leading him to the bed, and catching him unawares long enough to fling him backward onto the mattress. Before Rufe could say a word, Niam covered him, kissing, grinding against him, desperate to forget everything but the man beneath him.

His lover. His warrior. Too many clothes separated them. Niam toed off his shoes and rose onto his knees, unlacing his trousers, then Rufe’s. He wrapped his hand around their stiff cocks.

Rufe added his hand around Niam’s, stroking, squeezing. Niam pumped into their hands. Had anything ever felt so good as their cocks rubbing together? Skin! He wanted skin! But not enough to break the spell to undress.

The earlier fear had given way to anger and now to desperation, never to feel helpless again. With Rufe, Niam didn’t. He wanted to locate the oil beside the bed, prepare Rufe, and sink inside, but stopping his current actions wasn’t even possible.

Rufe grunted, rutting against Niam’s cock. The world lost meaning. Only Rufe existed in Niam’s thoughts. This wonderfully perfect, imperfect man. They lost themselves in the rhythm, the shoving, the moans.

“If I could stop right now, I’d bury myself in you," Niam murmured.

Rufe’s voice came out on a throaty moan that went straight to Niam’s cock. “I’d let you.”

Tension began deep within, a driving, undeniable force. Niam thrust again and again, his need met and matched by Rufe.

Ecstasy slammed into Niam. A cry spilled from his lips. He stilled, eyes closed, body tight as a bowstring. His seed spilled from his body, slicking his and Rufe’s grips. He barely registered Rufe’s stiffening, caught in a trance-like bliss .

Niam collapsed onto Rufe, breathing hard. Rufe wrapped his arms around Niam’s back, holding him close, breathing just as frantically. A moment in time when they weren’t king and warrior but merely Rufe and Niam, two men who wanted each other, who found peace in each other’s arms.

Found where they needed to be.

All too soon, Rufe rolled Niam to the side, half-turning to share gentle kisses.

“Nothing I’ve ever done was quite as hard as leaving you, but I must go.

Eoghan still considers me a suspect, so he’ll be watching me, and I must look for Zanial.

” He dropped a chaste kiss to Niam’s nose. “Sleep well, my love.”

Rufe rose from the bed, righted his clothing, and, with a last glance over his shoulder, slipped from the room through the hidden door.

Leaving Niam satisfied, but wanting more. Rufe's last words repeated in his mind: my love.

So much more.