Page 9

Zaryen should be asleep by now, especially after the day he had, but once Meveris”s breath evened out and his hold around Zaryen”s waist relaxed a little, Zaryen”s mind returned to a familiar pattern—running scenario after scenario, every one of them worse than the last.

So many things could have gone wrong today.

What if he hadn”t asked for sanctuary specifically? What if his companion wasn”t the brother-in-law of the future king? Would it have changed the headmaster”s decision? Had Zaryen been so close to losing it all? Or would he have been allowed to stay regardless?

He didn”t know. He would never know.

He did, however, hope he would stop worrying about it at some point, because he couldn”t imagine spending the rest of his life like this. Always on edge, even when he was the safest he”d probably ever been, now that he was in his companion”s arms.

He”d told himself time and time again over the years that he needed to rein in his fantasies, that he shouldn”t hope for too much because it would lead to disappointment. And yet, the reality turned out better than any of his dreams. Meveris surpassed every expectation Zaryen had feared was too much.

If this was day one, what else was ahead of them? Their connection wasn”t even anchored yet and their bond presumably would only grow moving forward, but Zaryen couldn”t imagine that.

It was already everything, after all.

Right then, as if to prove the point, Meveris”s hold around his waist tightened and he dropped a kiss on the side of Zaryen”s neck.

”Can”t sleep?”

Zaryen reached down to put his arm over Meveris”s. ”My brain is too busy to relax.”

”Mmm. Anything in particular?”

”Everything,” Zaryen admitted quietly as he stared at the window. The night seemed darker than back home, where all the outside lights made seeing stars impossible. ”Being here with you seems hardly real and yet the truest thing I”ve ever experienced.”

”Yeah.” Meveris hooked his chin over Zaryen”s shoulder. ”I know what you mean.”

”What if I wake up and it all turns out to be nothing but a dream?”

There it was, a whisper into the dark, holding the scariest thing he could think of.

”It won”t.” Meveris tightened his arm around Zaryen before pushing himself up onto his elbow. ”It”s real, I promise.”

Zaryen shut his eyes. ”I wouldn”t be able to take it. I can get through everything else, but not this.”

After Meveris guided him to turn onto his back, he loomed over Zaryen, hardly visible in the dark but there. Right there.

”You”re here with me, and we”ll stay here for a long time.” He brushed Zaryen”s hair from his forehead. ”We”ll be together, learning, training, working on our bond, and making friends. We”ll have lots and lots of sex, too.”

Even though Zaryen chuckled at that, the press of Meveris”s body against his was enough for him to begin getting hard.

And what a perfect distraction that was.

”Well, in that case.” He tangled his fingers in his companion”s hair and brought him closer for a kiss. ”Maybe we should get a head start on that.”

”Should we?” Meveris shifted his hips to align their cocks together. ”And what do you have in mind?”

”Anything,” Zaryen breathed out, spreading his legs. ”I”m good with anything.”

”That”s a dangerous offer, but one I”d definitely want to explore at some point. But now—” Meveris brushed his nose against Zaryen”s ”—how about a blowjob to help you relax?”

Without waiting for an answer, he slid down the bed, under the covers, and pushed Zaryen”s legs further apart as he settled between them.

”Yes,” Zaryen told him belatedly, already out of breath. ”I want that. Yes.”

While he”d gotten blowjobs before, they were never like this—in the dark, with his partner not even visible and yet controlling it all.

At first, Meveris dropped a series of kisses and licks over Zaryen”s thighs, teasing him by avoiding his cock but still finding other sensitive spots. Zaryen had no idea sucking a mark on his inner thigh could make him arch off of the bed.

Well. Now he knew.

”Please,” he whispered, clutching the pillow. Seeing nothing but dark shadows made his other senses more pronounced, so Meveris”s touch seemed amplified, igniting his body more and more, but what Zaryen wanted—no, needed—was for Meveris to get to his cock already.

”Please,” he whined a bit louder, canting his hips as he sought Meveris”s mouth, and his breath caught as his erection brushed against what had to be his companion”s cheek.

”Relax,” Meveris told him, voice muffled through the covers. ”I”ll get you there.”

He positioned one of Zaryen”s legs over his shoulder, and finally, finally, licked Zaryen”s cock from the base to the tip. A shuddering wave of pleasure rolled through Zaryen and he arched his back again, his foot slipping over Meveris”s back and brushing over his scales.

Wind”s curse, it was all so new and so good.

Then Meveris put his arm over Zaryen”s hips and held him down as he sucked at the head of his cock, making Zaryen almost choke on air.

He had never found someone”s strength particularly hot, but that must have been because he”d never had a partner so obviously stronger than him. Now, under Meveris”s hands, he was ready to melt into the mattress and give himself over as long as he”d get to come at some point.

Preferably soon.

As if hearing Zaryen”s silent plea, Meveris took him deeper and deeper until he could swallow around the head. He kept him there for a long time, during which Zaryen clutching his pillow so hard he would be worried about ripping it apart if he was able to string a coherent thought about it.

But he wasn”t—there was nothing else in his head but good, so good, and so tight, the pleasure spiraling from his groin in every direction, making his whole body tremble.

When he finally came with a loud groan, Meveris still held him firmly against the mattress, which only magnified his pleasure, somehow.

The trembling didn”t stop even after Zaryen stopped coming, so he was glad Meveris slid up his body, covering him like a very warm blanket. Their kiss was sloppy, but there was a thrill in tasting himself on Meveris”s tongue, and Zaryen hummed happily into his mouth, as he was still coming down from the high.

It took him a few more seconds to realize his companion”s erection was pressing hard against his thigh and he reached down between them to take him in hand. He tightened his grip right under the head, and Meveris grunted, breaking the kiss to drop his forehead onto Zaryen”s shoulder.

”Are you going to come for me?” Zaryen whispered as he tugged and twisted his wrist, prompting a muffled moan out of his companion before Meveris closed his teeth over Zaryen”s skin and held on.

And if he hadn”t come barely a few minutes ago, Zaryen might be able to do it again from that alone, because, hook.

Meveris kept him like that for a while, only releasing Zaryen”s shoulder as he came between them, splashing over both their stomachs and chests with a loud moan.

Utterly satisfied and grinning up at the ceiling, Zaryen ran his fingers up and down the scales over Meveris”s spine.

He might have developed a thing for them, but it was probably too early to tell.

Maybe.

As Meveris exhaled loudly and licked a line from Zaryen”s collarbone to the edge of his jaw, it made Zaryen wish, once again, that he could go one more time.

”I hope that seemed real enough,” Meveris said, rolling off of him and settling on his back. His voice was low but teasing, and it prompted a laugh out of Zaryen.

”As real as it gets, I”d say.” He squinted at his companion even though he could barely see him. ”Definitely real enough for another shower.”

Meveris grunted in protest and reached for something on his nightstand before rolling towards Zaryen.

”Could I perhaps convince you not to shower just yet?” he asked, his lips so close to Zaryen”s ear that it was as if he was kissing it with each word. ”Until morning at least? I have tissues.”

With that, he cleaned Zaryen quickly and tossed the tissues away before sliding down so that he could inhale deeply against his stomach.

Zaryen”s blush exploded in a mere second, but at least Meveris couldn”t see it well enough in the dark.

He had to sense something, though, because he rubbed the skin under Zaryen”s navel, then hesitated.

”If you”re not comfortable—”

”I can shower in the morning, it”s fine,” Zaryen cut him off, brushing his hand over Meveris”s head and pushing down any embarrassment.

There was nothing to be embarrassed about, after all. Meveris liked the way Zaryen smelled. Meveris apparently liked it especially when he smelled like him, which was… good.

Ridiculously good.

After inhaling deeply one more time, Meveris slid back up to brush a kiss over Zaryen”s lips but kept his thumb rubbing lightly under Zaryen”s navel.

They kissed slowly, lazily, and Zaryen could feel himself relaxing against the mattress more and more. His skin was still tingling in the aftermath of an orgasm, basking in pleasure. There was no stress, no worrying, only this—him and his companion, together and happy.

The last thing he remembered was a murmured, ”Sleep well.”