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Viggo groaned lustfully, his hands finding Evander’s waist and pulling him close so their bodies moulded together. Evander shivered at the feel of Viggo’s solid erection.

They discarded their clothes with increasing urgency as their desire mounted, the items forming a scattered trail on the bathroom floor.

Viggo cupped Evander’s buttocks and hauled him up against his body as their tongues mated with passionate desperation. Evander wrapped his legs eagerly around the Brute’s hips as he moved and stepped under the sprays of the shower.

The sight and feel of Viggo’s bare skin, the feel of his thick cock pressing intimately against his own manhood, the musky scent of desire swirling around them. All of it filled Evander’s chest to bursting.

He wrenched his mouth from Viggo’s as the Brute gently let him down and stared into his eyes under the hot water cascading over them.

“I love you so damn much it hurts,” Evander whispered.

Viggo’s gaze darkened. He took Evander’s mouth in a tender kiss that communicated his own feelings, to the point tears swelled in Evander’s eyes.

Viggo pressed his lips against his lashes, licking and swallowing the salty drops.

“You don’t know what you do to me, mage,” he whispered, his own voice choked.

Evander laughed breathlessly. “I’ve not heard you call me that in ages.” His breath hitched and his eyes rolled back in his head when Viggo moved his hands down his back and teased his entrance with his fingers.

The Brute’s lips traced a burning path down his neck, pausing to lavish attention on the sensitive spot just below his ear.

“Viggo,” Evander sighed, his fingers tangling in the Brute’s wet hair. “Touch me, please.”

Viggo complied with a soft curse, his large hand closing around Evander’s eager erection. Evander rolled his hips and drove himself shamelessly through his lover’s tight grip, seeking the pleasure only he could give him.

Viggo nipped his skin savagely before continuing his journey downward, exploring the pulse beating frantically at the base of Evander’s throat before ravaging his chest with his lips and teeth and tongue.

His touch ignited a fire within Evander that had him moaning incoherently, his body responding with an intensity that stole his breath.

Rivulets of water streamed down their bodies, turning their skin slick and heightening every caress as Viggo continued stroking him briskly while he worked his way down his trembling frame.

Evander cried out when Viggo got down on his knees and took him inside his mouth.

His body bowed and his hands fisted in the Brute’s hair as the latter began working him with his lips and tongue.

Evander blinked dazedly and met Viggo’s hooded stare where he looked at him from under his lashes, his cheeks bulging and his mouth moving slickly on his shaft as he performed fellatio on him.

It didn’t take long for him to come in the Brute’s mouth, his cock pulsing and throbbing with exquisite delight as he emptied himself on Viggo’s tongue.

Viggo released him and climbed to his feet, his expression feral.

“Turn around.”

Evander complied, his body still shuddering from the aftershocks of his climax.

He braced his forearms against the tile as Viggo’s hands roamed his back, his touch reverent and possessive all at once.

The Brute pressed ardent kisses along his spine, each one sending fresh ripples of pleasure through Evander’s body.

Viggo lathered his hands with soap and used the foam to prepare Evander for his penetration, his thumb rubbing and circling his hole before he pushed inside.

Evander dropped his head forward on a groan and surrendered to the sensation that was Viggo working him loose.

The Brute inserted two more fingers inside him, his breathing harsh and fast in Evander’s ear as he thrust in and out and scissored him open.

The hot water continued to pour over them, steam filling the bathroom and enclosing them in their own private world.

“I’m coming in,” Viggo grunted, his voice almost pained as he removed his fingers.

He spread Evander open with his hands and pushed inside him with a savage sound of possession.

Evander gasped and shuddered at the exquisite fullness that was the Brute filling him up to the hilt. They remained still for a moment, Viggo’s chest pressed against his back, their ragged breathing mingling with the sound of falling water.

Viggo nipped Evander’s ear lovingly with his teeth as he waited for his lover’s body to adjust to his girth. “I will never tire of this,” he whispered. “Being inside you is the closest I can get to Heaven on this Earth.”

Evander flushed, his heart so full he wished this moment would never end. But his body wanted more. Demanded it.

“Viggo?”

“Yes?” Viggo breathed against his skin.

“Make love to me. Please.”

Viggo eagerly complied, pulling out and pushing back in with a sigh, his thrusts long and deep from the get-go. Evander pressed back against him, seeking even more, his body alive with sensation inside and out as water and steam enveloped them.

The world narrowed to the space between them, to the rhythm they created together, to the sounds they made as they lost themselves to the intoxicating heat and the unbearable friction of possession and being possessed.

When release finally came, it swept through Evander like a tidal wave, leaving him trembling and gasping Viggo’s name.

The Brute followed moments later, his powerful body shuddering violently as he found his own completion, his arm wrapped protectively around Evander’s waist while he pumped his release inside him.

They remained entangled under the cascade of water for a long time, breathless and spent. Viggo pressed tender kisses to Evander’s shoulder before carefully withdrawing.

They took their time washing and drying each other, their mouths meeting for languorous kisses.

Evander traced idle patterns on Viggo’s chest as he lay in his lover’s arms in bed a short while later.

“You know, you still haven’t told me the story of how you got your tattoos,” he murmured.

“I haven’t?” Viggo asked, surprised.

Heat flooded Evander’s cheeks. “The last time I asked, you got busy.”

Viggo chuckled. “Ah. Yes, I remember that delightful incident.”

Evander rolled his eyes and tried hard not to blush even more.

The incident in question had almost wrecked the desk in his office downstairs.

Viggo kissed the tip of his nose. “It’s a boring story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Evander nodded.

“Alright.” Viggo pulled Evander closer and tucked an arm behind his head, his gaze on the underside of the green canopy. “After my aunt Mary died, my uncle Jack encouraged me to become a sailor.”

Evander’s eyes rounded. He propped himself up on an elbow. “You? A sailor?!”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Viggo grunted.

“Kind of.” Evander wrinkled his nose. “I bet you were devilishly handsome in a sailor’s uniform.”

Viggo burst out laughing. “Has anyone ever told you you’re like a dog with a bone when it comes to what interests you, my Lord?”

Evander pinched his arm. “Behave. And continue with your story, please.”

Viggo’s chest rumbled with low laughter. “Jack counts many merchants among his friends, so getting me on their ships was never a problem.”

He explained how he’d sailed across the world in the years that followed. Evander listened, enthralled, to the stories about his travels.

The Brute’s captivating tales painted a colourful tapestry of rich and diverse cultures the mage had only ever read about in books.

From Central and East Asia to Africa, the South Americas, and even the Pacific Ocean, Viggo had seen and done things Evander doubted he would ever get to do in his lifetime.

Viggo’s tone grew more serious after a while.

“It was during my travels that I came to realise thralls could co-exist equally and peacefully with those who had magic in their blood,” he said quietly.

“That a lack of magical abilities was not and should never be a barrier to success and happiness.” He tipped Evander’s chin up with a knuckle and pressed a light kiss to his lips.

“The Polynesian Islands were one such place I visited. It was where I got most of my tattoos.”

Though Viggo didn’t say it out loud, Evander could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice.

The experiences and people the Brute had encountered had only fuelled his anger at the oppression and violence inflicted upon his kind in England. And it had evidently cemented his resolve to bring about change after what had happened to his own family, no matter the cost.

“I would love to visit those places with you one day.” Evander pressed closer to Viggo. “I want to see the world with your eyes.”

Viggo danced his fingers down his back in a soothing caress. “You already do. More than you can ever imagine.” He kissed Evander’s hair. “That’s why I will follow you to the ends of this world and the next.”

Evander smiled against his chest. “Promise?”

“I promise,” Viggo whispered.

The rainfall tapping against the windows of the bedroom soon had them drifting off, the strong, steady beat of the Brute’s heart the last thing Evander heard as he surrendered to his first restful sleep in days.