Page 40 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)

What he had not been imagining was that he would end up in Brannal’s lap, riding his cock as they ate dinner.

It was not at all the smoothest dining experience they’d ever had, but it was hugely entertaining.

It was a fun way to extend their play, making them both pause and not make any untoward movements while they tried to eat, and then one of them would shift, the other would groan, and they would get distracted again.

It was the ultimate tease, and Perian would definitely remember it for later .

Probably predictably, it got quite messy at the end, as they started feeding one another, and they gave up on utensils…

They wound up with a lot of food smeared in places it shouldn’t go, but oh, it was fun.

Afterwards, Brannal stood, carrying Perian with him as though he weighed nothing.

“Let’s get cleaned up.”

He drew a bath, and they tried to wipe off the worst of it before they climbed in. They scrubbed one another all over, and Brannal brought Perian off again because he seemed to like these sneak attacks in the water.

Perian wasn’t complaining.

Once Perian was limp and sated, Brannal got them both out of the bath, mostly dried off, and then into bed. And then he lined them up on their sides, back to front, and pushed back into Perian from behind.

Perian groaned and pushed back against him.

“Like that?” Brannal asked.

“So much,” Perian breathed on a sigh.

Compared to earlier, it was slow and remarkably devoid of tension. It was just.. easy and beautiful, filling Perian up the way he loved, damp skin against damp skin, Brannal sliding into him in slow, easy motions, like he had all the time in the world.

“You’re so good to me,” Perian mumbled.

It was slow and languid, like the point was connection rather than coming, like it could go on forever.

Perian would be happy with that, truly.

Eventually, though, Brannal began to speed up his thrusts. It was almost imperceptible at first, but that delicious pressure started to build, moment by moment, until Perian was squirming and trying to press back further.

“Please, more,” he managed to pant out, wondering if it was possible to fuck the words right out of someone.

Brannal laughed and pressed a kiss to his ear, to the back of his neck, to his shoulder.

“Eventually,” he promised.

That was… kind of not what Perian was looking for. But Brannal wouldn’t be rushed, which was its own kind of pleasure .

Finally, finally he wrapped one hand around Perian’s cock as he thrust more firmly into him, stroking him with a sure grip. Perian whimpered.

“That’s it,” Brannal whispered. “Come for me.”

Perian arched into the other man’s hand, body flooding with pleasure, a white haze descending over everything.

He was barely aware of Brannal thrusting and coming inside of him, except that added to his pleasure, the sweet buzz of completion, both of them together, both of them content, just the way they were supposed to be.

After the slight unevenness of the initial catch-up of Brannal’s return, the weeks following settled into a pleasant routine. Renny was riding, Perian and Brannal were happily insatiable, and Perian was getting back into defense.

There was still the occasional grumble from the Warriors who used to hang around with Fomadin, but they were very careful to keep it to words only and the occasional glare.

And really, Perian couldn’t entirely blame them for that.

(He might think their attitude was awful, but if this was loyalty to a friend, he could mostly understand that.) With Brannal swinging by more often than before, although he never again attended an entire training session, and Mage Warriors and Warriors keeping an extra close eye on the novices, they were safer than they’d ever been.

Outside of the yard, things were also going well. Perian and Cormal seemed to have… maybe come to a truce? Or they’d gotten so good at ignoring one another while Cormal was gone that they’d figured out how to maintain it even now.

The garden was a riot of colors, the air was warm, and Renny had been allowed to take some slow rides on her horse a little way out beyond the castle in the royal park.

They’d determined that Kee could mount up with her and go along, since he needed to stay close to her, but he said it didn’t really feel like riding a horse.

Renny explained, “He says it’s actually a bit weird, since he can’t feel the horse. And he can’t control anything. He’s just perched awkwardly behind me, and he says it probably wouldn’t work if he were solid, but at least he doesn’t fall off like this. ”

“I’m glad of that, at least,” Perian said, since there didn’t seem to be much to say.

Tilting her head, Renny made a face and then said, “Yeah, it’s a good thing nothing can touch Kee, because otherwise, he’d get trampled by all the Warriors.”

There had been an entire complement of Warriors who had gone with her, and there were still four Mage Warriors in attendance as well.

It wasn’t quite just a young person learning how to ride again, but it was the best that could be managed with Renny under the circumstances. She definitely had more energy, though she confessed that by the end of the day, she was still tired.

“Everyone goes to bed at the end of the day!” Perian teased.

She laughed but shook her head. “Not like that.”

And he could only nod because she was the best judge of her own situation.

“Still no dizzy spells, at least?” he asked hopefully.

She shook her head, perking up and confirming happily, “No dizzy spells!”

It wasn’t perfect, but it was so much better than it had been.

“Do you think I could come too?” he asked.

She nodded, looking happy he’d suggested it again.

Mindful that although Renny meant a great deal to him, there were a lot of people who knew her better, Perian hadn’t wanted to try to force himself somewhere that he might not be wanted.

The Queen had granted him permission to have picnics with Renny, and also permission to ride Prince Horsey, but she probably hadn’t imagined any crossover between those two things, certainly not at the beginning.

But he thought he’d given enough time for the picnics and the riding to have become, if not commonplace, at least well established.

It also gave Renny an idea.

“If you’re right near me on Prince Horsey, then maybe Kee could get on him after all! I know it’s not the same, but don’t you think it would be nice?”

This was clearly not addressed to Perian.

There was silence for a moment, and then she said, “He thinks we should try it, but he’s not sure it will work.”

Since that was pretty much how Perian felt about the whole thing, that was fair enough. He knew Renny was trying to offer her brother more opportunities in his very restricted life.

“Let’s try,” Perian agreed. “Tomorrow afternoon? Do you need to ask anyone?”

She got a mutinous look in her eye. “Why would I need to ask anyone if I want to invite someone along to ride with me?”

Perian eyed her. “Because you’re the princess and everything gets complicated with you?”

For a moment, it looked like she might lose her temper, and then she gave a little laugh and shrugged.

“I’m not proposing the two of us go gallop off together, although that would be nice. I’d just have company—that isn’t a Mage Warrior or Warrior waiting for me to fall—while I do exactly what I’ve been told to do. It’s fine.”

It was true that adding Perian didn’t materially change what Renny was doing.

“Until tomorrow,” he agreed.