Page 49 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)

Chapter Twenty

T hey settled the way they favored, with Perian leaning back against Brannal, and they scrubbed one another clean.

They had to be a little more careful with the water since they couldn’t simply run more, but at least if they splashed, Brannal could get the water back into the tub with very little effort.

Perian might have done a bit of extra splashing because he loved watching the water rise and flow back into the tub. Brannal pinched his side, and Perian giggled and finally stopped doing it. Since Brannal kissed his shoulder, he clearly wasn’t actually upset.

They jerked one another off and then cleaned up before the water got too cold. Perian certainly wasn’t demanding a whole new tub.

“I’m going to have to get used to having less frequent baths,” he said.

“The staff are well paid,” Brannal reminded him.

“I’m sure they are, but it’s still different from needing no assistance to have a bath whenever. We’re only having a bath if we’re dirty .”

Brannal laughed. “As you wish.”

They toweled one another off, then gathered up their clothes to set them out in the sitting room, where Brannal said they’d be collected and cleaned.

(Apparently, Perian had missed all of this while they were waiting for the bath.) They padded naked into the bedroom, and Perian asked where his sleep trousers were.

“Why don’t you open this first.”

Perian turned to see Brannal holding a wrapped package.

He blinked at it. “What’s this?”

Brannal held it out. “You won’t know until you open it.”

Perian stared. “You got me a gift?”

Brannal was still holding it out. “I did.”

“But this whole visit is a gift!” Perian exclaimed, thrown. “And I didn’t get anything for you!”

Oh, no, was he a terrible partner again?

Only then Brannal tugged him into his arms and kissed him, the gift crushed between them. Perian melted into the kiss, twining his arms around Brannal’s neck.

“Your being here is gift enough for me,” Brannal assured him once they drew back to breathe. “I didn’t get you gifts because I wanted anything in return. I wanted you to have them, that’s all.”

Brannal had remembered that Perian had said he hadn’t received a gift except for Chamis’s carving since his father had died. Brannal had set this up so he was giving Perian gifts .

He was already wrapped all around Brannal, but he tightened his grip and jumped, and Brannal caught his ass and held him as Perian twined his legs around Brannal’s waist and kissed him again, harder, trying to express through his body just how delighted he was by all of this.

“Thank you,” he murmured against Brannal’s lips. “Thank you so much! This is so wonderful!”

Brannal smiled at him, eyes dark with warmth and lust.

“Take me to bed,” Perian instructed.

And Brannal obeyed.

Perian woke to the glorious feeling of a mouth around his cock. He let out a sleepy murmur of pleasure and thrust into the wet heat.

“Morning,” he managed after a moment.

Brannal just kept sucking, his hands on Perian’s ass, encouraging him to thrust, so Perian obediently rocked up, chasing his release until he came in a burst of pleasure.

Brannal crawled up to kiss him. “Morning.” His eyes were gleaming. “Hungry?”

Licking his lips, Perian assured him, “Very.”

Brannal straddled his chest and fed him his cock, and Perian eagerly swallowed him down, using all the tricks he knew, lips and tongue, fingers teasing balls, to make Brannal come.

“That’s a lovely way to wake up,” he said once his mouth was free.

Brannal rearranged them so they could cuddle.

“Good morning,” he said.

“A very good morning,” Perian agreed happily.

They were on holiday together, and that meant they didn’t have to immediately get up if they didn’t want to. They lounged around in the bed until they were hard again, and this time they rubbed off on one another, grinding as they kissed and touched softly, no urgency, just a slow build to climax.

Perian leaned back with a hum of satisfaction. “I could do this every day.”

“We do do this every day,” Brannal pointed out. “Or very nearly.”

And Perian could only laugh. “That’s true.”

Eventually, Brannal bent over the side of the bed, and Perian was confused until he came up with the package from the night before.

“Oh!” Perian exclaimed. “I was so excited about getting a gift that I forgot about my gift!”

Brannal just chuckled, not looking at all upset, and handed it over. Perian was pleased to feel that it was soft and bendable, so it hadn’t likely been damaged by its time on the floor.

He untied the string, then carefully unfolded the paper to reveal—

He sucked in a breath as soon as he saw the satiny shimmer.

“Did you get me a robe like Molun’s?”

“Arvus mentioned you seemed to really admire it.”

Brannal had heard that and had gone out of his way to get Perian a robe of his own? One that was a burnt orange color that Perian hoped would look as fetching as Molun’s did.

He launched himself at Brannal and kissed him and kissed him, until they were both breathless from kisses and laughing.

“Thank you so much!” Perian exclaimed. “I love it!”

“You haven’t even tried it on yet,” Brannal pointed out.

Right, right, that would be the normal thing to do, wouldn’t it? He picked it up, shivering at the feel of the silken fabric against his fingertips.

He pulled the fabric out of its bundle and held it up. It really was a beautiful color, rich and warm, shining in the light.

He climbed out of bed and stood up, because he wanted Brannal to get the full experience of him wearing it. Perian’s cock was already perking up. He slid an arm through the first sleeve, sucking in a breath at the feeling of the fabric along his skin.

“Like that?” Brannal asked.

“I’m not sure why everybody doesn’t wear it every day,” Perian breathed.

“I don’t think it offers quite as much protection as leather and sturdier fabrics,” Brannal commented with amusement.

“But this feels so good,” Perian assured him, slipping his other arm in and feeling the fabric slide up his back as it settled on his shoulders. He shivered. “Oh, it’s so lovely.”

“It certainly is.” Brannal’s voice had dropped to a low grumble, and Perian hadn’t even started putting on a show deliberately.

He reached for the two loose edges and pulled them across his torso, folding the right over the left and then finding the belt so he could tie it closed, though it left a teasing view of his chest. Plus, it was just as deliciously short on Perian as it had been on Molun.

He ran his fingers down the fabric at his sides, feeling where it came to an end a scant inch or two below his ass, which meant it would cover absolutely nothing if he bent over even a little.

He turned to Brannal. “What do you think?”

“You look good enough to eat,” Brannal told him, delicious tension in his voice.

“Yeah?” Perian asked coyly. “Because when I saw Molun wearing his, I wondered what it would feel like to have somebody suck my cock through the fabric.”

Brannal was out of the bed now and stalking towards him. “Did you? ”

Perian nodded.

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

‘Absolutely delightful’ was the answer to that question. Because Brannal was the best tease ever, he didn’t just suck Perian, he mouthed at his cock and blew over the wet patches of fabric.

Perian squirmed, loving the absurdly thin barrier hampering their movement, sliding unexpectedly against his skin, making him shiver as those cooling damp patches pressed against his skin when he didn’t expect it…

Brannal finally nudged apart the layers of fabric and swallowed down his cock, and it didn’t take long at all before Perian was coming, collapsing back onto the bed with a groan.

And then Brannal leaned over him and jerked off, fingers flying over his cock until he’d splattered all over Perian’s skin and the robe.

Perian groaned even louder, his cock twitching.

“Oh, that was so sexy.”

Brannal agreed gruffly, “It really was. That was an inspired idea.”

“Molun and Arvus have excellent sex ideas,” Perian agreed.

Brannal was silent for a moment before he said, “I know I’m not always the most adventurous.”

Perian sucked in a sharp breath and rolled so he was facing Brannal entirely.

He reached out to cup Brannal’s cheek. “That was not even remotely a criticism of you. I love what we do together. I just meant I also enjoyed when Molun, Arvus, and I played together. Watching them was hot, I won’t deny that.

Given a choice, I’d rather not do anything without you. ”

Brannal was looking at him with a bit of confusion. “Watching them?”

Perian nodded. “They put on little shows for me while you were away. A bit more graphic than you and I did, but I’m sure you can imagine.”

Brannal looked a little stunned. “Did you not have sex?”

Perian should have realized what Brannal had assumed.

He shook his head. “It just didn’t feel right without you.

But there were a couple hours each night where I was supposed to be airing my arm before we put the bandages back on, so they’d put on a show for me, and then we’d sleep together. Just sleep.”

Brannal kissed the top of his head. “I remember you saying. I thought you had sex as well.”

“And you regretted that you suggested it?” Perian prompted gently.

“Not regret… exactly,” Brannal said carefully, like he couldn’t quite figure out how to describe it.

“I’m still glad I suggested it, because I don’t like the idea of you lonely while I was away.

It’s more that I’m not sure I quite anticipated how I would feel after the fact about you having that connection without me. ”

“Well, I think we were all happy not to be having sex without you. I mean, I’m still not sure about sex at all, but if we play any sort of way, I would rather it be with you.”