Page 53 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)
Chapter Twenty-Two
P erian said, “You’re incredibly thoughtful. This whole holiday. I know we can’t do this all the time, but I just want you to know how much I’ve enjoyed this time together. It’s a wonderful treat.”
Brannal smiled at him. “I’m glad. I’ve enjoyed it a great deal as well. As you say, it can’t be all the time, but I can certainly be more mindful that I have other things that I want to fill my time with, and I definitely enjoy spending it with you.”
Perian hesitated for a moment, but then he offered carefully, “Maybe one day you could come home with me, see where I live?”
Brannal’s smile was enormous. “I’d love to. You speak of it with a lot of affection, even if you sound lonely sometimes.”
Nodding, Perian admitted, “It was definitely harder once Father died. It had always been the two of us against the world, and then it was just… me. I could still do everything we’d done, but it would never be quite the same because it was just a ‘me’ instead of a ‘we .’”
Carefully, Brannal proposed, “Maybe the two of us could be a ‘we’ there?”
Perian swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat. “I’d like that very much.”
They continued to eat and chat, the conversation meandering and completely non-urgent, lapsing into silence sometimes and then picking up again. It was almost like an afternoon where everything else had been set aside, and it was just the two of them on this blanket where nothing else existed.
Perian was very grateful for it. He also loved the shift when his—honestly, completely accidental!
—licking of his fingers to get some jam off resulted in Brannal stripping him out of his clothing so he was stark naked under the bright sun in the beautiful meadow.
Brannal undressed too, removing his clothing and his weapons, placing them carefully to the side so he could still reach them but so he was completely unencumbered to settle over Perian and kiss him and kiss him and kiss him.
Stretched out beneath Brannal on that blanket, feeling the warm skin and the soft kisses and the hungry touches, it was everything Perian wanted in the world. Then Brannal rolled again, and he was on the bottom now, urging Perian to ride him.
There was something so decadent about sliding down on Brannal’s cock, feeling it fill him as the sun shone brightly down on them and the wind whispered.
It was so open and peaceful and happy. Perian looked down at Brannal, laid out beneath him.
Perian had pulled out Brannal’s hair tie at some point, and it was haloed around him, shiny strands dark but catching the light.
Brannal was looking up at Perian with an expression he was pretty sure he could put a name to—and maybe he was allowed now, because they’d both said it, they’d told one another how they felt, and this definitely didn’t look like simple lust or pleasure.
This looked like more , and Perian was fast becoming addicted to more when it came to this wonderful man.
Brannal’s hands were gripping his hips, but Perian was the one controlling their speed, deciding just how fast they could come or if he was going to try to drag this out endlessly, because he never wanted the moment to end.
He’d found the position where Brannal brushed against his pleasure spot every time Perian slid down his shaft. Every whimper from him made Brannal smile.
“I love you,” Perian said, the words spilling out because his heart felt so full he couldn’t contain all his feelings anymore.
Brannal’s smile deepened, his fingers tightening on Perian’s hips. “I love you, too.”
Perian didn’t think anything could top this moment.
He sped up his thrusts, soon bouncing on Brannal’s cock to the delightful accompaniment of his moans of pleasure. They came with joint cries of ecstasy, the emotion clear on Brannal’s face, mouth open, neck arched, eyes closed, no care in the world for who might have just heard them.
Perian slumped down on top of Brannal, who promptly wrapped an arm around him. To Perian’s surprise, he didn’t quickly make sounds about them needing to put clothing back on. Instead, they dozed briefly, the sun keeping them warm.
When Perian woke, Brannal used those lovely long arms to reach their food and offer Perian things he could pop into his mouth.
Probably predictably, given that Perian was involved, this led to sucking on fingers, and this led to Brannal putting those fingers to good use as he sucked Perian off and then fucked him again, this time entirely in charge and driving himself to orgasm that Perian got to watch from his position on his back on the blanket.
Brannal shone, the sun a true halo behind him, dazzling and perfect.
Eventually, they piled the dishes and remaining crumbs of food into the basket, cleaned themselves up as best they could—Perian had gotten rather smeared with food at some point—and dressed once more. Perian tried to pout when Brannal was all covered up, but he couldn’t keep it up.
Brannal raised an eyebrow.
“I love you naked, but then I love you dressed like a powerful Mage Warrior, too, so I can’t really complain.”
Brannal laughed and leaned in to press a kiss to Perian’s lips.
“You always look extremely fetching as well. When you’re wearing clothes, I can think of all the ways I want to get you out of them.”
Perian let out a crow of laughter. “Yes, exactly! You don’t know the number of times I’ve undressed you with my mind.”
Brannal was smiling. “Oh, I think I have a fairly good idea.”
They finally rose to their feet, folded up the blanket, and added it to the now nearly empty basket. Perian felt a little bit of melancholy now that the picnic was suddenly over, and Brannal must have picked up on his mood because he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Perian’s lips.
“Thank you,” he said. “This was wonderful.”
Perian tried to shake off the sadness. “You’re right. It really was. ”
Brannal held out his hand, and Perian happily twined their fingers together so they could make their way back to the inn.
Perian was maybe a little exuberant in his thanks to the innkeeper for the perfect picnic, but the woman looked very pleased. After a moment, she ventured, “And perhaps you’d like the bath prepared?”
Perian looked at Brannal. He reached out and brushed a finger across Perian’s cheek. “I’m not totally sure what that is. And your hair is… artful.”
Perian could only laugh.
“Oh, dear. Then yes, please, we could clearly benefit from the bath!”
They headed upstairs, and a few minutes later, the buckets of hot water started being hauled up.
The server from earlier was one of the two who was filling up the bathtub, carrying up the buckets from the kitchen. Perian pulled her to the side on one of her trips.
“Do you think that when you’re done with this, if you have a minute, you could take a couple of carrots or apples out to our horses?”
Her eyes flew to his.
“They would very much appreciate it,” he said gently. He wasn’t here very long, so he had to work on a schedule. “And I think they… wouldn’t be the only ones?”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks went pink, but Perian just smiled encouragingly at her. A tiny, bashful smile tipped up her lips.
“I could certainly do that for you, sir. Would you like me to come let you know about the horses after?”
“Oh, no,” Perian told her. “That won’t be necessary.
They appreciate the company of anyone feeding them, and I’m sure they would be quite delighted to spend a few minutes with you.
Don’t feed them too fast, mind. They’ll want to be greedy and gobble the treats down, but it’s much better for them if it’s spread out. ”
Yeah, that was one of the least subtle things Perian had ever done, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, because there was still a little smile on her lips.
“I’ll be sure to do that, sir.”
“Thank you so much,” Perian told her.
She bowed and then went back to work. Brannal came over and wrapped his arms around Perian, cradling him against his chest, pressing a kiss to his temple.
“You have a big heart.”
Maybe Perian did. He wanted everyone to be happy, and he thought the world might be a better place if more people tried to do the same.
Once the bath was filled, they stripped and climbed in, scrubbing one another clean even more carefully than normal, because they really had gotten food and dirt in some unusual places. Perian didn’t want to get it all over the bed. This was their last night, and he wanted to make the most of it.
Once they were dry, they tumbled right into bed and just made out until Brannal was hard again against Perian’s hip.
Then he made slow, beautiful love to Perian, drawing them close to climax and then backing off so that he could do it again… and again… and again.
Perian was a panting, writhing mess by the time Brannal finally drove them to orgasm, and he realized he was clutching at the other man, whispering, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” over and over.
Brannal kissed his face and made soothing noises that finally seemed to penetrate Perian’s brain, and he stopped holding onto him quite so hard and just relaxed back against him.
They stumbled out of the room for dinner at some point, and it was just as lovely as always, but Perian didn’t really remember eating it, just remembered pulling the other man back into the bedroom because this was their final night.
They brought one another off with hands and mouths and cocks until they were both so sated Perian was pretty sure they may actually have hit the limit for how much sex he could have in a row. He hadn’t even been sure there was a limit.
“I love you,” Perian told the other man again, heart overflowing, so much love and so much satisfaction.
“And I love you,” Brannal said, kissing his temple.