Page 5 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

Perian stared blankly after him for a long moment after he and the doctor had left, and then he grinned stupidly to himself and made his way back to his and Brannal’s rooms. That was certainly new out in public, and Perian was not going to complain.

He read until dinner time, then tried to make sure he looked at least halfway presentable before heading to the dining hall alone when Brannal didn’t appear.

He was greeted by a number of people like he’d been gone for a year—mostly, Perian was pretty sure, so they could get in a joke about just what he’d been up to when he was gone. But the joke was on them, because Perian was perfectly happy to tell them all about what he’d been up to.

(All right, not actually in graphic detail, even if they were old enough, because he was sure Brannal didn’t actually want his subordinates to have a blow-by-blow account of every moment of his and Perian’s fabulous getaway.

But if anyone had been in any doubt as to the purpose of their weekend away, they weren’t by the time Perian was done talking about it.)

Perian was sitting a couple people down from Onadal, the captain of the Warriors, and Arvus had joined them when he’d arrived a bit later than Perian.

They were two of the only people who didn’t seem to have an opinion about Brannal and what he was getting up to with Perian—though everyone was careful not to phrase it quite like that.

The noise level dipped hilariously just as Perian realized that there was someone standing behind him.

“May I join you?” Brannal asked.

Molun was there too, grinning already.

Perian smiled at them both and squished over on the long bench.

“You certainly may. I’ve already told everyone about all the sex we had while we were away, so you missed that.”

Brannal laughed. “Good to know.”

Somehow, they made room for both Brannal and Molun. And the close quarters made it extra easy for Perian to caress Brannal’s leg from time to time.

The sound swirled up again, and Brannal began to serve himself.

“So is this a new thing that’s going to happen?” Molun asked. “Summus taking holidays?”

“From time to time,” Brannal agreed blandly, as though this wasn’t a radical change from the last six years.

Molun and Arvus had told Perian that Brannal had scarcely left the building, especially in the early days following the wraith attack that had killed so many people in the castle, including Cormal’s father, the former Summus, and Prince Kinan (or so everyone thought).

Mildly, Brannal observed, “I’m actually supposed to do so, you know; I just didn’t have a compelling reason to make it work before.”

Several people said, “Aww,” and more laughed. Perian felt his heart swell with affection for everyone here. Well, most of these people. And it was worth the frustrating ones to have the amazing ones.

It felt a bit like he was part of a big family this way.

He’d never had a big family; it had been just him and his father until the man’s death.

This was the complete opposite of that, and that meant that sometimes he was stuck with family members he didn’t care all that much for.

But mostly, they all supported one another.

It was a lot of people, though, after three nights and days of having Brannal all to himself.

He was very glad to be back with Renny, and he was maybe a bit anxious to ensure that he and Brannal could still manage everything here like they had at the inn.

They’d agreed this was serious between them, but they hadn’t figured out what that meant exactly.

They’d survived Renny getting sick and the whole spat with Cormal, though, so it did seem as though reality was back. No one except Cormal seemed to be particularly upset with their absence, and most people in their vicinity seemed to have been very entertained by Perian’s stories.

Perian’s hands might have wandered a bit more as the meal progressed, until a slightly flushed Brannal demanded, “Finished?”

“I think that’s my line for you,” Perian teased. “You got here after me.”

“I’m done.”

There was still some food on his plate, but he’d made his way through most of it, and Perian had, admittedly, spent quite a while running his mouth.

“Does that mean we can go to bed?” he asked hopefully .

There was a general round of laughter.

Drawing himself up very much as though he had any dignity, Perian said, “I don’t know what you’re all assuming, but it was a long ride today, and then we jumped right back into the castle life. We’re tired .”

Depending on how well those around them knew them, there were louder or softer exclamations of disbelief, probably not helped along by how big Perian’s smile was.

Brannal rose to his feet. “Come along. Apparently, we need to be in bed.”

“Oh, we so do,” Perian agreed.

He was already thrumming with excitement. It had been a long time since this morning, and he’d gotten used to sex all the time.

Molun looked entirely amused. “Maybe we can visit another day?”

“Another day,” Perian agreed. “When we aren’t in our bed. Sleeping.”

“Enjoy that,” Molun said with a big grin.

“Oh, we definitely will.”

Brannal looked very amused as he steered them out of the dining hall.

“I don’t have much of a filter,” Perian said, like this was news.

Laughing, Brannal said, “I am well aware of that, dear heart. I’m almost amazed that everyone wasn’t furnished with a step-by-step guide to our weekend.”

Perian pouted. “Hey, that’s private. I just want people to know that we enjoyed ourselves, not the details. ”

Brannal reached for his hand and twined their fingers together. “I know.”

Perian curled his fingers tightly around the other man’s and relished the connection.

They couldn’t get back to their room soon enough, and once the door was closed, Brannal drawled, “Exhausted, are you?”

Perian gave his best fake yawn. “So tired. I think I’d better head right to bed. What do you think?”

“It’s been a long day,” Brannal agreed archly.

Perian tugged off his coat and draped it over the nearest chair. Then he started on his vest. He agreed, “Sooo long.”

Brannal arched an eyebrow. “And I seem to remember something being said about comparing this bed to the one at the inn.”

Perian flung off his vest and yanked his shirt over his head as he headed into the bedroom.

He kicked off his boots with a little awkwardness, shucked his trousers, and by the time he made it to the bed, he was naked.

He tugged the tie out of his hair, tossing it to the floor somewhere, and then crawled on top of the bed and flopped dramatically to his back and spread out across it, reaching arms and legs out to cover as much space as possible.

Brannal took a little longer, but Perian was still impressed with the speed with which he got naked given all layers to his uniform and the number of weapons he carried.

Raising an eyebrow, Brannal asked, “Is there any room on that bed for me?”

Perian shook his head. “Not even a little. I guess you’re going to have to climb on top of me.”

“I thought I was supposed to be testing how comfortable the bed was?”

“From its position underneath me.”

Brannal’s lips quirked up. “I see.”

He obediently crawled onto the bed and straddled Perian’s supine body.

He stretched out to his full length and settled down, his larger, perfectly muscled body completely covering Perian’s, bringing their cocks into very delicious alignment.

Perian sighed, enjoying the pure pleasure of skin-on-skin once more, heat radiating between them.

He reached up and tugged out the tie in Brannal’s hair, running his fingers through the dark strands, the round gender beads catching the light from the lamp beside the bed. Brannal leaned into the touch.

“I missed you,” Brannal admitted, sounding a bit sheepish.

Perian beamed. “I missed you, too, even though I felt a bit silly. But I guess I really got used to being with you all the time.” Realizing how that might sound, he hastened to add, “I know that’s not possible here, but it was really nice, at least for a few days.

I’m sure we’ll get used to how everything works here again. ”

Brannal leaned in to kiss Perian softly. “I’m glad you enjoyed our holiday.”

“So much,” Perian assured him.

Brannal kissed him again, and Perian melted into it.

They spent long, languorous moments kissing and kissing, their bodies pressed as close together as it was possible to get—or almost. Brannal prepped Perian carefully, and when he pressed slowly inside, it was exactly what Perian wanted.

They both sighed with contentment once Brannal was buried deep.

Objectively, they’d had sex this morning, but it somehow felt like it had been ages and ages .

Brannal’s thrusts were slow and careful, a tease that was meant to excite Perian but not bring him to completion.

He reveled in the movement, the slowly building pleasure and languid kisses, until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Clutching at sweaty skin, he begged Brannal to move faster.

Brannal obeyed, increasing his tempo until the pleasure cascaded through Perian, bright and uncontrollable, and they both came, Brannal inside him, and Perian all over himself as they gasped into one another’s mouths, half-kissing and half-panting.

After a moment, Brannal slipped out and settled to the side so he wasn’t crushing Perian—though Perian would have happily taken his weight. He liked the feeling that they were attached and connected… and maybe wouldn’t ever be parted. It wasn’t precisely realistic, but it was a lovely feeling.

Brannal used a corner of the sheet to clean them up a bit, then pulled Perian into his arms, spooning around him. Perian let out a contented sigh and snuggled in happily. Here they were back in the castle, and while it wasn’t the same as their holiday, it was still pretty amazing.

One of Brannal’s hands had come to rest over the necklace he’d given Perian. Perian wasn’t ever going to take it off.

“I love you,” Perian whispered.

Brannal pressed a kiss to the soft skin behind Perian’s ear, making him shiver.

“I love you, too. Goodnight, Perian.”

“’Night.”

In the morning, they woke one another with hand jobs, then managed to get cleaned up in the water closet without wasting too much time.

Perian decided to wear the green glass beads that he’d been wearing when Brannal had rescued him.

They would always make him think of the man.

Brannal smiled when he saw them and kissed Perian on his temple on the way by, even as he continued to get ready.

Once they dressed, they had breakfast at the sitting room table, everything set out for them just like it always was, and Brannal poured the tea. They weren’t terribly talkative this morning, but it was cozy and companionable, and Perian basked in it.

It wasn’t until they finished eating that Brannal surprised him.

“I’m going to what ?” Perian screeched.

“See the Queen this morning. She wishes to speak with you concerning Renny.”

Perian narrowed his eyes. “You found this out last night.”

Brannal nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me last night!” Perian demanded.

“So you could get this worked up yesterday, last night, and this morning?” Brannal asked sardonically.

That was… an annoyingly accurate representation of what would probably have happened.

“Is it too late to move away?” Perian asked. “Maybe I could join a traveling fair.”

Brannal laughed. “It’s definitely too late. Now come along; you don’t want to be late.”

Perian jumped to his feet. He definitely didn’t want to be late to see the Queen. Brannal was now the one rising more slowly, and Perian practically pushed him out the door.

“We’re going to be there in plenty of time,” Brannal assured him.

“You’re not the one she wanted to see,” Perian protested. “Come on.”

Brannal was, in fact, the one who knew when Perian was supposed to be there—and where he was actually supposed to be meeting the Queen, but Perian wouldn’t let a little thing like logic get in the way of his sense of urgency and panic.

They made their way to the royal wing, Brannal now leading him without hesitation back to what Perian was pretty sure was the same office that he’d seen the Queen in last time. Brannal’s left hand pressed to Perian’s back in a soothing gesture that Perian tried not to collapse into.

Brannal knocked on the door and opened it when he was bid to enter.