Page 43 of The Missing Sentinel

“Teleport out from under it and find somewhere else to rest. Perhaps in your bed. It is far closer to the bottom of the castle than my own.”

“So, the lone thing you like about my bedroom is its location.”

“Do not be ridiculous.”

Laughing at the consternation on Drexley’s handsome face, Ducarius could not resist teasing him. “Tell me why you think my bed would be a suitable destination for you when your room crumbles away.”

“That should be obvious. You are in it.”

“Yet I have slept alone since my arrival.”

“You are the one who kisses me senseless then scurries off to bed alone every night.”

“I want neither of us rushed into anything.”

“Your patience may be the most annoying aspect of your personality.”

Ducarius chuckled again. “Do not worry, the longer we are acquainted, the more you may find to dislike.”

“I doubt that,” Drexley insisted and sealed his words with a firm kiss. “I like most of what I have learned about you since we met. Some of it does not yet feel like reality, but I suppose that is understandable given that you are so far from home and I cannot meet your family or gain any insight into your role as a Skeleton Lord.”

“I want you to sleep well tonight, Drexley, so let’s avoid discussing the future. It stresses you, and you have far too much to worry about right now. We will focus on my family, the Council, and everything else that awaits us, but not until we must. For now, I would prefer to hear you complain about how much you yearn to see me naked.”

“Each night my imagination flourishes with ideas of what awaits me beneath your uniform.”

“Do not allow your expectations to grow too high. I do not want you disappointed when we go to bed together.”

“Ducarius, how long are you going to make me wait?”

Ducarius was reassured that Drexley was as desperate for him as he was for the other sentinel, so there was nothing but Ducarius’s fear of disappointing his mate keeping them apart.

“What if I cannot satisfy you?” Ducarius asked softly.

“What if it is me who fails to please you?”

“It makes me feel better to know you are scared too.”

“I have scant knowledge about what happens between two men. All I have is the urging of my hormones and a desire to experience everything with you.”

Ducarius brushed his thumb across Drexley’s cheek and kissed him gently. “Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow, you have an invitation to join me in my bedroom if you want it.”

“I would be delighted to accept your invitation. If you are interested, I am happy to remove my clothes immediately after my arrival.”

“Drexley, my dick is jammed into your hip, and the last thing I want to do is come in my pants, so stop painting me a picture of what awaits me.”

The other sentinel chuckled almost demonically and used his teeth to nibble Ducarius’s jaw. “It is probably not good of me, but I think teasing you may suit me.”

“Then be prepared to hear me outwardly complain while I glow inside at your temerity.”

“Recently I have wished that we had the chance to meet Fate herself. I should like to thank her for bringing you here to me. If I had known I would have a mate, I like to think I’d have imagined him like you.”

“You do not fool me. When I arrived, you were convinced that you had nothing in common with some crude weapon-toting sentinel.”

Drexley laughed. “I probably used those exact words. What a fool I was to assume that just because we are different we could find no accord. There are limits to what you can learn from a book and an ancient necromancer with no mate of his own.”

“Thank Fate you have an open mind and are willing to keep learning no matter the circumstance.”

“May this newfound skill aid me in the days ahead.”