Page 27 of Winds of Destiny

Kai

I wake up the next morning to Turo shaking my shoulder roughly. Gone is the man who rested so sweetly against me last night. The person I see when I open my eyes is as grim-faced as ever, and it doesn’t take long for me to see why.

The sky is thick with dark, low-hanging clouds. With no wind to move them along, normally, you can see a storm coming for days before it finally reaches you. This time it appeared overnight, which is almost unheard of.

“It’s going to rain,” he says.

“Fuck,” I mutter as I get to my feet. Rain will turn the ground into a soggy mess that will slow our run to a crawl in no time. “We have to move.”

“The rams are ready.” Sure enough, when I get up, I see that he’s not only packed all our equipment except the blanket I was wrapped in, but he’s even saddled the beasts.

Part of me wants to inspect his wound and make sure he didn’t open it up, but there’s no time. I’m going to have to trust that Turo is all right and set my sights on getting as far as we can today.

“Let’s go.”

We ride over half the day in a light mist, walking when we have to rest the animals but otherwise keeping a blistering pace until…

Splat.

The first drop hits my saddle horn, then rolls down the side of it to disappear into my ram’s thick coat. I hear other drops hitting the grass, a shushing sound that would be soothing under other circumstances. Right now, it just makes me feel desperate. Turo, too, if the way he urges his ram forward is any indication.

We push on for another five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. Finally, though, with grass springing upright all around us as the parched stalks soak up the fresh water, we have to rest the rams—their hooves are caked in muck. Turo stares fiercely at the drizzle, drops soaking into his hair and dripping from the tip of his nose and chin, and he doesn’t move. He turns his head right, then left. Then—

“ Fuck! ” He hits his leg with his fist, hard. “They’re going to outpace us now, if they haven’t already.”

There’s nothing I can say to make this moment easier. I haven’t lost hope, though. “We need to keep going.” We have the pearls, we have the rams, we have the favor of our gods. That’s reason enough to keep the faith.

“Where?” Turo shouts, turning angry eyes on me. “ Where are we going to go? We can’t even make out the direction of the sun in this mess. What if we end up riding in circles? What if we lose our way entirely?”

“We won’t,” I say, but he’s in no mood for placation.

“ You don’t know that! ”

“We can’t stay here !” I shout back, finally losing my temper. I’m tired, I’m sore, and I’m just as fucking furious and afraid as he is, but it’s not like both of us can afford to lose our minds right now. “We know the course they were on, and that’s the best we’re going to do right now, so we stick to it.”

Turo stares at me, but I can tell he’s not really seeing me. Whatever he sees, it’s enough to make his head drop after a few seconds, all the fight leaving him just as quickly as it built up. It’s like watching a sheet of ice break away from the side of the mountain, all noise and fury at first—and then, seconds later, nothing remains of it at all.

I reach out and take the reins, and he lets me. He’s slumped so far over I’m half afraid he’ll fall off. “You better not,” I mutter as I start us moving again.

I go until the air becomes hazy with darkness, then finally stop to make camp. One nice thing about the grass getting springier is that it’s going to make a pleasant cushion while we sleep for once. I don’t think I’ll be mentioning that benefit to Turo, though.

I put up the single tent I salvaged from the wreck of the wagon for us, then drape each ram in a heavy oilcloth. They seem utterly unperturbed by the rain, munching away on grass with the steadiness of their less-impressive kin. Finally, I drag our food into the tent, then Turo. He’s no help at all as I wrangle him out of his wet, freezing clothes and wrap him in a blanket; he doesn’t even seem to notice I’m there. It’s like the fugue state he went into when this entire fucking mess started, and I’m not going to let him go back to that point.

I pull a small knife from a little sheath on my belt, one of the practical, single-edged blades that I carry for things other than fighting, and use it to cut several handfuls of tamped-down grass. I wind them in a tight circle, as I learned to from Turo himself on this trip, then set the coil down by the entrance to the tent.

I close my eyes, then focus on the metal in my hand for a moment, and flame erupts along the edge of the blade. I stab it into the grass and wait for the damp stalks to catch. They finally do, and, thanks to the tightness of the coil and the thickness of their fibers, they burn slowly, filling the tent with steady warmth. Better.

I take some of our rations out of my pack and hand the first serving over to Turo. He eats mechanically, like he barely tastes the smoked fish and travel bread. I make sure he finishes what I give him before eating myself.

The light goes dim, and I know it’s time to sleep, but I look around the tent instead, suddenly frantic for something else to do. I’m not ready to sleep, I’m not ready to dream. I’m not ready to stop moving and working and holding it together.

A cold hand reaches out to grip my forearm. I glance up, and there’s just enough sunlight left for me to see Turo looking at me with a concerned expression on his face. “Are you all right?” he asks.

The fucking gall of this bastard. I open my mouth to shout at him, to snap, to have my moment of pitching a fit, and instead what comes out is, “No, I’m really not.” I’m cold and I’m wet and it’s a lot easier to have faith when I feel like I’m doing something for us instead of being useless .

I don’t think I’ve said the last part out loud, but he seems to hear it anyway. He pulls at me, trying to draw me close to him. I finally let him.

This might be the first time we’ve reached for each other willingly and for the same reason. Turo has always been such a mystery to me, either hiding what he feels or making such a show of it that it’s hard to detect any nuance. At this moment, though, in my heart, I know that for once we’re exactly the same. We’re fighting for hope, we’re fighting for the man we love, we’re fighting to stay strong, and the only person either of us has to rely on is the other.

I’m suddenly, fiercely glad that Turo is here with me. I can’t imagine trying to do this without him. If the way he squeezes me back is any indicator, he’s happy to be here with me as well. It’s good. Peaceful. Warm and affectionate, almost…

I clear my throat and pull back. I’m not quite ready to have those sorts of thoughts about Turo when Camrael isn’t here. “Let me get out of these wet clothes so we can sleep without me giving you a chill.”

I don’t say anything about tomorrow, mostly because I have no idea what to say about it, but Turo just nods. He takes his hands off me long enough for me to strip down to my skin, then pulls me in close again. We lie down together, curled in close the way we have for nearly two weeks now, and I’m finally comfortable. Wearing nothing but our pearls, we drift off to the sound of rain pattering against the tent.

Ugh, why is it so cold ?

The voice wakes me up out of a surprisingly sound sleep. “It’s not cold,” I mutter. On the contrary, I’m nice and warm with Turo as a blanket. “G’back to sleep, Camrael.”

Ophiucas be praised, can you actually hear me? Oh, this is the first time since—Turo must have found the pearl, the two of you are together and—Kai! Focus on the feeling you get from the pearls!

“Why?” I’m starting to wake up more now, and realizing that I must be dreaming of Camrael is depressing. “Fuck.”

“What?” Turo mumbles against my chest.

“Nothing, I just—”

I swear to every god , if the two of you don’t listen to me, I will blow you both off your feet when I see you next!

Turo’s eyes go wide. “Wha—is that—”

“You can hear him, too?” This isn’t just some strange dream brought on by longing?

“Cam?” Turo closes his eyes again, then wraps his hand around his pearl. “Cam?” he whispers.

Yes! You figured it out! I’ve been kicking myself for not telling you what these pearls are meant to do, I’m such a— But you’ve done it now, you’re both amazing.

“You’re getting fainter,” I say, desperate to reconnect. “I can’t—”

Turo wraps my hand around my own violet pearl, and it’s as if a stone wall separating us has suddenly been removed. “Camrael?”

Kai. Eleas. Where did you even get that name? Kai is nothing like Eleas! My dear husband, and wow, do you have some explaining to do. He laughs. It sounds slightly hysterical, but I probably sound the same. Listen quickly, you two. We’ll likely only communicate this clearly when we’re asleep, or nearly so. The more you wake up, the harder it will be. It’s all right, though. You can still find me with the pearls — just hold them and think of me. You’ll be drawn in my direction.

“Why didn’t I know they do this?” Turo asks.

It’s rarely something the priests speak about. So few people leave Zephyth, why would you have to find someone? It— He says something else, but I can’t hear it. Turo nods, though.

“We will. We followed you into the Plains, we’ll—Cam, wait—”

—easier if you got closer , if you know what I mean. There’s another laugh. Kai, you should turn his world on its head like you di—mi—

Turo groans. “Now isn’t the time!”

It’s always a good time t—uck—shou—oops ! His patchy mental voice vanishes.

“ Camrael! You—” Abruptly, Turo opens his eyes and groans with exasperation. “What a child he can be.”

“What did he say?” I’m holding onto my pearl pendant so tight it’s about to dig a hole in my skin, but I can’t hear anything at all. It… Somehow, it feels like Camrael is still here, though. As though when I turn my head left, I’ll be able to see him standing nearby.

“He said that we can use these to track him.”

“No, I got that part. What else did he say?” I think I know, but I want him to confirm it.

Is Turo…blushing? It’s hard to tell inside the tent, but that looks like heat in his cheeks. “He…recommended doing something that might strengthen our ability to focus on him.”

I nod. “That sounds promising. What is it?”

“It—” He stalls out and stares at me for a moment, then reaches out, grabs my face, and pulls me into a kiss.

It’s like being flooded with lust, it comes on so quickly. It’s almost overwhelming. I want this desperately, but I have to know. “Is this what Camrael’s feeling?” I ask as I rip my mouth away from Turo’s. “Or is it you?”

Turo swallows hard. “It’s me. It’s both of us. I just needed to admit it to myself. If you don’t feel the same, though, we’ll make do with the connection we have.”

The desire for him that I’ve kept so carefully guarded inside of my chest, stitched to the feelings that have been growing and growing, all merge together into action. I kiss him, rolling us so that I’m on top and can hold him exactly where I want him. He feels so good with all his warm, bare skin pressed to mine. I can finally let myself feel all of him without trying to divert or shunt my emotions away. I’m so hard already that it feels like I could come in seconds if I let myself.

“Mmmfuck, this is terrible,” Turo moans.

“Liar,” I say before biting his lip and sucking it into my mouth. He digs his fingers into my hair and pulls my head back, returning the favor by sinking his teeth into my neck. Shit, shit, I am absolutely going to come if he doesn’t stop that, fuck .

“Not that kind of terrible,” he says. “Just—we have nothing, no supplies, no—and I’m not going to let you work that beast into me without plenty of oil, so don’t even think it.” He reaches down and wraps his fingers around my cock, and I hiss with pleasure at the sensation. “I can’t even get my whole hand around you. How did Cam take you night after night?”

“He’s very determined,” I point out, gently rocking my hips into his grip. He tightens his fingers right at the head, and I’m leaking enough that the slide against his calloused hand is smooth. “Oh, fuck…”

“You’re easy to please, aren’t you?” Turo grins at me. “Just a touch and you’re ready to burst.”

“I’ve been—resisting you for days and now you—mock me—” He’s not wrong, though. I am ready to come. I want to paint his body with my release, then suck it off his skin before I go down on him.

“Is that what you want?”

Did he…see what I thought? Sense it somehow?

Turo laughs. “I can read your face, Kai. Go on, then.” He tightens his grip and strokes me faster. “Come on me.”

No sooner do the words cross his lips than I do just that, coming hard enough that I mark Turo all the way up to his neck with my spend. It feels so good—straightforward pleasure made into something incredible by the man I’m sharing it with. I thought there was no chance I would have this with Turo, especially if Camrael wasn’t with us. But he’s touching me eagerly, teasing me and loving me. I’m blessed to have him like this.

Now I’m going to have him another way.

I’m on the verge of becoming oversensitive, so I gently push his hand away before sliding back and spreading his legs wide enough to fit my shoulders between them. His breath hitches in realization a second before I suck his cock into my mouth. He slides, hard and hot, all the way to the back of my throat. It doesn’t take much for me to tempt Turo into thrusting, and once he does…

Fuck, yes. I love this part. I love giving, love pounding into a tight hole—any hole my partner will offer—but every so often, I love to take it, too. The right man, the right cock, and it takes me to a place where I don’t have to think about anything but giving pleasure. That’s where I am with Turo; all I need is to let him use me like I crave, to be good enough to make him come, to—

“ Fuck! ” Turo shoots down my throat a second later, holding my head still with his clean hand while he does. I’ve got just enough space to get a trickle of air.

I want him to choke me next time.

Turo pulls me off, then up. A second later, we’re kissing, tongues dancing, pressing our bare bodies against each other with no regard for staying clean but every desire to get close. We kiss until I hear one of the rams outside snort irritably—is that Carnuatu telling us to get on with it already? Or just a big, grumpy beast who wants to find a new place to graze?

Either way, we’ve got to get moving.

I kiss Turo one last time, then pull back. “So,” I say, stroking over his pearl with one finger. “Shall we go find our prince, then?”

Turo smiles sharply. “Damn right we will.”