STORY EXCERPT

After the meal, when Tatsu took the first shift to search—despite Dravick's insistence that none of the warriors needed such a thing anymore—Dravick damn near dragged his feet to his rooms. He wanted a hot bath, a long, leisurely fuck, and his bed.

More than that, he wanted Aaron.

If he could not leave his nest and search as well, like a real man should for a friend, then at the very least he could take his mind off of his troubles with a warm body.

He already knew that Aaron would be waiting for him inside of Dravick's room before he inserted his key and opened the door.

Aaron had his own key, after all.

Dravick's heart melted at the sight of the man. It was not a good way of putting it, but it was the only word he could use to describe the sensation, and even that was nowhere near powerful enough to convey how he felt.

Aaron always knew when Dravick was upset, or when he was needed. The man had an uncanny ability to foresee Dravick's wants and needs, and he met them seemingly with ease.

“You're here,” Dravick said, smiling and closing the door, quickly, so that no one would see Aaron if they happened to be walking by.

That was unlikely. Aaron was careful whenever he arrived, and as a servant, if anyone did happen to catch him coming and going into Dravick's room, then it would be assumed that he was there to clean up after a messy, spoiled king.

Should anyone think anything other than that, then it was the story Dravick decided he would be telling.

Also, Aaron was standing far enough away from the door that anyone walking by would have to stick their head inside of Dravick's room in order to see him.

That would never happen.

Aaron shifted from one foot to the other. His shoes were small, thin and old leather. The man had once complained to him that his work required him to stand for long periods of time, which hurt his feet.

Dravick still had the new leather boots he'd purchased for Aaron in his chest at the foot of his bed. He'd been unable to give them to Aaron because of the last time they had parted ways.

It hadn't been so long ago when Aaron had attempted to walk away, but unable to stay away, had also returned.

Also, it did not seem correct to be giving gifts when one of Dravick's warriors was missing.

Dravick would save the shoes for later. A special occasion.

“You looked...I'm not sure, but I thought perhaps you might need someone here for you. I wanted to be the one.”

Aaron's back straightened ever so slightly when those words left his mouth. His eyes bore into Dravick's, almost like a challenge.

Dravick couldn't help but smile as he stepped forward. “Were you fearful I would choose someone else to come to me?”

Aaron tensed, and he shook his head.

“Be honest,” Dravick said, so close now that the heat of Aaron's body flushed against his own, and he could see the reflection of himself in those deep blue eyes.

He loved these blue eyes. So much that his heart ached at the sight of them every morning at the breakfast table, knowing he had not seen them that morning in his bed.

Aaron turned his eyes away quickly. “I...I did worry,” he said, nodding finally. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. He barely glanced up at Dravick, though his shy nature, coming out now the way it was, did warm Dravick's heart.

The man was simply...cute? Why was there no masculine word for that? Was it because it was not a masculine word? That needed to change.

“I know that we haven't touched each other since the last time I came here, and that we've not set down any rules for each other.”

“Nor do we need any,” Dravick said, body clenching at the thought.

Aaron's eyes turned up to him quickly, and the hope that was there nearly crushed him because Dravick had to clarify his meaning. “When you are in these rooms with me, you need no rules. You are mine, and if you want to come to my bed, then I will welcome it.”

The hope was gone, but now it had been replaced with with the quickly stuttering pulse at the man's neck, and clear lust. Dravick could see it in the way Aaron's bit his lips together, wetting them in that way that he did, and the way his eyes never left Dravick's.

Aaron reached his hands up, hesitated, and then put them on the back of Dravick's neck. “I want to be here for you. If you're hurting, and you want me, then I'm here for you.”

But Dravick was tired of people being there for him. He was tired of being cared for as though he was made of glass. He was a king, dammit! and he was as able bodied as any of his warriors. He trained and sparred with them, like any king should, but was forbidden from fighting alongside of them, or for searching for a friend with them, because of his status. A Status he didn't even much like, especially because it meant he could not keep the one person he wanted more than all of the fine possessions in his life.

He said none of those things. He would never say them to Aaron. This was Dravick's burden to bear, and if Aaron wanted to should some of that in the best way he knew how, then who was Dravick to deny him?

He leaned down and covered Aaron's mouth with his, warms lips coming together, mouths immediately opening, and Dravick was the first to release a soft moan as he was finally given the one thing he needed after so much of this.

The man he loved was in his arms, and at least for tonight, Dravick could pretend that he was not a king.

ADULT EXCERPT

The heat of the bath was nothing compared to the heat from Aaron's body.

“Dravick, what are you doing?” Aaron asked. His body was tensing up again, like a frightened animal being caged in.

“I want you like this today,” Dravick said. He didn't elaborate, but he wanted the man just as he was because he was tired of taking him on his hands and knees, from behind. It wasn't always like that, but rarely where they in such a plain position as to require face to face time. And at the moment, it was exactly what Dravick wanted more than anything else in the whole world.

The color in Aaron's face and neck didn't seem to fade, but his face softened. A good indication that he was pleased with the thought of being in this new position.

“All right,” he said. “You can have me then.”

“I think I need to prepare you first,” Dravick said, his hands starting to roam as he slid them down Aaron's body, along each small curve of muscle and hip. Nothing like that of a woman, but he enjoyed the form of a man, this man.

“I already did it,” Aaron said softly.

Dravick's hands ceased their roaming, and he turned his eyes up to Aaron before he sighed. “I...Thank God,” he said, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Aaron's mouth before either of them could question what it was that had nearly left his mouth instead.

“Mmmm,” Aaron said, melting into that kiss, his arms coming out of the warm water and curling around Dravick's shoulders. Drops that chilled quickly tickled as they trailed down his spine, but he could only focus on Aaron's lips, soft, pliant. There wasn't much of a scratch from any incoming beard stubble either.

Aaron was fair skinned, and though he did have facial hair, which Dravick adored, it took a long time for it to grow in, and it was so incredibly fine that sometimes it was difficult for Dravick to notice it at all.

Unless they were kissing. The scratch was starting to come in, and Dravick kissed the man harder, wanting to feel more of it, needing to feel more.

Though Aaron said he'd already taken care of the preparations, he couldn't help but reach his hand down anyway and have a feel for himself. Two fingers pressed around the rim of Aaron's asshole, his rosebud that Dravick also had a high amount of affection for, and it was indeed ready for him.

Dravick pushed his fingers in and out in quick succession anyway, giving the impression that he wanted to tease, instead of simply checking for himself that the man beneath him had done an adequate job of getting ready for the main event.

Everything Aaron did was always more than adequate. He never did anything that was less than perfection, at least where his chores were concerned regarding Dravick.

Dravick reached down for his cock, taking himself by the base and needing to break off their kiss for only a moment to do the rest.

“Hurry, hurry,” Aaron said, his oil slick hands sliding across Dravick's chest, fingers pinching his nipples before soothing away the hurt.

The pain and the pleasure of that brought a moan from Dravick's throat, and almost made him forget about what he should be doing in this moment.

“I've got it,” Dravick said, batting away Aaron's teasing hands. “Distracting pest.”

“You love when I distract you, now hurry up and distract me.”

Dravick gave Aaron a hard look. “Commanding your kind now, are we?”

Aaron tensed beneath him, his hands flinching back.

It seemed they were still not in good enough standing with each other for those sorts of jokes to be made. Dravick very quickly leaned in and pressed his mouth to Aaron's, and when he pulled back, it was barely enough to give his mouth room to move. Their noses continued to touch, even.

“How do you know I always love when you do that?”

Aaron blinked, then smiled.

Dravick pressed the head of his dick against Aaron's too tight hole.

Aaron hissed and arched his back. “That's what I want,” he said, raising his knees.

Dravick wasn't even inside of him yet. He had to put his other hand beneath the water and press it against Aaron's asshole, pushing one finger inside of his pucker and using it to lever the bulb of his cock inside of Aaron's hole.

Some men were able to take it easily, but those were also the sorts who claimed to enjoy fisting from time to time, and Dravick could never understand the appeal.

Also, he enjoyed that his lover was still tight for him. Whenever they did this, Aaron was always tight.

Dravick had brought up the suggestion of using his entire first once, just as a test, and he'd been pleased by Aaron's horrified expression.

With the use of his finger, the swollen head of his dick popped through, and Dravick quickly pulled his finger back. A little too quickly it seemed because the man hissed and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

“Are you hurt?” Dravick asked, his fists grabbing onto the edges of the marble tub. He stared down at Aaron, the man he loved, and though it nearly killed him to have to do it, he didn't push forward. He waited while every muscle in his body trembled and shook with the effort of holding still.

“I'm...I'm fine,” Aaron said, blowing out a sigh between his words. “You can move now.”

Dravick could still feel the man's body, as tense as ever, beneath his. He would wait.

“Don't ask me to fuck you when it would hurt you,” Dravick said. “King or no king, I would never command that of you.”

Aaron managed to get his eyes open, and then his lips spread apart in a wide smile, showing off bright white teeth. He nodded. “All right. But you'd best remember that.”

“You think I won't?”

“One day, maybe. You might be so desperate for a quick fuck that it'll damn near kill you to hold still.”