STORY EXCERPT

I wanted him to stay. As soon as he left, a chill seeped back into me. Did he not want me? If not, why had he taken the trouble to rescue me like that? He had felt right beside me. My heart fell, unaccountably. I had not talked to him long enough for an attachment to form, or so I would have thought, but there it was. When he left my side, the day darkened and cooled for me, noticeably. I walked over and joined Glare, missing the man whose name I had not even learned. Why did I not get his name? I felt like a fool, inwardly smacking myself.

I did not see him again that day. I had expected to be able to spot him again, easily, given his appearance, but I did not. Did he leave? How could he have left already? Does he not like the look of any of us? What is wrong with us? I did not see him again the next day, nor the one after that. My stomach felt like a stone in my body, heavy and uncomfortable.

On the morning of the fourth day, I caught sight of him in the slightly thinner crowds. A very few of the men had left of their own volition by that point, after talking to all three of us. Some had been sent away by the guards on the direction of the king. But he was there again. My heart leapt in my chest. I had only been in his presence for a few moments, but I had been so drawn to him. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t tower over me the way most of the others did, and his presence had inspired peace in me rather than the desire to run because I felt overwhelmed. Just the sight of him calmed me.

I could not just abandon the man I was currently talking to, though I had already forgotten his name. A tingle of excitement fluttered in my chest the moment I felt his eyes settle on me. I excused myself as quickly as I could and tried to find him again, but it took me some time. I kept catching sight of him, but by the time I had got to where he had been, he had moved on.

Finally, after I had been having a few words with Korin and a nice looking man called Nerowis who Korin had been keeping close for several days now, he approached me as I stepped away.

“Greetings again, my Prince.” His voice sent a shiver of awareness through me, and I had to stop myself from grinning at him like a simpleton. His prince. Yes please!

“Belden, please,” I responded quickly, not about to let this second chance slide me by. “And your name is? I didn’t catch it last time.”

“I am Barli.” His resigned expression as he gave me his name startled a small laugh from me. I looked him over in amusement. His body appeared slender, though a little bigger than I should be if I weighed as much as my frame suggested—and a lot bigger than I was at the moment—but unmistakably male. His features were delicate and almost ethereally beautiful. He had masses of curly and wavy, pale blond hair, nearly as pale as Glare’s. His voice was mid-range and could possibly be taken for a low-voiced woman’s. All in all, if you put him in female clothing, along with his female name, you would be hard-pressed to think that he was indeed a man. He would look to all the world like a very beautiful young woman. I could understand his irritation with his name.

In male clothing, though, he was all man. A strange heat spread through me as I looked him over. His limbs were long and slim, though he did not appear weak. I found it difficult not to stare at the distinct bulge at the junction of his thighs, and had to drag my eyes away. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking at me, at that exact moment, and missed the blush which stained my cheeks and where I had been looking. I wanted his attention back on me though.

“Will you walk with me, Barli?” I asked him.

“Of course, my Prince.”

“Belden,” I reminded him. I wanted to hear him say my name, though I did rather like the sound of being his prince.

“Belden.” Oh yes, I liked that, too. The way his lips moved as he said it, and the sound of my name on his tongue.

“Where are you from, Barli?”

“I am originally from Persandin, but I have been travelling for a long time now. I recently bought a house here in Nilan’tori and intend to settle here.”

“Oh?” I enquired. He offered his arm, which I took, and we began making our way around the courtyard. Lunch was not far off and I was determined to keep him with me this time. I was not quite sure why I felt so possessive of him, but something told me that he was mine, or rather, that I was his.

“I wanted to see more of our country.”

“Ah, yes. I travelled with my brothers for two years, between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. The king wanted us to see the land and the people we would be in charge of one day.”

“A good idea. And what did you think of it all?”

I laughed. “There was an awful lot of it, and that could take some time.”

“I have time.” A husky note in his voice sent a delightful shiver through me. We had paused in our walk to wait for some people to move, and I glanced at him. Barli looked back at me and our gazes locked for a moment, heat spearing me. My cock began to fill under my leathers. I felt glad for how tightly fitting they were, which might hide my state. I had to tear my eyes away, my cheeks burning again. The people we had been waiting for had already moved without us noticing. How long were we looking at each other? Barli cleared his throat, and we resumed our walk.

ADULT EXCERPT

My body was tight with need, my muscles taut while my insides felt heavy and hot, liquid. Barli lifted my upper leg, grabbing one of my hands and making me hold my leg up in the air with my knee bent.

“Don’t let go,” he ordered.

I won’t. I could not quite see what he was doing, but he fiddled with something for a moment before reaching back to the nightstand. Then his fingers were at the crease of my ass, and they were slick with oil. That must be what was in the flask. The sensation of his fingers sliding against that most intimate part of me, slippery from the oil, was incredible. I moaned, wanting badly to push back and impale myself on those questing fingers, but only moments ago he had told me not to move in that way. I had to contain the urge to move, though I felt desperate to. Being made to stay still heightened my awareness of every feeling in my body.

Unlike either of our other times together, he teased my entrance for a while. Edging just the tip of a finger inside me, he went no farther than the first knuckle then dipped it out and back in again, over and over. Right when I thought I would snap and force myself backward so I could take him in deeper, he slid gently in, curving his finger until he hit the spot inside me, which made me see stars. He rubbed over it once then ignored it, stimulating the sensitive skin around my pucker as he slid the finger back and forth, loosening me up.

My hand clenched at my leg. I had to hold it still. My cock pulsed, dripping pre-cum, and I swear my balls rolled in their sac. I bit my lip, trying to hold back another moan. Barli licked at the corner of my mouth to get me to release my lip, and as I did, the noise I held back escaped me.

“That’s it. Let me hear what I do to you.”

He sounded like he owned me.I guess he does. My body responded without conscious thought from me, with a high whimper when he added a second finger. He went so slowly that there was no burn. I ached for the burn, that spark of pain. I wanted it, but he continued to go slowly, endlessly frustrating me. His mouth came back to mine, and he ran the tip of his tongue along my bottom lip before delving inside. His kiss was soft, drugging, and had me floating so high that I struggled to remember to keep a hold of my leg.

After Barli had stretched me with three fingers, he withdrew them and positioned his cock against me. He pushed forward in such tiny increments that I shook with need by the time the head of his cock popped through the ring of muscle.

My hole clenched around him, trying to pull him in, but he paused and waited for me to relax again before beginning to thrust gently. So gently. It took aeons for him to fill me, and then aeons more for him to pull out. The flex of his hips, the push and pull of him inside me, and his lips and tongue on mine, became my whole world and I felt as though I flew.

Barli, Barli, Barli. His name kept repeating in my head.

He seemed determined to drive me out of my mind, keeping up the slow thrusting and refusing to speed up even when I began to beg around his kisses.

“Please, Barli, please. I need to come. Please. Harder. I need you…need it harder. Gods, please.” But he did not reply in words, and kept up his maddeningly slow pace.

Though the speed of his thrusts did not get any faster, he slid a hand around my body and up my chest to pluck at my nipples again. They were tender and tight from before, and pleasurable sparks of not-quite-pain shot through me. I had to move. I angled my ass back into his thrusts as much as I could, given my position.

Barli bit my shoulder in retaliation. Then he suckled on the spot, sure to bring up a mark that would bruise by tomorrow. The thought of wearing his marks under my clothes where no one would be able to see turned me on even more.

“I told you…not to…do that.” His breath was hitching now, and I knew he would not be able to last much longer.

He shook his head, flipping his hair back, and his hands tightened on my body. More bruises. Yes. Feels so good. The urge to rebel, to test him, had me pushing back into him again, and this time he growled as he bit my shoulder and pinched my nipple sharply. My head fell back. I was almost there. So close.