Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
E van jerked at the sharp tug in his side as the maester removed another stitch. “Ow! And you’re quite sure I’m healed and my insides won’t come tumbling out?” he asked for the third time.
The maester made a sound suspiciously like a sigh. “Quite sure, Your Grace. The wound is completely closed.”
“If you say so,” Evan said, allowing doubt to linger in his tone. “Are we done?”
The maester pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, sir.”
Evan almost felt bad for tormenting the maester, except he hadn’t quite forgiven the man for telling Thomas that there was to be no ‘messing about’, as he termed it, until Evan’s stitches were out. Thomas had taken the physician’s orders to heart, fussing over him like a mother hen and steadfastly refusing his advances, no matter how Evan had tried to tempt him.
It had been the longest ten days of Evan’s life.
He jerked again as the maester tugged another stitch out. “Was that the last one?”
Another sigh. “No, Your Grace. Please try and stay still.”
Evan let out a dramatic sigh of his own but did as he was told. As much fun as it was teasing the maester, it would be even more fun teasing Thomas after this. Evan planned to pin him down in their bed and turn him into a sweaty, begging mess as revenge for making him wait. He was looking forward to it enormously.
When the maester had removed the last stitch, he wiped Evan’s side down with a cool liquid and stepped back, giving a nod of satisfaction. “Almost as good as new. The scar will fade in time.”
Evan slung his legs off the side of the bed and sat up in one fluid motion. “I’m very grateful,” he said, because he wasn’t a complete bastard, and the maester had taken excellent care of him.
Maester Owens gave a surprised smile. “You’re most welcome, Your Grace.”
Once he’d dressed and been assured that yes, he could indeed resume any and all activities, Evan hurried back to his bedchambers. Thomas had promised to meet him there once he’d done his morning patrol.
Warmth filled Evan’s chest, and a wide smile split his face when he opened the door to find Thomas already there, naked and propped up against the pillows. The sight of his captain—because he was Evan’s now—was still enough to give him butterflies.
He wasted no time in kicking off his boots, peeling out of his shirt and trousers, and joining Thomas on the bed, straddling him and capturing his mouth in a passionate kiss.
It had been a very long ten days.
Thomas’s hands were warm as they caressed Evan’s bare skin and Evan soaked up the touch eagerly as they kissed. Thomas’s fingertips skated over his scar and lingered there just for a moment when Evan shuddered, the new-grown skin still sensitive.
“It’s fine,” Evan murmured against his mouth. “I’m fine.”
To his credit, Thomas took him at his word—or perhaps he was just as pent up and desperate as Evan was. Either way, he grasped Evan by the hips and rolled him gently onto his back before working his way down his body in a series of slow, gentle kisses that had Evan shivering and his cock hard and leaking. Thomas licked and sucked his way across the tender skin of Evan’s belly. Then he lowered his head and took Evan’s erection in his mouth, dragging sounds out of him that Evan hadn’t known he could make.
Thomas glanced up at him from between his thighs, mouth stretched in a wicked grin around his cock, and he laid one muscled forearm over Evan’s stomach, holding him down as he swallowed his length. Heat raced through Evan’s veins and his entire world was reduced to Thomas’s mouth on his cock, hot and wet and perfect. His hips rocked as he tried to thrust up, but Thomas had him firmly pinned in place, and somehow being held down made the want thrumming through his veins sharper, more urgent.
Evan’s heart thundered in his chest and heat pooled in his belly, and when Thomas ran his tongue around the head of Evan’s cock, teasing at the slit, he threw his head back and let out a pitiful whine that he’d deny making later. He reached down and grasped Thomas’s hair and rutted up into his mouth as much as he was able, and when Thomas cradled his balls in one giant hand and gave a gentle squeeze, Evan’s world exploded.
He shuddered and gasped as he came, spilling into Thomas’s warm, willing mouth. Thomas worked him through it, swallowing around his pulsing length, and only pulled off after Evan’s cock gave one weak, final spurt and he collapsed against the mattress.
He wondered briefly what had happened to his plan of making Thomas beg, but he decided that being at his captain’s mercy was equally satisfying. He might even prefer it—some of the time.
The brush of lips against the skin of his belly had him opening his eyes and he smiled lazily down at Thomas, who seemed to be on a mission to kiss every inch of skin he could reach. “Come here,” he rasped.
Thomas pressed one last kiss to his hip before he obeyed, his erection swaying as he crawled up the bed and settled on his elbows over Evan. He grinned down at him, his face flushed, and Evan draped one arm across his shoulders and rolled Thomas over easily onto his back. Thomas let out a breathless laugh that turned into a moan when Evan ran his palm over the head of his leaking cock, spreading the slick wetness before wrapping a hand around the shaft and stroking it.
Thomas’s hips rocked and he fucked up into Evan’s grip in short, desperate strokes. Leaning in, Evan pressed their mouths together in a wet, messy kiss, swallowing all the little gasps and bitten-off moans that Thomas was making, claiming them like a prize.
It took barely any time before Thomas’s breathing became ragged, his movements sped up, and he tensed and came in hot, messy spurts that decorated his stomach and chest.
Evan gave one last stroke of Thomas’s still-twitching cock, and Thomas sagged against the mattress and let out a contented sigh. With a last gentle kiss, Evan rolled to his own side of the bed. He hissed when the sudden movement tugged at his wound, the area still fresh and tender. Thomas was instantly alert, casting him worried glances.
“It’s fine,” Evan said quickly.
Thomas made a sound that suggested he wasn’t convinced but he didn’t argue, and after a moment he lay back down. Evan let out a quiet sigh of relief. The last ten days where he’d been confined to his bed had been a torture of inactivity, and he had no intention of repeating them just because Thomas insisted on fussing over the tiniest twinge of Evan’s newly healed wound.
He sat up and stretched—carefully—and used the corner of the sheet to wipe away the sticky mess on his hand and Thomas’s belly. Then he settled back down and laid his head on Thomas’s chest, one hand tracing the lines of muscle absently and enjoying the feel of Thomas wrapping an arm around him as he floated in a daze of post-orgasmic contentment.
Just as he was drifting off, there was a polite tapping at the door. Evan decided to ignore it.
Thomas was seemingly in agreement. “Tell them to fuck off,” he grumbled.
“Fuck off!” Evan said loudly. Thomas stared at him wide-eyed, and then the corners of his mouth curved up into a smile. Evan grinned back at him. There were advantages to having a reputation for improper behaviour.
The knock came again, louder this time.
It was Thomas who called out this time. “He said fuck off!”
Evan beamed at him proudly. He rather enjoyed being a bad influence on his sensible captain.
There was a moment’s silence before a fist pounded on the door in a manner that refused to be ignored.
Evan sighed as the warm pool of contentment he’d been basking in dissolved. He threw the blankets aside and marched across the room, heedless of his nakedness. “This had better be important,” he snapped as he yanked the door open. “I’m bloody well recovering from an attempt on my life!”
“I know,” King Leopold drawled. “Why do you think we’re back?”
Oh.
Out of the corner of his eye, Evan saw Thomas freeze in open-mouthed horror. Leopold leaned against the doorframe and glanced between the two of them. “Captain,” he said pleasantly. “Good to see you.”
Thomas made a wheezing noise and yanked the sheets up to his chin.
“Oh my god, Leo.” Felix elbowed his way past the king, taking in the situation at a glance. “That’s an impressive scar, Evan. Thomas, would you like us to leave and come back in a few minutes so that you have a chance to find your trousers and the remaining few shreds of your dignity?”
“Please,” Thomas mouthed, voice barely a whisper and eyes still as wide as saucers.
Evan let out a huff. “What about my dignity?”
“Please,” Felix said. “We all know you have none. I mean, you did answer the door stark-bollocks naked.”
He had a point, not that Evan was going to admit it. Instead he said, “Why don’t we meet in your office once Thomas and I have made ourselves decent?”
Leo nodded his agreement, and Evan wasted no time bundling them out the door. Then he hurried back to the bed where Thomas was sitting with the sheets still pulled up and his face the colour of a ripe strawberry. Evan felt a pang of sympathy for him and leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I probably should have asked who that was before I opened the door.”
“That would have been a good idea, yes,” Thomas said in a strangled voice.
“Still,” Evan said brightly, “at least they didn’t turn up while you still had my cock in your mouth.”
Thomas stared at him and then burst out laughing, shaking his head. “Life is never going to be dull with you, is it?”
Hearing him say that so casually, as if it was a foregone conclusion that they’d be together—that Thomas might want that with him—had Evan’s vision turning blurry for a moment. He glanced down at the quilt and blinked rapidly to chase the unexpected emotion away. His voice was hoarse when he said, “I’ve been accused of a lot of things, but being dull isn’t one of them. Now, shall we get dressed and go and deal with the king?”
Thomas cupped Evan’s face in his hands and kissed him firmly before letting out a sigh, throwing back the blankets, and standing, looking for all the world like a man about to go into battle. “Lets.”
“ I won’t lie, I’m actually a little offended that I wasn’t the target,” Leo said with a frown. “I mean I am the most important man in the kingdom.”
“Yes, of course you are,” Evan said, propping his feet up on Leo’s desk, “but have you never heard the term the power behind the throne? It turns out that certain shadowy figures felt threatened by another shadowy figure who played the game better than they did. It’s me,” he added. “I’m the best shadowy figure.”
Felix placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “I still think you’re the most powerful man in the kingdom.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Leo said before turning his attention back to Evan. “Get your feet off my desk.”
Evan complied grudgingly.
“See?” Felix said. “So powerful.”
“I only moved them because I felt like it,” Evan said.
Thomas was sitting in the chair next to him across from the desk and Evan felt rather than heard his sigh of impatience. He didn’t blame him. They’d been taking Leo and Felix through the chain of events that had led to Evan’s identity being discovered for an hour now. Evan’s side ached, he was hungry, and he very much wanted to go back to bed, taking Thomas with him, and leave the running of the kingdom to the king.
He sat up straight and said, “Anyway, I’ve done some digging. Ned really did get a copy of the guards’ map by getting one of the kitchen boys far too tipsy and convincing him to draw the castle. That’s why it was such a woeful drawing. There was no traitor among the guards. And I’ve confirmed that Calthrope and Falsmark have been in cahoots for years, so it’s hardly surprising they conspired to get rid of me once they knew who I was.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were confined to bed. How were you possibly able to do some digging?”
Evan gave him a knowing smile. He could have explained to Leo that he had a vast network of informants and that knowledge was easily bought if you knew the right people and paid the right price, but it was better if Leo didn’t know the details. Besides, watching him try and figure it out was much more fun—and Evan had decided that he deserved some fun in his life.
Which was why the next sentence out of his mouth was, “Honestly, I hope you don’t ask your next spy how he does his job, Leo.”
Leo blinked. “What do you mean , my next spy? You’re my spy.”
“Not anymore,” Evan said. “Thomas might have killed Ned, but there’s no guarantee he didn’t tell anyone else who the Rogue is. So I’m retiring.”
“What do you mean, you’re retiring?” Leo asked.
“Stop repeating what I say and try to keep up,” Evan said. “I’m sick of playing the fool, and I’m not prepared to keep doing the things I have been doing to get information out of people.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he looked between Evan and Thomas, and then a delighted smile spread over his face. “You’re in love! You don’t want to fuck the secrets out of people anymore because you’ve fallen in love with my captain!”
Evan froze. He opened his mouth to say that Leo was being ridiculous, that he’d know if he was in love—except, would he?
Was it possible that Leo was right?
It would certainly explain the way Evan felt like he’d explode with happiness every time he saw Thomas walking towards him, and his need to spend time with Thomas even when there was no sex involved, and the sudden, inexplicable desire to take care of him. And it would definitely explain the hard, ugly knot that formed in his gut and made his stomach turn whenever he tried to imagine seducing someone who wasn’t Thomas.
The only person he wanted to seduce was Thomas.
Evan had always prided himself on seeing what other people didn’t and knowing exactly what was happening, and yet somehow he’d fallen in love with his captain and managed not to notice. He couldn’t even say exactly when it had happened, but he knew in his heart that it was true.
“You’re right,” he said wonderingly. “I’m in love. And he’s my captain.”
There was the scrape of wood on stone as Thomas pushed his chair back, scooped Evan up in his arms, and held him against his firmly muscled chest. Thomas’s lips pressed against his in a hungry, bruising kiss and when Thomas pulled back, his eyes were bright, and his smile was breathtaking. “I am your captain. And I’m in love with you too,” he said, his voice thick. He kissed Evan again.
“Really, Leo? You went about that with all the subtlety of a brick,” Felix said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What if Thomas didn’t feel the same?”
“Thomas stabbed a man in the throat ,” Leo said smugly. “If that’s not a declaration of love, I don’t know what is.”
“That is impressive,” Felix admitted. “Why haven’t you ever stabbed anyone to prove your devotion to me?”
“I changed the law so that I could marry you, sweetheart. I think that should count for something,” Leo said dryly.
Evan ignored them and cupped Thomas’s pink-tinged cheek. “I love you,” he said in case it had been unclear. Also, he liked how the words sounded coming out of his mouth.
Thomas set Evan on the ground and gazed down at him, expression serious. “It really doesn’t matter to you that I’m a penniless guard, does it?”
Evan wasn’t sure if he wanted to hold Thomas close and reassure him, or tell him to stop being so bloody ridiculous and that his status didn’t matter in the least.
In the end he just kissed Thomas on the cheek and said, “I really don’t care at all.”
A thought struck him. Maybe it wasn’t the guard part that Thomas had a problem with. Maybe it was the penniless part.
He hummed. “If being a penniless guard worries you, then obviously we have to do something about it. Leo, can you do me a favour?”
“It depends on what it is,” Leo said cautiously.
“Of course he will,” said Felix, earning a glare from his husband.
“I want you to knight Thomas for his service to the crown in saving the Duke of Ravenport from an assassination attempt.”
“Oh, in that case, of course,” Leo said.
“What?” Thomas stared at the king. “You—I— what ?”
“Good! We’ll arrange the ceremony for next week. Where would you like your estate, Sir Thomas?” Evan said brightly. This was going swimmingly.
Except, Thomas seemed less than thrilled at the idea. “Estate?” he asked faintly as he sat down heavily in the chair. “I—I can’t have an estate. I’m not qualified for an estate!”
“Of course you are. A knighthood comes with an estate, and a decent income besides. And this way, in case anybody cares—although I certainly don’t—a knight and a duke make a perfectly respectable pairing.” He paused. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been respectable before. Perhaps it’s time I tried it.”
Thomas’s throat convulsed as he swallowed and opened his mouth, but no words came out and he closed it again.
Evan hadn’t ever seen Thomas this shaken, even when he’d discovered Evan standing over a dead body that first time, and he felt a stab of unease.
Evan had never bothered to set up an estate of his own since he was always travelling, and he wasn’t inclined to make a claim now. And he doubted that Thomas had any desire to move into Evan’s rooms at the castle, any more than Evan wanted to move into the captain’s cottage. So to his mind, knighting Thomas and bestowing an estate where they could live in relative peace seemed like the perfect solution.
It just hadn’t occurred to Evan that Thomas wouldn’t want lands and a title.
But taking in his shocked expression, Evan was forced to admit that perhaps he should have broached the subject with a little more finesse.
He sighed and straddled Thomas’s lap and draped his arms around his neck. Thomas rested his head on Evan’s shoulder, his breaths shaky. “I really don’t care that you’re a guard,” Evan said quietly. “This isn’t about that. You’re an excellent captain, and I rather fancy you in uniform if I’m honest. But I would very much like to see you happy and settled, and I’d like to see me happy and settled with you. And I’m not moving into that bloody cottage. Just think, if you had an estate of your own, it would mean we’d have some privacy. So why not let the king reward you for saving my life?”
“But what would I even do with an estate?” Thomas asked, his voice muffled against Evan’s shoulder.
Evan smiled to himself. That wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either. “I might raise chickens,” he said. “I’ve always wanted chickens.”
“It doesn’t have to be a big estate if that’s what’s worrying you,” Felix offered. “I know just the place. It’s a smaller holding with a lovely home that would be perfect for you two. It’s has a nice set of stables, and it’s not far from the castle either, so you’d be able to ride here every day.”
Thomas lifted his head at that. “And it’s riding distance?”
“Easily,” Felix said. “You could take a look and see if it’s to your liking. If it’s not, we’ll find somewhere else suitable for a knight and a duke.”
“A smaller estate sounds perfect,” Evan said encouragingly. “I could run it.”
Evan could see the moment Thomas made his decision. The tension drained from him, and he shrugged and gave Evan one of his wide, gorgeous smiles. “Well, if there are going to be chickens, how can I say no?”