Chapter 17 #2
Good Light, the idea of claiming him in front of everyone, of making it clear exactly who Ryneth belonged to, made something settle deep in Daven’s core.
He’d played with both men and women. Fucked everyone who’d so much as looked at him. Never wanted anything that lasted.
But with Ryneth, possession felt easy. It felt natural. Like it had always been waiting for him.
Across from him, Cyprian set his charcoal aside. “Why don’t you come over to Archer’s sometime soon? Get to know some more people that are not associated with this…house.”
“This house? You’re talking of the Imperial mansion,” Moargan grumbled. “Your home.”
Cyprian didn’t blink. “Exactly. That’s why.” He turned his attention back to Ryneth. “Please? Archer makes the best tiganos you’ll ever taste. No offence, Aviel.”
Aviel let out a loud snort from behind the stove. “Offense absolutely taken.”
“I’ll take you there,” Helianth cut in. “Archer’s delicious. So are his tiganos.”
“Excuse me?” Aviel turned, wooden spoon in hand. “You are currently eating mine.”
Helianth took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “I wasn’t talking about that. Yours are good too, and you know it.”
Aviel froze mid-stir. “Just good?”
“But Archer’s are—”
“Do not finish that line, just because you want to fuck him.”
Cyprian looked up. “Aviel!”
Helianth pressed a hand to his chest. “I have no idea what you’re implying.”
“Liar,” Aviel muttered.
Ryneth glanced between them. “You all argue about this often?”
Helianth smirked. “Only when Aviel forgets his place.”
“My place?” Aviel tilted his head. “Careful, now.”
Cyprian pushed a small napkin across the counter toward Ryneth. “Here.” He scribbled something quickly. “That’s my number. If you ever want to come by Archer’s, text me. We’ll make a morning of it.”
Ryneth hesitated before taking it. “Well, I suppose I…I don’t… really know anyone.”
Cyprian’s expression gentled. “That’s the point.”
Daven watched the exchange without interrupting. His thumb brushed once over the inside of Ryneth’s wrist before he released him.
Aviel pointed his spoon toward Ryneth. “And don’t listen to them. My kitchen is superior.”
“That’s debatable,” Moargan said.
“It’s not.”
Helianth took another bite. “It is.”
Ryneth’s lips twitched despite himself.
Daven caught it.
Beautiful.
“All right,” Daven said finally, draining his coffee. “As entertaining as this domestic war is, we have class.”
Yure didn’t look up. “If I find out anything new, I’ll call.”
Helianth stepped aside to let them pass. “And keep your comms open. Kylix is out there non-stop.”
Daven reached for Ryneth’s hand again without asking.
Cyprian lifted a hand. “Breakfast at Archer’s.”
Ryneth nodded once. “Maybe.”
“Definitely,” Helianth corrected.
Aviel waved them off. “Go. Before Daven eats the rest.”
Daven smirked. “Tempting.” Then he tugged Ryneth toward the door. “Come on, baby.”
Ryneth shot him a look, but he didn’t pull his hand away.
The Academy felt louder than usual. Maybe Daven just noticed it more. Or perhaps it was because he was distracted.
They sat in the lecture hall after their final class had finished.
“You’re scowling.”
Ryneth stopped packing his stuff and snorted. “I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’m concentrating.” He kept packing.
“On glaring?”
Ryneth shot him a look. “On surviving these classes. They are hard.”
Daven’s mouth curved as he got out of his chair, waiting for Ryneth to finish. “That’s why you have a private tutor.”
“It’s just…” Ryneth sighed, then slung his duffel over his shoulder. “It would have been easier if it was a topic that would interest me. Not this—” He gestured with his hands. “Politics.”
“Why? Politics are important.” Daven let Ryneth leave the lecture hall first, then grabbed his hand to guide him through the corridor. People ogled them as they passed.
“For someone like you, yes. Not for me.”
Figured. Daven had always known he’d wanted to be in the Luminary like Kylix and Helianth, or opt for another job in the government. But for Ryneth, it was different.
He just wasn’t ready to let Ryneth enroll in another course if that meant not having him by his side all the time.
You go where I go.
That was the point.
Still, Daven took note. Maybe later, once Ryneth stopped acting like a feral cat every time he offered him something, he’d loosen the leash a little.
“All right, what would you have chosen?” he asked as they stepped outside.
Ryneth hesitated. “Civil engineering,” he said finally. “Structural systems. Materials. Things like that.”
Daven glanced at him. “Buildings?”
Ryneth gave a small shrug. “Walls. Bridges. Reinforcement. I like knowing how things hold.” He looked out across the city as they walked.
“The glass here is…different. The towers. The transit bridges. Even the ward barriers near the lower districts. On Düren, everything’s patched stone and scrap.
Functional. But here…” He exhaled. “It makes me want to understand how it’s built. ”
Daven looked at him for a beat. Of course Ryneth would want to build something that kept people alive. “You want to rebuild the world.”
Ryneth snorted. “Not the world. Just the parts that break first.”
A Luminary guard in black and gold stood beside a waiting hover car. “Sir?”
Daven gave him a brief nod. “We’ll walk.”
Ryneth glanced at Daven once they reached the path. “Are you always this arrogant?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t a joke.”
Daven blinked. “I know.”
They moved through Umbral Park. The trees thinned toward the city edge. The sky burned low and red behind the mountains.
By a food stall, Daven got them sandwiches and coffee, and with both in hand, they made their way home.
“So,” Daven said after a moment, “Düren.”
Ryneth chewed. Swallowed. “What about it?”
“I was told it’s dust and scrap.”
Ryneth huffed. “I guess it is.”
“Nothing else?”
Ryneth wiped his fingers on the paper. “Life’s hard there. If I look here, at all these young people just lounging about, being able to go to college, then that’s definitely something we never had.”
“You have no schools?”
“We do. It’s just not for everyone. I started working when I was fourteen. Mara would have wanted me to continue education, but we needed the money more. With the others, and Tavi…it was an easy choice to make.”
“What sort of work did you do?”
“Anything, really, where they’d hire someone my age. I worked the dock lines. Then the mines. Those were hard.”
“That must have been awful.” Daven studied him.
“It wasn’t. Not always at least. I liked living with Mara. She’s a good woman, and my siblings are kind. They’d always sleep around me, pressed close, keeping the warmth. Those small bodies, tucked tight.” Ryneth’s smile was soft. “I protected them. From starvation, from danger.”
“Is that why you protected the Ward?”
Ryneth nodded. “Yes. But it wasn’t really a choice. Everyone old enough pulled shifts on the wall. I had my section, and if I didn’t show up, someone else paid for it.”
By the time they reached the other end of the park, the sky had gone fully dark.
Neither of them spoke in the lift. The city lights stretched beneath them.
The quiet felt different now. As they made their way inside his penthouse, Daven couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Because Ryneth had finally shared some of his previous life? Or perhaps because someone was still looking for him.
“So this is it, then.” Ryneth placed his bag next to Daven’s and toed off his shoes. He didn’t explain himself, and Daven didn’t ask. Instead, Daven poured them a drink and crossed into the bedroom, stopping just inside the doorway.
“Come.”
“I have questions too,” Ryneth said from the threshold. He took a shaky breath. “I need to understand when I’m going home.”
“You are home.”
“No.” Ryneth shook his head. “I have told you about my home. On Düren.”
“And I appreciate that. But, Ryneth, come here, baby. Let me show you something.”
Ryneth hesitated in the doorway. Then he stepped into the room, one slow pace, then another, stopping a foot away from Daven. “What?”
“You seem to find it hard to understand that your life has changed, aethera. You are now mine. Perhaps I should be more specific.”
“No.” Ryneth shook his head.
“No, what?” Daven reached for the glass and swirled the amber liquid before taking a long swallow. The alcohol burned sweetly in his throat, arousing him. He grabbed the back of Ryneth’s neck and pressed his thumb into the hinge of his jaw, forcing his mouth open.
Ryneth only managed, “You—” before Daven poured the sweet liquor straight into his mouth. Then he licked the sugar from Ryneth’s lips and sucked at him until Ryneth groaned. “Hmm. Tastes good.”
Ryneth grabbed Daven’s waist, nails digging in as he muttered, “Asshole,” into the kiss. He fought it for a heartbeat, then gave in and drank.
“Fuck, aethera, look at you. So sweet.”
Ryneth groaned in his hold, eyes flashing with beautiful fury.
“Is this what you need?” Daven pulled back an inch and licked the trace of Ryneth’s mouth before eyeing those swollen, wet lips.
He dropped more alcohol, then licked it from the corner of Ryneth's mouth, whispering, “Your body is a liar, Ryneth. It tells me you are exactly where you want to be.”
Grabbing Ryneth’s hand, he guided it to his cock. He was already rock hard. “Feel that, baby. That’s where you come when the buzzing starts.”
“You are an arrogant fuck,” Ryneth panted, but his fingers wrapped around the length. He squeezed.
Daven’s lips curved up. “That’s right. But I know this is hard for you. And I happen to love drinking your resistance.”
“What do you mean?” Ryneth asked, then gasped when Daven slowly sank to his knees.
“Look at you,” Daven murmured, looking up through his lashes. “Still wrecked from this morning, and you’re already shaking for me again.”
Ryneth’s breath hitched. “N-no.”
Daven chuckled. “Cute.” Then he unfastened Ryneth’s fly with his teeth, pulled his cock free, and licked a long stripe over the length. “Talk to me.”