Chapter 14 #3
I looked at Asahi. He was wearing his mask, the black ceramic giving off no expression. “You picked her up for Sagam.”
Asahi dropped to his knees. He rested his hands on his thighs before forming a triangle with his fingers and pressing his forehead to the floor.
He said nothing. Tallu stared down at him.
Finally, Tallu said, “Speak.”
To anyone else, it sounded like the harsh order of a frustrated emperor. But I knew the pain underneath. Tallu needed rest. He was exhausted.
“I brought her aboard. I alone. I alone will suffer the consequences,” Asahi said.
“And what consequences do you think you deserve?” Tallu asked. “For defying your emperor’s safety in favor of your lover’s peace of mind?”
“There is only one fate for one who has committed such an offense,” Asahi said.
“I can think of several,” Tallu said, “but tell me what fate you think you deserve.”
“Death.” Asahi said the word easily, as though begging for relief. “I betrayed Your Imperial Majesty for my own gain. For my own benefit. I have pledged my life to serve you, and I betrayed that pledge. I betrayed that trust.”
“Is that what you did?” Tallu looked down at him, his russet gaze piercing through the armor of formality that Asahi had put on.
“What do you think, Sagam?” Tallu asked. “You are now the head of my Kennel. What fate does this Dog deserve?”
Sagam looked pained, glancing at his sister, then down at his lover, clearly unable to form the words he knew he should say.
I laughed. The sound broke the silent tension in the room, everyone turning to me. Tallu frowned, and I waved him off. “My lord, your Dogs are so funny. My previous bodyguard is playing a joke on you.”
Tallu’s expression melted, just enough that I knew no matter how angry he was, he was willing to play along, and my giving Asahi his old title was a broad hint. “They have so little entertainment of their own.”
“Asahi knew that we were traveling to Tavornai, and he knew that your safety must be paramount. He went out of his way to find us a guide.” I gestured to the girl. “Lady—”
“Joxii,” she said, tugging at the hem of her sleeve uncomfortably. The servant’s dress didn’t fit, dragging too long around her legs. It was discolored from the muddy swamp water, but I could see older stains from where the hem had dragged across the ground.
Asahi might have gone to the effort of making her invisible by turning her into a servant, but she would need help to not get found out.
“Lady Joxii is clearly familiar with Tavornai and will be a good guide to help us seek out House Chaliko.” I smiled at Joxii and she twitched her head in a nod.
Then she turned to Tallu, bowing low and forming a triangle with her fingers in perfect imperial form. “I am happy to serve Your Imperial Majesty on your journey.”
“Raise your head, Sagam. It appears Asahi has found a guide for us. Find clothes for her and tell General Saxu to add one more to our number.” Tallu gestured a hand in dismissal.
This time I didn’t leave when Sagam and Asahi did, waiting for the door to click shut before spinning to face Tallu. He slumped back, covering his face with one hand, his fingers rubbing at his temples.
“Are you well enough to do this?” I demanded.
“Don’t you question me,” Tallu said.
“Don’t I question you?” I felt a growling in my throat, the anger rising intensely.
“Here are some things that aren’t questions: I’m not sure you’re even well enough to stand at this moment.
Empress Koque is challenging you, which means she must be suspicious of something.
We have dozens of soldiers coming with us and no clear way to slip away from them. ”
And we still had to find Spider.
“You were right,” Tallu’s lips twisted up. “None of those were questions.”
“Stay here on the ship,” I said. “Be safe.”
“I wasn’t telling a falsehood when I told General Saxu that it would be too dangerous to stay here,” Tallu said. “There is a reason it is dangerous to put your camp in a location where there is no escape.”
“Tallu—” I knelt down in front of him, putting both of my hands on his strong thighs. His gorgeous bronze skin had gone matte, blanching from exhaustion, and his unhappy expression stayed put even as he shook his head sharply.
“You believe House Chaliko would know where Spider is,” Tallu said.
“They are much better situated to find something in these swamps than we are.” I rubbed my hands across his heavy thighs, and he reached down, cupping my face in one hand.
Despite the pallor of his skin, his palm was warm, and I leaned heavily against it, relaxing into the touch. His thumb rubbed back and forth across my cheek, and he smiled down at me fondly.
“This will be our last chance to be alone before we are, once again, traveling. And it’s unlikely that we’ll find enough dry land in the swamp to put up the tents we’re used to.” Tallu’s words grew heavy with desire.
“Oh?” I grinned up at him, and his thumb traced my cheek, dragging across my bottom lip. “Are you suggesting something, Dragon Chosen Emperor? Are you suggesting you are well enough for some more vigorous activities?”
“I do not think I am suggesting anything,” Tallu said. “Merely stating, as you said, facts.”
I laughed, the sound real this time rather than a ploy to draw attention.
Tallu grinned back at me, and then he pushed forward, crowding against me, the chair shoving backward as he landed on the ground next to me.
His lips were on mine, and his hand moved from my cheek to the back of my head, positioning my mouth so it could fit perfectly against his. I moaned.
Scrabbling at his shoulders, I pulled myself into his lap, my knees grinding into the wooden deck as he pulled my hair again, his mouth falling away from mine as he exposed my neck, pressing kisses down my throat and then up the side of my face.
“Facts.” I grinned as he kissed me again, his lips finding mine and then I was moaning into his mouth, unable to resist pushing my tongue in and feeling his meet mine.
His hands were efficiently finding the ties and snaps and clasps that drove me mad while wearing imperial clothing. Somehow he got a hand underneath all the layers and pressed a palm flat against my back.
I moaned, that single touch of flesh on flesh enough to make me desperately hard. With a whimper, I grabbed at his head, my fingers finding his soft hair and the warm skin of his neck, my lips on his.
He grinned again, his thumb rubbing slow circles into my lower back and I thrust up, my hard cock trapped by my clothing and his solid body.
“Is there something you need?” he teased.
I desperately whined, my voice hoarse when I growled, “Tallu.”
But that was all I could think to say. He seemed to know what I meant and pushed me off his lap gently. Standing, he reached out his hand and I took it, letting him draw me into the small bed that fit in his cabin.
We barely wasted time undressing, just loosening our clothing enough to release our cocks. He hovered over me, his expression delighted as he thrust into my hand where I gripped both of us firmly. But I needed more, I wanted more.
Pushing at his shoulder, I rolled him onto his back and then moved down until I was framed between his thighs. I put my mouth on his cock, swallowing it down, choking before I pulled back and tried again.
He fisted one hand on his thigh, the expression on his face painfully open as he gazed down at me. I closed my eyes, unwilling to see more, unable to handle that gentle expression on his face, the desire written into it.
“You are so beautiful.” He murmured the words, but I needed more than that. I worked him with my mouth, his thick length bumping the back of my throat and making me choke, but I didn’t let up, forcing myself to take it, forcing myself to take him down.
The fingers of his other hand trailed over my jaw gently and I squeezed my eyes shut harder. I couldn’t handle gentle. I didn’t need gentle. I needed him to take hold of my hair and force himself down my throat.
Instead, he continued caressing my face, brushing fingertips over my eyelids, stroking my hair, murmuring encouragement and praise.
“There is nothing like you working yourself on my cock. There is nothing I love more than seeing your face when I come.” His words trailed over me, even more painful than his gentle touch. I whined, wishing I could take more of him.
He slipped his thumb into my mouth alongside his cock, and I swallowed that too.
“You are so wonderful. So well suited for my needs. I do not deserve you, but I cannot regret that you have come to me. I will never regret that. You are mine.”
Then he grabbed hold of my hair, his fingers pulling too tightly and I let myself fall lax as he thrust up into my mouth, drawing my head back with his own strength and slamming against the back of my throat over and over.
My mind slowly went blank, everything slipping away. With Tallu taking hold of me, I didn’t need to worry about the mess we found ourselves in. I didn’t need to feel anything about the men and women who were going to die for us, for me, for the false promise of uniting the continent.
Tallu tugged my hair, and I pulled back, his cock falling free of my mouth. Using my long hair, he drew me up until I was lying on top of him. Then he kissed my bruised lips, soothing my aching throat with gentle touches, carding his fingers through my hair as though I was the most wondrous thing.
He was still hard, I could feel his wet cock dragging up my stomach. Pulling back, I yanked off as much of my clothing as I could, stopping only when his hands caught hold of mine.
“You always treat yourself too carelessly. You treat yourself as though you are nothing when you need to understand”—Tallu undid the laces I had been struggling with, his russet gaze fixed on me as, suddenly, I was naked on his lap—“you are everything. There is nothing without you. The sun would go out, the tides would stop if a single thing happened to you.”
“A single thing?” I pushed my cock against his, fisting both of them in my hand. Underneath me, he shuddered, his body twitching. “I can think of several things that I wouldn’t mind happening to me.”
“If there is a choice between your life and mine—” Tallu gazed at me fiercely and I covered his mouth with mine, kissing the words out of him, desperate not to hear them, because I knew I could only echo them back to him.
If there was a choice between saving Tallu and saving myself, that was no choice at all.
He grabbed hold of my hair, pulling my head back as he pressed kisses against my throat. “You didn’t let me finish.”
“Oh, I think we are both pretty close to finishing.” I thrust up into my hands, and he shuddered again, shivering, but I needed more than that.
Who knew the next time we were going to have a moment to ourselves?
Tallu let go of my hair, reaching desperately for something and emerging with a small tin of oil. He slicked himself up, then reached for me, but I didn’t let him.
Instead, I positioned him at my entrance and pressed down, using my weight to open myself, yielding to the thick length of his cock.
He was panting, eyes fixed on my face, and I grinned down at him before lifting myself on shaking thighs and settling even more firmly on his length.
I managed a few more before he growled, flipping us over, nearly dropping me off the edge of the bed before he got me firmly beneath him and drove into me.
Neither one of us was going to last long, but the expression on his face nearly sent me over the edge. He leaned down, kissing my lips, desperately soft, as though trying to draw my very heart out from inside my chest.
“Say that you won’t kill yourself to save my life,” Tallu commanded.
His hips hit mine brutally and my mouth fell open. “I won’t lie to you.”
“Then don’t. Tell me.”
“We are both going to live.” I leaned up, whispering it in his ear, my arms wrapped around his back as he thrust into me, my cock trapped between us. “Do you hear me? We are both going to live.”
Tallu came, shuddering so hard that I had to wrap my arms and legs around him to hold him with me. I felt my hard length trapped between us, and then Tallu was pulling out, leaving me barren and yearning, only then his mouth was on my cock, swallowing me down.
I came in that hot mouth, wanting to fill him up as he had just filled me. He swallowed, continuing to swallow when I was spent, licking me clean and pressing kisses to my hips before I yanked him up.
“Tallu,” I whispered.
We slept, dozing as the sounds of too many people moving around the ship echoed in the halls. I wasn’t sure what time it was when I woke, but I found him looking at me, his hand pressed to my chest.
“Why do you think he brought her?” I asked.
“Because he loves Sagam,” Tallu said, not even pretending to mistake what I was talking about. “Because war envelops the Imperium, and if Sagam loses his sisters, then Asahi might lose Sagam.”
“But Sagam didn’t fetch her himself,” I pointed out.
“Sometimes we don’t dare take the thing we most desperately want,” Tallu said. He raised his hand, cupping my cheek. “It is too dangerous to admit what our true desires are.”
I turned my head, kissing the heel of his hand. “Do we need to worry?”
“Do you truly believe you have any more space inside you for such a limiting emotion?” Tallu’s question rose wryly, and I could see the soft smirk in his eyes.
I closed my eyes, huffing. “All right. But I want Lerolian or one of the other blood monks to watch Sagam and Asahi.”
“So that you might see them leave?” Tallu asked.
“Maybe,” I admitted. Maybe I did want to know that Sagam and Asahi were going to make it out of this alive, their love being what saved them.
“We leave in a few hours,” Tallu said. “You should sleep.”
“Are you going to?” I asked.
Tallu’s lips pulled into a slight smile.
“Then I’ll stay awake with you.” I leaned up on my elbow and kissed him, his lips soothing something inside me.