Chapter Nine
Iver
Iver followed William down the stairs, passing the entrances to the cellar and the crypt. The souterrain, as it turned out, was not the castle’s lowest level. Another set of stairs led deeper into the hill.
The spiral staircase was dark, save for the torch William held out in front of them, illuminating the way.
The air grew warm and humid as the staircase twisted round and round until it ended in an enormous grotto.
It must’ve looked very different before Iver’s arrival.
Now, it was an ice cave. Long, dripping icicles hung from the cavern ceiling, and quickly melting floes drifted across the underground lake that made up the majority of the grotto.
Steam rose from the water, and a sulfurous smell hung in the air.
William’s footsteps echoed on the stone floor as he touched his torch to the ones lining the wall. “The lake is fed by a hot spring. I thought that your arrival might’ve cooled it, but the hot spring is intact… It’s just everything around it that’s frozen.”
One after the other, the torches erupted in flames, casting a warm light onto the ice-slick grotto and the lake. William dropped his cloak on an elegantly curved marble bench, then nodded at Iver for him to follow suit.
Iver unfastened his cloak, depositing it on top of William’s. He clasped William’s leather-clad waist, earning a sharp intake of air. Interesting. “You want me to help you out of this?”
“Please.”
“This is turning into a habit.”
“A habit that I enjoy.”
Iver raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” He was already unbuckling the cuirass.
Layer by layer, they peeled off each other’s clothes. By the time they were done, Iver was half hard. The torches along the walls blazed, heating the room, but the ice reformed as quickly as it melted.
Iver was the first to step into the water, and he let out a groan as his feet sank into the warmth. He’d always liked the cold, but this was nice, a pleasant heat that crept into his flesh and relaxed his muscles.
When he’d waded in deep enough for the water to lap at his waist, he submerged himself to the neck, allowing the water to enclose his body.
He turned languid in the heat. Magic pulsed beneath his skin, and he let it run free.
It spun out of him and connected with the basin’s rough stone floor, bringing it to an aquamarine glow.
“You can’t help but make everything yours, can you?” William said as he swam up to him.
“I like making things mine.”
William closed in on him, the glow of the lake reflecting in his eyes.
“Did you bring a lot of lovers here?” Iver asked and immediately regretted the question. The answer would only fuel his jealousy.
“Many? No. I never brought my concubines here. A handful of noble lovers at best. Or should I say: at worst? You look like you’re about to turn into a green-eyed monster.”
Underwater, he took Iver’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
Iver offered no resistance when William pulled him to the side of the basin, where the water washed over white marble steps.
William lay back on them, the shallow water soaking his dark curls.
His eyelids lowered, and he dragged Iver on top of him.
His erection slid against Iver’s abdomen.
“I’ve had sex in this very spot,” William said, his lips gleaming wet.
There it was again, that dreaded jealousy. It twisted Iver’s stomach. “Why are you telling me?”
“Is it not obvious?” A slow smile spread across William’s face, and his eyes fell shut. “I do, on occasion, enjoy your possessive side.”
“You insufferable little brat.”
“Besides, if I didn’t tell you, how would I explain this?” William reached for one of the steps above him. There, a lighter sheet of marble was set off from the rest. He lifted it, revealing a hidden compartment under the step. It was filled with vials of faerie oil, three of them empty.
Iver saw red. William was provoking him, and he couldn’t help reacting. William made him territorial.
“Don’t ever tell me who you brought here because I will slit their throats.”
William’s cock pulsed against him, a moan flying off his lips. The brat was enjoying this.
Iver had never felt this defenseless. The sultry heat turned him sluggish, heightening his emotions while inhibiting clear thought.
He sank onto William and pressed his lips to the side of his neck, earning a pleased hum.
Licking and sucking, Iver rolled his hips, grinding his hard cock on William.
Pleasure shot through his loins. His teeth came down, scraping across William’s skin. He’d teach him.
Iver kissed his way to William’s pecs, gently biting the plump flesh.
So firm and round. He dragged his tongue along the sculpted curves, William arching into the caress.
In the airless warmth of the grotto, his nipples were soft patches of rosy skin.
Iver took one into his mouth, his tongue playing with it while his hand found the other, teasing the supple flesh with his fingertips.
William groaned, meeting the slow rhythm of his hips. His cock bumped Iver over and over, stealing friction. With glee, Iver twisted William’s nipple, and his whole body jumped beneath him.
“That’s what you get for misbehaving,” Iver muttered.
He sucked William’s nipple into his mouth, tormenting him with lips and fingers until William was writhing, dropping little whimpers at every lick and flick. Despite the oppressive heat, William’s buds hardened under the attention.
“Fuck!” William ground out. “I feel it all the way to my cock.”
Iver didn’t let up, biting and squeezing the sensitive flesh that turned William so responsive. The brat grunted through clenched teeth, thrusting against Iver.
“You want to come already, don’t you?” Iver asked leisurely. “Not so fast.”
He licked William’s pec once more and let go, provoking unintelligible protests. Ignoring them, he maneuvered William up a couple of steps until only his legs remained in the water. He mouthed William’s muscled stomach.
The new position gave William no opportunity to grind against him, and to ensure he stayed in control for what was to come, Iver grabbed his hips, holding him down on the marble steps.
William lay there closed-eyed, an arm draped over his brow. Iver lowered onto his cock. William was beautifully engorged from arousal and friction, the bulbous head flushed with heat. Thick veins ran up his shaft, heavily pulsing to a silent beat. Iver had never seen anything more appetizing.
The urge to swallow William whole and take him to the back of his throat threatened to rob him of his self-control, but he hung on by sheer force of will.
Instead of going all in, he placed a tender, open-mouthed kiss on William’s glans. The faintly salty smell of precum urged him to take him into his mouth, but he resisted. Above him, William panted, muscles contracting.
“You love having your cock sucked,” Iver said, not bothering to make it a question.
“Who doesn’t?”
“You had your whores go down on you every night.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“I watched you.”
William sat up on his elbows. “You… what?”
“You heard me.” Iver kissed him once more, pressing his parted lips to that wet, spongy tip, never taking his eyes off William.
“How? When?”
“You’ve seen me scale mountainsides. How difficult do you think your castle walls were for me? I watched you at night, when you lay on a heap of cushions on a bed in the consort’s wing, five or six of them pleasuring every part of you.”
A flush spread from William’s chest onto his throat and cheeks. “How dare you?” His cock jerked.
“You don’t mind being watched as much as you like to pretend. You enjoyed the rather public consummation of our marriage. Is that so hard to admit?”
The red on William’s cheeks deepened. “You watched me. Me and my concubines.” Liquid pooled in his slit.
Iver’s tongue slid out, drawing a wet semicircle along William’s corona. “A few times.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know whom I would attach myself to before I proposed marriage. You were quite the sight.”
The blush crept onto William’s ears. His cock jolted, bumping against Iver’s lower lip. “You bastard.”
“Oh, you like it. You enjoy it when others see you lose control, when they watch the cum shoot from your cock.”
“God, I hate you.”
“I don’t think you do.” Iver circled his tongue along William’s ridge. More fluid welled up on that deliciously swollen tip. He wanted to suck William, wanted it badly, could almost feel William’s weight on his tongue, his flavor sliding over his taste buds. But he had other plans.
Iver gave the side of William’s glans a lick, carefully avoiding the arousal beading at the top of his slit. “Don’t move, and don’t dare to spill that gorgeous pearl of precum.”
“Or what?”
“Or I won’t allow you to come for three days.”
William froze. Ah, good to know this worked. Iver would make sure to remember. He pulled away and dropped to William’s base, where he gave the underside a broad, sideways lick.
He kissed and tongued his way up William’s shaft, indulging in his needy, pulsing flesh. William growled and grunted, snarling when Iver reached the top only to fall back down and start his journey anew.
“You’re such a tease,” William bit out when Iver, for the third time, stopped a hairbreadth from his crown.
“It’s frustrating, isn’t it? About as frustrating as watching you fuck those whores. I wanted nothing more than to rip them off you and stuff you with my cock.”
William groaned, buttocks flexing. The drop on his glans, swelling by the second, wobbled precariously. Tempted, Iver pressed his tongue into one of those fat veins running up William’s shaft and watched him tighten every muscle to keep from jerking and dislodging that sweet drop of lust.
Wanton and willing, he was where Iver wanted him. He might’ve already fucked him, but he hadn’t shown him what his hands and mouth could do. Iver planned to turn him into a desperate, leaking mess.
“Please,” William breathed. “Please take me in your mouth. I want to come so badly.” His knuckles were white where he gripped onto the nosing of a marble step.
“What makes you think you deserve to orgasm?” Iver flattened his tongue against the underside of William’s base and dragged it upward in one long, slow stroke.
William let out a shaky sound, his thighs trembling with the effort to keep still. He was beautiful like this, spread out for him to feast on.
Iver pulled away and went to retrieve a vial of faerie oil. Uncorking it, he let a sizable drop roll onto the pad of his fingertip before putting the vial aside. He couldn’t wait to see how William would react to this…
With great care, he transferred the drop onto William’s frenulum. William hissed—the heat and tingling of the oil focused on such a small place was intense. His cock twitched, and the little bead of oil ran down his underside and onto his sack.
William cursed. He lay there with his eyes screwed shut against the pleasure, lips parted, his chest heaving, cock palpitating. Yet, he’d managed to hang onto the precum on his glans. He could be so obedient if he wanted to.
Careful, so as not to disturb the precum, Iver set his fingertip on William’s frenulum and stroked that little fold of skin. William’s cry of pleasure was music to his ears.
With the tiniest movements, Iver rubbed him, eliciting a slew of debauched noises. He kept a slow and steady pace, never varying his speed even as William begged him for his mouth, begged him to close a fist around him and stroke him to orgasm in hard and fast jerks.
The bead atop William’s glans fattened to the point that spilling over became inevitable. Iver swiped it up with a finger and, under William’s wide-eyed stare, he brought the drop to his mouth and closed his lips around it.
The sweet and salty taste of his arousal dropped onto Iver’s tongue. His eyes closed in delight. He’d made William produce this delicious proof of his need. Pride swelled in his chest.
He rubbed William continuously, and soon, new precum gathered in his depraved slit. Stroke for stroke, he teased more out of William, growing the next droplet into a sizable pearl.
With every flick, William’s balls got plumper and tauter.
They climbed toward his base, readying for release if only Iver provided enough stimulation.
He had no intention to. If William wanted to come, he’d have to find his own way to climax.
Iver wasn’t going to give him more than what was needed to keep him hard and aching.