Chapter Twenty-Seven
Theodor
It Was Love All Along
Theodor walked close beside Boraleashe down several long corridors…
toward what? He didn’t know. Their men followed behind them.
After the smooth marble floor turned into worn cobblestones and the intricate murals painted up to the ceiling were now bare clay walls, he couldn’t hold his tongue any longer.
Theodor stopped short, gripping Boraleashe’s hand. “Love. Where are we going?”
Boraleashe’s hair swung over his right shoulder when he turned toward him.
He’d done a beautiful job on it tonight.
Theodor loved the thick braids that wove down both sides of Boraleashe’s head, each one adorned with white diamonds.
The top half had been pulled back Viking-style in a complex pattern that went into a long, sexy ponytail ending below the swell of his ass.
Theodor slid his arms inside Boraleashe’s robe and around his waist, tugging until their chests were pressed together.
“What’s all the way over here, Boraleashe?” Theodor nodded in the direction they were going.
Their noses brushed against each other they were so damn close.
“It’s someplace dear to me,” Boraleashe breathed a delicate gust of chilled air into his mouth. “I just need a few moments alone, my lord, away from that crowd… and alone means with you.”
Theodor got them moving again. Nothing more needed to be said. He wanted to see anything that had meaning in Boraleashe’s secluded world. The corridor narrowed the further they walked until it ended at a guarded wrought iron gate.
“This is my sanctuary, Theo. It’s one of the few places in the Keep that’s mine. Despite the fact I couldn’t feel the joy it brought me, I could still feel a small amount of peace in here.”
Boraleashe walked them outside under a covered path protected from the snow into a large freestanding structure that was all glass with a high-vaulted ceiling.
There were lit lanterns mounted along the steel columns, but the moonlight made it almost as bright as the day.
Large iron cranks held the roof open to the night air.
Theodor stepped into a space that could only be described as the most beautiful winter garden in all the worlds. As the bringer of the new harvest, Theodor was instantly drawn in, feeling the life it harbored inside.
Boraleashe stood at the threshold while Theodor explored the wondrous place. Shelves and ceramic pots overflowed with flowers and shrubs native to the north, breathtaking botanical life that would not survive the Realm of Autumn.
Theodor stopped to run his fingertips along the droopy white head of a delicate flower that looked to be weeping.
“They’re called crying snowdrops, one of the easiest I’ve tended to.”
Theodor crooked his finger for Boraleashe to come to him, and he didn’t hesitate to obey. He moved toward him slowly, his white robe dragging the dusty ground.
“You grew all of these yourself?”
Boraleashe squared his broad shoulders, his face unreadable. “Yes, over many years. My brother, Zepharali, is the only other person to see this space. No one is allowed in here, not even Adresin, and the guards are ordered to use brute force if anyone tries.”
Theodor took Boraleashe’s hand and continued his tour.
There were purple leaves sprouting through the snow-covered ground with bold, green-spiked leaves that seemed to pop back up after being stepped on.
Unbelievable. Something sweet and floral had him gravitating toward an entire shelf of petite, buttercup-yellow flowers.
“Hellebore glory.” Boraleashe picked one of the vibrant petals and put it to Theodor’s nose. He inhaled the sugary fragrance, smiling when it reminded him of their plumtart fields. “They’re finicky little shits. But I love the way they smell.”
“I didn’t know of your exceptional gardening skills.” Theodor kissed Boraleashe’s knuckles. “I am beyond impressed. This kind of upkeep in Fhomhair would take at least fifty attendants.”
“Well, being out here, even in the torturous weather, was still somehow soothing.”
“How’d they survive the hailstorms?”
Boraleashe pointed at some high-tech-looking device. “Zepharali gave me this long ago. It’s solar powered by his sun, so it never loses energy. When I cover the glass with the canopy, these lamps can provide the small amount of artificial light and heat I need to keep them alive.”
Theodor couldn’t have more admiration for his partner than he did in that moment. “I love it here.”
“I hoped you would,” Boraleashe whispered, eyeing him seductively.
Theodor was about to devour his betrothed right there until a familiar scent blew his way, drawing his attention to a very recognizable garden.
Theodor shot a glance at Boraleashe to see his head down with his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.
Theodor was already learning Boraleashe’s telltale signs of his emotions behind the mask.
He didn’t react much, but it was hard for him to hide when he was nervous, angry… or jealous.
He moved around Boraleashe, drawn to the patch of earth in the far corner of the greenhouse. He took long strides past rows of pine trees, snow-laden shrubs, and delicate purple and white flowers until he was standing in front of garden that made his heart try to leap out of his chest.
“Have I pleased you, lord?” Boraleashe whispered from close behind him.
“Yes, very much so, my love.” Theodor swallowed the emotion down until it stuck in the center of his core. My gods, he replicated my design.
“You are the reason I built this place, Theodor.”
He closed his eyes at the praise.
“You are the birth of the harvest,” Boraleashe continued, “so I learned the one thing I believed would keep me close to you. This area is why I asked Zepharali for help. I needed to somehow generate the heat of the autumn sun—your sun. I needed to do something that linked me to you, Theo. I saw your coveted garden almost a thousand moons ago and how much you adored it, how carefully you tended to it. I wanted to gather all of it and bring it home with me, bring a piece of you.” Boraleashe met his gaze, his heart beating so hard Theodor felt it against his own.
“I couldn’t do that, so I did this instead. ”
“It’s beautiful,” Theodor whispered in admiration.
He’d designed and cared for the garden in his quarters as well, but he also had help. “This had to take years of work at a time.”
Boraleashe’s decorative purple and yellow cabbage leaves were even larger than his own, the many varieties of fall mums bordering the outside just like his. The one difference he noticed was the pansies were winter white instead of the hybrid ones he’d created.
“I knew deep down inside, from somewhere lost, that I loved you, my king. There was just no way for me to show it.”
Theodor jerked Boraleashe against him and claimed his mouth in a hungry, fevered kiss. “Love you so fucking much it’s painful,” he said between gasps of breath, lifting Boraleashe’s chin and going for his neck. “Fuck, you smell good, and you look so stunning tonight.”
“And your presence reveals the stars, my lord.”
Theodor hummed, basking in the high praise. “Such pretty words for a titan warrior.”
“I can feel your warmth, Theo,” Boraleashe groaned, his dick hard and pressed against his pelvis.
“Love has made you insatiable,” Theodor smirked, nipping at the strained tendons of Boraleashe’s throat.
Boraleashe bit him back, jerking Theodor’s tunic open and tugging at his leather belt.
He could imagine what the guards and their men were thinking just outside the door, but fuck it.
Boraleashe walked them until Theodor’s back was pressed against freezing glass.
Being in this garden made Theodor’s insides spark with craving and detonate.
Nothing could stop the force of their winds now.
“I can’t stop licking your mouth and craving your earthly kisses,” Boraleashe moaned, his tongue dragging over his.
Theodor opened wider, letting his lover take as much as he wanted.
Boraleashe had his pants splayed open and riding low on his bare ass, the head of his pale cock peeking out and leaking down his shaft.
Boraleashe began to descend Theodor’s body until he stopped him midway.
Ignoring the pissed-off grunt, he pinned Boraleashe’s arms behind his back and instead lowered to his knees.
His betrothed looked shocked. His powder-blue eyes, shimmering with flakes of white, locked on his own with a level of intensity that took him the rest of the way down. Theodor didn’t care about the unforgiving stone floor; he’d never been in a more comfortable position.
“My lord… I…” Boraleashe breathed, shaking his head. “You don’t have to…”
“Don’t have to what?” Theodor freed the rest of Boraleashe’s cock and nudged it with his cheek. “Can a king not kneel to pleasure his husband?”
“Gods.” Boraleashe shuddered in his hold, nodding slowly. His perfect lips parted, but no sound came out.
Theodor’s dick jerked in triumph. He was intent on showing Boraleashe how unique their marriage would be. His consort would not be required to pleasure Theodor when he demanded. He refused to be a selfish lover; it was deplorable and not how his father had raised him.
Ever since he’d had Boraleashe’s long cock in his fist, he’d fantasized about it being in his mouth. “I’ve waited long enough for this,” he whispered, licking a long, searing path from base to tip.
Boraleashe trembled harder, his face flushing with desire.
Theodor didn’t hesitate swallowing the thick head down his throat.
Boraleashe was leaking just as much as him, the taste pure and clean on his tongue.
He was so damn hard that he had to pull his cock the rest of the way out of his leather trousers before it broke in half.
He smoothed his hands around Boraleashe’s hips until he had both firm mounds in his palms, using them to feed that delicious cock even deeper.
He wanted to make Boraleashe’s tight grip on his control shatter into a million fucking pieces, and Theodor would be there on his knees enjoying an amazing view of it all.
Strong hips bucked in his hold, but Theodor kept a firm grip on Boraleashe’s obedience. His winter warrior tried to block the show of pleasure flashing across his serious face. He arched his back, his throat constricting to withhold his cries of ecstasy.
Challenge accepted, damn it.
Theodor kept the pace measured and easy, stroking his own cock to the same rhythm he sucked his lover down. But this wasn’t going to make Boraleashe scream his name. Theodor gave him several quick bobs, licking , before he slowed again and released the head with a wet pop.
“Fuck.” Boraleashe folded over him.
That was a start, but not near enough worship to sate him.
Boraleashe wove his narrow fingers through Theodor’s hair, massaging his scalp before he cupped the back of his head. He nuzzled and moaned against Boraleashe’s groin, working his way deeper.
The first touch of his tongue behind Boraleashe’s sac made him whimper. He wanted to appreciate Boraleashe’s unique flavor, which tasted untarnished, natural, his porcelain skin begging to be marked by his king.
Their men outside cleared their throats, shuffling in place. Theodor’s obscene display of public affection would be considered egregious for their station… if he gave a damn. Theodor would bend his husband over in the center of the goddamn courtyard to show everyone whose he was.
Obsession roared through Theodor, making him suck faster, lick harder, nip and bite in all the right places until Boraleashe could no longer be silent.
“Uggh, gods,” Boraleashe cried, his ass flexing and releasing under Theodor’s palms. “Fuck, my sexy king.”
Theodor savored the reverence, that energy going straight to his core like nourishment. He pressed the flat of his tongue to that sensitive place beneath Boraleashe’s balls and held it there, sliding one finger along his hole.
Boraleashe held the sides of Theodor’s head, his body doubled over, his lips against his jaw. “Your mouth is so fuckin’ hot. You’re gonna make me come down your throat.”
Theodor moaned, his cock thickening and pulsing in his hand.
He gave a final, long suck on Boraleashe’s sac before letting go and recapturing the head. He had just enough time to slide his lips down Boraleashe’s shaft before the first burst of warm seed hit the back of his tongue.
He wanted to watch every frown and crease in Boraleashe’s forehead while he filled his mouth, but his dick jerked and spasmed so hard he had to squeeze his eyes closed to hold back his load.
Theodor’s balls hung heavy between his thighs, throbbing for relief, but he refrained…
barely. Watching Boraleashe come, feeling him fall apart in his arms, was enough to make him shoot like a meteor.