Chapter Twenty-One
Virion
When the train disembarked that day, Sima, the omega child they’d agreed to apprentice, had already been aboard for over an hour, climbing over every shining surface to stare at things with wide-eyed wonder and a thousand questions.
“And how is this ma—sorry.” He pulled away from the window frames and slatted blinds, lips twisted in an effort to silence.
“I am not engaged with business. Ask, little one. How else are you to learn if you do not ask?” Nemiah’s lips spread wide into a grin Virion had once envisioned as menacing.
“How do the windows not break when the carriage rattles?” Sima scrutinized the window again, turning in his seat to stare at the moving scenery.
“Well, that’s a very interesting question. The long story or the short story?” Nemiah chuckled and drew Virion to his side. Virion had never seen him interact with children before, and it was surprising.
“Short, then long!” Sima prodded at the edges of the window.
“Very well!” Nemiah beamed. “Something squishy in the linings so it doesn’t rattle. And since the panes are flat, they’re not under stress.”
“Oh.” Sima waited patiently as Nemiah described in detail the vertex sap they drained and processed to make an elastic compound, very similar to a chewing candy they made.
Virion dozed as Nemiah spoke until a soft voice in that loud sort of whisper only a child could do stirred his attention. “I think the Ble—Silver Prince is sleepy.”
“He’s very sleepy. The babe says he must take extra naps, and it eats all his sleep up.” Nemiah adjusted himself and Virion stirred, yawning halfheartedly.
Virion drifted off again, settling into comfort and warmth until a light weight draped over the blanket on his legs. Sima climbed onto their lounge and sprawled out, nestling against Virion’s legs for comfort. He wiggled a few times, adjusting himself and stilled enough to let Virion drift off, too.
The ride there had been much longer in some ways, shorter than others, but sleeping made the journey but a blink in an otherwise uneventful experience. So, when the eerie whistle of the brakes and bells sounded out, drawing Virion awake, he wasn’t startled to find Nemiah dozed off on his shoulder and Sima sprawled out rather obnoxiously in a full starfish over his legs. “Alright, boys.”
Nemiah stirred first and Sima blinked sleepy eyes, little chestnut curls sticking up in all directions over his head. “I believe we’re here, little one. We can find my page and the nymphs to see if they’d like to get you a bath.”
Sima yawned and nodded groggily, climbing off a stirring Virion. He’d become accustomed to the kingdom in no time, and find it much better, as Virion had.
Kiara met them as they dragged themselves off the thalmway, yawning as Sima hid behind Virion’s heels. “Who have we here?”
“An apprentice to my page. Perhaps he can be Virion’s page in time.” Nemiah rested a reassuring hand on Sima’s shoulder as he peered up at everyone with a gaping mouth and wide eyes.
“Everyone looks like you, sir.” His quiet awe made Kiara laugh as she reached a hand out to him.
“Yes, that is how we tend to look in Drashil. And you intend on being an apprentice?” Kiara swept Sima away, chattering happily about the ride over and his idea of what serving Virion would be like.
Nemiah took Virion by his arm and they made their way to the carriage that would pull them close to the castle. Virion stared at the thing with all the sickening wish that he could simply walk. He had no desire to upset his delicate stomach any further, but he persevered and groaned in blissful relief when Kiara presented him with some herbal candies upon entering the carriage. The flavor settled his stomach, and he sighed in relief. And from the looks of it, Sima enjoyed the dark landscape and surroundings as much as Virion had come to. His wide eyes and unending questions made Kiara laugh, and she took to the little one so well. “I think he needs a tutor, too.”
“I can read,” Sima said, as if that were all he needed.
“Yes, but can you do maths? Do you know your thalms and spellwork?” She raised a brow and Sima twisted his little lips.
“But I’m omega.”
“Precisely why you need to be better. Alphas are brutish things that need someone with a keener mind to handle them.” She winked at Nemiah, who rolled his eyes.
“Mother is seldom wrong, but I feel like omegas should learn to spite their alphas. Goddess knows Virion is far more entertaining than most since he’s so educated.” Nemiah offered Virion that sweet half smirk that made his cock twitch. Usually. The sway of the carriage turned his stomach again over the strong flavor of the candy.
Sima’s face blossomed into a bright smile. “I’m allowed to go to school with the betas?”
“I mean, I suppose if you wanted to, but I was thinking a private tutor, if not under my instruction or at Virion’s side learning for a little while. Virion is an excellent mage, mastered wordless magic and all.” Kiara had Sima’s full attention. “And I assume Alluin made good on his end of the bargains?”
Nemiah nodded. “Plus some, considering things .”
Kiara’s sweet smile held a hint of predatory fierceness in it as she nodded. “Well, I’ll have no problem getting off here.” She knocked on the carriage door. “Spending a little extra gold today will suit me. Sima? Would you like to get some more fitting clothes for the palace?”
The little boy’s eyes went wide, and he nodded.
The carriage slowed and Kiara disembarked with the boy. “Good. I’ll put some silver in your pocket in case you see some treats you like.”
“A whole silver!” He gasped sweetly and chased after her heels.
“Alone at last?” Nemiah turned his head to Virion the moment the door closed. “We have a few minutes before we—”
“No. I need to settle down. I want a cup of hot tea and some time without the world rushing about me before I even think about sucking your cock.” Virion waved a hand as he marched in as if he owned the place. Which, in a way, he did. As a vital piece to Nemiah’s future, and thus the shape of the kingdom, he had his rights, too. Nemiah had told him so.
“Sucking my cock? What happened to us both having fun?” Nemiah nudged into Virion’s backside, prodding him into moving. He stumbled and batted Nemiah away with a laugh.
“I dunno. I got mine on the way over. And I haven’t had the stomach to suck cock in a while, so I figured…” Virion waved his hand about airily.
“Well, far be it from me to complain, sweet Sugarmoth.” Nemiah leaned in to nibble at his neck and chuckle darkly. “But I will have you bent over my bed by nightfall.”
Virion hissed something between a warning and a noise of delight as they made their way to their quarters. Nemiah did things to him. Emotionally. Physically. Sexually.
Maybe the nap could wait… When they approached his bedroom, Virion pushed up on his toes and kissed Nemiah, dragging out a somewhat feral groan of pleasure. “Come. Perhaps I need to be tucked in for my nap.”
Nemiah chuckled as he nipped Virion’s lower lip, those dark eyes flaring, the blue irises nearly aglow. “Don’t tease me. If you keep giving me that look, I won’t be able to stop until we’re both spent.”
“I bet I can have you coming in my hand in three minutes, husband.” Virion’s cheeks warmed as they opened the bedroom door and forged in, pawing at one another’s clothing in desperation before a soft Ahem caught their attention.
“If he’s coming, I’m going.” Blush sniffed indignantly and floated off. “But it is nice to see you’re home.”
“Same. Ivy, don’t be rude. Come. We’re not wanted. They can say hello after they’ve got the stench of travel off them.” Artemis floated off and Virion buried his face in Nemiah’s chest, his burgeoning erection flagging.
“Fuuuuuuck,” Virion said, sighing in resignation.
“Mood killed?” Nemiah raised one of those unfairly sharp and beautiful brows at him.
“The mood has been murdered. We’ll hold a vigil for it come nightfall. Pray thee, goddess, guide my fragile erection into the next world.”
Nemiah snorted, that cool, sexy exterior as wasted as the erection he’d sported. “We could just let me have my way with you until the flag has risen once more?”
A stifled giggle from the hallway made shame burn fiercely across Virion’s cheeks.
“You three are the worst!” Nemiah slammed his fist into the door with a warning strike that made Virion jump and the nymphs flee.
“They mean well, I’m certain.”
“They’re mischievous. They mean whatever they like,” Nemiah said, turning his attention back to Virion. “But if they insist on dropping eaves, I’ll insist upon seeing how loud I can make my mate cry out in ecstasy.”
Virion opened his mouth to say something, but Nemiah had rekindled his mood far faster and worked to tug the ties and buttons of Virion’s outfit. Wasting no time in deciding otherwise, Virion reciprocated, pulling at Nemiah’s clothing, the uptight brocade and leathers worn ceremonially, what they’d not bother to change from after the sun’s ceremony that morning.
Bare skin touched bared skin within the span of a few breaths. Their hungry mouths sought one another out and Nemiah hoisted Virion’s thighs to his hips. Pleasure dissolved control as he let his horns and wings flow free. The swell of Virion’s belly pressed into the gentle sculpt of Nemiah’s, not uncomfortable, but soon it could be. “I’ll fly with you one day, my love.”
Nemiah stole his mouth again, lips locking. Their tongues glided against one another, and Nemiah’s cock nudged Virion’s bare ass cheek. A single sock hung from one of his feet, unshed in their haste.
“You can send me to the stars with your breath alone. Your words bring cool relief and your skin brings me all the warmth I could never take from the sun.” Virion shuddered through the contact and reveled in his mate’s display.
“You’ve a beautiful mind for words as well as thalmic science.” Nemiah sank into their bed, knees first, tilting Virion almost delicately to the covers. “Will you deny me?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Virion groaned when Nemiah’s wings spread out, shielding him from all the world and light. The silhouette of his mate a dark shadow between him and responsibility. Delicate fingers sank over his hip and into the tender flesh of his uppermost inner thigh. Once he found Virion’s hole, he trailed his fingers home to gently open him. It’d been too long since he’d taken his mate’s cock.
Little noises of pleasure and pain escaped Virion’s lips so helplessly. Where with other lovers he’d been skilled at keeping silent, with Nemiah, he was unable to contain every single noise and whimper.
Nemiah spoke, voice full of gravel and desire, “I love watching you come undone.”
Such blatant desperation reflected from Nemiah’s eyes, his face a portrait of sinful lust. Every time with them held memories of his heat, that crippling want that burned its way through him. Virion only had moments to revel in his fingers before Nemiah’s grip changed. A moment of emptiness shrouded his bliss until he thrust forward, guiding his cock into Virion’s depths.
He slid in far more gently than usual, his hand rolling around Virion’s hip to scoop down and bear his weight. Bracing for more force left Virion stiff for a few moments before he relaxed into his husband’s hold. “You’re so tight for me.”
“Not for long,” Virion chuckled but received a shush in response.
“The healer has spoken to us many times. You’ll recover in time, and your body may change, but I’ll love you no matter what. And if I do not, the goddess may strike me down.” Nemiah kissed Virion with the sweetest press of lips, gentle and reassuring. Their noses brushed and his hips moved, rocking into Virion, seeking not carnal absolution but the wholeness they felt together. Pure bliss coursed through Virion, their thalmic power entwining with one another, caressing their souls. From the core of their beings, their hearts, and breath, their magic brought them more pleasure than anything else.
Nemiah hissed first, his knot making Virion thrash for a jolt before shuddering, that pleasure radiating not down his spine to his cock but from his heart to his mind. Together, they came, Virion’s sac tightening, slick flowing. Nemiah braced himself with a shudder, and hot pulses of thick cum basted him inside, as if promising him many more children to come.
Warm, content, and tired from their day’s travels, Virion closed his eyes and let Nemiah have his way with soft kisses until they cuddled beneath the blankets. “You smell amazing.” Virion nosed along Nemiah’s neck.
“I smell like you.” Nemiah laughed and snuggled in. “Let’s bathe after a nap.”
“Sounds wonderful.”