CHAPTER 26
C HAPTER 26
R AIDER FOLLOWED SETH down the spiral stone staircase to the waterfall and pool near their room. Purple trumpet flowers flared out from the climbing vines along their descent. A yellow bird flashed out into the sunlight, bright as gold.
It was the only gold he’d seen here. The djinn, Tarjan had told him, didn’t like metal, precious or otherwise. Except …
Hadn’t there been a gold statue overlooking the tower on which the roc had landed when it had brought him and Seth to Jannat?
Of course, Raider might have misinterpreted the glint of gold, or maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d seen things that weren’t there. Besides, he’d been so terrified over Seth at the time that nothing else had really been processing in his head.
At the bottom of the staircase, Seth turned to wait for him, offering his hand. Raider smiled. He loved when Seth did things like that. Hand in hand, they walked to the edge of the clear pool. Bright fish darted through the water where it lay calm outside the waterfall’s white spray.
Standing atop a flat rock beside the pool, they undressed. Wearing only his sarong and sandals, Raider was finished before Seth even got out of his boots, so Raider went to help him
Unbuckling his vest, Seth leaned in to nip Raider’s lip. “That’s going to turn me on.”
“I should certainly hope so,” Raider replied as he unlaced Seth’s pants.
“I thought you wanted to swim?”
“I do. But if you thought I suggested a swim in a secluded pool under a fabulous waterfall without intending for there to be fucking, I question whether you know me at all.”
“Oh, I know you,” Seth rumbled and spun Raider around, hauling his ass against the semi-hard cock that Raider had just freed from Seth’s pants. Seth reached behind himself with his free hand then showed Raider the bottle of oil. “Why do you think I brought this?”
“I wondered what was in your pocket.”
Seth nibbled at Raider’s ear. “No, you didn’t.”
Raider shivered deliciously and pressed back against Seth’s swiftly hardening cock. Seth reached down to find Raider’s erection. Raider sighed in relief at the stroke of Seth’s hand.
“Mmm,” Seth hummed in Raider’s ear. “I love when you’re hard for me.”
“I’m always hard for you, Seth. But let’s swim first.”
Seth pinched his ass. “Tease.”
Raider turned his head to meet Seth’s lips over his shoulder. After a quick kiss, Raider pulled away. Seth was aroused, but he wasn’t truly hungry—and Raider needed him hungry. He needed him rough.
Raider slipped into the cool water. It was shallow enough here for his feet to touch the silty bottom. He turned to watch Seth. Seth’s heavy cock bobbed as he stepped down from the rocky shelf. Raider’s hand went to his dick.
“Is that how you’re going to play?” Seth asked with his green eyes locked on Raider.
“You can handle it,” Raider said, echoing words that Seth had spoken to him more than once during sex.
Seth’s eyes narrowed.
Raider swam out, putting a little distance between them. Letting his legs drift to the surface, he floated on his back. His cock jutted up above the water.
“Fuck, Raider.”
Raider closed his eyes at the gravelly tone. He wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked. When he heard the light splash of Seth approaching, he dove under the water and darted around him.
Breaking the surface near the flat rock, Raider vaulted out. Streaming water, he landed on the rock in a crouch. Seth scowled beautifully.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Raider grinned. “Oh, yes.”
Seth’s eyes drifted to the hard cock hanging between Raider’s legs. Raider reached down and stroked himself. Seth’s lip twitched back from his teeth.
“Get your goddamn hand away from there. That’s mine.”
Raider’s cock twitched in his hand at the words. He slowed his stroking but didn’t stop.
His nerves buzzed as Seth started moving his way through the water. Seth didn’t repeat his command, didn’t say anything at all, but the burning intensity in his eyes promised exactly the punishment that Raider craved. He reached lower and gave his balls a firm tug. Seth’s nostrils flared.
Arousal burned hot through Raider, more from Seth’s attention than from his own hand. He needed that attention. He needed Seth.
Seth reached the ledge of rock. He tried to be subtle about his intentions, but they were entirely obvious to Raider. When Seth’s hand darted out, snatching at his ankle, Raider sprang back.
Seth exploded from the water. Shit, he was fast when he wanted to be. Raider barely got out of his range in time. Nerves lit, he took off across the grassy bank.
He made it half a dozen steps before powerful arms hooked around his torso. His legs went up in the air. Seth controlled Raider’s fall, slamming him to the ground hard enough to shock him, not hard enough to hurt him. Raider scrambled, but Seth clamped a hand onto his throat, pinning him down, cutting off his air. A heavy pulse of arousal traveled through Raider’s body. His cock throbbed. His hips lifted. He stared up into Seth’s burning eyes.
Seth got between Raider’s legs, shoving them apart. He loosened his grip on Raider’s throat, letting his gasp in a breath, then he clamped down again. He grabbed Raider’s balls and twisted. Raider’s hips punched up.
Seth released Raider’s balls to stroke his dick, gathering the precum that pulsed from his slit. Seth stroked his own cock with it.
“More,” Seth demanded, grabbing Raider’s balls again, tugging and massaging roughly. Raider’s mind whited out as he nearly came.
“Oh, don’t you dare come,” Seth growled as he collected the precum and slathered it on his cock. Seth took hold of Raider’s cock and stroked his tip with his thumb, milking more precum from it as his other hand rhythmically choked Raider.
This .
This was what he needed.
“More, damn it,” Seth demanded, his hand pinching between Raider’s balls and his cock. Raider’s dick pulsed and wept and Seth finally released his throat.
“That’s it, good,” Seth praised as he gathered up the precum and slicked his cock. His other hand pressed into Raider’s sternum, pinning him. Raider was so turned on he could barely think.
Seth lifted Raider’s hips, pressed his cockhead to Raider’s hole, and shoved inside. Raider cried out at the sudden, harsh intrusion. It burned, but the pain made his cock twitch against his abdomen. As Seth started to thrust into him, Raider let go. The last threads of his thoughts frayed and he gave himself over to the rough fucking. When he reached for his cock, Seth knocked his hand away.
“I told you that’s mine.”
Raider moaned. At some point, Seth pulled out and manhandled Raider onto his hands and knees before driving into him again. Every time Raider was about to come, Seth pulled out and switched positions.
Raider was shaking, moaning, begging. He didn’t even know what he was saying, only that he was pleading with Seth, desperate for release. But Seth had total control of Raider’s body, and he was ruthless with it. He took Raider to the edge again and again, not letting him come.
Raider didn’t even realize he was on his hands and knees again until Seth yanked him upright. Seth’s cock shifted roughly inside him as he was hauled back against Seth’s torso. One of Seth’s hands clamped onto Raider’s throat. His other grabbed Raider’s cock. But he’d gone still.
Breathing hard into Raider’s ear, Seth demanded, “Had enough?”
Raider whimpered.
Seth squeezed Raider’s throat and his dick. “Ready to do what I say?”
Seth relaxed his grip enough for Raider to gasp, “ Yes .”
Seth squeezed again, but he didn’t thrust into Raider as he ordered, “Then come .”
Raider let out a strangled cry around the constriction at his throat as his balls pulsed and his cock shot out a creamy strand.
“Oh, good boy,” Seth gritted out and thrust up into Raider’s ass, hitting his prostate and making another creamy strand spurt from him. Then Seth unleashed himself on Raider’s ass, fucking hard and deep until he too was crying out.
Releasing Raider’s throat, Seth bent him over and pumped hard into him as his cock kicked against Raider’s sweet spot, milking strand after strand of cum from him until he collapsed. Or he would have collapsed if Seth hadn’t caught him. Still buried deep, his hips still jacking forward, Seth settled them both to the ground.
They lay still, panting, for a long while as they came down from the release. Seth’s cock remained buried in Raider’s ass. He kept one hand on Raider’s groin, cupping his balls. His other hand massaged Raider’s throat.
Raider’s thoughts were too scattered for him to have much awareness as Seth pulled out of him and gathered him up, carrying him to the pool. He let Seth remain in control as they settled in the water. Seth stroked his face and cradled him, tender now as he always was after sex, especially when it was rough.
Raider rested against Seth, breathing quietly and letting himself recenter.
“What?” he asked when he noticed Seth staring at something on the bank.
“That peacock. It’s always outside our room. Now it’s here.”
Raider followed the direction of Seth’s gaze and spotted the gorgeous bird pecking at something in the grass, its spectacular tail trailing.
“So?” Raider said. “It’s pretty.”
“Hm.”
Seth picked up a small stone from the bank and chucked it at the bird. The peacock skittered away then took off with a heavy flapping of wings. Its tail shimmered in the light, brilliant green and blue.
Raider frowned. “Was that necessary?”
“Yes.”
“Brute.”
“I know. Speaking of … are you all right?”
Raider closed his eyes, content. He settled more deeply against Seth. “Yes. I needed that.”
Seth’s fingers threaded through Raider’s hair. “We’ll use the oil next time.”
“Didn’t want to go back for it?”
“There was no way in Hasa’s hell I was letting you get away again.”
Raider chuckled. “I have no regrets.”
Seth stroked Raider’s hair some more. “Are you going to talk to me?”
Unease squirmed through Raider’s gut, dispelling some of his comfortable lethargy. So Seth had noticed, apparently.
“Baby, I know what it means when you need me to be that rough,” Seth said quietly.
“I do want to talk to you.”
“Good,” Seth replied and relaxed, not rushing him.
When he was ready, Raider said, “You were right. About what you guessed. About the reason I heal so fast.”
Seth took a deep breath and let it out. “Did he tell you anything helpful?” Raider noticed that Seth didn’t say Tarjan’s name.
“Kind of. He said that human offspring of the djinn are usually blessed with gifts but that gifts are rarely an easy blessing.”
“What does that mean?”
Raider shrugged. “Beauty or artistic talent, which are the most common gifts, can inspire envy. And a gift like my healing meant I could survive to endure more pain than most. The blessing of the djinn is what brought the curse of quicksilver upon me. I think that’s what he meant.”
“So you talked to him about the quicksilver?”
“A little. It was hard. I should’ve had you there.”
Seth’s fingers traced his spine. “Why didn’t you want me there?”
“Because I knew it would be hard. Because I hate breaking down in front of you all the time.”
Seth’s fingers stilled. “Goddamn it, Raider.”
“I know.”
Seth sighed and started moving his fingers again along Raider’s spine. “So what did he say about the quicksilver?”
Raider rubbed a hand across Seth’s chest, letting the muscled contours ground him. “He said that humans shouldn’t meddle with it. I gathered that the djinn don’t approve of the arcane.”
“That’s certainly what I’ve read about them, but I don’t know the reason for it. Did he say?”
“I didn’t ask about that specifically. It didn’t actually occur to me, probably because I kind of feel the same way. For all its good, the arcane does a lot of bad.”
“That’s true,” Seth acknowledged.
“That’s why they took our weapons.”
Seth pointed out, “My sword isn’t arcane, so that’s not the only reason they took our weapons.”
“They don’t like metal. Have you noticed how there isn’t any here? They don’t even wear gold.”
“Are we going to get our weapons back?”
Raider huffed. “That sounds like a Seth conversation, not a Raider conversation.”
Seth sighed. “Fair enough. I’ll ask him myself.”
“Nicely,” Raider emphasized.
“I can be nice.”
“I know that you can be. That doesn’t mean you always choose to be.”
Seth stroked his spine again. “Did he know anything about your father?”
“No. I gather that what he did, seducing my mother, isn’t uncommon. But it doesn’t always result in offspring. Basically, he doesn’t know I exist, and I would never have any way of knowing who he is. Which is where I was before, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“So he could be here?”
“Or anywhere. There are other garden cities. Jannat is the biggest, but I guess it’s not even the oldest.”
“Speaking of that … I need to talk to you about something.”
Raider leaned back from Seth so he could see his face, which looked unpleasantly serious. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Well, I don’t like it, so you probably won’t either.”
“Oh, gods, what is it?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange how Ulam supposedly vanished? Cities don’t vanish. Even after thousands of years, something remains. Always. And yet, no one has ever found its ruins. Supposedly.”
“You keep saying supposedly.”
“That’s because I don’t think Ulam vanished at all. I think we’re in it.”
That took a moment to sink in. “What?”
“Jannat is Ulam. The signs are everywhere. Arcane symbols, the way half of it’s in ruins—”
“Seth, that is a truly wild theory.”
“Not really. Something happened between the djinn and the humans. Something that resulted in all the humans being wiped out.”
Raider’s skin tightened with cold, as though the temperature in the pool had dropped. “You’re saying the djinn killed all the humans.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Raider shook his head. “I don’t believe this. The djinn aren’t aggressive. And look at this place! It’s peaceful.”
“I don’t trust them.”
“Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”
“Raider,” Seth protested as Raider slipped out of his arms.
“I want to swim,” Raider told him.
“You’re angry.”
“I just don’t understand why you can’t simply enjoy something. Why do you have to pick everything apart?”
Seth looked hurt. “Ignoring the truth doesn’t change it. You of all people know that.”
“You know what I also know, Seth? Humans can be really cruel. I’m not sure I’d blame the djinn for wiping them out.”