Chapter Thirty-Six
Although I had cleared the city, there was still much to do.
Not for me, but for the King. We parted at the lifter, now working.
I went up to my lab while he went to deal with the aftermath of the purge.
I tried to smile as I memorized his radiant face, but it was lacking.
I saw him notice, so I put more effort into the expression.
“I'll be done in a few hours.” Falken lifted my chin to kiss my lips. It was just a quick peck, and then he was gone.
I watched him walk away, surrounded by knights and with Torli at his side. It would be the last time I saw the Dragon King.
Sighing, I went into the elevator. I had teased him about payment, but I was going to leave without it. I couldn't accept anything from him now. It felt wrong.
In the lab, I packed my things. Most of my belongings were still in my wagon, stored in a locked room of the stable.
I hadn't had the time to unpack more than the necessities and my alchemy kit.
When I had those items stowed in a trunk, I took it into the lift and headed up to the royal apartments.
I packed a satchel of clothes, and then hesitated, my hand on the talisman Falken had given me.
But no, I couldn't leave it. It had been a gift without expectation.
It was mine. The only thing I'd have to remember him by.
With one last look around the space I had shared with the Dragon King, I left.
Standing before the lifter panel, I squared my shoulders.
I had never wept over a relationship, but I would weep for Falken.
After I had left. If I let even a single tear fall now, I would crumble to the floor and never get up.
I just had to make it to the stable. I'd have to steal a horse for the wagon, but considering what the King owed me, it was nothing.
Then I frowned. The lifter should have been waiting on the fifth floor, but the panel wasn't opening. Just as I began to worry about the trunk I had left in it, I heard the lifter stop, and the panel opened. I lifted my head, hands tightening on my satchel. Then, eyes wide, I stepped back.
The Dragon King stepped out of the lifter carrying my trunk.
Falken sighed as he took my trunk past me and into his suite. Looking from him to the lifter, I contemplated leaving the trunk behind.
“Do not make me chase you, Sevarin,” his voice came out of the doorway.
He was right. I was wrong. I shouldn't have tried to leave like that. At the very least, I owed him a goodbye. Tail curled under in shame, I trudged into the front room and over to the sitting area.
Falken had chosen a high-backed chair, my trunk set on the floor by his feet like a hostage. He narrowed his eyes when I sat on the couch across from him instead of the chair beside him. But his voice held only anxiety when he said, “Sevarin, don't go.”
“I've let this continue too long.” Setting my satchel on the cushion beside me, I folded my hands in my lap and curled my tail around my leg. “It's time to return to my wandering.”
“Is it your wander years or cowardice that is taking you from me?”
I sighed. “My job is done. I have to go, Fen.”
“I haven't even paid you.”
“Keep it. I just need a horse for my wagon.”
“Keep it?” His eyebrows lifted. “That's very unlike you, Master Alchemist.”
“Yes, it is. But this is my kingdom too. It was my honor to help you save it. And it was my honor to share your bed while doing so.”
“It's more than that, and you know it. You want to stay. I can see it all over your face.” He motioned at my leg, where my tail was curled tightly around it. “In your tail. So, why go?”
“Because I'm not yours.”
Falken flinched as if I'd struck him.
“Then whose are you?”
“My own. But that's not what I meant. I'm not your mate.”
He let out an annoyed huff. “You don't know that.”
“It's been long enough—”
With a roar, the King shot out of his chair and lifted me into his arms. Holding me tightly, as if I might fight him, he strode into the bedroom. “If I have to mate you to get you to stay, I will.”
I gaped at him. “You can't mate me at will.”
“Yes, I can.” His expression hardened as he lay me on the bed and removed my boots. “I'm going to make love to you until the magic rises. If we have to stay in bed for weeks, so be it. I know you're mine. I can feel it! I've known since the first time we had sex.”
I scrambled back. “I am not something you can own.”
“Ugh!” He made a frustrated gesture with his hands. “Just stop, Sevi! You just said you wanted to leave because you're not mine. You understand the difference, so stop using it as a shield. I'm not trying to own you. I'm trying to love you!”
We stared at each other in silence, Fen looming above me. And then he pulled off his boots.
“Fen, I—”
“Take off your clothes.”
“This won't work.”
“Take off your clothes, Sevi!”
With trembling hands and an eagerly twitching tail, I removed my clothing. Fen was faster and fell upon me, removing my pants even as I reached for the waistband. Growling, he grabbed a bottle of oil, and I prepared myself for a primal fucking. Not that it scared me. I loved getting savage in bed.
But that's not what happened.
After pouring some oil into his palm, he coated his cock, and then he coated mine. I frowned up at him even as I shuddered from the pleasure of his touch.
“I want you to mount me.” Fen lifted his chin as if I might deny him.
“You do?” I sat up. “Are you sure? If you're doing this to make me stay, I don't need it. I'm happy receiving.”
“I'm doing this because I want to.” He lay down on his belly beside me. “If I don't like it, I'll tell you to stop.”
“All right,” I whispered, and then moved to kneel between his thighs. “But we're doing this my way.”
I took the bottle of oil and laid it on the bed beside me.
First, I needed to relax him. Hands firm, I rubbed the pert globes of his ass.
Sighing, Fen glanced at me over his broad shoulder.
He had his arms folded beneath him and looked incredible, all that muscled flesh waiting for me to explore.
I remembered my first time receiving. My lover had been experienced and knew how to ease me into it. I would do the same for Fen.
“Spread your legs a little wider and put a pillow under your hips.”
Fen looked at me again, his eyebrows high.
But then he rolled onto his side, cock bobbing, and pulled a pillow beneath him.
With a soft sigh, he lay down and spread his thighs.
The pillow lifted his ass into the perfect position, his sacs hanging below, plump and lightly furred.
Below them, his swollen cock pressed into the pillow.
I ran a finger up the bottom of it and then massaged his sacs.
Fen groaned. “I've never been in this position before. It's comfortable.”
“Good. You're going to be like that for a while.” I bent to kiss and nibble his ass cheeks as I stroked his cock.
“Be careful, or you'll make me come.”
“That's fine.” I nipped his cheek again. “I don't need you hard to fuck you.”
Fen shuddered. “Holy fuck, I'm really doing this.”
“We can stop at any time.”
“No, proceed.”
With a grin, I pushed his full cheeks apart to more fully expose his puckered hole. It was pink and ringed in a sprinkling of hair. I teasingly brushed a finger over him, and his whole body shook.
“Just relax. I won't mount you until you're ready.” I stroked his ass with one hand while I reached for the oil with the other.
“I'm ready now.”
“No, you're not.” I smacked his ass. “Let me prepare you.”
He grunted and settled back down.
After opening the bottle, I pulled his cheek to the side and dripped oil over his hole.
His ass trembled, and he jerked when I rubbed the oil in.
Setting the bottle aside, I sprawled over his left thigh, propped on an arm as I used the same hand to spread his cheek.
With a happy sigh, I caressed his opening, circling and rubbing it until he was twitching in need.
Then I slid the tip of my finger in him, just enough to encase it in his ring of muscles.
Fen moaned and undulated his hips.
I slipped my finger out, then in again, keeping that shallow depth. “Squeeze my finger.”
“What?”
“Just squeeze it a little.”
His muscles clenched around my finger. When they released, I slipped in a little further.
Fen made a surprised sound of delight. Over and over, we repeated the process until my finger was as deep as it could go.
That's when I rose to my knees. With one hand on his hip, I thrust my finger in and out of him.
With every exit, I hooked my finger to pull on his ring of muscles until he loosened for me.
“How does that feel?” I asked.
I didn't have to ask. Fen was moaning and writhing, even pushing onto my finger. But I wanted him to say it.
“It feels fucking amazing. Press down a little.”
I did as he asked, and he made a broken cry. “Good?”
“Very. Fuck me.”
I gasped and shuddered at his words. “Soon.” I rubbed his cheeks soothingly and then grabbed his cock. As I pushed my finger in and out slowly, I stroked the King's dick.
“Oh, fuck!” His hips circled forward. “Fuck me! Do it now!”
“Shh.” I removed my finger and spread his cheeks once more.
Holding my oiled cock at the base, I gently pushed the tip into him. Then I held still, controlling the urge to move. I waited until Fen relaxed and sighed. But before I could slide in deeper, he pushed back onto me, lifting his hips off the pillows.
I yanked out. “Be still, or you'll hurt yourself.”
“Just fuck me!” he snarled over his shoulder.
Chuckling, I remembered acting the same way with my first lover. I knew the anxious need he was feeling. But I also knew how good it would feel if I drew things out.
“All right, Fen. I'm going to mount you now. Tell me if it's uncomfortable.”