Chapter One #3
Pel eagerly pulled off Tor’s nightshirt, and then he set about to explore.
He kissed the long column of Tor’s throat.
He licked over his collar bones, tasting the warm salt of his skin, and made his way down his chest. He nipped and sucked at Tor’s nipples until they were small, aroused nubs, and Tor’s hips were thrusting up into Pel as he made wonderful needy sounds that Pel wanted to hear forever.
He kissed his way down to the taut stomach, which quivered as Pel pressed his lips to the firm skin there. He darted his tongue into the man’s belly button, then listened to increasingly ragged breathing as Pel moved lower down.
Since he’d learned a thing or two in the past two nights, he skipped the man’s groin and moved instead to his thigh, kissing and licking and biting the lightly haired skin there.
“You’re a tease,” Tor managed to get out, his voice noticeably strained.
Pel grinned against his skin and kept up his exploration, finding a small scar below his knee—he’d get the story later—making his way down to his foot, and discovering that when he kissed the arch, Tor giggled.
That was quite possibly the best sound Pel had ever heard.
He kissed each toe, then switched to the left foot and worked his way up that leg.
The tension in Tor’s body was magnificent, all that strength leashed as Tor let Pel do whatever he wanted.
Briefly, he contemplated skipping the man’s cock again, but it was red and leaking, and Pel didn’t want to wait any longer.
Tor let out the most perfect relieved sound when Pel wrapped his hand around it.
Pel might not know everything there was to know about sex, but Tor’s advice about paying attention to body language and seeing what felt good with your partner was playing out before him right now.
He ran his thumb over the head of Tor’s cock, and Tor sucked in a sharp breath.
Pel smeared the clear fluid around with his thumb, enjoying the lovely sounds Tor made as he stroked his shaft.
With his other hand, Pel stroked the soft skin of his balls, which earned him another gasp, Tor arching into the motion.
Pel sped up his strokes, watching with avid eyes as Tor’s chest heaved, his gaze going heavy-lidded.
It wasn’t very long until Tor’s hips snapped up, his orgasm taking Pel by surprise, his release coating their skin.
“Sorry,” Tor gasped out. “I usually have better manners than that.”
“I’m not complaining,” Pel said with a grin.
It was, in fact, quite nice to know that he was able to affect Tor this much.
“Your turn?” Tor suggested.
Pel sincerely hoped so.
Tor flipped them over and then slithered down Pel’s body to suck his cock down his throat.
Pel tried to pay more attention to the mechanics than the feelings, with the goal of replicating it himself one day, but that proved impossible.
The warmth, wetness, and suction were incredible, and the sight of Tor’s beautiful mouth wrapped around Pel’s cock…
Well, it drove every other thought out of Pel’s head, sent him chasing the growing pleasure until Tor was swallowing down his release, leaving Pel a limp mess, his body wrung out and gloriously sated.
Pel wanted to do that as often as possible.
He wanted to do more. He wanted… well, he wanted something he was pretty sure he couldn’t have.
Because as much as they’d agreed to be together, agreed that they wanted more, Tor was only here because he’d effectively run away from Alossa and the High Court.
He was going to have to leave, and when he did, he’d take his wonderful mouth and all his other wonderful parts away…
and Pel would be left here in Tond, alone once more.
It felt suddenly like they’d wasted so much time, and a surge of annoyance at himself boiled through Pel.
Only he couldn’t imagine starting anything with Tor before he’d really got to know him.
He wished fruitlessly that they could have those weeks back anyway, because there was so much he still wanted to do with Tor.
He’d just have to take advantage of every moment he could for as long as he had.
Tor interrupted his spiraling thoughts. “You’re thinking too hard over there.”
Pel had lost track of everything. “Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. It sounds more like I should be working on my technique.”
Pel laughed and twisted so that he could press a soft kiss to Tor’s mouth.
“You know full well that I don’t have the slightest complaint about your technique. And since we both know I’m far less skilled, your modesty comes across as annoying instead of charming, in case you’re wondering.”
Tor laughed. “Ah. Sorry. Comment rescinded. Though I will point out that I’ve not had any complaints about your technique.”
Tor could be much kinder than Pel would ever have thought from their initial meeting here in Tond.
“This is just… very new,” Pel told him. “It’s a lot to think about. But I’m definitely enjoying myself, and I’m confident that we’re going to figure it out.”
Tor smiled at him. “Good.”
They rose to start their day, Pel moving to gather his clothes even as he eyed the window. The quality of the light shining in told him that the servants would be in soon.
He still wasn’t sure how much he should try to hide this.
He didn’t want to hide it. Part of him wanted to tell everyone.
But… his stomach sank as he thought about what his father would likely say, especially when Tor ended up leaving again.
It had been bad enough when Pel had Manifested as Unremarkable at sixteen.
That small amount of magic might be the most common by far, but the royal families usually produced Illustrious at least, as well as most Extraordinary.
It had been dreadful to be the only Unremarkable prince in the United Realms, and the idea of being the cause of so much gossip again…
Pel tugged on his undergarments and hose.
At least back then, Bavil had supported him and tried to shield him.
Larexa had been only nine, and she’d assured him that she’d love him forever and ever no matter how much magic he had.
Only then everything had changed. And he didn’t know what they’d say about this.
Their father had been throwing the two of them at Tor since he got here, but it had been months, and honestly, even Pel could see that they hadn’t been trying that hard.
He pulled his tunic over his head and smoothed it out.
Pel had assumed that Tor didn’t want to get trapped in a marriage not of his choosing, which had only been confirmed when Tor had confessed that he was fleeing a marriage desired by the High King.
But that didn’t mean Bavil and Larexa weren’t both very beautiful and a lot more magical than Pel was.
And Pel knew full well that Tor slept with lots of people he didn’t intend to bond with.
His stomach gave another wobble, and before he could lose his nerve, he asked, “Uh, can I ask you an extremely awkward question?”
Tor grinned. “You absolutely can. What would you like to know?”
“You haven’t had sex with Bavil or Larexa, have you?”
For a moment, Tor’s face went completely expressionless, and Pel braced himself.
Tor grimaced and exclaimed, “No! Of course not. I have no interest in being bonded to either of them, and I think everyone in the castle is aware of what your father is trying. Larexa is way too young for me, Bavil isn’t interested in men, and I’m not interested in either of them.”
Pel wasn’t sure he could entirely believe that.
Oh, he trusted the no bonding part, but they really were where all the beauty had gone in the family, and they were both good at flirting and being charming.
They were all very friendly, although maybe it was true that Tor spent the most time with Pel.
Tor reached out, and when Pel didn’t rebuff him, he tugged him closer by way of a grip on his hips. Tor was still naked.
“I don’t get involved with siblings,” he assured Pel.
Then his expression clouded and he amended, “As a general rule. I think there might have been a pair of siblings or cousins here or there, but only ones that were clearly interested and consenting. Together. At the same time. I mean, I wasn’t hiding anything from anyone, and they weren’t hiding anything, either. ”
Pel couldn’t help but laugh and relax into the man’s touch. That had been too awkward to be anything but the truth.
“I would never be so crass as to sleep with your siblings,” Tor added, gazing at him intently, like he was willing Pel to believe him.
But how would he have known that it was important not to?
Back before they’d gotten together, when they’d been nothing but adversarial, wouldn’t it have been natural?
Perhaps Pel had something to be grateful to his father about after all.
Realistically, if Tor had been less worried about winding up bonded, he would surely have wound up in bed with one of Pel’s siblings.
Tor smiled at him, though he still looked a little worried. “I’m interested in you.”
Pel leaned in to kiss him, losing himself in Tor’s mouth, the undeniable heat and want of that connection.
Although it would have been awkward if Tor had slept with either of Pel’s siblings, anything that happened before they got together wasn’t really Pel’s concern—not as long as it was between consenting adults, anyway, and it had become extremely clear that was a key tenet of how Tor operated.