Chapter Nineteen
Lloyd left a week after Fin. He was heading for a place in Murmaberg, only a few hours’ ride by dragon. Part of me was jealous that Evanov would get to see his son so much more often than I would see Fin. Evanov came back from the launching pad, where he’d seen Lloyd off alone, utterly worked up.
I was in the dining room with Jimny and Gahunia, working out a new route for the next patrol when Evanov walked in and flew at me.
Unprepared for the attack, it took me to the floor, Evanov’s fists connecting hard, but then the weight was off, and there were kicks aimed and insults screamed.
Other people appeared out of nowhere as I got to my feet.
“What is going on here?” Ang demanded as he strode in.
“Nothing,” Evanov said, wrenching out of Jimny’s grasp.
“Dragon shit,” Gahunia snarled. “He just walked in here and attacked Segast for no reason.”
Evanov glared at him, his fists at his sides, but shaking as if controlling them was more effort than he had. “I’ve plenty of reasons.”
“Then name a good one,” Ang said. “Give me a reason to forgive an attack on a superior officer.”
Evanov scoffed. “Yeah right. Like you won’t protect your favourite bitch. You’re all the same here, anything for the Segasts. Fin left and you were all there for him. A real honour guard. But my Lloyd just left for college, and not one of you arseholes bothered to see him off or even say goodbye.”
“Maybe because we’d have been saying good riddance,” Gahunia stated.
“We all loved Fin, he was a good kid,” Jimny said. “Lloyd was a bully. Just like his dad.”
“Rider Evanov you will receive five lashes.”
The reactions to that were varied.
“Boutros will heal you enough to avoid blood loss issues, then you will be taken to Ashland Harbour in the transport cage. I’ll prepare a letter for Sky Commander Zemich. He can decide your ultimate fate.”
Ang left, and that was that. I never saw Evanov again, and his name was never mentioned.
Like other things that went unmentioned.
Sometimes I wondered if that evening in my bathroom had just been a fantasy rather than a reality.
Had Ang really come to my room? Had he really touched me so intimately?
When I remembered the feel of it, it was like his kiss had branded onto my shoulder.
I’d look at the ferning on my arm and know that the mark made me his.
We did not talk about it.
Three days later, Ang was at my door. He was tired, he apologised for not having had enough time for me lately. I told him I understood. I invited him in and gave him food. He still looked tired.
“May I stay here?”
The quiet question sliced to the core of me. “I’d like that.”
What surprised me was that he took Fin’s room.
I stayed up, hoping that he would come to me, but all I heard was the gentle rhythm of his breathing, and the occasional snort or snore. That made me smile. Ang was so controlled when awake, so perfect, it was cute to know that when he was relaxed, he was as human as the rest of us.
It started to become a thing, Ang staying the night.
Always in Fin’s room. A couple of times, we were both so tired we stood up and without even thinking about it, shared a kiss, just a peck on the cheek.
Then he’d walk into Fin’s room, and I’d take a stunned moment before reminding myself to walk into my room.
A few months later, Ang called me into his office during the day.
“Flight Sergeant Segast.” The official start was unexpected, but this was clearly official business. “We have a new wing of Riders joining us tomorrow. That will take us to a full complement of staff here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Which creates a small problem.”
I frowned. “Does it, Captain?” I ran it through my mind, and as long as we had supplies coming in, we would be fine.
“Yes, Segast. You see, a wing has three Riders.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed when he paused.
“Three men.”
“Yes, sir.” I couldn’t see where this was going.
“We only have two empty bedrooms. And the second bedroom in four-twelve.”
I swallowed. I saw the problem now. “Fin’s room?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Fin’s room.”
There was a logical answer. “You want me to move out?”
“That’s one possibility.”
I frowned. “You want me to share with one of the new men?”
“That is another possibility.”
“Is there a third?”
“I could move in with you.”
Rug. Pulled. Out.
I looked at him. “That seems a … sensible suggestion. We know we can spend time together. We know each other well enough.” My breathing hitched.
Maybe that evening in my bathroom could be repeated?
Did he want that? I didn’t know, we didn’t talk of it.
And I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.
“Are you sure that you would be happy to give up your room? Your privacy?”
“My room is a single room. Like any other barracks. There are no special accommodations here. It’s one of the reasons that the Sky Commander does not like to stay here.
Moving from my current room to Fin’s room means only that I have less distance to walk from the stairs to bedroom, and I am sure you can appreciate that there are nights when that is a welcome bonus. ”
“Yes, sir.” I controlled the smile threatening to blossom on my face.
“Then we will move my belongings together. Tonight,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“That will be all, Sergeant.”
* * *
We had dinner in the communal dining room, then moved his belongings: clothes, books, a few trinkets.
None of us had much. Riders tended to travel light, for all that neither he nor I had travelled much in the last fifteen years.
I left him to sort out the room as he wanted it.
I’d already cleared the couple of mementos Fin had left behind and relocated them to my room.
I was sitting by the fire when he came out.
We shared a drink, discussed what would happen over the next few days, but finally it was time to settle to sleep.
We both stood up, and I gathered my full courage.
Taking his hand, I raised the other to cup his cheek, leaned in, pulled him towards me and kissed him.
This wasn’t the kind of thing we’d shared in the past, a late-night peck on the cheek.
Not this time I placed a very deliberate kiss on his lips.
Pulling back, I searched his face for his reaction. But the only thing that I sensed was his grip on my fingers.
He wasn’t pulling away, which gave me the bravery to shift and head towards my bedroom, our joined hands tugging him after me. He didn’t pull away when I opened the door to my room and we walked in. I closed the door and moved to stand in front of him.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his again. “Very sure.”
Ang swallowed and licked his lips. “Sullivan, this isn’t a game to me.”
“Nor me,” I promised. “I don’t know what this is, but I want to explore it. If you want to?”
Now he leaned forward and kissed me lightly.
Then his hands were at my waist, pulling my shirt out of my trousers.
Once that was gone, our mouths met again, but this time the kiss deepened, the thrust of his tongue drove me wild.
I sucked gently and enjoyed the taste of him exploring me as we started tearing our own and each other’s clothes off.
We had to pause the kissing for removal of tops and boots, but all rather quickly we were falling naked on the bed, snuggling under the blankets.
Then we were lying together, skin to skin.
I wanted to kiss more, to touch more, but Ang pulled back, asking me to wait.
So each of us on our sides, we faced each other over the pillows.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Had I done something he hadn’t liked?
“Nothing.” He smiled, running his fingertips over my cheek. “I just wanted to say that, if you’re not sure, tell me to stop. I don’t want to rush you into anything.”
“Rush me?” I asked. “After fifteen years?”
“You aren’t normally this way … inclined.”
He looked worried, and I understood that.
I picked up his hand and kissed one fingertip.
“I went to an all boys’ school.” I kissed the next fingertip.
“So this isn’t as new to me as you might think.
” The next fingertip I lingered over. “I’ve never fully …
you know.” The last fingertip I sucked into my mouth.
He dragged in a tight breath. “But I’ve got a fairly good idea.
” I sucked again on his finger as I reached down and wrapped my hand around his magnificent, hard rod.
He was longer than I expected, and I revelled in the way he twitched into my palm.
I stroked slowly up and down, our mouths exploring each other.
Then he pushed me back, straddling me, that beautiful rod pointed to my face.
I breathed hard, my own rod strained towards him.
For a moment he held over me, on all fours, then he leaned down and kissed me.
I could feel the heat of his backside against the tip of my rod, I shifted closer.
He broke our kiss with a gasp and sat up.
The change of position trapped the tip of my rod between his buttocks.
Gods that felt so hot and welcome. I gripped his rod a little tighter, rubbing faster.
The movement of his chest, the sound of his breathing pulled me further into the heat of the moment.
“Sully,” he gasped my name like a benediction.
My rod jerked, hips jumped.
“Oh Gods,” he cried, leaned back, his spine arched. “I’m going to cum.”
Those long fingers reached back caressed my rod, and all the tension I’d been holding exploded.
His arm raised, and lightning arced across to the one empty corner of the room.
I coated him with my cum. His pumped out over my face and chest. Each pump of his excited another from me, and I remembered the way that he’d eased me down, and I did the same for him, until we were spent and together.
I glanced at the wall. A scorch mark marred the otherwise pristine granite. He really had lost control, and I loved knowing I could do that to him.
Reaching up, I cupped that precious face and drew him down on top of me, the wetness of our pleasure glueing us together as much as our feelings. I smiled, adoring the passion I finally saw in his eyes as I leant up to kiss him quickly.
“Welcome home, Ang.”