14. Casimine
Casimine
“Do you think this person is her lover?”
Casimine considered the question. There was a lot of unknowns when it came to their bodyguard.
The revelation that she had an enchanted gem that could send messages was part of that.
Despite Taldesa’s surly disposition, Casimine had spent a lot of his free time studying her.
None of their more subtle acts of seduction had worked, which Casimine would have dismissed as a lack of social skills.
However, she got too frazzled whenever he was close to her. Despite her rough exterior, she wasn’t that oblivious. If Taldesa did have a lover, it would explain why she ignored their more obvious flirtations.
“I can’t say,” Casimine murmured, running his fingers through Ameriden’s hair. “But I think whatever her relationship with this person is, it’s probably her dearest one.”
Taldesa had left long before Casimine woke up.
Ameriden had been there to greet him, but it was obvious that something was bothering him.
While Casimine was better at avoiding his problems, Ameriden wasn’t like that.
He was open in a way that Casimine had always envied.
Casimine might have been the poet, but Ameriden’s ability to speak truths far outweighed his.
Ameriden’s head rested in his lap, fingers curled with Casimine’s against his chest. He looked troubled—not that he could blame him.
“What are you thinking?” Casimine asked after a beat of silence.
“I… I’m not sure.”
“It’s all right if you feel disappointed.”
“Is it?”
“Of course,” Casimine replied, catching his eye.
Another frown, another emotion that didn’t suit Ameriden’s face. Unlike him, Casimine was patient when he wasn’t drowning in fear driven ambition. For Ameriden, he would wait for as long as he could.
Until the world ends.
“What do you think about her?” Ameriden asked. “I mean, outside of being sexy.”
“I think she’s someone who has something to prove,” Casimine replied, honestly. “She’s angry—but I couldn’t say why without spending more time with her. I think she’s a lot kinder than she likes to believe, and I enjoy her humor.”
“I think I like her…”
Casimine hummed in agreement.
“Casi,” Amer gripped his hand, clutching it to his heart.
“What is it?”
“I—think I really like her.”
“Like the others?”
“No.”
Ameriden was quiet again. He looked guilty, but that made no sense to him. Unless…
“Did you…”
“No, never!” Ameriden exclaimed. “It’s both of us or neither of us.”
A small swell of relief washed over Casimine.
It was a small insecurity—the thought of Ameriden waking up one day and realizing he had no affection for him anymore.
That he could easily love anyone without him—the weight of that doubt hurt more than anything.
Casimine did his best to calm his breathing as he waited for Ameriden to continue.
When he didn’t, Casimine licked his lips.
“Whatever is on your mind, Amer, you can say it. I’m not as fragile as you think I am,” he assured.
“Casi, I don’t think your—”
Casimine hushed him, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“Just tell me, Amer.”
“I like her—” Ameriden closed his eyes. “I mean I like her more than just liking the idea of her riding my dick.”
“You have affection for her… like the kind you have for me?”
His eyes shot open. “No! No—at least, I don’t know. We’ve known her for a week, Casi. But I won’t lie and act like it’s not easy to feel for her.”
“Do you still love me?” Casimine asked, as if he wasn’t insecure. The words were rarely said between them, but he was suddenly desperate to hear them again.
“Of course I do!” Ameriden clumsily sat up beside him, his hand curling around Casimine’s neck. He looked frantic, like he needed to be believed. “I love you, Casi. I fucking love you.”
Pretty words to some, but for Casimine? Ameriden’s love was everything. It kept him grounded when the entire world felt too big. When the audience grew too loud and Casimine could no longer see the spotlight.
“I love you, too,” Casimine murmured, pressing a kiss to Ameriden’s palm. “I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with this guilt. If I had known, I would have said something sooner.”
His companion looked confused, arched brow raising higher. It was funny how much their livelihoods depended on their ability to communicate when they could never do it themselves. It had always been easier to use their mouths and tongues to convey feelings than their words.
“I like her the way you do, you silly man,” Casimine whispered against his mouth.
Ameriden’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“I was going to wait to tell you when you were feeling better,” Casimine confessed. “I wanted to make sure you were ready to hear it, but when I woke up, you looked so defeated.”
“This is new,” Ameriden whispered.
“For both of us.”
“I’m not sure what to do. Before, I thought we would just lay on the charm, throw in some innuendo, and everything else would fall into place.” Ameriden sighed.
Once they had decided to start planning their encounters, there had always been a familiar rhythm to it.
They would go to a high-end inn—the kind that understood discretion—and pick a courtesan.
In smaller areas, and a few drinks later, they’d usually end up bringing a one night stand back to their room.
Only Taldesa wasn’t a courtesan or a one night stand. She wasn’t even theirs outside of being their bodyguard. She was complicated, messy, and alluring in her self-imposed indifference.
Not to mention she has this mysterious person she’s desperate to get in contact with.
Falling in love—or seeing the potential of falling in love after knowing someone for a week wasn’t that strange.
Love songs, poems, and first hand accounts said it was possible to fall in love at first sight.
Water Mother knew Casimine had certainly felt it when he first saw Ameriden’s face—though he doubted the bard knew it at the time.
Realizing that they could both fall for someone who wasn’t the other—well, it was understandable why they had both kept their thoughts to themselves.
“Perhaps a different approach.” Casimine stretched a hand toward the coffee table.
“I get the feeling she’s not going to be into a serenade,” Ameriden dryly replied. “Last time I played something on my lute, she threatened to beat me with it.”
Casimine laughed, bypassing the parchment for the novel beneath. He flipped the book open, skimming the pages until he found what he was looking for. Opening the book wider, Casimine showed the page to his companion.
“You think smut is going to make her into us?” Ameriden frowned. “I mean, it’s not how I would do it, but sure—”
“No, you silly bastard,” Casimine gently whacked Ameriden with the book. “Not the smut. This part.”
Directing Ameriden’s gaze with his finger, Casimine waited for him to catch up.
“Oh!” Ameriden exclaimed. “That makes so much more sense. Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, let’s do it!”
One of the benefits of not being on tour was that it gave Casimine time to prepare their idea for Taldesa. Ameriden had been all for it—until Casimine introduced the other part of his plan.
“But what if she gets upset?” he asked.
“When is she not upset?” Casimine retorted.
That had been that. Though, knowing Ameriden, his concern was less about Taldesa’s ire and more about what he may see. The magic Casimine had planned could backfire, but the chances were slim. Given Ameriden’s first hand account, Casimine was confident that Taldesa would go for the idea.
The anticipation had an unfortunate side effect on Casimine. While he was used to having an irregular sleep cycle, he desperately needed to sleep if he wanted the spell to succeed. If he woke up with his throat angry and body aching, they would have to reschedule, and neither of them wanted that.
Casimine had tried to keep the fidgeting to a bare minimum, but he could feel his nerves in his fingers. Felt the words wanting to billow out of his throat. Restlessly, he turned for the sixteenth time.
“You’re worse than Dumpling when I have to clean his tank,” Ameriden murmured against his ear.
“I’m sorry, I’m keeping you up,” Casimine whispered.
He’d been awake long enough that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room. While he couldn’t see perfectly, Casimine was aware of how close Ameriden’s face was to his.
“You’re not keeping me up.” Ameriden yawned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Casimine took his hand, felt his fingers lazily intertwine with his. “I’m just a little nervous…it’s been a while since I’ve attempted something like this.”
The last time had been when Casimine was in college.
He had a natural talent for it—which was rare for most bards.
Casimine usually didn’t like doing it, as it felt like another invasion of privacy, but that’s why they had planned to present the idea to Taldesa versus just pushing it on her.
Everything really depended on her and what she wanted.
Ameriden chuckled, low and deep, “Listen to you…you’re as nervous as you were when you did the walk of shame back in college.”
“Excuse you, I did not do a walk of shame.”
“Says the guy who came home with a bunch of lipstick smeared all over his school collar,” Ameriden teased.
“I am not some inexperienced school boy anymore! I’m a professional bard,” Casimine complained.
“So professional the way you ran to your bed and hid under the sheets for hours,” Ameriden laughed.
Reflexively, Casimine reached out and pinched Ameriden’s nipple. He hissed, laughter still on his breath. Casimine was about to reach for the other nipple, when Ameriden rolled on top of him. He was hard already, pressing his hips against Casimine’s and stealing the breath from him.
“You were so cute,” Ameriden whispered against his ear. “All wide-eyed with your lilac cheeks.”
Even in the dark, Casimine knew his face was flushing the same lilac hue. Yet, despite his embarrassment, Casimine still angled his hips up. He still pulled Ameriden closer.
“Like you were any better,” Casimine murmured. “You used to walk into class stinking of ale, arrogance, and perfume.”
“College is hard. We all needed something to take the edge off,” Ameriden grinned against his mouth. “Why don’t we do the same, hmm? Let me take the edge off, Casi.”
Ameriden’s fingers were already loosening the laces of his pants and all Casimine could do was buck against him. When Ameriden’s large hand slipped beneath the fabric and wrapped around his cock, Casimine bucked, a whimper escaping his lips.
“Oh, you’re sensitive, aren’t you Casi?” Ameriden kissed his throat. “Were you thinking about tomorrow? Thinking about what’ll happen when she says yes?”
Casimine bit his lip as Ameriden stroked him, encouraging him to lift his hips high enough for his pants to be pushed aside. He whined when Ameriden let him go, but the man only chuckled.
“You’re so eager,” Ameriden said, unlacing his own pants. “Fuck, you’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”
“Amer,” Casimine whined the moment he fell back into his arms. “Damn it.”
“You don’t have be shy, Casi, I thought you weren’t that school boy anymore,” Ameriden taunted, his hand reaching between them.
“I’m not,” Casimine denied. “I—”
A choked gasp escaped his parted lips when Ameriden wrapped his hand around them both, pressing them together. The shock of them touching, both hot and messy with how eager they were—
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Ameriden used his other hand to guide Casimine’s to wrap around the other side of them.
His hand was smaller than Ameriden’s, but his fingers were longer and managed to wrap more snugly around their bases.
A quick melody of magic, and suddenly their hands were slick to help the glide.
By the time Ameriden encouraged them to move, Casimine couldn’t think straight.
His mind was too lost to Ameriden’s words, Taldesa’s face, and the pleasure of every frantic thrust.
“Can you imagine it?” Ameriden groaned. “Her between us? How do you think she’d feel? Do you think she’d be quiet or loud?”
Imagining her was doing awful things to Casimine’s self control the more Ameriden whispered nasty things in his ear. He whimpered, pushing more tightly against him as he neared the edge.
“Come on, Casi,” he goaded. “Imagine it. Imagine both of us inside her at the same time—”
When he spilled over their joined hands, Casimine yelped her name. He thought he heard Ameriden do the same a moment later with a guttural groan.