Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
“ S extus and Tulius plan to hold contest,” Sorex was saying, but Leofric’s eyes tracked Cosmo as he excused himself from the table. “We place a beam over a ditch and practice fighting upon it.”
Laela sighed. “And practice falling and breaking your necks, I don’t doubt,” she chided.
“I can go, can’t I?”
Leofric still stared at the doorway through which Cosmo had disappeared.
“Leofric?”
He shook himself. “Apologies,” he said. “What?”
“Your son is asking if he can go play some ridiculous, dangerous game by moonlight with Sextus and Tulius.”
Leofric pulled his attentions back to the table with difficulty. “It is quite late,” he said sternly.
“The game is only fun by darkness,” said Sorex, exasperated, as if this should be apparent to anyone with a half a brain.
Leofric found himself caught between son and mother. It happened frequently, but it always left him feeling discomfited. Laela plainly worried for the boy’s safety, and Leofric understood that. Like his true father, Sorex was occasionally wild with mischief, testing the limits of both safety and sanity. On the other hand, he was a boy. Boys must be foolish so that men can grow to be wise, his and Hamalcar’s father had always said. “You may go,” he said.
Laela sighed in defeat, and Sorex let out a whoop as he jumped up from the table.
“However,” said Leofric. “First, you must help clear away the dinner things, and recall that you will still be expected to perform your share of chores, come tomorrow. You may decide for yourself how much sleep you will need to do so—but it will go poorly for you if you are not of a form, come sunrise.”
“I will be careful,” Sorex promised, as sincere as only a young boy could be. “I will not stay overlong.”
When Sorex had cleaned the table to his mother’s satisfaction and galloped out the door to meet his friends, Leofric said, “He is just like his father.”
Laela rested her hand on the back of Leofric’s. “He shares the traits of both of them, I think.”
He gave her a weary smile. “Favorable ones, I hope.”
“Some,” Laela chided. She gave his hand a squeeze. Now that they were alone, her face turned troubled. “Tell me why you are here.”
Leofric stared down at their clasped hands. “I would not even know where to begin,” he said truthfully.
Laela raised one of her brows. “Begin with your companion, perhaps.”
That startled a laugh from Leofric. How could he begin with Cosmo? He was the most vexing part of this equation, to be sure. Laela was his oldest friend, more trusted than a sister, but there were some things he found it difficult to say out loud.
“Leofric, we have been wed for more than two years, and you have never once looked at me the way you look at that man,” she said bluntly. “I am not stupid, nor am I blind.”
“I know,” he said. He squeezed her hands. “But, our marriage…”
“Our marriage cannot be an excuse for you to remain unhappy forever.”
“I am not?—”
“Unhappy?” Laela sighed. “I am. I have grown so lonely, without a husband’s touch to comfort me in the night.”
“I am your husband,” Leofric protested, hurt. “When I am home, we share a bed?—”
“And dreams are all we share within it,” said Laela.
“Laela—”
“Leo, I have known you for longer than my son has been alive. Tell me why you are here. All of it.”
For a moment, Leofric was at a loss for words. How could he even begin to tell the tale of what had transpired over the last four months? With an aggrieved sigh, Laela stood from the table. “Come,” she said.
Leofric followed her, bemused, as she walked down the hallway toward her— their— bed chamber. Upon her sideboard sat a small carved chest, and within that a dusty crystal bottle of dark, amber liquor. She poured them each a healthy glassful. “Drink,” she said. “Loosen your tongue.”
Leofric drank. The liquor burned going down, warming his chest. He had not sampled such in many years, not since he and Hamalcar had been young, foolish men. “It is not possible to begin the tale with Cosmo,” he said.
“Then where does it begin?”
“Apparently, the tale began four centuries ago, and I am merely an instrument of its more recent chapters.” And then, Leofric told her all of it. All of it he understood, anyhow, and much of it that he had guessed. He told her of Prince Alexios and his escapes from the villa, of his clandestine journeys to the wild forest where he’d fallen in love with a god. He told her of Neossós, and Janus, and the death of the Neossan queen. He told her of Auro, and the curse upon himself and his brothers. And he told her of Cosmo, of the bandits in the forest. All of it. He did not even leave out that he’d lied, lied about the reason for his and Laela’s union, lied about Hamalcar and the truth of Sorex’s parentage.
Laela listened to all of it, quiet. She did not interrupt, or ask any questions, but her eyes grew wider and her knuckles whiter as the tale continued. At last, Leofric ran out of words. The story was complete, and the silence in its wake rang like a bell between them.
At long last, Laela raised the glass to her lips and swallowed its contents in one. She considered it for a brief moment before crossing the room, and retrieving the bottle. When Laela returned to sit beside him once again on the bed, she set her glass aside and raised the bottle to her lips, drinking directly from it.
Leofric was shocked, but when she passed him the bottle, he did the same.
“You realize how this tale of yours sounds,” she said.
Leofric wiped the back of his mouth with his hand. “I do.”
“And if you were another man, I’d think you taken with some sort of…mad fancy.”
“If we summon Cosmo before us, he could prove the truth of what I say. Parts of it, at least. The man has…power.” Leofric had shown her the burns on his chest and back, the scar on his palm.
Laela nodded. “There’s a god beneath my roof,” she said faintly. And then she burst out laughing.
Leofric could not help but join her, the absurdity of it all was like to overwhelm them both. The passed the bottle back and forth between them, and Leofric’s eyes watered with the strength of the liquor as he took gulp after gulp.
“The coin from His Highness is real enough,” said Leofric after they’d calmed down. “It is enough to see you and Sorex well cared for, should I fall upon this quest.”
Laela glowered at him. “You do not have my permission to fall, upon any quest. Ever.”
Leofric smiled. “Alright.”
“I think this matter of gods and curses far removed from the matters at hand,” she said.
Leofric chuckled. “This matter of gods and curses is not even far removed from this room. ” Cosmo was surely in the small sleeping alcove, separated from them now by only one wall, pacing or shifting restlessly in his bed. He was not a man for easy rest, Leofric had noticed.
“You are thinking of him, right now,” said Laela, aghast.
“I am not,” said Leofric, turning away from her, embarrassed.
Laela seized his chin in her hand. “Do not lie to me,” she said. “I know your face.”
“And I yours,” said Leofric. He leaned drunkenly toward her, resting their foreheads together.
“Leo,” she said, drawing away. “You know that I have loved you. When I met Hamalcar…I knew you were a part of him, and always would be, as he is a part of you.”
Leofric didn’t answer. He wasn’t certain where she was going with this, and drink had slowed his wits.
“I will never forget what you have done for me and my son,” she said. “The years since…well. I do not need to tell you they have been difficult. Having another husband forced upon me would have made them far worse, I do not doubt.
“Your love,” said Laela, cupping Leofric’s face in her hands, “has allowed me time to begin to heal. Sorex too, I think. He misses his father, of course, but he is young. He looks to you and sees a father now, in truth, not simply legal bond. However,” and here she took a great, shuddering breath. Laela reached behind his head, and with nimble fingers untied the leather band that held back Leofric’s hair. It fell around his face, and she combed it loose until it fell over the tattoo on the side of his skull. “I think it may be time for both of us to learn who we are, without him.”
Cosmo could not sleep. He paced restlessly in the guest chambers, listening to the sounds of drunken mirth from the adjacent room. It was more than he could stand. If he were to hear the sounds of husband and wife coupling through the wall, he might perish, so before it could happen, he left.
It was late, very late. He pulled on a tunic and quietly pushed open the door. Outside, the desert air had cooled the world, and without the sun Cosmo felt cold and alone. He wandered around the yard, taking in the sights, gazing at the starry sky above. The desert had its own beauty, Cosmo supposed, but he could have done with a lake or three to swim in.
He watched the stars for a while, until the nearby sound of retching drew him from his thoughts. Cosmo strained his ears, trying to locate the source of the noise. His night eyes were keen, and soon enough he saw a flurry of movement beside a patch of scraggly bushes at the edge of Leofric’s land. He approached with caution, unsure what he would find.
It was Leofric’s son, hunched over, spewing violently into the roots. “Sorex?”
A groan was the boy’s only reply. He stopped heaving for a moment, gasping to catch his breath.
From the sour smell, it did not take much for Cosmo to guess what happened. “I was around your age the first time I got this drunk,” he said mildly.
Another retch, and, a sickening splat. “I’m not drunk,” said Sorex thickly.
“Oh,” said Cosmo, raising his brows. “My mistake then.”
There was a pause. “What did you do? To feel better?”
Cosmo glanced down. “If you’re not drunk, why would you need such advice?”
“Hnnuugh.” Splat.
Cosmo took pity on him. “Getting it all up is a good start, my young friend. Let me fetch you some water.”
“Don’t tell my— hicc —mother,” he said weakly. “ Please. Or?—”
“Just sit tight, I’ll be right back.”
There was a well only a dozen yards away or so. Cosmo drew a bucket and carried a dipper back for Sorex to drink from. By then, it appeared he’d gotten most of the demon out, as Cosmo was wont to say. Cosmo squatted beside him and offered the water. “Small sips,” said Cosmo. “Go slowly or it will also come right back up.”
Sorex took the cup, drinking slowly as instructed. When he seemed able to gather his feet under himself, Cosmo lead him away from the pile of sour vomit, before the smell made them both sick. A patch of soft grass grew in the shadows the small stables, and there they sat.
“Sextus put something in the wine,” Sorex admitted after a moment, his voice still thick and slurred.
Cosmo turned his head sharply. “What was it?”
“Something…he’d stolen it from his older brother, I think,” said Sorex.
Cosmo turned his back, and conjured a small flame in his palm. He used its glow to peer into Sorex’s face. Sure enough, his eyes stood dilated, irises like wet black coins in his face. “We should waken your parents,” said Cosmo, troubled. “Opium is not a child’s plaything.”
Sorex shook his head so violently he toppled over, and he hadn’t even noticed Cosmo holding a flame cupped in his bare hand. “You cannot,” said Sorex, terrified. “You cannot .”
Cosmo did not think that agitating the boy would serve him well, so he agreed. “Fine,” he agreed at last. “But I will remain here with you, if that’s alright.”
“That’s fine,” said Sorex, slumping against the cool marble of the stable. His eyes fluttered closed. “That’s fine.”
“I think it best if you remain awake, for the time being.”
“ Unnnhhh. ”
“ Hey. ” Cosmo gave his shoulder a little shake. “Stay with me, or I shall have to go fetch your parents.”
Sorex’s hazy eyes sprang open. “No!”
“Just stay awake a bit longer,” Cosmo soothed. “The feeling will pass, I promise.”
“I don’t think I believe you,” Sorex said.
“Well, I will wait it out with you. You’ll see.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Don’t I seem trustworthy?”
Sorex grunted, to show what he thought of that, and Cosmo was once again struck by his resemblance to Leofric.
Cosmo sat beside him on the ground, resting his head against the stone as well. He allowed the little flame in his hand to gutter out, hoping the boy would not recall it when he regained sense in the morning. He wondered if he ought to wake Leofric anyway, but for now he didn’t think Sorex to be in immediate danger.
When Sorex showed signs of drifting off, Cosmo nudged his shoulder. “Just let me rest my eyes,” he said.
“Not yet,” said Cosmo. He tore a corner from his tunic and dipped it in the water. When he’d wrung the excess from the cloth, he dabbed it on Sorex’s forehead.
“ Mmm, ” he said.
Cosmo gently washed the sweat and crust of vomit from his face and then cast the soiled cloth aside. “Don’t drift,” he cautioned again.
“My eyelids are lead,” Sorex complained. “Lead bags with only my lashes to lift them.”
“Poetic,” said Cosmo, “But alas, your weighted lids must remain aloft .”
“Then you should be more interesting,” said Sorex.
Cosmo smiled. He sounded very like his father when irritated. “How shall I entertain you?”
“Story,” said Sorex, with difficulty.
“Alright,” said Cosmo. Memory had been swirling around him since he’d found Sorex retching in the grass, and it was easy to conjure up the tale. “I’d sampled wine before,” he began. “The first time my mother allowed me a goblet at a feast, I truly felt a man. My younger brother, Auro, was still deemed too young. He was envious, you see, being treated as a child, when the rest of us were awarded something that seemed like such an honor.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“Four.”
“That’s nice,” said Sorex heavily. “I should have liked to have a brother.”
“Yes,” said Cosmo. “But sometimes brothers can be cruel. Auro was so jealous of our supposed laurels that one of our other brothers, Ozias, convinced him that there was a special wine, made for children. Perhaps he could have some of that, at table, and not feel so left out.”
Sorex wrinkled his nose, as if thinking was very taxing. “There is no such thing as wine for children,” he said.
“You are correct in that,” said Cosmo, smiling. “Ozias had smuggled a flagon from the cellar and ensured Auro’s cup never stood empty. By the time he’d had three glasses, Auro could barely see straight.”
“I thought this was the tale of how you first became drunk,” said Sorex with a frown.
“It is,” said Cosmo. “I’m getting there.” Even as a young boy, Cosmo had been able to read the darkening expression on his father’s face. Terrified his ire would fall on poor Auro, Cosmo had seized cup after cup, he told Sorex, seeking to erase Auro’s misstep with his own, drawing their father’s eye and ire upon himself. “By the end of evening meal, both Auro and I could barely stand,” he said. “We wandered outside, taking it in turns to be sick.”
“Don’t say ‘sick ,’” Sorex complained.
Cosmo smiled to himself. “Apologies,” he said. He and Auro had laid upon the grass, after, staring at the sky and watching the stars spin above them. When Cosmo finished the tale, he turned his head to watch Sorex breathe. His breaths seemed steady, and he seemed to come back to himself bit by bit. Luckily, it appeared this little shit, Sextus, had not been too overzealous with the opium he used to lace their wine. Sorex sat with his eyes closed, and Cosmo stayed with him, allowing the boy to rest a bit. He thought he might have drifted off, and leaned in to vouchsafe for his pulse, when Sorex stirred. “Were they terribly angry?”
Cosmo froze. “Who?” He asked, confused.
Sorex turned to him, and with a massive effort opened his eyes. “Your parents.”
They were, his father especially, but Cosmo did not think Sorex needed to hear that. “No,” he lied. He brushed the sweaty strands of hair back from the boy’s forehead. “No. They were upset at first, perhaps, but…in the end just overjoyed that we were home and safe.”
Sorex squinted at him, like he didn’t quite believe Cosmo, but he wanted to. After a few silent breaths, some of the anxiety leeched from his young face. “I worry about disappointing him,” Sorex said.
Him, Cosmo could not fail to note. Not them. “Your father?” He prompted.
Sorex nodded. “I don’t wish to fail him,” he said plaintively.
“You could not,” said Cosmo, with certainty. “He seems stern, I know. But I also know he loves you, beyond all others. You and your mother.”
Sorex frowned, and turned to face Cosmo. “You do know that Leofric is not my real father.”
Cosmo surely must have misheard. “What?”
“Leofric is my uncle,” said Sorex.
“He’s…he’s what?”
Sorex sighed. “My father…he died. Three years ago.”
“Oh,” said Cosmo, unsure what else to say. “I am very sorry for that, Sorex.”
“It wasn’t your doing. At least, I don’t think. But Uncle Leofric, his brother, married my mother. After. To care for us.” He paused, like he needed to explain more. “They were twins.”
“Leofric and your father?”
“Yes.”
Cosmo’s mind, and pulse, raced. So many things clinked into place at Sorex’s admission. Leofric’s miserable adherence to his marriage vows; Laela’s stricken face when Cosmo said her son resembled his father. “It matters not,” said Cosmo, out loud. To himself, and to the boy. “You are his blood. And he loves you. No simple mistake could see that bond broken.”
“Are you certain?” Sorex asked him, sounding all at once even younger than he was.
“I am,” said Cosmo, and he was. Leofric might be furious to learn Sorex had engaged in such ill-advised behavior, but Cosmo knew, he knew, it would in no way diminish his love for him. “I promise.”
Dawn was a few hours off, and Cosmo knew young Sorex would have a hellish morning before him. He coaxed a few more cups of water down his throat and helped him find his bed. Yawning, Cosmo stumbled through the darkened halls, in search of his own rest. He was so tired he could barely even register the knowledge that Leofric’s marriage was not what it had appeared. However, it begged the question, why had he lied?
That issue could keep, until the morning. For now, Cosmo felt he would finally be able to fall to slumber. However, he opened the door to his room to find the night’s surprises not yet complete.
Leofric sat upon the edge of Cosmo’s sleeping couch, twisting his large hands in his lap. When the door opened, he looked up and said, “Where were you?”
“Where—I—what are you doing in here?” Cosmo asked, closing the door behind him.
Leofric heaved himself to his feet, and stumbled.
Cosmo frowned. “Are you drunk?”
“A bit, I think.”
“It’s the night for it, apparently,” said Cosmo under his breath.
“What?”
“Nevermind.” Cosmo scrubbed a hand over his face. “ What are you doing in here?” he asked again.
“I don’t…I don’t exactly know.” He looked around the room, as if seeing it for the first time.
“Do you know where you are?” Cosmo asked hesitantly.
Leofric looked at him with a sharp frown. “I’m not that drunk.”
“Alright,” said Cosmo, holding up his hands. He was tired of fighting. They stood facing one another, and Cosmo knew Leofric had come in here for something. He’d lied to keep Cosmo at a distance, but now, here he was. Cosmo could honestly not work out if he was angry at the lie, or happy to finally have the truth. “This is not your real family.”
A furious twist of Leofric’s mouth told Cosmo immediately that he had misspoken. “How dare you?—”
“No, I meant only?—”
“Laela and Sorex are more than my family,” said Leofric. “They are my world. My life. And if you cannot see that, then I truly don’t know what I’m doing here.”
Even tipsy, Leofric was strong, and he made to shoulder past Cosmo and leave the room. Cosmo stumbled off a step, but managed to keep his feet. He grabbed Leofric’s wrist.
“Leofric,” he said firmly. “Stop. Wait. My words were ill chosen, and obscure my true meaning.”
“Choose them more carefully, then.”
“I am trying,” said Cosmo, exasperated. “You do not make it easy for a man to gather his wits.”
“And you make it impossible for a man to keep them.”
“What are you—” but he could not get the rest of the words out. Leofric twisted in his grip, and wrapped an arm around the small of Cosmo’s back to smash their bodies together. His gaze dropped briefly to Cosmo’s lips before he lunged forward and took them with his own.
Cosmo’s knees went to water, and he was grateful Leofric was at least sober enough to keep him on his feet. He parted his lips eagerly for Leofric’s tongue, nimble and insistent when it plunged into Cosmo’s mouth. Leofric kissed forcefully, thoroughly, with purpose, but every muffled sound that escaped him was weak and desperate. Cosmo swallowed each one down, rising upon his toes to meet Leofric there, to show him how badly he had wanted this.
They broke apart, breathless, and Leofric rested his forehead upon Cosmo’s own, and when Cosmo stole a glance upward, he saw Leofric’s eyes were clear. Clear of drink, of doubt, of fear. Cosmo swallowed, and suddenly he was the one afraid.
Leofric cradled Cosmo’s face in hands large, warm, and rough with callus. The strength in those hands was remarkable, yet his touch was tender, as if Cosmo were a baby bird being set back in its nest. He drew him in for another kiss, softer this time, gentle…almost chaste. It left Cosmo just as hungry as the first one did. With a final peck, Leofric drew away, and said, “I believe there are things you and I must discuss.”
Cosmo closed his eyes and groaned. Words were the last thing on his mind “…tomorrow, perhaps?”
“I am afraid not,” said Leofric.
About the last thing Cosmo would have expected tonight—sharing a kiss with the man before him—had already occurred. He supposed it wasn’t so outrageous to experience the second to last thing: Leofric insisting they talk. Cosmo could not help first sneaking in to steal another kiss. He could taste the liquor on Leofric’s tongue, but he seemed steady enough. Now that he’d started, he did not wish to stop, and his hands crept down the length of Leofric’s trunk, but before they could make too much mischief, Leofric grabbed his wrists. “Stop that,” he said, a hint of the old bite in his voice. But when Cosmo looked up, he was stricken by the sight of Leofric’s soft little smile. He drew Cosmo to sit beside him on the bed, and for a moment they simply stared at one another, flushed and mussed from their kissing, the heat of it cooling awkwardly on their skin.
“I should have been honest with you,” Leofric said at last. “About…about my family.”
“Yes, you should have,” said Cosmo. It was difficult to be truly upset, not with Leofric’s sun dark cheeks flushing so prettily by candlelight. “But I understand why you were not.”
“Sokol clings to an older tradition, than Papia,” Leofric said. “A widow with a son as young as Sorex would be pressed into a new marriage.”
“Things were much the same when I was….before I had been cursed.”
“In some places, things have changed. If we were Papian, all might have been different. But we are not.”
“No, you are not.” Cosmo studied the man before him. “So, what has changed?”
Leofric flushed even darker.
“She gave you permission, did she not?” said Cosmo, delighted. He knew he liked that woman.
Leofric nodded. “I still feel as though I must explain myself.”
Cosmo had little and less interest in Leofric’s explanations, but something told him there were things that needed to be said, even if they did not need to be heard, so he waited, as patiently as he was able, for Leofric to continue.
“You like men and women,” said Leofric. “Your appetites are vast.”
“I would wager yours are vast, as well,” Cosmo said, dancing his fingers up Leofric’s thigh.
Leofric gave his hand a swat. “Stop that,” he said. “I am trying to explain?—”
Cosmo withdrew his hands with a pout. “I find demonstration to be the fastest way to learn.”
“My point, ” said Leofric loudly, “is that I have never…wanted a woman. Not the same way I?—”
“Hungered for a good hard buggering by some strapping gentleman?”
“You are a bloody menace,” said Leofric, looking mortified. “Truly.”
“So I have been told. By you. Many times.”
“Would you just let me finish? Before I change my mind.”
Cosmo held up his hands in acquiescence.
“Because of this,” Leofric said, “As a husband, I was perhaps the lesser of many possible evils, while Laela was grieving.”
“But now, her grief wanes,” said Cosmo, understanding at once. “And being wed to you is like being wed to a ghost. It keeps her wounds from healing.”
Leofric looked taken aback. “Yes,” he said, startled. “That’s precisely what she said to me.”
Cosmo shrugged. “I am more than just a pretty face, you know.”
Leofric snorted, rolling his eyes, but then his voice grew low, and serious. “I have spent the last three years setting aside my own desires entirely,” he said. “It is…a difficult thing to return from.”
Cosmo understood, and willed himself to stillness. Pushing now would avail him nothing, and he did not want Leofric to come to him only as result of Cosmo’s endless badgering. Cosmo wanted him to dance joyfully into his arms. “Patience is not a skill for which I’m known,” he admitted.
Leofric smiled again, and something wicked glittered in his eyes. He leaned in, until his lips were close to Cosmo’s ear. “Would it surprise you to know that I once stood much the same?” He whispered.
Cosmo sat very still, every muscle vibrating. “Oh?”
Leofric cupped his cheek again, brushing a thumb over Cosmo’s bottom lip. “There is something I would share with you tonight, if you are agreeable.”
“And what is that?”
When Leofric blushed, it threatened to do Cosmo in, especially when coupled with a smile that was by turns shy and mischievous. “Something I have never done, before.”
The blood surged to Cosmo’s groin so fast he thought he might faint. He released a small, eager, choking sound.
“No, you unrepentant lech. Not that,” said Leofric. “I would share your bed tonight, if you’ll have me.”
Cosmo’s confusion must have shown upon his face.
“I have never known such a luxury,” Leofric explained. “To hold someone close, at night. All night. Without fear of discovery, or judgement.”
Cosmo realized at once that this was a very important request.
Perhaps far more important than the kisses they’d yet shared. He took Leofric’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “I would be honored,” he said truthfully, and Leofric’s smile melted Cosmo’s heart.
Cosmo rose to blow out the candles, plunging the small room into darkness. He peeled off his tunic, and the answering rustle of fabric from across the room told him Leofric had done the same.
He could just make out the shape of Leofric in the darkness, pulling back the blankets and sliding between them. Cosmo joined him, suddenly nervous, aware of every movement. “Come here,” Leofric whispered, and his voice had grown husky and thick. He pulled Cosmo to him, finding his lips in the dark. The night was hot and grew hotter still as Leofric’s hands roamed Cosmo’s body, his touch eager but fearful, like he was afraid of being scolded. Cosmo held his breath, aching to tangle his fingers in Leofric’s hair and pull him close, to kiss him breathless and rut against the muscles of Leofric’s thigh, the urge so strong he found himself panting into Leofric’s kisses. With a smile so wicked Cosmo could feel it in the dark, Leofric pulled away and gently pushed Cosmo onto his side, so Leofric could hold him close against his chest, Cosmo’s back to his front.
Cosmo could not help but feel every part of Leofric pressed up behind him, and he shivered, despite the comforting warmth of his naked skin. Leofric slid an arm around Cosmo’s waist, pulling him even closer, and Cosmo could feel his breath ghosting on the nape of his neck. They fit together well, Cosmo could not help but note, comfortably entangled on the narrow settle. Dawn was coming, and Cosmo’s eyes grew heavy, soothed by the beating of Leofric’s heart and the steady rumble of his breathing.
“Thank you,” Leofric whispered.
Cosmo did not answer, but a sleepy smile tugged at the corner of his lips. In the following quiet, he could not fail to note that Leofric’s hand had begun to wander, featherlight touches teasing his chest and belly, the bone of his hip. His thigh.
“I can’t believe you thought I meant I’d never fucked someone before,” said Leofric suddenly.
Cosmo really, really enjoyed hearing the word fuck in Leofric’s mouth. It seemed to shut his brain off, temporarily, and he could not form answer straight away. His skin tingled as Leofric’s callused fingers caught upon his flesh, ticklish and teasing. “Stranger things have happened,” said Cosmo when he found his voice, though it came out as a croak.
He could feel Leofric smiling against his skin. “I think you’ll find,” said Leofric, and his voice was low and dangerous. “In that arena, I know precisely what I am doing.”
His fingertips brushed up Cosmo’s front, teasing lightly over his nipples and then whispering down between his legs, not truly touching, but leaving in their heated wake a promise of things to come.
It was going to be a long night.