13. Ignatius
thirteen
Ignatius
He’s kissing me. The Dark-cursed paladin is kissing me.
Iggie froze as Alistair’s lips brushed against his own. In that moment, he found himself incapable of anything but staring. His racing thoughts quieted, his pain and grief from the past hour forgotten in the captivating caress of the paladin’s kiss.
Alistair must have noticed his hesitance because he suddenly paused, his lips stilling.
He took an uncertain breath and started to pull away.
That’s when something in Iggie finally snapped.
Grabbing the paladin by his armored shoulders, he yanked him flush to his chest and gave himself over to the shared heat of their conjoined mouths.
The kiss was far from perfect. Their teeth kept clacking together, and Iggie was pretty sure he’d gone from acting like a lifeless rock to showing too much enthusiasm as he practically slobbered all over Alistair’s face.
Yet, somehow, it was everything he hadn’t allowed himself to admit he’d craved.
A paladin and a necromancer…
Laughter bubbled up within him, a heady mix of desire and near hysteria as his brain struggled to comprehend what was happening. He felt Alistair’s frown against his lips and reluctantly let the kiss end as the paladin pulled back.
“What is it?” Alistair asked. “Is something wrong?”
Iggie shook his head, a manic grin plastered over his face. “Not wrong, per se. I was just thinking about how absurd this is.”
Confusion furrowed Alistair’s brow. “What do you mean? Are you saying you don’t want to do this? I thought—”
“No.” Iggie reached up to stroke Alistair’s lightly stubbled cheek. He was so warm, even in the drafty cave. Iggie tried not to think about why in case it conjured more unwelcome memories. “It’s not that. It’s just…what would your comrades in the Order think if they—”
Alistair pressed a finger over Iggie’s mouth, silencing him. Goosebumps erupted across Iggie’s skin as the paladin leaned in, his breath ghosting over Iggie’s cheek. “No more talk of the Order. For tonight, we’re Iggie and Alistair—two lonely men attempting to escape the past and future both.”
For tonight.
The words twisted Iggie’s insides into knots. Of course, this fleeting feeling couldn’t last. Happiness never did for him. Still, if all he got was one blessed night, then by the Dark, he’d do his best to enjoy every moment of it.
Shoving aside his whirlwind of thoughts, he surged forward, reconnecting their lips in another passionate kiss.
Had he been stronger—or Alistair not built of sturdy muscle—he would’ve tackled the paladin to the stone.
Instead, Alistair allowed Iggie’s slighter frame to carry him down, armor and all.
The paladin chuckled, running his firm hands down Iggie’s back and settling them on his hips. “I see I can hardly keep you off me.”
“After how long I’ve waited to do this, the Empty Ones themselves couldn’t tear me away.” Iggie broke their kiss and frowned, shoving lightly against Alistair’s breastplate. “Though I’d prefer it if I could reach more of you.”
Another throaty chuckle sent heat shivering over Iggie’s skin. “Point taken. Let me see what I can do.”
The paladin shifted, and Iggie watched as Alistair fumbled with his armor clasps.
After a moment, Iggie rolled his eyes. Too impatient to wait, he dove in to help, which only served to tangle the straps and their limbs even more.
That turned into another round of sloppy kisses that left Alistair flushed and Iggie dizzy-headed and breathless.
“I’m, uh, not sure we’re making much progress.” Iggie glanced at the mess they’d made of Alistair’s armor straps and buckles. If anything, the breastplate appeared better secured than it had been before.
“Depends on what you consider progress.” Alistair licked his lips, his amber eyes bright and smoldering. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re making excellent use of our time.”
Heat rose in Iggie’s face. From Alistair’s smirk, he assumed his normally pale skin must look beet red by now.
“At this rate, kissing is about all we’ll manage to do tonight.
” As soon as the words left his lips, his eyes widened in alarm.
Nerves pinched his chest. “I mean, not that I, um, assume we’re necessarily going to, uh… ”
He trailed off, his anxious thoughts melting in the crucible of Alistair’s burning gaze.
How had he ever found the paladin cold or imperious?
Whatever he’d mistaken for arrogance when he’d first taken Alistair prisoner had vanished, replaced by tender concern and other emotions Iggie didn’t dare attempt to classify.
“Perhaps you should leave the armor to me,” Alistair said, his voice huskier than usual. “It’s a lot easier to take off than to put on.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “Usually.”
His throat bobbing, Iggie nodded and scooted back to give Alistair some space.
As the paladin carefully shucked off each piece of armor and the padding beneath, revealing more and more of his muscled torso, the full weight of what they were doing slammed into Iggie anew.
Mere days ago, Alistair had wanted to murder him after he locked the paladin in a dungeon.
Yet, here they now were, spilling their most intimate secrets to one another.
And more than that, the way this night is going…
No matter what Alistair had said about living in the moment, this felt like a momentous step—and a perilous one at that, rife with the possibility for disaster on so many levels. Was Iggie really ready to do this?
Discarding the last of his armor, Alistair finally stood in no more than a simple tunic and britches.
The sight left him looking near naked by comparison…
and oh so vulnerable as he hesitated, giving Iggie a shy smile.
Iggie saw the same doubts he’d experienced a moment earlier flitting across the paladin’s face.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” he said, more nervous than Iggie had ever heard him.
Seeing the usually confident paladin acting so jittery only served to bolster Iggie’s own confidence. A sudden wave of emotion flooded him—and not just desire.
This was the man who had carried him through a blizzard when he didn’t have to.
The boy who had loved books and might have been a scholar had he not followed in his father’s footsteps for the sake of familial duty.
The hero who had come to these mountains alone and now intended to face a monstrosity in order to save a town of people he barely knew.
No one was forcing Iggie into this. He wasn’t doing it out of fear or necessity or survival. For perhaps the first time in his entire life, he was doing something for no other reason than because he wanted to, for his own personal gratification.
Tentatively, he stepped forward and cupped Alistair’s jaw. He felt the muscles tense beneath his fingers at Alistair’s slight frown, but the paladin didn’t pull away. “You don’t owe me anything you aren’t ready to give,” he said, echoing Alistair’s earlier words to him.
Alistair’s expression softened, and he rested a hand over Iggie’s where it still sat on his cheek.
“Oh, I’m ready.” He shuffled closer to Iggie, their bodies pressing together for the first time with only thin cloth left to separate them.
Iggie bit back a groan as Alistair rolled his hips.
“It’s tomorrow that worries me. Not tonight. ”
“Forget tomorrow.” Iggie ran his hands down Alistair’s sides and across his front, holding him close as he strove to map the firm contours of his flesh. “We’re focusing on the now, remember? And right now, there’s nothing I want more than you.”
Alistair let out a low growl. Whatever doubts he’d been harboring must have evaporated because he crushed Iggie against his chest, smothering him with kisses until they both came up gasping for air.
Iggie reveled at the delicious scrape of Alistair’s stubble on his face.
The soft-yet-firm warmth of Alistair’s lips.
The delicate sweep of Alistair’s tongue.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling so alive.
“Looks like I’ll get no complaints for my kissing,” Alistair said with a self-satisfied smirk.
The best Iggie could manage was a dazed head bob.
Alistair’s grin widened before falling slightly as his eyes flicked to something behind them.
“I’ll admit, however, that it’s a bit unnerving being watched. ”
Iggie followed the paladin’s gaze and saw his undead clustered nearby where he’d left them. He waved a dismissive hand. “They don’t care what we do. It’s meaningless to them.”
“You can’t know that for certain.” Alistair’s eyes narrowed. “You said yourself that they have a spark of life left in them. What if they’re spying on us?”
Iggie gave an incredulous laugh. “Is the fearsome Knight shy?”
A blush colored Alistair’s neck. “Of course not! I’d just rather not have an audience if it’s all the same to you.”
“Don’t worry.” Iggie’s lips quirked as he sent a silent command to his undead. “I’ll make sure they avert their eyes.”
Alistair snorted while Iggie’s undead began filing down the passage that led to the cavern’s entrance.
If Iggie was going to send them away, he figured he might as well use them to guard against the return of that glowing abomination.
The instant the skeletons were gone, Alistair lunged for his mouth, their lips and bodies pressing together once more as they made up for lost time.
Iggie wasn’t sure which of them dragged the other down, but somehow, they ended up sprawled across a scavenged blanket in a tangle of limbs.
Without Alistair’s armor between them, each touch felt imbued with heightened intimacy.
Iggie slipped a hand under Alistair’s shirt, trailing his fingers down the paladin’s chiseled abs to brush the fine trail of hair at his navel.
Alistair groaned, his eyes dark with desire.
His dilated pupils held Iggie’s gaze, the golden fire burning in them intensifying.