Page 91 of Given

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, and the slow glide of his lips against my skin made what should have been a chaste display of affection as seductive as anything else he did. When he pulled back, his eyes flickered with carnal promise. “We’ll dine in my chambers tonight.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

LAURENT

It took Varick nearly two hours to show up in the Rose Room. By the time his footsteps rang out on the stairs, I was ready to march to the Serenity Tower and fetch him myself.

But when he appeared, my irritation vanished. He wore court clothes, and his wet hair was the color of thick honey.

“You bathed,” I said. I leaned against the footboard and squeezed the wood so I wouldn’t go to him like I wanted to.

“It was a long journey. I’m surprised you didn’t smell us entering the city.”

A smile tugged at my mouth. “If their swords don’t kill you, their stench will?” Armies on the move stank worse than a rotting corpse.

“The knights in the rear were grateful for the cold.”

I hesitated. “The Deepnight—”

“Intact. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, nor did my men.”

Relief washed over me. “How are the roads in the countryside?” I sent men-at-arms to clear them, but the snow had been falling so quickly the crews couldn’t keep up.

“Passable, although the horses didn’t enjoy the drifts. It helped that we weren’t hauling a carriage on our return.”

I nodded. “Evelina is settled?”

“As much as she’ll ever be, I suppose. Lar Plestes is a good male. And infatuated with her. She’s savvy enough to use that to her advantage. He’ll follow her around like a puppy and treat her like a princess. She might not see it now, but it’s a better life than she’d ever have at court. The nobles sneer at her behind her back. I couldn’t bear it anymore.”

Evelina’s exploits had plagued Varick since she came of age. Possibly before that. She had no elven gifts to speak of, but legend said Eldenvalla had grown lascivious in its last days. I knew he worried she’d inherited a destructive kind of promiscuity. Valen had been the same, installing any number of mistresses at Lar Keiren. He’d sired no bastards as far as Varick knew, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The stress and humiliation had sent Varick’s mother to an early grave.

“You are a good brother,” I told him now. “A fine warrior and a worthy male.” The last was an honorific reserved for the warrior class. The highest compliment a knight could give another. I’d won my spurs at a young age, but it was due more to custom than merit. I wasn’t really entitled to bestow such praise, but I did it anyway because Varick was the worthiest male I’d ever met.

He looked away. Made a noncommittal sound.

“It’s good to have you back. I don’t like it when you’re gone. I never have.”

He met my gaze again. Energy crackled between us. His throat worked as he swallowed.

“I don’t like you on that fucking beach,” I muttered. My eyes burned. “Dammit, I don’t like it when you hurt.”

We stared at each other a beat longer. Then we rushed each other. We met in the middle, clashing in a tangle of limbs and lips and feral growls. I gripped his jacket in both hands and pulled him harder against me, sealing my body to his from mouth to thigh. He grabbed my hair. Yanked my head back and plunged his tongue deep.

There was a moment when I fought his dominance. Accustomed to sleeping with Given, my first instinct was to assert control. He responded by shoving me backward, then attacking my clothes. His hands trembled as he fumbled with the embroidered clasps that marched down the front of my jacket.

“Fucking take this off,” he growled, his impatience fogging the air. He marched me back as I obeyed, then stopped and quickly stripped out of his clothes. When we were both blissfully naked, he shoved me onto my back on the bed and climbed on top, kissing me and rubbing his leaking cock all over mine. He rubbed me everywhere, grinding his body on me while he deepened the kiss. His fang caught my tongue, and his rich blood shot down my throat.

Magic. He tasted like Given. Fuck, how were the three of us going to navigate this new world I’d created?

His hand wrapped around my dick, and my worries vanished in a jolt of raw desire.

“Fuck!” My shout echoed off the ceiling as my hips bucked. I gripped the back of his neck and squeezed, doing my best to stick my tongue down his throat. He kept it up as we kissed, working me from root to tip and back again. I spread my legs. Hooked an ankle around his thigh and thrust hard into his hand, urging him to go faster.

Instead, he released me and slid down my body, trailing kisses as he went. He bit one nipple, then the other, making me grab at his shoulders. But he wouldn’t be caught. He kept going, pausing here and there to suck at my skin while I moaned like a Gate Street whore.

At last, he reached my cock. He looked up, golden eyes flashing, and sucked me all the way into his mouth. Hot, wet heat enveloped my dick. He swallowed me whole, letting my tip hit the back of his throat. His big hands gripped my thighs, his fingers digging into the muscle. He ascended slowly, sucking so hard his cheeks hallowed. When he reached my cockhead, he swiped his tongue over the precome beading at the tip. Then he bobbed on my dick, all loud and sloppy, filling the room with wet slurps and the sound of his smacking lips.

A whimper hovered in my throat. Legs spread, I propped myself on my elbows so I could see all of him. Two weeks was too damn long to go without this.

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