Page 74 of Winds of Destiny

Desire hits me like a tsunami, so fierce and heady I feel like I’m drowning in it. I get hard so fast it hurts, but Turo’s there already, pressing his hand to my groin to ease the pain. My connection to his pearl lets me experience his wonder secondhand, and the way he’s feeling about me takes my breath away. Or maybe it’s the intensity of this moment, because I finally get to have him.

A heady dose of lust builds and builds and—I’m going to come soon, there’s no way for me to stop it. But I want to come with him.

I spread my legs and grab his ass, pulling him roughly and fully over me so I can feel his hardness pressed to mine. Always the thinker and two steps ahead of the plan, Turo loosens our pants enough to free us from them, then he reaches down and takes hold of us both. It’s dry for a second, but I’m so turned on and leaking so much that in any other instance I’d be embarrassed. But this is Turo, and I feel nothing but desire and tender want.

He swipes his hand across the head of my cock to gather fluid, then grips us again. His hand feels amazing on me, and I relish the way our cocks slide against each other. I want to look down, want toseehow good it is as well as feel it, but we’re too close to each other. There’s barely room for his hand between us; there would be even less space if I could pull him in any tighter. Even an inch feels like a gaping void after so much time apart.

You’re here. You’re here, you’re here, you’re…

“I am,” he promises me, and only then do I realize I’m saying it out loud. “I’m here, I’m with you, I’ll never leave you.” He kisses me again, thrusts his tongue into my eager mouth at the same tempo as he’s stroking us, then pulls away with a sharp, delicious bite to my lower lip and says, “Never.”

The vehemency of his words, the intensity of his stare, and a subtle tightening of his hand around my cock break me.

I come.

My desire is usually a wave, intense but something I can see coming and prepare for. Butthisisn’t—one word from Turo has sent me spiraling into an absolute abyss where it feels so incredible that I’m utterly blind to everything else. I could be screaming; I could be crying. I don’t know, because I can’t really feel my own body anymore. Every sense I have is focused on Turo—his voice, the movement of his hand, the swell of his lungs filling with air… I feel like I’m inside of him, and it takes a moment to realize that Iaminside of him, in a way. I sense when he comes, the heat and release and slick ecstasy of it, and it’s enough to make my balls clench and come again, even though I have little left to give at this point.

It’s got to be the pearl. It didn’t feel like this when we were far apart, but now that we’re close together again, now that we’re both touching it, everything is so much more intense. Every emotion and sensation is felt twofold. Is it always going to be like this? Will I always get this much of him? Gods, how is it going to feel with Kai in the mix?

Kai…I can sense him, too, but it’s muzzy, like he’s half-asleep. He must be hurt. I can sense his fury, as well—he’s not alone. He’s with Embros. After all this, Embros was right. Kai fell—probably literally—right into his clutches, while somehow I managed to evade them after we fell into Inarime.

Maybe the gods really are on Embros’sside.

Fuck.

Turo brushes his lips against mine, pulling me back to our moment. “We’ll find him.”

We’ll find him.We.It’s not just Turo or me, it’suswanting him now, because Kai belongs with us. I’m warmed by the love we feel for him even as the rest of the world begins to intrude on my reverie.

“We need to clean up,” I say muzzily. The ground is hard, and I’m sure the entire back side of my clothing is dyed blue now from being pressed down against this algae, but, despite the inconvenience, I don’t regret a second of it. And however much I wish we could go again, we can’t stay.

Turo, always intensely practical at heart, recognizes that, too. He nods and shifts back onto his knees, pulling me up with him. Neither of us are carrying any water—and that’s going to be a problem soon; I can feel my thirst building—but there are some cleaner pools here and there that we use to rinse ourselves off. Turo never quite manages to take his hands off me, cupping a limb to pour water over it or turning me around to check my hair. His touch is a balm that soothes me right down to my soul, and I can’t wait to bring Kai into the fold and share this sense of rightness with him.

But there’s a lot to do first.

“There’s so much you need to know,” I say to Turo as we finish up.

He nods. “I’m sure of it. Tell me while we walk to the temple.”

I’m a little surprised. “You already know about the temple?”

“I know arrogance the size of Embros’s probably doesn’t fit anywhere else, especially if he’s planning on doing something as dumb as the last people who lived here.”

He’s got that right. We walk hand in hand, and I explain as much as I know to him as we go—that Embros visited the city before and deciphered a ritual that would resurrect the power of Inarime by creating a new god, that it would take three of ours to make it a reality, and that Dian was hiscurrentlyunwilling accomplice.

“I think at one point she must have helped him without being forced to,” I say as we begin up an incline that Turo assures me will take us to the temple. “Otherwise he never would have gotten out of Inarime when he was here before.”

“Right, Laigha has wings,” Turo agrees. “So Embros knows a ritual to create a new god. What type of ritual? Did he say anything about it?”

“He called it a sacrifice.” I shiver a little. “He said we’d have to kill them. I can’t… I can’t imagine that they would allow that, though.”

“Hmm. It might not be about whattheywould allow, if the ritual is real.”

“Who can think that way about their own god?” I demand. “They’re our protectors! They love and care for us! How could anyone want to destroy them just so they could be a bit more powerful?”

“For some people, power is more important than even love,” Turo points out. “It’s more important than everything, including respecting any human decency. You know that. Remember the way he murdered everyone in Traveler’s Ease? People who couldn’t hurt him at all?”

“I remember.” How could I forget?

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