Page 105 of Take No Prisoners
"You have me now."
"I'd like a tour. Do you realize I still haven't seen the main floor of this house, beyond the kitchen?"
"There's not much to see," Efren warned.
"I'm sure there are some surfaces to claim with our bodies." Niall kissed the corner of his mouth and grazed fingertips down his arms, grabbing his hands as he walked backwards into the room. "Show me."
Efren gave the signal for his light globe enchantments in the main entrance, and they cast their eerie blue glow over the rattan furniture in the sitting area. "Nothing but splinters in your ass here."
"You said there's a spare bedroom."
"Aye, past the library."
Efren led the way through the small library. The walls were lined with built-in bookshelves, but the space was only big enough for a single chair and a small table with a drawer to hold his paper, ink, and quills.
The doorway was half-filled with more books stacked one on top of the other to their waists.
"I need a bigger library," Efren said.
"I'm glad Coryn didn't burn your house down."
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Efren led Niall into the small spare bedroom. The single bed was made with Petri's favorite quilt, a blue, red, and purple thing they had pieced together from scraps torn from the coats of defrocked merchants.
"Why does she hate Martiz so much?"
"She has her reasons. I don't know the full story, either, but I'm sure Vadim could fill volumes, and we would have nightmares from reading them." Efren and Vadim had discussed ways of using their shared history to their advantage, but it would be up to Vadim to share his full plan to rescue Emperor Hugo with the council. "Enough about them. Here's the bed you wanted to claim so badly."
Niall shook his head. "The bed doesn't matter. You're the only prize I wish to claim." Niall's kiss was light and sweet against his lips. "I didn't know it was so small."
Efren laughed. "It's a small house."
"Take me to bed. Our bed."
"The oil's there," Efren agreed.
Once upstairs, they undressed slowly in the blue glow of the enchantments on the dresser. Niall still had bruises on his wrists from Coryn's restraints. Efren brought first one wrist, then the other, to his mouth to kiss them. Then, he kissed the old scar across his knuckles.
"I almost forgot," Niall said. "Here." He dug around in his discarded pants pocket and pulled out a set of wooden cuffs wrapped with coils of gold, iron, and silver. "These might come in handy someday."
"They'll be easier to store on the ship," Efren said. "The metal attracts moisture to the wood, and the ropes rot in the hold. These cuffs can be stored in my cabin."
"We'll be sharing it, yes?"
"Our cabin," Efren agreed.
"Our bed." Niall pointed to the monstrosity Petri had built Efren as a joke. "I love you, Efren." Niall kissed him, and a burst of air turned down the quilt and top sheet. "Let me show you how much."
"You already have," Efren said. His eyes burned from the overwhelming love coursing through him. He loved Niall, and Niall loved him. It seemed impossible. Niall was too good to be true. He was gentle when Efren needed him to be gentle, and rough when he needed something to get him out of the spiral of anxious thoughts telling him Niall wouldn't stay. A bite to his shoulder returned him to the present.
"Spread your legs for me. I want to look at you." A new ball of light shone from the top of Efren's headboard, spreading soft yellow light across his bed. It was unlike any enchantment Efren had ever seen, but it wasn't an enchantment at all. It was Niall's own light weave.
"It's a blend of fire and water," Niall explained. "The fire makes it bright, and the water contains the flame and feeds it as it evaporates."
"My clever, clever Niall."
Niall's gaze traveled over every inch of Efren's skin, from his hair, surely already a mess, to his toes, still itchy from his wool socks. They itched even more from Niall's attention until a gentle wash of water and blast of air cleaned every part of him in the blink of an eye. Then, Niall weaved the same spell on himself.
"I should have done that sooner, sorry." Niall's cheeks darkened as he continued to stare. "Is it wrong of me to read your thoughts? I'll stop—"
