Page 5 of Tell No Tales
Vadim doubted that. Klaus was one of the smartest men he'd ever met. He'd taught himself to read at the orphanage, and he'd practiced speaking like the emperor's town criers until he could blend with the imperial guards themselves. Vadim would know. He used to be their leader.
The silence hung heavily between them until Klaus continued. "Coryn knew you would betray her. Before we left Stony Eel Island, she told me about the trap she'd set for the elders. She said she would bring me home, if I would tell the elders about it."
"Oh. That." Vadim had known Klaus's secret since the day after he'd set the life link.
Vadim heard the rustle of fabric, and his back was no longer as warm, though he was wrapped more tightly in the sail.
"You're not mad?" Klaus asked.
"How could I be mad? I pushed you to tell Efren." Vadim had used the story of an unidentified weave to get them home faster. He'd also told Beatrice exactly what it was when they arrived. "Beatrice knew it was a spectral trap. It wasn't a surprise."
"Niall acted like I'd betrayed him."
Vadim couldn't help the audible sigh that escaped him. "He would." Niall and Efren were perfect for each other. They were both so morally beyond reproach it made his teeth ache. "I will do my best to explain it to them."
Vadim rolled over so he could see Klaus in the bit of light that seeped through around the door of the crate, and then he wished he hadn't. Klaus was still naked and lying on top of the sail. Instead of facing away, he stared back at him, his brown eyes locked with Vadim's.
Gods, he was gorgeous in the thin band of light that sneaked between door and jamb. He was still whip-thin from the illness that had plagued him since childhood, but his color had improved from a deathly pallor to a rosy glow in his cheeks that spread to his collar bones the longer Vadim watched.
Vadim tried to look away, but he couldn't. When he looked down instead, his gaze fell upon Klaus's ruby-bright cock head poking out from the casement of Klaus's long fingers. Was he …? He was.
"I'm sorry," Vadim stammered. He rolled over so fast he hit the wall with his shoulder.
Klaus's fingers brushed the base of his neck beneath his hair. "For what?"
"Interrupting."
"You're not interrupting anything. You're the star of the show."
Vadim ignored the implication Klaus was jacking off while thinking about him. "Good night, Klaus."
"Gods, yes. Keep talking."
The sound of Klaus's hand on his cock was impossible to miss now. Vadim huddled against the wall, wondering what horrible injustice he'd caused to deserve this.
Still, it was better than when they were linked, and he'd heard Klaus's every thought in his head. Klaus had been too ill, or maybe too embarrassed, to pleasure himself, thank fuck.
"Just like that," Klaus moaned. "Fuck, yes."
Vadim wasn't falling for whatever game Klaus was playing, even when his name was on Klaus's lips as all other motion stopped. The mattress shook with tiny tremors. Vadim wouldn't have even noticed if his whole body wasn't tense with hyper-awareness. Then he heard licking and sucking sounds, like Klaus was cleaning the evidence from his own hand.
Vadim lay as still as possible for what felt like an hour. Sleep wouldn't come, even after he heard Klaus's snoring beside him. He tried to ignore the throbbing ache in his own balls and rock-hard cock. He hugged his knees and tried to think of other things, like the lull of the waves. That only served to make him seasick. Nausea did him a favor by getting rid of his erection, but now he needed to be on deck, even if his presence was unwelcome. He grabbed his fur-lined winter coat from his trunk and headed above.
Tovey was the only other crew mate on deck besides Olivia. They both had island-dark skin, but where Olivia's hair was black and pulled back in a braid tight to her scalp and snaking to the middle of her back, Tovey's was blond and windblown to his shoulders.
Tovey looked like sunshine, but his personality was anything but. Vadim nodded his head in greeting as he passed, but he didn't stop to talk while Stan was away from his post.
Olivia always looked professional in her captain's coat and tricorn hat. Vadim hadn't bothered with the hat, or any naval formalities, when he was first mate.
"You're back so soon?" Olivia smirked.
"I get seasick when I'm not on deck." It was mostly true. He got seasick when he tried to sleep anywhere but a sail in the ship's hold.
"The sail didn't work for you?"
"The sail stripped its screw with its own weight."
Olivia frowned. "Stan put it up himself. Made it extra strong in case the seeker changed his mind and wanted to sleep with you."
