Page 64 of Suffer No Fools
"We can't wear these to the banquet," Hugo said. "Did Gulde deliver anything else?"
"Oh, someone stopped by yesterday morning for you." Tovey's voice rose and fell like a child's song as he ran back downstairs to his room. He reappeared a moment later, breathless, and handed Hugo another box.
Hugo hadn't planned this very well. All three of the items he'd asked Gulde to make were in one box. He hoped he could readily tell them apart, or handing them out would get awkward fast.
Thankfully, his jacket was on top when he opened the box. Tovey and Stan both showed him cheerful appreciation, but they were both even more intrigued when he pulled another jacket of the same blue as the waters off the western shores from the box. This one was much larger and longer, fit for Stan. The third jacket was the same color, but the cut was somewhere between the other two, fit for Tovey.
"We can wait until this evening to try them on," Hugo said. "I never got to pick my royal colors. Coryn likes her gray, so she put it on my standard. I prefer orange and blue."
You'll wear your orange sash with this? It will be gorgeous," Stan said.
"You're gorgeous," Tovey said, holding Stan's jacket up to his chest. "I can't wait to see us in these." He swallowed hard and tucked his jacket under his arm. "Except right now I want you both naked in this bed again."
Two hours and several orgasms later, it was time to get dressed for the banquet. They each went to their separate rooms to change into the black pants Gulde had made them when they first arrived and the glossy black boots the pirates must have stolen from Embertide's naval officers.
When they met in the entry hall by the door, Hugo couldn't contain his excitement. Tovey looked as dashing as he'd expected with his hair pulled back into a ponytail at his nape and a pair of silver cuff links at his wrists. Stan stood up straighter and puffed his chest out in his jacket, looking proud and strong as he held out his arm for Hugo.
"You look good enough to strip and carry back upstairs," Tovey whispered in his ear.
"Is that all you ever think about?" Hugo and Stan asked at the same time.
"It is now." Tovey looped his right arm through Hugo's and his left through Stan's, and they made their way to the banquet together.
The noise grew louder once they were inside the sentinel oak's main level, and even louder as they went down the spiral staircase to the caves. Hugo looked around the room and saw another version of it, with a ladder dropping from the ceiling. He could even see the earth weaves that had transformed the room into a large open space. He glanced up at Stan and knewinstantly those weaves belonged to him. It was breathtaking how powerful his lover was, both in his sheer physical strength and with his earth weaves.
Tovey's weaves weren't as obvious, but he'd also taken great care to adjust the airflow in the room. Either Niall or Jasmine had weaved fire globes in each corner, and the four globes heated the entire space via Tovey's subtle air weaves.
Hugo wished they could dance around the large room, but the stone tables and benches made that impossible, especially when they filled with islanders. Hugo greeted everyone who looked toward him, the way he'd been taught from infancy. The islanders he hadn't met stared at him with suspicion. The Glamierians greeted him like a long-lost cousin, but Hugo guessed they were plotting behind their smiles. He preferred open suspicion or outright dislike any day. Still, he plastered on his smile and attempted to charm all who approached him.
Finally, Elder Beatrice called everyone to find their seats. She and the other elders sat at their usual conference table with the visiting dignitaries. Hugo sat withStarlight Specter'screw at the next table. Elder Beatrice frowned at him, but she never called him to her side, choosing to stay at the head of the table.
Hugo sensed he had also disturbed his lovers' crewmates by joining them, but Vadim and Klaus sat across from him and their conversation flowed throughout dinner. When Klaus ran out of stories about the dignitaries he'd met in Landale, Vadim regaled them with stories from the academy with Hugo's dad, then Prince Hesse. Hugo was grateful for the tales. He'd barely gotten to know his dad before he passed away. Vadim's memories were clouded by nostalgia, but they were better than nothing.
A handful of dignitaries came to say their goodbyes before they retired to their rooms at the boarding house for the night.
"Rumor has it some of them sleep on their ship," Klaus said when they left.
"We used to do that in unfriendly ports," Stan said.
"Unfriendly being the key word," Vadim countered. "What are they hiding? Or worse, what do they plan to steal in the middle of the night?"
"There's only one thing on this island worth stealing, and we won't let them." Tovey wrapped a protective arm around Hugo's waist and tugged him close.
Hugo had never felt as safe as he was between Stan and Tovey. He worried it was a false sense of security. Coryn couldn't reach him here, but she wasn't his only enemy.
Several Glamierian dignitaries wanted Hugo on his throne alongside their children. Hugo was grateful his mother didn't believe in arranged marriages, even though her marriage to his dad had been set in stone when they were children. She'd always sworn Hugo would be happier choosing his own lovers.
Coryn had always threatened to marry him off to someone, but it was an empty threat. She couldn't afford to lose any control over him.
Hugo couldn't imagine marrying someone he didn't know. Now that he was falling for both Stan and Tovey, he didn't want to marry anyone at all.
Wait.
He was. He was falling for Stan, with his broad shoulders, gentle smiles, and sweet gestures. And he was falling for Tovey, with his deft hands, ravenous kisses, and sharp wit. They were nothing alike, and yet, they each healed a part of Hugo's fractured heart. They were both vigilant with his safety, which was a major turn-on. He wanted them both.
Once they gave away the gifts Hugo didn't need for himself and sent the islanders home with radiant smiles and full bellies, they returned home.
Hugo still hadn't thought of a way to keep both of them. Before he could, Stan and Tovey needed to come to terms with each other. They dropped their walls during sex, but the moment they finished, Stan was no longer open and vulnerable, and Tovey was suspicious of every spoken word. It hurt Hugo to watch because their demeanors never changed toward him. They only guarded around each other.
