Page 45 of Suffer No Fools
"I would hate to lose Jermain," Hugo said, "but if he's willing to oversee the operation, this would be a good start toward our goal."
Stan had rarely seen his mentor rendered speechless before now. Finally, Jermain cleared his throat and tried to dim his smile. "I would be honored to take a few of our volunteer earth weavers to Glamiere." He gave Hugo a deep bow.
Efren smirked as he took Jermain's arm and led him, and the delegation from Glamiere, away.
"Nicely done," Vadim said, handing Hugo a glass of clear liquid. "Efren hoped you'd get rid of Jermain. He's been a pain in the ass since we got back."
"How so?" Stan asked.
"He wanted us to splitStarlight Specterinto two vessels," Vadim said, gesturing with his hands. "Cut her down the middle and mold her to be thinner, sleeker. I like her just the way she is."
"I'm so sorry. Gods, I should have been there for Efren," Stan said. Jermain made fast ships, but ifWildfireever took a shot of cannon fire, she'd splinter into a million pieces.
"If Jermain cut her, it would be over Efren's dead body." Vadim chuckled. "Jermain's lucky to be alive, because guess what he did then."
"No." Tovey, who had stood quietly by Stan's side through the earlier conversations, seemed to hang on Vadim's every word. "He tried to get Niall on his side?"
Vadim's laugh turned downright wicked. "He did. That did not go well, as you can imagine."
"Why not?" Hugo looked completely baffled.
"If someone failed to get my permission for something and tried to convince Klaus to pressure me ... ." Vadim shrugged. "I would assume they wanted to harm Klaus, or me. I might even have to drain them."
"You would not," Hugo said.
"It's an excellent lesson for you, my darling emperor," Tovey said. "If you can't get what you want by direct means, indirect means might get you killed."
"Always be direct," Hugo glanced at Stan, "but try to hide my feelings?"
"You can be too open sometimes," Tovey said, "but that's part of your appeal."
Hugo blushed at the term "my darling emperor," and now his cheeks looked hot enough to set fire to the strand of hair escaped from his braid. "I have appeal?"
"With that," Vadim smirked, "I'm going home before you all start a fire. Don't keep our 'darling emperor' up too late. We'll send Jermain and the Glamierians off with the tide."
"How can I sleep after all this?" Hugo asked. His gaze seemed to sparkle with an ethereal light as he glanced around the room. "We're finally getting somewhere."
"We are," Tovey agreed, placing his hand on Hugo's shoulder and ushering him toward the exit. He played his part as bodyguard in public, while Stan stumbled after them, still half-asleep on his feet.
The cool night air woke him when they stepped outside the sentinel oak. They'd rearranged the inside of the tree, replacing the ladder with a giant spiral staircase. That had taken far more energy than it was worth, and now Stan would need to move it back without Jermain.
It could wait, though. Tonight, he wanted to enjoy his time with Hugo and Tovey. Despite Vadim's request for them to be at the docks at first light, they would have the rest of the following day to laze around and enjoy each other. Stan planned to take full advantage of that time.
His body betrayed him the moment they walked in the door. His eyes watered and his jaw cracked with a yawn, and he nearly fell over his own boots while trying to take them off.
Tovey helped him upstairs and motioned for him to sit on the bed. He removed the rest of Stan's clothes before beginning on his own. Hugo had dashed off to his room to strip out of his suit. He adhered to the strict requirements his mother hadtaught him, always steaming his suit clean before hanging it back in his closet.
He returned stark naked and full of the confidence he exuded now that he had command of his power. He met Tovey where he stood at the foot of the bed and they kissed, all tongue and teeth, grabbing and thrusting. Stan worked his way up the bed to sit against the pile of pillows at the headboard and watched the show.
Hugo whined a moment later as he grasped where Stan's knee had been and didn't find him.
"Up here, love."
Hugo pulled away from Tovey and leaped onto the bed, making it almost all the way to the pillows and then crawling the rest of the way. He pressed a chaste kiss to Stan's lips, and then he straddled Stan's legs. They kissed again, and this time Stan opened for his questing tongue and angled his neck, so their lips sealed together. Hugo tasted so sweet, and his cock dragged along Stan's quickly growing erection the same way their tongues created friction in each other's mouths.
Tovey joined them, taking charge of whose hands went where. Hugo had braced himself with one hand on Stan's shoulder, and Tovey dropped his other hand to Stan's cock. Then, he wrapped Stan's right hand around Hugo's cock, and his left around Tovey's. That left Tovey to caress Stan while he dug under the pillows for the jar of oil. Victorious, Tovey slicked their hands with it before moving on to work his fingers into Hugo's virgin ass.
Hugo broke their kiss on a low moan when Tovey found his prostate. "Gods, that feels so different when you do it," he whispered.
