Page 97 of Suffer No Fools
Stan cried with him, aching for the old man who had done his best to keep the peace between two headstrong leaders, Elders Bea and Martiz. More often than not, Frost compromised his own morals. Stan doubted he'd compromised today. His ice barrier had prevented a full naval invasion, and he'd lost his life for it.
Stan rolled to face Hugo and snuggled into his warmth, longing for sleep, but another thought nagged at him.
Even with the island's help, Stan had felt the edges of his own power for the first time since he was a child. Then, he'd been unfamiliar with the consequences of burning out, of possibly losing contact with his core magic. A weaver who used all their power risked forming a metaphysical layer of scar tissue, one that couldn't be healed because it wasn't a physical ailment.
Stan was all too aware of the consequences. He'd met a former earth weaver working the docks in Rodan. The man had been burned out at Stony Eel Island. He was lucky to escape with his life. Like Stan, he'd always used his physical strength instead of his earth weaves, so the dock work came easy to him, but there was a look of longing and despair in his gaze, one Stan hoped never to understand.
Without his power, Stan would be worthless to Tovey, Hugo, and his crew. He tucked his forehead against Hugo's chest and stifled a sob as the fear rolled over him. This had been only the beginning. While the council couldn't sense any more undead beneath the ocean, Coryn had other terrors waiting for them on Stony Eel Island. She'd been shoring up the island's defenses for a decade before she'd begun digging there. Who knew how many undead she had hidden around it, waiting for orders beneath the waves.
Hugo caressed his back in soothing circles, but the tears wouldn't stop. Flashes of memory haunted him. Tovey sweating beneath the strain as he pinned the undead against the shoal. Hugo collapsing to the ground before they'd known how to share the tree's power effectively.
Tovey's callouses dragged along his hip and thigh, grounding him in the moment.
"We're a team,"Tovey said through their bond.
That only made Stan feel worse. They were a team, and he was the weakest link.
"Nothing about you is weak,"Hugo added. He pulled Stan closer and breathed a deep sigh into his hair.
Despite their words, Stan couldn't shake his helpless dread.
#
Tovey
Tovey had been waiting for Stan's grief to overwhelm him. It often took Stan longer to process loss, but when he did, it hit harder than most.
He remembered when Stan had lost his parents.He and Stan had been fighting when they returned to Aquarion, only to find Stan's entire life had been wiped away, even the house where he'd spent his youth.
Tovey had stood beside him on the sand, staring in shock at the devastation. Houses used to dot the shoreline behind the barracks, and Stan's was one of them. All that remained of the structure was the stone platform for the cook stove.
Tovey had held Stan through his grief, feeling even worse when he walked Stan home to the boarding house, tucked him into his bed, and left. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.
He wrapped his arms and legs around him, and Hugo did the same. Stan had almost stopped crying, but his sobs returnedwith the added comfort. Tovey soothed him with gentle caresses along his arms and hips, and soon he and Hugo were asleep, snoring through their clogged noses until Tovey opened them with an air weave. Still, sleep wouldn't come for him. He lay awake, wondering how many air weavers had stowed away on the ship that had claimed to be from Stony Eel Island, and how quickly they would arrive in Hearthstone to share their good news with Coryn.
He must have slept. He woke to Stan's laughter, a welcome sound after all his tears.
"Good morning," Hugo said before kissing his way down Stan's chest. Stan moaned and ground his cock against Tovey's thigh.
Tovey was mostly beside Stan, but he'd left a nice puddle of drool by Stan's armpit. He licked it up, and Stan thrust against him again. When he met Stan's gaze, he saw unbridled lust and naked appreciation. Stan wanted him, and so much more. Stan loved him.
The thought had once terrified him, but now he accepted it without question. He felt the stirrings of love in his own heart, but he tamped it down. His heart had lied to him before, and he wouldn't allow it again. He wouldn't say those words until he was certain both Stan and Hugo would stay. Until then, he would give them his body.
He straddled Stan's chest, intending only to kiss him while Hugo sucked his cock, but Hugo surprised him by pulling him backward and tonguing at his hole, working him open. Tovey felt his earth magic take over, opening wider as Hugo wriggled his fingers inside, three, and then four. Tovey nearly came from the pressure.
"Gods," he muttered between kisses. "I need you both inside me."
Stan stared up at him in wonder as Hugo repositioned them, slicking Stan's cock with oil and then sliding Tovey onto it.
"How does it feel?" Hugo asked, a tinge of jealousy in his tone as Tovey settled against Stan, his cock fully inside.
"It will feel better with you." Tovey leaned forward, giving Stan a sloppy kiss as Hugo canted his hips. The head of his cock pressed inside, and Tovey almost blacked out from the pressure and the burn. A rush of earth filled his core, and he used it to expand his body. He met Stan's open and pleading gaze with a smile.
"We're a great team," Stan said. "Even in this."
Hugo slid his cock inch by inch along Stan's, filling Tovey fuller than he'd ever been and rubbing along his walls in a way he'd never experienced. When the pressure reached Tovey's prostate, he reached for his cock, gripping the base so he didn't come too soon. The combined pressure and pleasure were intense. He wouldn't last.
"Stay with me." Stan wrapped his hand around Tovey's and squeezed his cock tighter before slipping below to cradle his balls. He gripped them with just enough of a pinch to balance the pleasure coursing through Tovey's veins. "Ready?"
