31. Declan

Chapter 31

Declan

ó rla and I fell into the routine of war preparation—if there was such a routine.

I was surprised that only a small portion of our time was spent actually helping the Mages prepare. The bulk of our waking hours was consumed with appearances before troops, townsfolk, and leaders from across the country who came at the Triad’s call. We knew Quin and his Mages valued our input, but our presence—often a glowing one—buoyed morale in ways no one could have anticipated. People believed they could win because the folk of legends had come to life and told them it was so.

Each night, I returned to the Mages’ Guild to sup with my robed brothers and rest. A week had passed when, on one such night, a boy appeared at the elbow of the Arch Mage whispering some secret missive.

“Go on, boy, speak your news aloud. I trust no one in all the land above Declan Rea.”

I eyed Quin. There was a gleam in his gaze that spoke of mischief, an odd thing for a leader preparing for a siege.

The boy, no more than ten, struggled as he turned to face me, his eyes dropping to his muddy boots rather than meeting my own.

“Sir, sorry to disturb you, uh, Mister Rea—I mean, Ranger Rea—I mean Mister Son of Magic, sir.”

Quin chuckled. I shook my head and surprised the boy with a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m just Declan, all right?” The boy gaped, his head finally rising. “Speak your news before my food is as cold as the cobbles of the courtyard.”

“Sorry, sir—I mean, Declan.” His lips almost curled at the use of my name. “Some fifty Rangers arrived not an hour ago. Said they rode from Fleet Town with all haste. Cap’n-Commander Albius has ’em billeted in the Army Compound.”

I freed the boy’s shoulder and sat back. “That’s good news, but fifty men won’t make much difference against a hoard. Why do you look like there’s more?”

His head bobbed. “Yessir—I mean, Declan, sir. There is, sir.”

“Spit it out, boy. My ale has gone warm while you stood there prattling,” Quin said, not unkindly.

The boy’s gaze darted from Quin to me. “Yessir. Sorry, sir. The Cap’n-Commander said to tell you to come quick. One o’ the Rangers wants to see you, sir.”

“Me? Why would a Fleet Town Ranger—”

“He’s got the reddest hair I ever seen, sir.”

I bolted out of my chair and wove through the tables of the dining hall so fast every Mage in the place stopped eating and stared. As I reached the doorway to the dining hall, I decided to give Traveling one more attempt. I wanted to see Ayden more than anything. I needed to see him. My heart soared at the idea of holding him.

And my magic flared with the brilliance of all the stars in a sailor’s sky.

In the space of a heartbeat, I left stunned Mages, their mouths agape, and appeared outside the principal officers’ building of the Army Compound. Soldiers across the yard stopped and stared. Guards posted on either side of the building’s wide door gripped their pikes with deadly intent.

Then Ayden stepped through the doorway.

“Dec—?”

The guards moved to protest but were far too slow. I bowled into him before he could say a word, knocking him backward into the building but holding him upright in my arms. Several soldiers standing just inside had to leap out of the way as we scrambled backward.

“Spirits, you’re all right,” I said, tears filling my eyes. “I thought . . . I tried to reach you. I couldn’t . . . gods, I thought you were—”

His lips silenced whatever babble was about to fall out of my mouth.

Those milling about the entrance turned away and scurried to their tasks, though a few watched with undisguised interest at the man kissing the famed Heir of Magic.

“When I learned about Grove’s Pass, I was sure—”

Now it was my turn to still his tongue. Well, I didn’t exactly still it, but his words no longer tumbled free.

Fingers tangled in my hair, then dug into my scalp. My hands clutched at the fabric of his cloak, pulling him as close as I could.

The deep, rumbling clearing of a throat brought both our heads around.

“Ranger Rea, I see you decided to welcome our reinforcements personally.” The barrel-chested Captain-Commander smirked from where he leaned against the far doorway.

“Oh, shit . . . I mean, sir.” Ayden practically shoved me back and snapped to attention. “Forgive me, sir. I never—”

Albius’s grin turned into a chuckle as his head shook. “Son, this is the first moment I’ve had to enjoy since this whole damn mess began. I should thank you for lifting my spirits even if your taste in men is somewhat suspect.”

“Sir!” I called in mock indignation.

The few others still in the foyer covered their mouths as laughter echoed off the wooden walls.

“You two, get the hell out of my building and do something private.” I had ten smart-ass remarks soaring off my tongue when a swift hand rose in the air. “I don’t need fucking details, literally. No fucking details.”

Spirits, had he just made a joke?

Ayden’s face paled.

The men around us doubled over.

My skin burned with crimson fire.

I leaned in and whispered in Ayden’s ear, “Let’s go before he says anything else.”

“Where—?”

I didn’t wait for him to finish. I grabbed him like a willful child and hurled us across the city into my chamber at the Mages’ Guild, sparing only a fleeting thought about the poor soldiers who just witnessed two Rangers disappearing before their eyes.

“Declan, what . . .” Ayden’s head whipped around as he took in the modestly appointed room, with its stone walls, iron-bracketed Mage-lit candles, and the warm fire dancing in the hearth.

I grabbed his cloak, unclasped the flying owl, and tossed it onto the desk chair. His surprise morphed into something akin to the hunger of a starving man.

“Clothes. Off. Now,” was all I got out before fingers fumbled faster than lips and tongues. By the time we stood naked before the fireplace, our breathing was heavy, and our cocks stood more erect than a cadet at his first roll call.

There were no gentle caresses, no tender kisses, no sweet words.

Our need was too great.

Ayden ran his tongue up my neck, then took my lobe between his teeth. I wanted to squirm or cry out at the painful sensation of his bite, but pleasure followed so quickly all thought vanished at his touch.

Our hands searched and roamed.

Our tongues battled as our lips devoured.

Our cocks pulsed and twitched.

“I want to feel you inside me,” I said.

His eyes widened, then blazed.

“Get on that bed.” He gripped my arms and marched me backward until I tumbled onto my mattress. Standing over me, I thought he might be the most beautiful man who ever lived. The hardened muscles of his chest and arms were now leaner than before, but the crispness of their lines drove my hunger beyond desire. The way his eyes explored me as I lay before him sent my pulse racing so fast I thought it might never slow again.

And then he gripped my ankles and pulled them over his shoulders. His head lowered and his tongue, hot and wet from our kisses, scraped between my spread cheeks.

“Oh, fuck!” I squirmed. It had always been my tongue parting his ass. In that moment, I knew why he loved that sensation so. “I’m yours, Ayden Byrne.”

“You better fucking believe you are,” he said. The force of his words sent an even deeper thrill through me as his tongue, no longer gentle, stabbed inside my quaking hole. Determined fingers pried me open further as he dug even deeper.

One hand gripped a pillow as the other grasped the bedframe. It was all I could do to keep fixed in place.

He dove in, then out, then nipped at the tender skin of my cheeks, then dragged his ragged tongue along my rim. The heat and moisture of his touch made my head swim as images of fiery red hair danced and bobbed before my eyes.

Then he rose to his knees, and I saw just how hard he’d become.

“Fucking fuck,” I gasped as he gripped himself, willing the skin even tauter, his length even harder.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” He grinned, then spit on his palm, stroked his cock, and pressed himself against my opening just enough to poke inside.

“Oh, hells. You’re fucking huge.”

His grin turned into a smoldering gaze as he pressed himself inside me.

My back arched as I squeezed the pillow against the initial pain.

“Oh, gods, fucking holy hells,” I groaned.

He offered no mercy, pushing until every inch of him stabbed at the deepest parts of me.

For the briefest moment, he paused, staring down, then brushed a few unruly curls from my eyes.

“I love you with all the life in my body and all the heart of my soul, Declan Rea.”

I had no words worthy of a reply.

Ayden had stolen my very breath.

Then his cock stole my ability to breathe.

He pulled back, then slid all the way in, slowly at first, then faster and faster as he saw my winces morph into ecstasy.

He threw my legs over his shoulders and scooted forward, giving himself purchase to press even deeper, push even harder.

Sweat poured from his brow. It coated his chest. The scent of sex and sweat and unwashed man filled me, and there was nothing in the world I wanted more.

I reached down to stroke myself, but he swatted me away.

“No fucking way. That is my job.”

“I didn’t think lordlings had jobs.”

I should’ve known better to tease a man who had a small child’s arm of a cock shoved halfway to my lungs.

His grip on my shoulders tightened, as his eyes flared, and he slammed into me with all the force of an enraged bull.

“Oh, shit!” I shouted. “Right there. Fuck me harder. Right there!”

Surprise registered a heartbeat before insatiable desire took control, and his rhythm and power redoubled.

Stars filled my eyes.

My whole body clenched.

Ayden thrust harder and faster.

I dared to open my eyes and found abs the image of a cobbled road, his chest sweaty and gleaming in the Mage light.

“I can’t . . . Dec, I can’t stop!”

“Don’t!”

He grunted and pressed, shoved and gasped.

My body tensed. My hole tightened.

He groaned so loudly I was sure he’d been heard across the yard.

I didn’t care.

His hand found my cock, and he stroked me with a maddened, reckless abandon, as though he teetered on the edge and was desperate to take me over with him.

“I’m not going to last—”

“Fuck!”

Ayden’s eyes slammed shut.

His head tilted back.

Warmth filled me.

My body rocked.

My cock exploded, and I spilled out, coating his hand and shooting across my stomach and chest.

His power spent, he lay atop me and pressed his lips to mine.

“You’re making a mess,” I said, finally regaining an ounce of my wits.

He kissed me and wiggled so the product of our love smeared and mingled.

“I would live in your mess, if you would let me.”

I stroked his hair and kissed him.

For one blessed, brief moment, the world paused, and only Ayden and I existed.