17. Ra

Chapter 17

Ra

By the time Ra turned around, Wren had disappeared. All his instincts were screaming that the seneschal's threats were real, but there wasn't much he could do about it just then. So instead of worrying, he finished up what he was doing and went to find Mica.

"What did Wren want?" Mica asked him as he slipped an arm around Mica's waist, purposefully brushing the backs of his knuckles against the elemental's sensitive feathers as he did so.

Ra shrugged and looked up at the Earth Lord with a wicked smirk. "To stake some sort of claim on you. Which means I need to show everyone here that you're mine ."

Placing both hands around Mica's neck, he pulled him into a filthy kiss before running a firm grip down his muscled shoulders until he was stroking along the upper ridges of his wings. Mica moaned and his eyes rolled back in his head, as Ra pushed in close and let him feel just how hard he was.

"Fuck. Ra," Mica gasped, shifting so they could both get the friction they were craving.

"That's the idea."

"If you keep that up we will not be staying here," Mica said, nuzzling under his ear as he laved at his skin.

"Let's play a game then. Whoever lasts longest without dragging the other out the door gets to pick what position we end tonight in," Ra said.

"How does that help?" Mica asked, moaning softly again as Ra's wandering hands stroked over his chest. "I want to do everything with you."

Ra grinned. "You don't want to go all bossy Earth Lord on me and tell me what to do?"

"I don't care. I just want you."

The heaving crowd of people around them faded away from notice as Ra lost himself in the sensations of dancing with Mica. The Earth Lord couldn't seem to help but keep his wings wrapped tight around him, leaving them both dripping with sweat in the already humid space and ensuring no one could see what their lord was getting up to. Pun absolutely intended. If someone had told him a month ago he'd be frotting in public with Mica like this, or at all, he'd have laughed them out of Soul Tower.

By the time the final song was playing, they were barely moving to the beat, too busy devouring each other's mouths. He'd never been more grateful that he'd arranged for Esme to shut things down. The bass was still fading when he grabbed Mica's hand in his and headed to the exit, waving off the catcalls from his new friends among the court as they left.

Too impatient to wait, Mica swept him up in his arms and sped them through the tunnels in a blur of magic. Ra laughed as his head spun at the change in pace until he found himself shoved up against the door to Mica's rooms. The Earth Lord hitched his legs around his waist and sucked on his neck hard, renewing the bruise there he'd never let fade.

"You forfeited the game," Mica pointed out as he started unbuttoning Ra's shirt. "Damn these human closures are annoying. I'm having an elemental wardrobe tailored for you so I never have to deal with this unreasonable delay again."

Ra threw his head back with another breathless laugh. "It only adds a few seconds. You can cope," he said, running his fingers along the collar of Mica's shirt until he found the magical seam that had it dropping to the floor.

They both groaned as they could finally press their bare skin together. Toeing his shoes off, Ra pushed Mica back enough to fumble at his belt and fly until he could shove his pants off. Okay, maybe human tailoring was a little annoying. Looking up, he forgot to breathe as he took in the sight of an entirely naked Earth Lord standing before him. Wings flared and trembling, thick erection standing proud against his stomach, and those hands. Those perfect, achingly strong musician's hands that could create beauty as easily as they could weave dangerous magic.

"Touch me. Please," Ra whispered.

Stepping forward, Mica cupped his jaw, brushing his fingers across his lips. "You're so beautiful like this. All passion and need."

Ra sucked one of Mica's fingers into his mouth and wrapped his tongue around it, not breaking eye contact.

"Fuck, Sunshine," Mica said, pulling Ra with him as backed up until his legs were pressed against the arm of the couch.

Pressing in close, Ra reached down and wrapped a hand around both their lengths, stroking them together. "You won fair and square. What's it going to be, my lord?" he asked.

He cocked his head in confusion as Mica reached an arm behind him and the familiar feeling of the Earth Lord's power surrounded them. A moment later a bottle of olive oil from the kitchen shot across the room into Mica's hand.

Shaking with laughter, Ra raised an eyebrow. "Or we could go find a bed and some actual lube?"

"Not a fucking chance. I'm not taking another step until I feel you inside me," Mica growled, shoving the oil into Ra's hands and turning to bend over the couch.

Ra's mouth dropped open in shock as he took in the picture of the powerful lord splayed out before him, wings draped elegantly to the floor and muscled back arched. "What…"

Mica looked back at him over his shoulder, pupils blown with desire but amusement showing through. "Did you need a hand?"

"No, I just didn't think you'd trust me enough to…" Fuck. Why couldn't he even finish his sentences? His brain had checked out when every bit of blood flew south. No way would he ever reject this offer though. Uncapping the oil, he slicked his fingers before leaning over to carefully place the bottle on a nearby table. His hands were shaking so badly he was surprised he didn't knock the whole thing onto the floor.

Running his clean hand over the enticing softness of Mica's feathers, he gently traced the other down the tight muscles of his ass until he could brush a teasing finger against Mica's hole.

Mica's breaths were coming in sharp pants as he spoke. "I trust you with this. And it's easier this way. Less likely to bond you by accident. Fuck. I need you, baby."

Maybe Mica's words implied he still didn't trust him in other ways, but he'd take what he could get. He couldn't have ignored Mica's plea if his life depended on it. As his first finger breached Mica's body and he felt the tight warm heat clenching down on him, his focus narrowed only to the pleasure of the man before him. A kind of trance descended on him as he stroked and stretched Mica, every sense directed at drawing out more of those intoxicating moans and shudders. This was how they were meant to be. How they always should have been. Entwined together, making each other soar instead of dragging each other down.

Mica's gasps grew more desperate as he massaged the exact spot inside his mate that was keeping his wings straining wide with tension instead of draping on the floor.

"Get inside me before you make me come like this," Mica gritted out.

The words brought Ra back to earth and he became keenly aware of the throbbing ache in his neglected cock. "Of course you'd be bossy even like this. I am inside you," he pointed out, even as he reached for the oil again, the move making his fingers twist inside Mica and drawing out another moan from the elemental.

Gently pulling his fingers free, he poured more of the oil on his shaft, making sure he was slick. No way was he going to hurt his mate. Not more than he wanted to be anyway.

"Need you!" Mica said, reaching back to pull at his hip.

As he lined himself up, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Mica's spine right at the sensitive join where the bottom of his wings met his body. Holding Mica's hips tight so he could take total control of their movements, he slid forward inch by inch kissing each vertebrae on the way up.

"Fuck, you feel amazing," he groaned, as warm heat enveloped his cock and Mica's body seemed to be sucking him in, welcoming him.

The strain of Mica's muscles beneath him as he fought to push back on him was so hot Ra was worried this would be over before it even began. Reaching up, he gripped the upper edge of Mica's wing and used the leverage to slide the rest of the way in. Their shared pleasure was overwhelming as he paused, pressed as close and as deep inside his lover as he could, both of them able to sense what the other was feeling through their connection. He would live inside this man if he could. He wanted to crawl inside Mica's skin and curl up safe in his heart and that thought was as terrifying as it was disturbing.

"Move," Mica ordered, voice strained.

He fucked Mica like he'd danced with him—bodies working together in perfect harmony, hips rolling in time to their accelerating heartbeats instead of music. Every thrust shaking with need.

It wasn't enough. Wasn't quite right.

Pulling out, he ignored Mica's cry of complaint as he somehow managed to manhandle the elemental and his huge wings into spinning around and falling back onto the couch.

"Needed to see your face," he gasped in explanation to Mica's silent question.

He was on Mica in less than a second, lifting one of his knees so he could carefully slide back inside him. Back home. The thrum of Mica's magic was a constant around them, copper sparking in his wings. Ra could feel the effort it was taking Mica to keep it contained. To stop it reaching for him to tie them together forever.

Mica fisted a hand in his hair and pulled him close, crushing their lips together, as he began to move again. And now it was right. Now it was perfect. Mica's blue-green eyes on his. Mica's kisses trailing down his neck. Mica's cock rutting against his abs as they pressed as close as two people could possibly be.

They came together, orgasms rushing through them like a landslide and the world whiting out as they succumbed to this driving need between them.

When his awareness finally drifted back to the room, Ra found himself nestled on Mica's chest, his head tucked beneath the elemental's chin and his body covered in the soft warmth of his wings. He squirmed a little as Mica's hand rubbed softly down his mark on Ra's arm.

"Tickles," he murmured, pressing a kiss to Mica's collarbone.

"It's late and we're going to be stuck together if we don't get up and shower," Mica said, shifting underneath him.

Oh yeah. Mica couldn't be that comfortable with his wings squashed into the low back of the couch.

Uncertainty returned as he stood and watched Mica get back to his feet. They both paused, unsure of what was next for them.

"Good night, sweetheart," Mica said finally, brushing a kiss to his lips. And then he headed to his room.

Ra stood staring at the door he'd gone through. Mica had left it open when he usually would have shut it but with no invitation to follow him. Like he wanted to show something had changed but wasn't ready to take that next step. Sighing, Ra headed in the opposite direction toward his own shower and bed. Mica lived and breathed court politics and, apparently, that extended to communicating through ridiculous subtleties in their love life as well. Or maybe that should just be sex life, given Mica's withdrawal? He was too tired to figure it out. They could talk about it in the morning.

Sleep was hard to find that night. Even when he caved and wrapped himself tight in his covers and hugged a pillow to his chest he still felt a constant tug in his chest to go find Mica and slip into bed with him. Dammit. He'd slept alone for fifty years, one night with the Earth Lord shouldn't have changed that. The restlessness he could feel from Mica in the back of his mind through their connection wasn't helping either.

Sometime at ass o'clock in the morning when there was still no sign of the sunlight peeking through his window, he gave up and headed to the dining table to poke at the new toys he'd bought from Saryn. The fine electrical work of adding the receptors they needed to integrate with elemental magic finally distracted him enough that he was caught by surprise when a steaming cup of coffee was placed by his elbow.

Glancing up, he took a moment to admire the strength and intelligence in Mica's face as he looked over his shoulder at the nearly complete scanners.

"When will you have them working?" Mica asked.

Ra's eyes narrowed. "Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?" he said in a falsely sweet voice.

Honestly, the man was infuriating with the way he kept defaulting to his Earth Lord persona. Surely they were past that.

Mica's eyes flicked to his and then dropped to his lips before clearing his throat. "I've slept better."

"And whose fault is that? Maybe if you hadn't slunk off like I was a one-night hook-up we both would've got some actual rest."

Okay, he might be more bitter about that than he'd thought. He'd meant to have a calm mature conversation about it.

Mica sighed and leaned down to brush a kiss to his lips. "I told you I needed time. I can't trust my own judgement with you when the draw to mate is riding me so hard. I'm not going to rush into anything."

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Ra forced himself to move on. Mica was right. There was no rush.

"The scanners just need the same surveillance spell on them that my drones have. Can you do it?" Ra asked, turning his attention back to the tech so he could reseal the body of the scanner. He'd been modelling the electrics off the drone sitting nearby, so hopefully Mica could do the same with the spell.

"Of course," Mica said, and immediately Ra could feel the warmth of his power surrounding them as it rolled out across the collection of scanners on the table.

Mica's mark on his arm tingled as the magic amplified through the points they were touching and he shivered at the strange pleasure of feeling a piece of the Earth Lord under his skin.

"That should do it," Mica said not long later.

"Awesome. If I bring up the map showing the black spots where we need more data, could you have Earthshine absorb the scanners into the rock and send them to the right areas? We can move them closer if that's easier. It might be worth leaving them there to monitor things over time as well," Ra said.

Mica tilted his head and his eyes grew distant as he communicated with the stronghold. Not for the first time, Ra wished he could talk to the caves himself.

His question was answered when the first scanner sank straight through the table and into the floor, leaving no trace behind. One after another, Mica and the stronghold shifted them where they needed to be. He was barely aware of the time passing as they worked together. For once, they were both trying to achieve the same goal and it felt so natural to problem solve and talk back and forth as they filled in the rest of the ley line mapping he'd been missing before redistributing the scanners to key points of power throughout the cave system. At some point, Mica had pulled a stool up next to his, but he'd positioned it so his legs were straddling either side of Ra and his chin was resting on his shoulder as they manipulated the model on his screen to check what was needed.

It wasn't until his stomach growled loud enough to be heard over the whir of the laptop fan that Mica pulled away and glanced outside toward the balcony.

"It's after midday. I need to feed you," Mica said, standing up and stretching his wings wide as he cracked his neck before heading to the kitchen.

Ra stayed focused on the images on the screen as the comforting sounds of cooking drifted in the space. Finally, he leaned back as he made the final tweaks to his code.

"I think this is as good as it's going to get. The scanners are picking up most of the major ley line fluctuations and at least you can see the points where something's not right," Ra said.

"Now we just need to figure out how to fix it," Mica said, reaching past him to set the computer aside and replacing it with a bowl of steaming shakshuka.

Ra's groan was almost pornographic as he took his first mouthful. "This tastes amazing. Thank you."

"It's a dish from my childhood. Comfort food," Mica said, squeezing his thigh briefly with his free hand.

"If you need help figuring out ways to heal the damage now we can see where it is and what it looks like, Kairon might have some ideas. He made a difference with Kaia. The vampyr have techniques to use their healing magic to reinforce different neural pathways in the brain. My theory is the ley lines here might respond in a similar way for the stronghold," Ra said.

Mica shook his head. "No. I appreciate the suggestion, but I can't bring in outsiders when the stronghold is already so vulnerable. I know the Soul Court is on good terms with the vampyr, but the rest of us are not so close to them. I can't take the risk, given what's at stake, and even inviting him here to consult would worsen the difficulties I have with some of my senior courtiers right now. The memories of the early days after the Melding when they clashed with the vampyr are too strong. I could easily fend off any challenge, but the conflict would sow more discord and fear. I can't afford to alienate my people."

Annoyance and guilt fought for precedence in him as he forced himself to take a breath before replying. This kind of untrusting attitude was exactly what was holding back the Melded Earths from achieving a more stable peace, but also he hadn't appreciated the finer points of Mica's challenges from the regional leads when he'd arranged to meet Kairon in the Tree City before. He didn't think anyone had noticed the vampyr's presence, but he would hate it if the way he'd gone about that made trouble for Mica. He didn't regret it, because Kaia was finally thriving in her magic lessons, but he might've arranged to have Kaia go to the vampyr instead of the other way around if he'd realised the state of things here.

It was on the tip of his tongue to come clean to Mica about what he'd done, but this thing between them was so new and fragile he couldn't make himself do it. What if it destroyed what little trust Mica had regained for him?

"What are you going to do then?" Ra asked.

"I'll consult with the elemental healers here. I'm sure they can figure something out."

"If they're all as closed-minded about other peoples helping, are they even going to look at my modelling, given it's based on human tech?" Ra asked, unable to keep the bitterness from his tone.

Maybe he'd been foolish to think anything could grow between them. The elemental courts were not like home. There weren't even any other humans living in the area.

"They will because I'll tell them to," Mica said, reaching out to wrap an arm around him and press a kiss to his temple as he sensed his anger.

"You can't force people to innovate in the way this kind of hybrid magic/technology fix needs to work. If they don't respect it, they won't try to use it. All this work will have been pointless," Ra said.

"The technology is helping diagnose, but that doesn't mean we will need it to solve the problem," Mica said.

Ra snorted. "And how's your purely elemental magic fix been working out for you for the last six months?"

"Can we not fight, please?" Mica said, nuzzling under his ear and nipping at the skin there.

"You can't just distract me with sex every time we disagree now we've fucked," Ra said, tilting his head to give Mica better access and reaching up to grab his head and pull him closer.

Mica huffed a laugh against his skin. "Are you sure about that?"

"No."

Ra moaned as Mica continued to press achingly light butterfly kisses to every bit of skin he could reach.

"Kiss me properly," Ra begged, twisting to face the Earth Lord.

"That reminds me, you never paid up on our bet. What's your real name?" Mica said, smiling as he kept up his sensual assault and refused to press their lips together.

"You didn't win that bet! I killed Caelus," Ra said.

"You bet you'd kill him before I even got close. I was in the same room saving your ass, if you recall."

Ra was losing track of the conversation as Mica's hands started wandering. "Not close enough," he gasped, flipping around so he could straddle the Earth Lord in his seat.

"I'll get it out of you one day," Mica murmured, finally giving in and kissing him properly.