Chapter Twenty-Four

After dinner, the Dragon King stood up. He held his hand down to me and helped me to my feet. Then we left the hall together, the courtiers standing to bow to the King. Even in the corridor, we weren”t alone. Shale”s knights dogged our heels until we reached the royal tower. Only then did they break off one at a time, taking posts along the way up.

“Fuck,” I huffed as we reached the second floor and the first knight took up his position there. “These stairs are brutal.”

Shale glanced at me, then casually picked me up with an arm around my waist. Holding me against his side, with my arm slung around his shoulders, he carried me up the rest of the stairs. I looked back to see the second knight still following us, his eyes wide. I widened my eyes back at him. Then he stepped onto a landing, taking his post on the fourth floor, just below the King”s bedroom.

Shale stepped out of the slim tower stairwell and shut the door. The tower formed a column within the open arches, as all the other slim towers that circled the main one did, but the others didn”t hide stairs. I think they were only decorative.

“Uh, thank you, Your Majesty,” I said after he set me on my feet.

“Take off your clothes,” he said.

I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. I had expected this. This back and forth between tenderness and reserve. It shouldn”t have surprised me. Shale was trying to get past years of abstinence in both body and mind. He had held himself apart from others to the point where he was seen as indifferent. Now, I was bringing him back, but, like a waking limb, it could be painful. He was retreating into numbness again.

But he still wanted to fuck me.

Yeah, I could work with that.

I unbuttoned my tunic slowly as I headed for the royal bed. Shale”s stare locked on me like a predator. His hands worked at his own tunic but he never looked down. When I reached the bed, I let my tunic fall from my shoulders, sliding down my arms, then kicked off my boots. I crawled onto the bed with my pants on, then, on my hands and knees, I looked over my shoulder at him.

“Would you help me with my pants, Your Majesty?”

“We”re alone now, Sebastian.”

“Will you help me with my pants, Shale?”

He growled and rushed me.

I sighed as Shale”s hands ran up my outer thighs and swept forward, their heat penetrating the thin fabric. He pulled at the ties that held up my pants, then hooked his fingers into my waistband. With a growl, he yanked the pants to my knees. Then I lifted one knee, and he pulled the fabric down further. Then the other knee.

The King pulled my pants off and tossed them away.

I looked back at him and grinned. I hadn”t worn any undershorts.

Soft sounds of appreciation came from Shale, turning the elegant king into something more primal. He was half-dressed, an erection tenting his silk pants, and he couldn”t keep his stare on one part of me for long. It kept moving, as did his hands. My ass, my thighs, my cock, my balls, up the crack, my ass again. Oh, fuck, a finger prodded me.

He motioned and something moved out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see the bottle of oil float over from the bed table on . . .

“Is that water?” I got to my knees.

I don”t know why I was so surprised. I”d seen him fill the fountain. It was just the way he used the magic, I guess. I didn”t know water could be used to carry things.

“Yes.” Shale shoved me back down. “Get further up on the bed, then put your head down.”

“I . . .” I looked at the bottle now in his hands, then watched him untie his pants.

The silk fell to the floor and the King”s erection sprang free. He oiled it, then lifted his stare to me and narrowed his eyes. I hurried to the center of the bed and put my head down, pressing my forehead to the bed while lifting my ass.

“So eager,” he murmured as he climbed onto the bed.

I felt the mattress shift and then he was behind me. One hand spread me while the other slid along my crack, seeking my entrance. Once he found it, he rubbed oil onto me, slowly. His finger slipped inside. I gasped at the sudden entry, but then he pumped and pulled at my ring of muscle. The man was already proficient in ass fucking.

When I was loose enough and slick enough, Shale withdrew his finger and replaced it with his shaft. Gently. Back and forth. Oiled flesh prodding and stretching. Shale pushed that glorious cock in and out of me until it was encased. Held by my channel. Mine. I squeezed around him. Then the pace quickened. His thrusts grew stronger. More demanding. He delved deeper, and I braced myself.

Fingers digging in, the King”s hands clenched on my hips. His breath turned into rough panting. With ecstasy teasing me, I reached between my legs and took myself in hand. My face was buried in the blankets, Shale”s scent enveloping me. It felt safe there. I closed my eyes and pretended he loved me. Maybe he would care about me one day. Deeply care. Maybe he even cared a little now. He wouldn”t have been so upset about hurting me if he didn”t. He had to care about me.

Before I could come, Shale locked up and filled me, holding me firmly against his pelvis as if he thought I might pull away. I had been so close, but I didn”t say anything, nor did I keep stroking myself. I let my hand fall to the bed in disappointment.

But Shale didn”t withdraw. He just kept coming. And the hot rush of him filling me did something to my body. I felt . . . I don”t know what I felt. It was erotic and yet more. A rush that ran up and down my spine. It bowed my back and pulled an orgasm out of me. No, that”s the wrong word. It demanded an orgasm out of me. And that orgasm felt like it originated in my very cells. I had never felt anything like it. To go from being on the verge to coming like that was so damn magical, it made my head spin.

And while I came, Shale began a second round.

He hadn”t even pulled out. Just came, then started fucking me again, his pelvis slapping my ass and hands holding me in place. Had Shale said something about having great stamina? Well, that had been an understatement.