Chapter 17

Duran followed the shifter through the keep. If there were people in the hallways, he never noticed. There was nothing more important to him than the man at his side and the way his heart tripped whenever their hands brushed. He really didn’t even care where they were going so long as they would be alone and naked in short order. Three days ago he’d been taken by surprise by Royce’s wish and his willingness to concede to wait. Now Duran could think of nothing else than the coming moments to be skin to skin.

If anticipation had been the other man’s intent, he’d succeeded, too well. Duran nearly vibrated walking with him. Side by side on their way to the guard’s wing, his skin tingled as though Royce was an electrical current and casual brushes and proximity sparked to life between them. Torches flickered along the walls in the faint currents ever present throughout the large building. This particular hall was nothing but quarters for the main keep’s staff to be on hand. When they’d announced their intent to stay, Jayce had offered rooms to Cedri’s group. A few had accepted. Many of the feline shifters preferred the outdoors or more rustic living than the claustrophobic and trapped feeling of stone surrounding them. Cedri, Royce, and Zahari were a few who’d accepted after Cedri’s promotion to Jayce’s personal guard, as they’d earned their own places with the guard. As a personal guard to Harmony and Nolen, Zahari had claimed quarters across the hall from theirs. He wondered as they neared the doors if Royce was going to remain as Cedri’s second for the shifter residents. He seemed content in the position, with his best friend. Hopefully it was a deep enough contentment for him to wish to remain, at least until Duran understood what this was building between them.

Royce paused at a door, his hand on the handle. Then he swung it open after whatever flashed debate he’d held. Stepping aside to allow him to enter, Duran walked in, not concerned if the room was sparse or opulent.

It only had to be large enough for himself and Royce.

The bed was a thickly stuffed pallet covered with linens and heavy quilts on the stone floor rather than a raised bed. A set of box drawers lined the wall to the side with a washbasin, pitcher, and a small mirror on top. A cloth hung over the edge of the mirror, likely to dry. The single window was high on the wall with its panes locked tight against the cold, and blocked by hanging leather on the inside, muting the last of the day’s light as the sun dropped over the horizon in the west.

“I know your room is larger, and likely more comfortable, but we won’t be disturbed here. Only keep help, servants, and guards are in this hall,” Royce explained, confirming Duran’s earlier thoughts.

Duran twisted on a hip to face him. “It’s perfect.” Because the only thing that mattered in that room was the other person in it with him.

He waited for Royce to shut the door. Guiding Duran backward, the other man pressed him flat into the closed door. Royce’s grin grew edged with tenderness. Strong hands landed to rest on his hips, holding him without demand. Duran’s heart tripped as he stood frozen, and for the first time, unsure. It wouldn’t surprise him to learn Royce could hear it thundering. He knew their senses far surpassed any given human or elf, even when not in their shifted forms. What this man did to him.

“What are you waiting for?” Duran rasped.

“The next move is yours,” Royce stated. “I told you I won’t take this kiss.”

Duran pondered why that could be. Surrender. He heard it in his head, causing a shiver to roll down his spine. “Does it mean something to you?” Staring into blue eyes as beautiful as the man, he fought to keep his voice even when so many parts of him were clamoring with need and anticipation.

“Yes,” he answered. “It means you are coming to me willingly, you are mine by choice.”

Duran swallowed, hard. “Yours?” Synapses fired as his blood heated. He’d never had someone claim him. Never had someone who wanted him like this. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this meant something significant to Royce, to the shifter at his heart, but couldn’t think clearly enough to figure it out. Not with those blue eyes boring into his, patiently waiting for Duran’s next move, waiting while both mage and shifter burned for release.

Royce’s lips curved more, the warmth of his meaning infiltrating him when he finally spoke. “Mine,” he replied with the softest echo of a growl.

Duran nearly melted, glad the door held them up with the way his legs wanted to slip out from beneath himself. He didn’t know what Royce was talking about, but he knew if he went through with this, he was going to be eternally changed in ways he couldn’t guess at or fathom. This was deeper than attraction, than lust. He knew this. In his soul, at his heart. Longing and desire spread through his being. Raising a hand, he sifted through the heavy pale strands of Royce’s hair. It was rich on his skin, like silk and made him think of the leopard’s coat, so perfect. Lush. He dug his other hand’s fingertips into Royce’s shoulder to keep himself steady.

Then, before he could second guess what this would start, he slid his lips against Royce’s and sighed with a profound release when their soft warmth melded with his. His eyes drifted closed as he lost himself in the kiss. Chaste at first, soft and welcoming, he felt warmth spread from his chest into his arms until every part of his body was rejoicing with the contact. It was exactly what he’d expected, and yet more. So much more.

Royce’s quiet growl vibrated them both where his frame sank forward and pressed fully shoulder to knee into Duran’s propped weight. Heat exploded through his belly and spread downward as the kiss intensified, bringing his full length to an aching hardness so suddenly he felt dizzy. With the way he trembled, he clutched at Royce’s frame, grateful the strength of his muscled legs held them both upright.

Goddess, he’d never felt anything like this. A maelstrom of feelings raged. Heat, longing, desire, need. He felt all of it in his bones. His chest shuddered as he succumbed to the explosion of desire. Craving more, he sought the edge of Royce’s lip with the tip of his tongue. A growl of wanton approval rumbled the air, enticing him to explore with learning licks and brushes of his lips. More of the leopard’s heat, more of the lips that were gently, wondrously, returning the kiss.

Then Duran probed at the seam of his lips, and Royce opened to tangle with his tongue. A tremor unlike any other raced over him as he discovered Royce’s taste for the first time. The slick slide of welcome. Wildness. Sunshine. Earthy. The combination had Duran groaning into the kiss. From just a kiss.

Royce’s arms encircled his waist and hauled him into his body. He gasped sharply at the evidence of his desire, pressing hard into his hip. Like in the bath they’d shared, the evidence was clear and now with Royce’s lips pressed to his own, there was no memory like it from any other time. This kiss was so unlike any he’d shared in his past, it was as though it was a first kiss, like no one else’s in his life. There was only Royce.

Royce’s touch was tender as he roamed Duran’s back, gliding beneath his tunic to explore reachable skin. Firm fingertips caressed to roam his spine until he was blocked by the edge of leather circling his waist.

Duran arched his middle to allow Royce’s hand between them to release his belt, hearing it drop to the floor, freeing his tunic.

“Goddess, you feel so good,” Royce rasped when he broke from their kiss. Seeking lips hungrily glided from Duran’s jaw to his neck.

Duran tilted. Royce’s warm lips brushed over nerves as Royce licked and kissed lightly over his neck. All the hotspots on his neck came roaring to life under Royce’s seeking mouth. It had been so long… “Oh,” he gasped. A light nibbled bite had him gasping and clinging to the sturdy male holding him. He bit his lip to stifle the moan. The bites made him tingle without being painful. He wanted more.

Then Royce was lifting his tunic and Duran automatically raised his arms to let him tug it over his head. “Gorgeous.” The blaze of approval in Royce’s eyes as the tunic fell to the floor was mesmerizing. “Love looking at your body. Makes me want to taste all of you. Like I have to touch you.”

Duran’s eyelids fluttered when Royce lowered to nip at his collarbone before finding a taut peak to tease to a flushed hardness. Gripping tighter at the back of Royce’s head, he wanted more, needed more. The swirl of his tongue as he swept boldly over the hardened nub narrowed Duran’s focus to the heat and damp of his mouth against sensitive skin. The teasing drag of teeth over flesh arched his spine in arousal, demanding more. Royce obliged, unerringly finding the sensitive points along his sides to his hips as he kissed along his stomach to dip playfully into his belly button. Duran shivered, feeling all of it.

“Goddess,” he moaned when Royce’s sipped kisses paused enough for him to think. He felt the tug on his trousers tie, loosening the waist. Then Royce was kneeling before him, helping him out of his boots, bringing his pants down to go with his shirt.

Braced over Royce’s shoulders, he followed the blond’s motions, the way his hands coasted over Duran’s legs to frame his calves before dropping a kiss on each knee. The heat of his tongue scorched where he languidly swept a damp trail on the inside of his thigh to end just below the crease of his groin. Moist breath against overheated flesh made him shake where he stood.

That warmth bathed his balls, and he gasped in reaction, fresh shivers rocking his stance. “Royce.” He feared he wasn’t going to be able to stay standing for much more. It wasn’t lost on him that all Royce was doing was touching him, and he was being swept away by the sensations of his tender fingers and lips. No lover had taken the time to make him burn the way Royce was, taken the time to learn where skin and nerves were the most sensitive.

Sex had been a case of fun or release. Nothing more.

With Royce he was already learning there was so much more to having a partner with pleasure as a goal. If he had to choose a word, it was almost like Royce was worshiping him. Duran gasped with a graveled moan when his lover ran his wicked tongue from the base of his cock to the head, pressing against the hard shaft to trace every ridge and vein along his length until he reached the tip, circling the sensitive crown and playing with the slit until Duran quivered. Fingers clutched without command into thick hair, gripping as he sank into a sea of sparking feeling. Sounds he couldn’t hope to stop fell freely from his lips.

Royce purred with approval then licked over the slit once more, and Duran trembled. Felt the teasing pass of a warm puff of air over the exposed head and was unable to contain the throaty sounds slipping from his lips. Shivers brought bumps to his upper arms as the world continued to fall away. He panted through Royce’s name, wondering if he would survive as his legs shook. Then Royce opened and all Duran felt was the heated heaven of his mouth as he slid down the length, sucking lightly.

“Royce!” he cried with a growl. “Goddess, yes. You…” His stomach clenched, burning with the growing wave of pleasure. Royce bore down, sucking him deep until he reached the root. Duran’s world shrank to the swirling heat that exploded through him. Pleasure so expansive, it made him tremble and shake. The silk of Royce’s hair was the only reality he knew as he fought to stay upright. Royce glided up and down, savoring in the slowness that was melting Duran through and through. Harsh pants rocked his entire frame when Royce finally inched away. Air filled his lungs in heaves as he blinked to discover if he’d died or lived from the pleasure still sparking and snapping against nerves.

Royce fluidly stood before him and gathered Duran with firm hands to grip his ass, hefting him into his chest before claiming his mouth with a blistering kiss. Duran’s arms curled around his shoulders and clung. He sensed when they moved away from the door and blinked as Royce sank to the floor to gently lay him on the bedding.

Duran tore at Royce’s clothing, tossing it piece by piece out of their way. First his tunic was thrown and then they were both tugging on his pants, impatiently removing the aggravating barrier. With them and his boots kicked away, he stretched out above Duran, gazing down at him with a blue gaze that almost glowed with rampant, shared need.

Running hands over firm muscles made Duran’s fingertips tingle. “I don’t understand this draw, but goddess, I feel like I’ll burn if I can’t feel and taste you.”

“I feel it, too, lover,” Royce rasped before dipping down and nipping over Duran’s neck to lick below his ear. Warm heat bathed nerves when he traveled upward to nibble on the shell of his ear. The wicked things his cat could do with his tongue were driving Duran mad with lust. Gasped moans floated from between his lips when Royce learned exactly how sensitive the edge of his ears could be, the shivers caused by the tender licks and soft bites of lips to flesh. Fresh shudders rolled down Duran’s frame, his fingers clutching hard at the strength of Royce’s back, unable to move or think.

“Please, Royce.”

Lips claimed his before he could voice his next plea. He was melting, nerves exploding with the flaring need of his hunger. Raising his hips, he groaned into their kiss as flesh met hot flesh, grinding deliciously. Sliding together. He needed more. So much more.

Royce pivoted his frame, sharpening their need with firm rotations of his hips against Duran until he was whining, his eyes clenched closed. Skin to skin, the pressure of his climax was roaring closer to the edge. He ached in a delicious way, so heady, so encompassing. Sensations and new shocks lit like explosions over nerves as Royce tempted him with endless pleasure. His lips, tongue, and the weight of his frame holding Duran down. Goddess, he loved every second of it.

“Close,” Duran warned, panting, reaching to bite at Royce’s shoulder, fighting off the orgasm screaming for release through his veins.

Royce shuddered with a moan that rumbled from his chest. He stilled and pulled away. “Not yet, lover.”

Duran snarled, reaching for him but Royce caught his hand. Kissing the knuckles he clasped, he gazed boldly into Duran’s flushed face. He swept a thumb over the enlarged tip of Duran’s cock licking away the clear fluid. “So good,” he murmured. Duran’s heart pounded at the simple action. Gripping his stiff cock with a loose fist, Royce pumped twice, shooting shivers through Duran.

Reaching to the side, Royce palmed a small skin oil pot that Duran hadn’t noticed. “I want to feel your pleasure when I’m inside you.”

“Goddess, yes,” Duran whined, agreeing completely. His legs shifted restlessly around Royce’s frame. His lungs ached from not being able to catch his breath. Damn, but he needed Royce. The heat of his lover’s touch scorched as he dropped slick fingers to press against his opening. Rubbing tenderly over sensitive skin awakened nerves and shot fiery desire throughout his frame with the strike of a whip, sharp and intense.

He hissed at the sensation, biting his lip to draw to a whimper. Even his toes curled when Royce pressed for entry into his body.

“Easy lover,” Royce purred. “Tell me if I need to go slower.”

Duran growled. Any slower and he was going to tackle the other man and make him feel what Duran felt. Yes, that was an excellent idea. Next. This first. “More,” he demanded through a clenched jaw. The slick slide of a finger burned as he grew accustomed to the invasion. It had been a very long time since he’d last been entered, but all he could think was he desperately needed Royce to fill him full. Ripples escalated as more oil was added and then a second finger joined the first, rubbing over flexing skin until he couldn’t focus past the pressure and the pleasure, friction making his body tighten and twist, seeking that pleasure. “Yes. Royce, more!” Fire raced through his veins, burning him from the inside with hunger.

Duran knew he was rushing when the brief twinges of discomfort made him flinch before easing into a rumbled moan, but he couldn’t make himself care. Watching Royce through slitted eyes, his lover’s focus was absolute. He wasn’t going to allow Duran to be hurt no matter how badly he wanted now.

He gasped when Royce stroked over his chest to tweak a sensitive nipple. With a flat palm traveling over his body, his focus was split between the fingers creating shocks at his ass and the roaming hand petting him. The juxtaposition of firm and gentle strokes and touches were flipping his world. He gripped the bedding, thrusting downward. “Royce.” He begged, and he couldn’t make himself care that he sounded desperate.

“Not going to hurt you,” he stated. “Ever.”

Duran’s eyes rolled into his head when his wandering hand next found his shaft and tugged on it, shattering his attempt to rush. Blood pounded through his body. He ached. He burned. He had no control over anything, and he loved every second of it. Soft cries he’d never made slipped from his lips.

The friction between his legs scattered his ability to think. He longed to bear down, to feel the fullness Royce was promising, even as he flexed, wanting to fuck the caged strength around his cock. Teasing and holding him masterfully on edge.

Moving between his legs—finally!—Royce curled a leg around his hip. Steadying his length as he neared, Duran felt blunt pressure at his entrance and impatiently waited. Royce was bigger than he’d anticipated, but he couldn’t make himself care as he bore down until Royce slipped through the guardian muscle and froze. Blindly reaching, he latched onto Royce’s biceps.

“All right?”

Panting through the initial shock, he nodded, unable to speak.

“Look at me, lover,” Royce gritted, his voice raw from his own tenuous control.

Duran blinked until he could focus on broad shoulders and firm pecs. He wanted to lick that body. Then slowly, Royce rocked his hips, scattering Duran’s thoughts in all directions. Fingers clutched for purchase on hard biceps and thighs, drawing them closer and closer together until there was a low moan from both when Duran felt his fullest.

Slow thrusts ignited sparks to float in front of his vision. A shift of legs framing them higher on Royce’s hips and Duran cried out, trembling as shocks rocked across his frame. He swore he felt every inch brushing inside, tempting and teasing with the pleasure they shared. He knew he wasn’t going to last, not this time. It was too much, too incredible. Flares and fire burst through him. Muscles clenched and shuddered under the pleasure and strain. He’d never felt so full, so claimed.

Royce’s pace increased, both panting. Then a growl filled the room and Duran saw a flicker of Royce’s cat, a spark that brightened his eyes until they glowed as though they were bathed in moonlight. He knew he could feel the swell of Royce’s cock and on his next stroke, he brushed over nerves, driving a shout from Duran’s throat that filled the room.

“Close, lover,” Royce gasped with a hint of snarl. “So good.”

On the precipice, Duran fisted his cock, tugging hard in tempo with Royce’s thrusts.

Blue eyes glittered like the mountain ice he’d first compared them to as Royce watched Duran race for his pleasure. There was something so erotic in the way Royce so completely watched him, knew he was being swept away by the burning need Royce created within him, intensified by the shifter’s focus. Then it was there, boiling from his balls, a rushing wave of heat he couldn’t deny. The sharpness of the urge made him cry out. He gasped loudly when the first jet shot from the tip of his dick. Never had his release felt so euphoric, like it was pulled from the center of his being. White cream shot over his belly in long stripes. His hips thrust harder into the thickness filling him, chasing the sensations driving through him. The cat in Royce snarled once more, then Royce was pounding into him. He felt the powerful strength of Royce’s grip on his hips, holding him close as he filled him before he froze for a heartbeat, his head bowed forward as he bent over Duran’s chest. A feline yowl rumbled from between Royce’s lips and Duran’s frame lurched, seeking the fiery connection between them.

Liquid warmth coated his insides, shooting shivers over his taut frame. There was the feeling, the glide of skin on the inside, and he shuddered in answer as he soared through the sensations.

Both panted as muscles twitched and slowly calmed.

“Sweet goddess,” Royce choked out. Damp glistened on his skin from the exertion. The cooler draft of the room eventually started to edge past their senses. The bite of taut fingers eased from gripping to caressing until he carefully brought Duran’s legs around his frame on either side of him.

Duran gulped. The thunder of his heart was intense until he began to feel himself calm once more. He raised a hand and caressed Royce’s chin. He felt utterly weak from pleasure. Melted. Boneless. “Kitten.”

Royce mumbled incoherently as he sank forward, resting on Duran’s shoulder.

Curling his arms around the other man, they drifted in the quiet aftermath. Glorious. Silently he lamented the loss of Royce’s connection as he settled closer. Duran grimaced as he flexed several minutes later. Not the best feeling after the fact. “I need to clean up.”

Royce pressed a kiss to the closest patch of skin. “I’ll get it. I like having you in my bed.”

Watching the other man stand and stretch from beneath his lashes, he also suspected he liked making sure Duran’s comforts were met. Which he found endearing. He poured water into the basin bowl on the stand, soaking the small cloth. With the waiting towel in hand, he knelt beside Duran and tenderly washed away the signs of his orgasm. When he grimaced, Royce chuckled. No shame between lovers, right? He sighed, letting the cat have his way.

“I love touching you,” he murmured, a reddish hue warming pale cheeks as though he understood Duran’s disconcertment. “My cat wants to snuggle with you.” He put the basin aside when he finished.

Duran grinned then drifted a finger over Royce’s cheek. “I saw him. He’s beautiful, you know,” he said. “I will never deny you or him.” He didn’t know what this was between them, but he knew he was inexplicably drawn to the shifter in ways he’d never experienced.

Royce blew out a breath. “He wants to claim you,” he blurted, sounding chagrined over his cat’s input.

Duran froze, watching emotions flicker over his expressive face. Curiosity was accented by the slight arch of his eyebrow. Did he mean… “Claim me?”

Royce peeked upward then dropped his gaze. “Mates,” he hesitantly replied.