Royce remained kneeling at Duran’s hip, unsure if he’d gone too far. This was so new between them. While Duran was silent, he wasn’t trying to leave so he stayed where he was to give his mage time to process. It was no small thing to be mated. Natural cats like his were the kind to partner for mating, procreation, but in the middle somewhere between man and cat was a need to fulfill for the human in him.
The cat could claim a mate, but for their own sanity and peace of mind, it was a one of a kind commitment.
Oh, Royce as a human could be with anyone he wanted for as long as he wanted. Could fall in love, could tie himself to one person, have children if he chose to. But for his cat, there would be one soul their beast would feel tied to.
That one heart and soul was Duran.
A mage whom Royce would have never met under different circumstances. He knew how lucky he was they’d come together on this journey for Lord Morrow. Why the fates had teamed him with Cedri for the early reconnaissance of the keep. Spying on Duran through the trees, the sunlight streaming over him and glistening through tumbling shoulder length curls had caught his eye so well the cat in him had almost pounced for those alone. He would never forget the rush of feeling that first sighting had shot through him. But after decades of being who he was with no ties and a wanderer with simple pleasures, he’d denied what the cat had sensed and had fought him.
Until he couldn’t deny the truth. Everything about the mage called to him. Lavender and spice, the welcoming taste of his skin, the sweetness and strength in his kiss. Duran’s own conviction, his belief in his duty, his deep loyalty and his courage. The feline at his heart approved and was ready to claim. Now that Royce had accepted, it was up to him give Duran the same respect to catch up to what his cat had known since the beginning.
Lifting his chin, he sought Duran’s gaze, peering into unblinking brown orbs. With the arching evening light illuminating them, the tint of red within the brown was more pronounced, stunning and rare. Like jewels, they refracted sunbeams. With that marker, no one would ever doubt this elf was a mage, but even if he wasn’t, if he was merely an elf of another ilk, he knew his cat had staked his claim.
“What does it mean to you if we mate?” Duran asked seriously.
“It means you are it for me,” he replied, fisting a hand out of sight to hide the jump of his hopeful heart. Mating was a once in a lifetime commitment for a shifter. Treated with the utmost respect, guarded and treasured.
Duran’s gaze flickered, clearly seeing his nervousness. He reached outward, finding and tugging clenched fingers loose to hold within his own. He rolled to a hip on top of the bedding to face Royce.
“And this is something you want? That your cat wants or needs?”
Royce snorted lightly as his cat preened in his subconscious awareness. “My cat wants it. Has since the first moment.”
Duran’s lips pursed. “But what of you? I don’t get the feeling your leopard is the one in control when it comes to your heart.”
Royce shook his head. “You intrigued me before I even spoke to you.” Heat suffused his cheeks at the memory of his fascination. A craving which hadn’t faded yet. Smooth, lightly golden skin. A smile brighter than the sun. Those curls. He’d been a goner that very first day.
“What is it?” Duran asked. His thumb was gentle, rubbing over the top of his hand, keeping them connected. “You are such a contradiction. Fierce yet hesitant.”
Royce peered at the man before him through his lashes. “Remembering the day I first saw you, then the conversation by the river. Why I’m so drawn to you. You’re not my first to bed as I know I’m not yours, but…” He rocked a shoulder gently. “I was right, when we made our little promise. A kiss would never be enough between us. And I’m not at all upset by that truth.”
It was Duran’s turn to evade his stare with lashes dropping low over those sharp eyes while a pink bloom warmed his face. His timidity intrigued Royce more. Made Royce wonder why his attention brought that lovely heat to Duran’s cheeks. “I won’t waste my breath denying I’m drawn to you as well. We both know it would be a lie.”
Royce flipped the hand within Duran’s and stretched out next to him, face to face. A closeness on the bed that felt right. “But there is something making you reluctant.” His free hand twined through the mussed curls along his cheek. Royce saw the shivers the simple contact created and inwardly purred at their appearance. The mage may be reticent but he was definitely affected by Royce’s nearness. “Did someone hurt you?”
The brightness of his gaze shuttered, dimming with pain. “Once. A long time ago,” he quietly revealed.
“And since?”
He evasively shook his head. “There’s been no one.”
“No one to tempt you?” Royce’s fingers drifted from full curls to the curve of his jaw, tracing gently. It didn’t seem possible, with everything he was learning about Duran. He didn’t know his exact age, but knew he was likely older than Royce. Spending year after year without physical comfort was as unlikely as the seasons never ending. When he didn’t answer, Royce took that for the answer it was. “This is new, but if it is to be, know I would never hurt you.”
“How can you know? Mates?”
He paused the discoveries beneath his fingertips to touch his own chest, over his heart. “Here.” With the same flat palm splayed over Duran’s gently beating heart, he said, “And here.” He was anxious, feeling his way through the mire of emotions, the same as Royce. But he wasn’t fighting it, or running. Royce had patience. “I’m not saying I love you, but I do have feelings. I want to see where this goes. I am willing to take that risk for you.”
“And if I’m not?” Duran queried, more with curiosity than challenge. Almost as though he were trying to figure out Royce’s thoughts, why he was drawn to Duran.
Royce grinned daringly, inching closer to the heat of Duran’s frame on the bedding. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve, mage.” Duran was worth the effort. He already knew that about his mage.
“Oh? What tricks, kitten?” Duran’s eyes flashed with playful heat as Royce rolled him flat with a push on his shoulder.
“Better than magic,” he purred before tenderly kissing him. Warm lips and languid, slow kisses. The kind that took hours to enjoy. He reveled in the gradual surge of heat as undeniable desire flared to life between them again. Now that the driving hunger had been sated, they could linger over each other until their pleasures took them both to new heights. The learning contact of fingers and palms roamed up and down his sides, along his spine, kneading gently over his hip, a thumb stroking as lazily as the kisses. Duran widened his legs and Royce sank between them, flesh warming where they rocked together. His shaft was filling, hardening with the fresh wave of need building through his veins. He moaned into Duran’s mouth when a leg looped over his thigh, bracing them together, giving Duran leverage to arch into his weight.
“Feel so good,” Duran moaned with quiet need. Eyes darkened with renewed heat, gazing at him through his lashes.
Royce’s chest tightened. That look, so sexy, called to him. Duran bit at his lip when he pressed into welcoming heat. There was no way this need coursing through him was going to be quenched in a single day. Or even a night. “You’re not too sore?”
Duran shook his head. “Need you,” he rasped. “Want to feel you again.”
Royce’s fingers lazily kneaded at Duran’s scalp. Lying braced above him, chest to chest, every inch of his hard frame was aligned with his own. “And if I want to feel you?”
Duran blinked, gazing upward with amazed shock. A shudder of excitement was impossible to hide beneath the bright want in his gaze before his lashes lowered with sultry intent. “Would love to ravish you,” he husked.
Royce grinned. “Good thing we have all night.”
Duran swallowed, trembling beneath Royce’s weight. Skin rippled as desire poured through his veins, creating a heat hot enough to scorch Royce. “Sexy mage,” he murmured before lowering to ghost kisses over Duran’s throat, licking languidly below his ear. Quiet gasps and firm fingers revealed Duran’s telltale reactions. So sensitive. “Love your taste.” He licked slow swipes, savoring the taste of his skin, the heat rising from his blood.
A hitch of air revealed a sensitive spot when he nuzzled against an ear. Purposely licking over the shell of his ear, he pulled sounds out of Duran that were his alone to create. Soft whimpers and whines were pleading and heady. Fingertips clutched at his shoulders while he moved restlessly beneath his weight. Skin to skin. Learning the spots that gave Duran the most pleasure was going to take hours, a lifetime.
His rich lavender scent was intoxicating, infiltrating deep inside Royce and forming a hold he didn’t ever want to lose. His cat would find this mage in a packed room, or miles away. A flame carried in his soul until the day he died.
“Royce, kitten,” he moaned, undulating with building urgency.
Royce grinned, pressing his smile into the warm juncture of his neck and shoulder. The beat of his pulse was evident and he purposely drew his tongue across it. Duran’s entire length shivered in answer, revealing even more about how Royce affected him. Royce buried his grin, the sublime reaction more than he could have hoped for.
One day, he was going to mark his mage, right below that spot. A mating mark to proclaim him as loved, protected, and his to all. He sighed longingly against the damp streak, Duran moaning breathlessly.
“Please, kitten,” he begged.
“Not yet,” he answered. But he did beg prettily. With the edge of their need tempered, he could pleasure Duran for hours, the way he deserved. Royce traveled downward, licking and kissing, adoring until he reached a pert little nipple. Lightly bronzed against his naturally tan skin, he swirled around the disc. Oh, that was a lovely little whimper. Grinning, he adored the peak until it was firm and sensitive, sucking it boldly. Nails dug into his scalp, keeping him to a task he was thoroughly enjoying. With Duran writhing beneath him, he chased shivers to the other peak, loving on that nub of flesh as well. He ran fingertips over the other side, keeping him well pleasured and sensitive. Gusted gasps filled the room when he raked his teeth over the sensitive center.
Muscles flexed and twitched when he slid down Duran’s ribs, his mouth painting a path. Glancing upward, he became impaled by the dark need in Duran’s gaze. His throat worked then he bit his lip, his gaze never leaving Royce’s. As though he wanted to urge Royce on, but didn’t dare.
Cradling Duran’s flushed cock in a palm, dark lashes fluttered as he melted into the bedding again. More delicious sounds slipped from between bruised lips. After their earlier shared orgasms, Duran’s shaft was filling again, firm, hefty. Royce’s fingers curled around him to slide up and down the length, silken skin over steel.
“Feels…so good.” Duran splayed his legs for more touch. Royce dipped to lick over the tip, a shudder chasing through Duran’s frame. A hand pushed at his shoulder with building urgency. “Turn around. Let me.”
That sounded like an amazing idea.
Twisting to face Duran’s hips, he brought his legs closer to Duran’s shoulders, where tender hands guided him until they were both comfortable on their sides. “My turn to taste you, kitten,” he murmured right before licking the length of Royce’s shaft with slow, teasing pressure.
Royce gasped at the wet glide and heat of Duran’s tongue, his frame rippling as pleasure roared upward through him until his toes curled. Teasing lips and a very wicked tongue revealed Duran’s plans as he licked over his balls and lapped gently at skin. Royce groaned deep in his throat, panting from the shocks dancing over nerves. “Goddess,” he whined. His balls ached with the need of his release edging ever closer. He gripped Duran’s thighs, fighting to stay coherent but quickly felt himself spiraling into the feeling. Then there was wet, hot, indescribable heat surrounding his cockhead. His hips moved of their own volition. Duran tugged him closer and Royce’s ability to think or speak vanished. Slow suction pulled him deep, riding him to the base before gliding to the tip.
“Lover. You… I.” He shuddered, unable to put words to what he was feeling. A warm hand cradled his balls, Duran’s mouth a slice of nirvana.
He slid free, the heat of his breath bathing his hardened length. “Taste amazing,” Duran offered before tapping the tip with a taunting tongue, dancing around the slit and playing with the opening. Royce twitched from the sensations. He’d never felt anything like it. A light push urged him to his back and he lay there as Duran took his time swirling and dipping up and down his shaft length. He didn’t seem upset that Royce wasn’t capable of more than petting and caressing the heavy shaft above him with Duran’s mouth worshiping flesh.
Lost in the wonder of Duran’s mouth, his hips flexed, layers of need crashing through his frame. “Duran,” he warned. Goddess, he was too good.
Duran went to the root but shackled fingers around his balls, stymieing the ability to come with skill even as his throat worked around the tip. “Uhhn, goddess. Mercy,” he whined, writhing against Duran’s torso. Fingernails clawed into skin when his orgasm was thwarted. He bit at Duran’s thigh, swallowing the need for screams until the urge passed. Heaving for air, he trembled. “Duran.”
Duran released him and spun to straddle his hips. A few drops of oil spread along his shaft was all the prep he bothered with. “Now, kitten.” Red brightened his eyes like two autumn suns when they locked gazes. A soft crackle of energy snapped in the air, a potent power Royce had never experienced and had to be created by the magic coursing through his mage. Swollen lips parted as Duran moved into position. With a shift of his hips and the aid of a not quite steady hand, Duran sank down on Royce’s shaft from above, both groaning when he popped through his still slick opening. Duran grunted as he settled deeper, sinking slowly further down until Royce had fully vanished within Duran’s channel. “So hot, tight,” Duran growled when skin met skin.
Duran fell forward and claimed his mouth with fierce passion. Royce’s arms clutched at his spine, his ass, his weight perfect within his arms. Then Duran rolled his hips and Royce howled into the kiss. A perfect rhythm was quickly found, his hips rising to meet Duran’s gliding thrusts. Grasping at hips, he punched upward, filling Duran through the tightness. The slap of skin was loud between them, filling the room as the scent of their need thickened the air. He had long since ceased to care if anyone heard them, if anyone in the halls knew. His entire focus was wrapped around Duran and the building pleasure bearing down on them both.
The way his body flexed and gripped at Royce was unlike anyone else. Tremors rocked him, urgency spiraling them higher and higher toward the edge of orgasm. His body was aching, his balls hard and full against flesh. Every grind down his cock rumbled a growl through gritted teeth. Royce was teetering.
Duran straightened and clenched, locking Royce tightly between his cheeks.
“Fuck me,” Royce cursed demandingly. With little warning, Duran leaned backward and braced against a thigh, revealing the torrid tip of his shaft, swollen and leaking. Every bounce spread drips from the tip across Royce’s abdomen, glistening like dew drops and smelling as heady as summer wine. He licked his lips. Duran’s lips parted in silent answer, neither capable of truly speaking.
Royce grasped the hefty shaft and stroked with Duran’s punishing pace. Duran’s shout was beautiful, his eyes shooting wide, focused intently on Royce’s face. Hot and slick skin moved beneath his palm as he stroked Duran. Running over the shaft and crown to spread the opalescent liquid to smooth his way, he pleasured Duran. Heat suffused his mage’s face and upper chest as his panting grew more erratic. Goddess, his mage was stunningly beautiful lost in the throes of his passion.
The telltale ache he’d managed to hold at bay raced down his spine and tightened his groin beneath that beautiful stare. The perfect storm had hit and he was going to have to let it happen.
“Now, lover!” Royce growled.
With two more rapid pumps of his shaft, Duran gasped a graveled sob and shot. Royce shuddered as the ecstasy of his lover’s pleasure sang through his body, wrapping his cock tight and milking him. The way his body moved was better than poetry as he rocked back and forth claiming every ounce of sensation that was his to enjoy. White cream lined his chest then Royce was able to let go, releasing his orgasm to mark Duran fully. Scenting him as Royce’s.
Duran shuddered, and dark lashes fluttered closed as they stilled, frozen in time. Slick heat coated Royce’s shaft and his belly and he felt truly at peace. His leopard was content and purring within. Bonelessly, Duran melted forward, his breathing short and hot against Royce’s neck.
“Goddess mother,” he rasped against Royce’s neck.
Royce chuckled, not moving any faster. A single arm curled over his frame, hugging him close. Hearts eventually slowed as muscles unclenched. Separating was bittersweet. The loss of heat, of the connection, combined with the movement exposing him to the evening air caused a shiver to run over Royce’s flesh. He tightened his hold, not wanting Duran to go far.
“Easy, kitten,” Duran managed, petting his chest tenderly. “Not leaving.”
It took a few minutes before Royce heard him drift into sleep, slow and deep. With Duran tucked against his shoulder, he pulled at one of the blankets and managed to mostly cover them without jostling them too badly. They could bathe in the morning. He smiled, recalling the shared bath from earlier in the day. So many ways to enjoy his mage. Nuzzling the top of Duran’s mussed curls with his chin, he closed his eyes and sank into deep sleep.