Chapter 24

Royce flexed needy fingertips into Duran’s hips then slid across his back to dig into solid muscle, feeling the ripple and heat of those defined muscles against his palms. Every breath he took was rich with the scents of Duran’s skin, that beckoning scent of lavender and spice that was all male and only Duran. Gasping for air when Duran pulled away from his lips, he was hit with an uncontrollable shiver from the nip of teeth at his chin. Royce’s world tilted when he didn’t stop, nibbling and peppering kisses down his throat lower to his collarbone, the slight sting of teeth leaving their mark as Duran drifted across his upper body.

Pleasure flared through Royce’s body, surging through his frame outward to his limbs. Trembles and shivers were impossible to control under the onslaught of Duran’s talented mouth. He groaned audibly when a swipe of his wicked tongue teased over a nipple, swirling and lapping until the tip was stiff and sensitive. The heat of Duran’s lips drove him mad, so crazy. Needing. He clutched harder, urging for more of the sensations. He couldn’t think with the way Duran’s mouth felt. Seeking lower, those same lips nuzzled against the flat plane of his stomach right below his belly button, and he twitched in answer. Loving hands drifted, following his downward path, doubling the pressure and pleasure throughout Royce’s chest. Duran’s smile pressed into his skin. He knew Royce was sensitive and seemed to take delight in making him gasp when he wasn’t expecting it.

“Evil mage,” he rasped.

“You love my kind of evil,” he countered, warm breath bathing the same sensitive area.

His hands landed on Duran’s shoulders, gripping as shocks sparked over nerves clamoring for more of the torment. “Goddess, I do,” he agreed wholeheartedly when he could speak at all. Glancing down, brown eyes twinkling with the red heat that Royce recognized for the inner power twined within the elf’s soul, locked with his. “Evil and beautiful.”

Duran smirked. Kneeling, Duran wasted no time undoing Royce’s belted ties and trousers. Tugging them lower, he slid them down until he reached Royce’s boots. Removing them quickly, the pants soon followed, leaving him utterly naked before his lover. Sunlight brightened the room and the occasional shout or voice from outside reached them through the window, yet none of what happened outside mattered. Deep in the halls of the keep they could have been the last two alive for all the focus Royce had to notice anything outside of those four walls. All Royce saw was Duran’s tousled curls falling around his head, his bright eyes glinting in the sunlight with hidden secrets and promises that Royce wanted to take the rest of his life to learn and cherish. The man was sexy, beautiful. And right then, he owned Royce.

He licked his lips, watching the flare of need rise in dark eyes in answer. A desire that called to him, primal. His cat loved the way Duran looked at them, the way he hungered and cherished him and his skin shifter soul. He released a low rumbled purr when Duran licked at the tip of his straining shaft without dropping his gaze. The smile Duran gave him let him know he’d heard. Leave it to him to find a mate who became enamored with the vocalizations he couldn’t control when his cat was happy.

The door supported him as he sank his head backward, his eyes closing, living in the moment with that wet tongue caressing and licking all over his cock. Duran had no qualms in finding and exploiting every little sensitive spot to pleasure him. His fingertips gripped harder then slid into tousled hair, holding Duran close as he moaned in agreement. Braced against the door, he sank into the bright abyss of sensation. He trembled as waves of pleasure flowed and tumbled to be taken by surprise with a soft cry when Duran took the tip between his lips and sucked hard.

Quiet, pleased laughter drew a grin from Royce, the vibration racing up his spine eliciting a shiver causing him to thrust in need. Duran braced himself against Royce’s thighs then he slowly took in Royce’s length as deep as he could, nearly to the root in answer. Royce bit his lip to hide his cries. Quick, panted breaths rocked his chest. “Duran,” he whimpered. He shook as pleasure heated his blood, thickening him to feel every press and lick. The rumbled vibration of Duran’s pleased hums made him clench and whine more.

Duran pulled away with tortured slowness, delivering a final lick to swipe up the fluid at the tip. “On the bed, kitten.”

Royce blinked his eyes open, unsure if he could trust his own legs. They felt weak, his entire body strumming from pleasure. He wobbled then dug deep for strength to take the few steps from the door to their bed. By the time he was on it and facing Duran, his elf had removed his belt and tunic, his trousers loose as he toed off his boots. Royce leaned with his back against the wall, his legs gently splayed as his shaft rose proudly into the air, thick and red. He clenched the bedding to avoid reaching for it. Duran’s plumped lips grinned with a gentle rise in the corner, as though he knew of Royce’s torment.

He likely did. He’d caused it.

Unwilling to look away for even a second, he watched Duran lower his trousers to step out of them, revealing a body that called to every inch of Royce’s soul to pounce and adore with his lips and tongue. Nearly sculpted muscles below smooth skin that called to him to worship. Duran didn’t experience the toll of sharing a soul to shift into another form, but he worked as hard as any man could around the keep, taking care of those around them and himself. That hard work created a beautiful chest and waist to admire. The breadth of his shoulders and the subtle strength of his chest called to the desires within Royce. The narrowing of his waist to a sleek stomach leading to the hardness currently standing proud at attention was enough to tongue tie Royce and steal his words. His cat purred again in appreciation, the rumbled sound bringing a glow of pleasure into Duran’s gaze that brightened the darkened need in their depths. Confirmation that Duran pleased Royce’s cat, that his leopard approved of Duran so vocally that Royce couldn’t swallow the sounds made Duran’s face light up with affection and desire.

A shiver shot up his frame, interrupting his ogling when Duran curled a hand over his leg, sweeping slightly upward to rest above his knee. He situated lower until he stretched with Duran between his legs on the bed. His soul, his love, his everything.

“So beautiful. Your skin almost glows with the sunlight hitting it. So pale, like ice.”

Royce’s heart skipped. All it took was watching his lover, hearing his words, to know how adored he was, how wanted and needed. How loved. The way his brown eyes bore into his with passionate intensity, the red hue of their magic dancing like a reflection in them. All of this was his, and he cherished every moment of it.

“Please Duran. I need you.”

“I know, kitten. As I need you,” he murmured huskily. Bending close, he dragged his tongue from Royce’s knee to the inside of his groin. Royce hissed through his teeth in answer. His leopard watched the movement of his lover through his eyes, coiled with anticipation. His beast had been waiting for this moment and they, all three of them, were finally in agreement, to make Duran theirs. He purred in his throat as Duran branded him with hot kisses across his pelvis.

The silky softness of Duran’s lips where they grazed flesh when he spoke coursed another shot of need through him. “Love the sounds you make. I can tell your cat is close to the surface.” A shiver of excitement was evident across Duran’s shoulders at that knowledge. Royce bent a knee to hook an ankle behind Duran’s thigh, bringing him flat on the bed, urging him closer. He needed. Now. A raw chuckle slipped from Duran at his sign of impatience. “Easy, kitten.”

Royce groaned with yearning when Duran grasped the jar of skin oil from the stand. “Did you know as a fire mage I can control heat to remove it as well?” The devilish glint in his gaze stole Royce’s breath, and he trembled hard against the pillows.

“Nooo,” he squeaked. He hadn’t known that.

Duran cradled the jar in his palm for a few seconds then removed the stopper to toss it to the bed, forgotten. The barest tip of the jar created a thin stream of oil, the silvery color gleaming in the sunlight flickering through the room. The cold shock as the liquid dripped slowly down his cock punched a gasp through his throat that he couldn’t have ever hoped to control. His fingers clutched and tugged at the bedding, the want to palm himself and relieve the impossible to ignore building ache from the slick cold had him moving before he could fully control the impulse.

Duran captured his hand when it rose and pinned it between his leg and Royce’s hip. He whined a petulant plea. The unspoken was clear. Please.

A single dark eyebrow rose in a taunting playful challenge. “Like I said, you love my kind of evil.”

He groaned. “Goddess, I do. So much.” He bit his lip, unable to control the telltale signs of his arousal, the quiver of his lip or the tremble of his frame, accepting he would be receiving Duran’s pleasure, not taking. The fact that he couldn’t participate right that second didn’t matter. So long as Duran didn’t stop. Honestly, when Duran was touching him, there was no such thing as control. Not when his lover was tempting him beyond endurance. He was Royce’s heart, body, and soul. There was no one in his life who could tempt him, torture him, love him like his fire-eyed mage. Goddess, he was blessed.

Biting his lip, he whined throatily as the cooled oil dripped lower, over his sac and taint to tease puckered skin, leaving him growling loudly as skin twitched in reaction. The whimpers that fell from his lips would have embarrassed him anywhere else as Duran teased a finger to sensitive flesh. Skin to skin, the oil eased his entry and warmed. But it wasn’t the oil making his body ache.

“Oh, Goddess,” he growled. Building heat stroked his channel. Not painful in the least. Teasing him, obliterating his control. The combination of heated flesh and cooled oil sent him spiraling into ecstasy. Soon one finger became two and he widened his thighs, bending a leg and planting a foot flat on the bedding, offering himself for his lover’s exploration. There was no pain in the stretch. Not with the way those delicate fingers moved with deliberate precision to widen his channel. Duran’s touch roamed his chest, fingertips painting trails of heat and cold over his skin. Across his abs and stomach, then higher to tease at his nipples, plucking them with the right amount of bite to arch Royce’s spine. A slow hiss seeped from between clenched teeth as pressure and pleasure chased each other across nerves.

“So beautiful,” Duran murmured. The way he said the words made Royce feel so very cherished. Then, while he continued to destroy any attempt to focus with the touches and strokes of his hands, Duran bent close and enveloped the head of his shaft between his lips.

Royce moaned gustily, twitching with the need to push into his mouth and to drive those tempting, taunting fingers deeper into his body. The finger’s stretch vanished for a heartbeat and he cried out with their loss before they returned, the firmness filling him, bringing him closer to the edge, their twist and pump moving in and out until there wasn’t another thought. There was pure pleasure as Duran licked and nibbled around the crown, pulling gusty whines from his throat in answer. Pressure built rapidly as the urge to come heated his quivering body. Grasping downward with his hands, the need to connect burned in his blood. The want to touch was overpowering until there was warm skin and flexing muscle beneath his fingers, letting him feel and caress in return.

He lost track of time, lost in the swirl of sensation. The wicked press of Duran’s tongue over his shaft tormented him as much as the press of fingers on skin between his legs drove him deeper into need. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t being loved and touched by Duran. Sucked pants were broken by shocked, rumbled moans when Duran used his teeth tenderly around the glans and crown.

“Duran!” he cried impatiently when his limits were shattered, pushing then pulling with his fingers into Duran’s hair. “Now, please. I need you.”

Duran didn’t argue, kneeling between his legs and aiming for the tightness that needed to be filled. His gaze met sparkling brown, and neither blinked.

“You are mine,” he growled huskily. “I claim you Royce, all of you to be mine to cherish, love, and protect.” Braced on the bed, with a hand on Royce’s hip, he held himself still, barely touching skin to skin where he craved to be filled. Tormenting with his closeness. Goddess, he wanted that cock inside him while Duran waited, frozen. He didn’t know for what.

Royce gasped, a loving plea in his voice. “I am yours, Duran.”

Duran swallowed, eyes swirling with the brightening red of his inner magic pinning him to the bed. A boldness that grew until his eyes glowed more red than brown. Tendrils of hair began to drift around his head, as though caught in a breeze, but there was none in their bedroom. Air caught in his lungs with Duran’s next words. The sense of his power ebbed outward, deepening his voice when he commanded, “Use my full name. You are the only one who will ever hear its true form. In this, you will swear yourself to me.”

Royce swallowed slowly, aware Duran was offering a part of his soul. Kept secret and unspoken except for the most worthy. His heart beat against his ribs as the magnitude of what was being given settled into his bones. “Tell me.”

“Akithaduraninx. I am the only son to my father, and with my mating to you, I honor my family.”

It didn’t matter that they were naked in bed. They could have been standing in the front hall before hundreds. Royce understood what this moment meant to Duran, to his heart and the gift he was being granted. A mage’s full name was powerful in ways that could be deadly if known by the wrong person. “I claim you, Akithaduraninx, as my mate, my soul, and my heart. My leopard claims you as ours to love, cherish, and protect and we gladly accept the honor.”

A wave of magic swirled around them, like an embracing wave of approval before billowing outward around them with a glittery sheen of sparking red power, one that would protect them for eternity before rushing inward to embrace them both. Royce had never felt magic like that, against his skin, sinking into his pores, yet his leopard recognized it and chuffed loudly in approval.

Duran’s eyes never softened from their glowing intensity, but his features lost the lines of strain around his eyes and mouth as he finally moved forward, circling the tip of his cock against slicked skin, pushing until the tip breached the ring. Both gasped with the sudden rush of feeling, Duran pausing as he panted, his mouth parted in surprise as they adjusted to the overwhelming feeling pouring through their connection.

“More,” Royce managed in a demanding growl when he felt he had a handle on the hunger pummeling him to make Duran his right now. Reaching for Duran, he urged him deeper, closer.

Duran pumped with patient tenderness, his sharp gaze never leaving Royce’s face. Small gasps and even thrusts moved them together until Duran rested against Royce’s body. They’d made love many times since that first kiss, but this was something deeper, binding, and more powerful, tying their hearts together with an unbreakable bond. Royce hadn’t known there would be a sharing of magic, only the bite that his leopard needed to mark his beloved lover. The way they met skin to skin with his legs cradled by firm, loving hands, felt to him like there was no ending, no beginning between them. They were together, the way they were meant to be. And would be for the rest of their lives.

Duran bent low and captured his lips in a strong kiss, stealing his breath. Warm skin flexed beneath seeking hands when he encircled his shoulders, tugging his lover even closer, as close as their bodies could get, needing more, needing to be inside of Duran as much as he was being claimed by his lover. Skin warmed beneath his palms when he skated over his sides and reached for his arms. Detailing the edges of his ribs and running along his spine proved that this elf was all his as he relearned every inch of his frame through his roaming fingertips.

“I love you,” Duran panted when he released his lips, dragging in air.

The red in his eyes could have been frightening in other circumstances, yet Royce understood this was a part of his lover and he loved unquestionably everything about the brunet, including his powerful magic. “I love you,” he echoed, raspy as his lungs fought for air.

Then Duran began to thrust in earnest, his weight intoxicating as they moved together. With Royce’s legs braced high and wide, Duran filled his channel over and over. The heat of skin inside and out became its own magic, the cocooning wrap of their joined magic and hearts creating a red-hued world around them, solidifying the intense love filling his heart in answer beneath Duran’s unblinking stare. Fingers grasping at his hip held him steady as Duran’s thrusts sped up, driving into his channel. Their groans filled the quiet of the room. Twisting his legs, he wrapped himself around Duran’s frame, grunting as the angle changed with the next meeting of their bodies and a fresh wave of pleasure riding over his body sent his soul singing.

“So good, kitten,” Duran rasped, his eyes widening.

The sensation of skin to skin was almost too much to bear. “Yes,” he hissed, his body arching as his orgasm swelled. A rolling need blossoming like a bonfire and quickly raging out of control, growing brighter and hotter as Duran filled him over and over. He swore he could feel every stroke of his thick length inside and out. The heat and pressure made him cling. The friction of each thrust gusted a raw panting, echoed in his ears by his lover’s building needs.

“Soon, kitten. So good.” Focusing on Duran’s face, he found wonder and love staring back at him. “Never imagined.” His thrusts became harder, losing himself in the joy and pleasure of sharing their bond on a primal level. In a way that could never be broken. Royce clung as Duran made him his own, unable to do anything else.

The wave of need and pleasure churned as he sank deeper into their connection. “Close,” Royce warned. The way his balls tightened, he was seconds away from falling head first into their shared orgasm. Then there was no more waiting as he hung on the precipice.

When his jaw grew outward and his teeth lengthened, Duran’s eyes widened with wonder. “Yes!” Duran cried out, arching deep as the first jets of liquid warmth filled Royce’s channel with an exultant grunt. He swept his hair to the side and bent close.

It was all the invitation Royce’s leopard needed. The call of his mate was loud to complete the bond. He struck. Biting deep, he broke the skin of Duran’s shoulder. Royce grunted at the taste of his lover’s blood mixing on his tongue with the elixir of his skin and pure magic woven through it all. Locking his limbs around Duran’s body, he thrust against Duran’s front, pleasure sparking throughout his entire being as brightly as their shared magic as his orgasm rushed through him. The added friction rocketed his orgasm through him on a starburst of light, coating both their chests.

Duran cried out, his shaft jerking and gushing another jet of seed in answer to Royce’s bite. The leopard’s satisfied rowl was pure and loud. The bite lasted a few seconds yet it felt like eons had passed when he finally licked over the marks and nuzzled into Duran’s neck, needing the contact, needing to know the scent of his mark now that it had been irrevocably laid on the one man who would wear it for eternity.

Gradually, tension flowed from Duran’s frame and he sank forward, covering all of Royce as they both fell limp from the rush of their orgasms. Royce stretched on the bed, cradling Duran against his chest, fading tingles and shivers skating below his skin as he calmed from the explosive orgasm. The lingering sensation of the bond of their merged magics took longer to dissipate, drawing a gentle smile when he realized it would never fully fade. The mark of the bonding within his soul would always be present. The way his cat was rolling and bathing in the warmth told him everything he needed to know.

“Kitten,” Duran moaned, his body going slack in the aftermath. Warm breath puffed against his throat where Duran rested on his shoulder, holding on to Royce tightly.

Royce wrapped his own arms snug around Duran’s frame. “I have you,” he promised, already hearing as Duran drifted into a light doze. He would always protect and care for his lover, his mage.

Letting his eyes drift shut, he embraced their stolen moment while the keep existed around them outside of their room.