“Eno,” Rayne said in the best warning tone he could muster. Except that it was utterly ruined by licking his lips. His brain was trying desperately to argue that this was a horrible time, but his body was already under Eno’s control, begging him for even the smallest touch.
Slipping a hand between them, Eno tugged at the fastenings of Rayne’s pants, while he just stood there, doing absolutely nothing to stop him. “If you don’t want to get caught, I suggest you not shout too loudly.” He smirked and added just to twist the knife a little. “Sorry I don’t have a washcloth to shove into your mouth.”
“You loved every second of that,” Rayne snarled between clenched teeth as images of that stolen moment in the bathroom where Rayne had jerked off a hard and leaking Eno flashed through his brain. “Your eyes begged me—” He broke off on a string of curses as Eno’s wet, cold hand wrapped around his cock. His fingers twisted in Eno’s shirt so tightly his knuckles turned white. It was the only thing keeping him upright as his knees were giving out on him.
“I did beg you with my eyes,” Eno continued in a low, dark voice that slithered into Rayne’s ears over his broken pants. “I wanted you to fuck me. To feel you moving inside of me. To feel you touching me in a way no one else ever has before.”
With warm, liquid words, Eno stoked the fire inside of Rayne. Everything about this stolen moment was rough and hard and absolutely electric. Even lost in the rush of pleasure tingling through every nerve ending, Rayne was aware that anyone could come over the rise at that second and find them. But the risk of discovery only pushed him closer to the edge. Only with Eno was he this carefree and reckless.
“Eno, please,” he pleaded in a fractured voice. He was so damn close. Standing on the edge, tempted by the explosion that waited for him.
“Reach for it. I’ve got you. Quick this time. Next time, I’ll go slow, take my time making this body mine.”
And Eno always kept his promises.
Two more strokes and a light brush of his thumb across the head, sliding through pre-cum, and Rayne was lost. A shout erupted from his throat and Eno was there, covering his mouth in a demanding kiss, swallowing everything down as he carried him through his climax.
Rayne slumped on his lover, his head resting on his shoulder as he tried to catch his breath again. Eno held him tightly, pressing light kisses to his shoulder. “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”
THIRTEEN
Caelan Talos
When the first glimpse of Temit came into view, Caelan nearly sobbed in relief. Days spent in the saddle had left him aching into his bones. They’d passed most of that time camping rough on the side of mountains and only occasionally huddled at the edge of a settlement, but the stone buildings he could make out past the city walls promised at least somewhat comfortable beds, a bath, and maybe a little more variety when it came to a hot meal.
The trip across Zastrad to reach Temit had taken them sixteen days. Longer than any of them had wanted, but some paths had been made impassable, thanks to spring floods that had washed out roads. They’d skirted a couple of pockets of bandits and had to hunker down twice as early-season ice storms blew through.
All in all, Caelan was ready to leave Zastrad far behind, and by the grim looks on the bearded faces of his friends, it was a safe bet they felt the same way.
The only one who seemed even remotely chipper about the trip was Vale. He guessed she saw this as her final trip to Temit. With the names of the drug traffickers in hand, she was one giant step closer to completing her mission for Shey and returning home to Sirelis.
Since the kidnapping incident, she had been incredibly solicitous and friendly, attempting to bridge the gap that formed between them. Eno and Drayce had thawed slightly toward the woman, but then neither was particularly great at holding a grudge for too long.
Rayne remained standoffish, though he’d never been Vale’s biggest fan. Now that he understood the change in Rayne’s relationship with Eno, Caelan got it. Vale was extremely flirtatious with Eno even now, and Rayne glared at the back of the woman’s head as though he were contemplating ways to remove her tongue from her body so she couldn’t speak to his man any longer.
Caelan tried to be forgiving of her actions, but images of Rayne injured and the knife pressed to Drayce’s throat would flash through his mind, reminding him that she had been the one to put his friends in danger.
But what happened on the road had to be left behind as they passed through the wide gates that led to the old walled city. Temit rested on Mount Langbo, whose peak was lost to thick gray clouds. While the settlements and villages they’d run across in Zastrad had a temporary feel to them, consisting mostly of yurts and simple wood structures, Temit was most definitely permanent.