Adrian straightened on the stool, his wide eyes pinning Eno to the spot. “Which is why we’re going to the Isle of Stone? Because dragons actually live there. It’s not some goofy fairy tale we were told as kids.”
Eno shoved a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp as he winced. “Well…that’s part of the reason. We’re also going because the king needs to visit the godstone there and bond with the Goddess of Fire. Just like he did with the God of Storms in Caspagir and the God of Death in Zastrad.”
“What?” Adrian croaked. He paled and dropped his head into his hands on a deep groan.
The guard was fading fast. Eno launched into an abbreviated overview of New Rosanthe’s race to claim the powers of the godstones while a woman named Safa was already bonded to the Goddess of the Hunt and attempting to free her so she could destroy all of Thia.
Adrian’s color didn’t improve. He stared slack-jawed at Eno, his eyebrows creeping higher and higher on his forehead with every word Eno said.
Sharp footsteps echoed off the stone floor, and Eno fell silent only to relax when Rayne pushed open the door and stepped inside. He took one look at Adrian’s dazed expression and narrowed his laserlike focus on Eno.
“You told him, didn’t you?” Rayne inquired.
Eno nodded. “I told him why we’re going to the Isle of Stone and where we’ve been over the past several months.”
“It’s best he adjusts before he sees Caelan again. The king is not some oddity to be stared at,” Rayne continued crisply as he crossed the room to stand across the table from Eno. He held out a couple of sheets of paper with his neat, clean handwriting. “I came up with a few items I thought would have been handy to have while we were in Zastrad. Adding them for this trip might make things a little easier. I’m also grabbing a few personal items for Drayce this evening. Evenly distributed between the four of us, their weight will be negligible.”
Rather than accepting the paper, Eno grabbed Rayne’s wrist and pulled him around the table. If they were clearing the air prior to this trip, there was one more thing he wanted Adrian to be fully aware of. The king’s advisor huffed and tried to pull free, but he didn’t fight too much when Eno brought their chests together.
Rayne’s gaze strayed to Adrian, but Eno placed his fingers on Rayne’s jaw and tilted his head so their eyes met. “Who would have thought you’d have such a soft spot for Drayce?”
“Yes, well, he’s an utter nuisance, but he does make Caelan happy,” Rayne mumbled, taking on a slightly husky tone.
Any further argument was silenced by a slow kiss Eno had been longing for since Rayne slipped out of bed that morning to start preparing for his day. It was one of the good things about returning home—they shared a bed every night. Sometimes it was Eno’s room, and sometimes it was Rayne’s. It didn’t matter to him as long as he could roll over and feel all of his lover against him. If anyone had noticed the shared accommodations, he didn’t know about it nor did he care.
As they prepared to head straight into the dragon’s den, Eno was grateful to be able to hold Rayne like this, to get lost in the haunting scent of his cologne, to feel his warmth. It never crossed his mind that he might be able to have something like this in his life. He loved Rayne completely, and he felt Rayne’s love for him just as strongly.
With a great deal of reluctance, Eno ended the kiss and nearly dove back in when the happiest little sigh escaped Rayne’s smiling lips. This stuffy, bossy grump was his weakness. His joy and frustration. Rayne was his everything and always would be.
Eno turned his gaze over to Adrian, who was staring at them with his mouth hanging open and his cheeks red. “Is this going to be a problem for you?”
“Uh…no. No, definitely not,” Adrian finished with more force. He snapped his mouth shut and jumped to his feet, his eyes on the weapons lying on the table rather than him and Rayne.
“Good. Rayne is mine.”
The man in his possession made a noise and pulled free. “Will you beat your chest now, or do you feel the need to mark your territory like a teenager by giving me a hickey?”
Rayne’s tone was peevish, but there was something appealing about leaving a mark somewhere on Rayne’s body. Or maybe several marks. What kind of noises would Rayne make as he moved his mouth over every inch of him?
His thoughts must have shown on his face because Rayne snapped, “No!” and held up one finger in warning.