“I wasn’t actually thinking about me,” he admitted.
“Me?”
Rayne shook his head. “Drayce.”
Eno jerked away. When his thighs hit the mattress, he dropped so that he was sitting half on the bed and half on his bag. Rayne wasn’t even sure he noticed. “You’re out of your mind. You want to give the power of the Goddess of Fire to that impulsive, emotional lunatic.”
“True, but Caelan can be impulsive and emotional as well. You must keep in mind that Drayce has grown a lot over the past several months. In addition, he’s a dragon. He understands handling fire. Caelan and Drayce are excellent at working in tandem. They think and react similarly. If we want to put less of the burden on Caelan, Drayce is a logical option.”
“It’s a terrifying option.”
Rayne couldn’t argue that point. After what they’d seen Drayce do to Mrtyu while in his dragon form, the idea of giving him a similar ability while in his human form was enough to make Rayne light-headed. And that was assuming Drayce couldn’t already manipulate fire in his human form.
He stepped forward and tapped the tip of Eno’s nose. “You’re the one who said we need to start looking for other ways of helping Caelan.”
“Yes, but I didn’t think you’d run straight to the absurd. Drayce—”
“Drayce would do anything to save Caelan,” Rayne interrupted in a hard, firm voice. They all would, but Drayce was one step ahead as Caelan’s lover. And maybe that gave him the right—ahead of the rest of them—to live and die for Caelan.
Eno dropped his head back and closed his eyes. “Yeah.” He sighed. “Yeah, I get it.”
“I’m not arguing this is the best idea or our only option. We don’t even know if the gods would go for it. Plus, do you think it would be easy to convince Caelan to let Drayce do this for him?”
A shudder ran through Eno and he tipped his head up to gaze at his lover. “True. I think we have a better chance of convincing Caris than we do of convincing Caelan.”
“So, we just shelve this idea for now and try to think of other options until we are faced with Caelan standing before the Fire Stone.” As Rayne spoke, he lowered his eyes to Eno’s bare chest with its lovely sprinkling of dark hair. He ran his right hand over it, letting his fingertips graze a nipple.
“Why does it feel like you’ve got some ideas of how we should be spending our time?” Eno’s voice was low and rich, sloshing around in his bloodstream so that Rayne was nearly drunk on the sound.
“Because I’ve always got ideas.”
It was the truth. When it came to Eno, his mind was full of hundreds of things he wanted to do or say to him. He wanted to share every experience with him, which was a relatively new feeling. Rayne had always been a solitary creature, even while dating Prince Shey.
But life was so very different with Eno. Now he wanted to share everything with this man. And if possible, even give him a few memorable firsts.
Cupping his cheek with one hand, Rayne tilted Eno’s head up and simply smiled at him, basking in the man’s rugged beauty. The sheer perfection of his jawline, the plush fullness of his lips parted in breathless anticipation. Dark-brown eyes watched him, begging for whatever Rayne had to offer. And Rayne planned to give him everything. Eno deserved nothing less than everything he had, every ounce of his heart and soul.
Rayne slowly lowered his head and devoured Eno. His tongue plunged into Eno’s mouth, tangling and owning his lover. Eno handed himself over to Rayne, trusting him completely. He loved it. Strong hands grabbed him, digging into muscles, kneading and sliding to massage his ass.
He lifted his lips enough to slide along the stubble covering his jaw, nibbling lightly until he came to Eno’s ear. The soft earlobe was so tantalizing and always earned him a delicious moan. He allowed the tender flesh to slip from his mouth. When he whispered, his hot breath caressed the damp skin.
“I want to fuck you.”
Eno’s head jerked away so he could stare into Rayne’s eyes. His gaze was nearly black, a starless night he could get lost in. An intoxicating mix of desire and panic.
“I’ve never…”
That wasn’t a no.
Rayne moved the hand on Eno’s cheek forward, running his thumb over his bottom lip before pressing it inside his mouth. Eno’s tongue instantly bathed him in wet heat, sending a rush of blood to Rayne’s cock.
“I can make you feel so good,” he promised. “I’ll stretch you. Fill you. Leave you begging me for more. You’ll beg for it harder, deeper. I’ll own every inch of you, and you will love it.”
“Yes,” Eno panted around Rayne’s thumb, sounding almost hypnotized by his words.