“How about this then, Lord Cato? The next time you want to have sex at a Blood Rite, you don’t do it where I can walk by at any time.” I paused, listening to his instant groan. “Yes? I thought you might agree.”
Lord Belshazzar’s chest abruptly shook against me as he chuckled quietly. He tilted his face toward mine, his growing black whiskers tickling my forehead. The Overlord kissed the top of my head, mumbling against my hair, “Do you want to go to bed now or wait for dinner to arrive?”
I yawned and snuggled against him, tightening my arms around his neck. “I don’t care. Whatever you want. As long as you think he’ll actually feed us in the morning.”
“He will. I spoke with him about it.” He kissed the top of my head again. “The prick won’t starve us.”
The Overlord held me more snugly and stood to his feet, supporting me against his muscular body. I didn’t even move or open my eyes. My feet and blanket dangled over his arm while he walked to our bed. He laid me down gently and crawled in next to me.
Lord Belshazzar piled the blankets around us. “Try to sleep on your side of the bed tonight.”
I snorted. “Not going to happen.”
I rolled and plastered myself against him.
He held still for a long moment, and then pulled one of my legs over his. His warm palm gripped my thigh in a pleasant show of possessiveness. “Good night, Gwen.”
“Night, Bel.” I grinned.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kimber
The shadows seemed to be darker than most.
Rilen made sure of that.
I was cloaked head to toe in black, and the cowl was deep enough to hide my face, even in some brighter lights.
Master Dorian sat in the common room reading, ignoring me in the corner.
His anger at this betrayal ran nearly as deep as mine. I didn’t really understand why he felt like that, but he did. It almost made me think he wasn’t a complete ass.
Almost.
I pulled the cloak around me and sighed. I didn’t know why I was hiding in shadows like some sort of wraith, watching Master Dorian enjoying a good book. I wanted to go back to my new apartments, wallow in self-pity, and make the insane decision of who got to fuck me.
I twisted my lip in disgust.
The prim and proper school teacher-acolyte in me recoiled at the idea of thinking about whom to have sex with. That wasn’t what a proper acolyte thought about, and it wasn’t the way a school teacher acted.
Now, the temple master part of me was worried about gaining enough power to work my magic. It wasn’t so much about who was good in bed, but who could get me where I needed to be.
Every direction of which was up.
And now, horny me just wanted some damn action.
I was so confused and tired. All I wanted was a good night’s sleep.
And then some sex.
Since shadows were deep, and the wall started to feel comfortable, I started to drift a bit. Sleep would be nice.
Elex walked into the common room.
I bit my lip. I couldn’t react to him, I wasn’t supposed to. But, all at once, so many things ran through my head. So many things I wanted to shout.
Run.
Stay.
Love me.
Why?
Why?
The corner’s shadows held me still.
I waited. I watched.
His face was a sea of calm, his stride measured, his breathing even. There was no sign of what we had seen the night before. He was the same Elex as always.
A total fabrication.
It hurt so much to see him there, acting as if he wasn’t betraying me and the entire temple.
Roran and Rilen were right. If I hadn’t seen him last night with the rebels, they never would have had a chance to convince me he was anything more than dedicated to his work.
Master Dorian’s book snapped shut, startling me.
“There you are, Elex.” His voice boomed through the chamber. “We must talk.”
“Master, I’m only here to grab a daily sheet and see what I missed—”
“We need to talk,” Master Dorian repeated. There was no room for argument in his tone.
Choosing a table not far from my shadowed hideout, he gestured for Elex to take a seat across from him. The two of them sat, and the elder druid pulled a flask out of his robe while two glasses appeared on the table.
“Are those glasses bound to you?” Elex asked.
“My magic is more ancient than that. I don’t need things bound to me to obey me.”
Well, that was news.
Elex cleared his throat and ran a finger around the rim of the glass. “Master, is this pressing? I really should get up to my rooms—”
“Are you finding life agreeable here, Elex?” Master Dorian cut through his words.
“Of course, sir. This is a beautiful building, and the attendants are excellent. The food is beyond compare.”
“As is the company in the bedroom.”
Clearing his throat, Elex stared into the glass.
A befuddled look appeared on Master Dorian’s face. “Are you not enjoying a hot cunny to slide into every night?”
What a horrible way to talk about my lady bits.
“My work has been dragging me away—”
“Surely you have time to enjoy a quick indulgence.”
He said nothing.
“What is it, Elex?”
He took a sip of the glass. “I have… proclivities I have not been able to discuss with Kimber. Other needs.”
Master Dorian’s mouth made a perfect circle. “Ah. You enjoy men as well.”
“I do.”
He did?
It was quiet for a moment, and Master Dorian took a sip of his brandy.
“So, you’re bored with the pretty pussy.”
“Not bored. Not excited though, either.”
That was a lie. He was as hard as a pillar of marble the other night.
“Have you tried talking with her?”
A cruel chuckle issue from his throat. “No. Please. Kimber? She’s as straight-laced as they come. She would never ever consider having another in her bed with us.”
With another sip of his drink, Master Dorian nodded. “She is na?ve, isn’t she?”
I wanted to sock him in the face.
“Painfully. I tried drawing her out—” Elex nodded.
“Mm, the fucking on the balcony.”
Oh, my gods. Was there anyone who hadn’t seen us out there?
The glass touched the table top with barely a sound, and Master Dorian leaned in. “Did you imagine someone behind you? Taking your ass as you were balls deep in her pussy?”
The answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”
Master Dorian leaned in even closer. “You very much enjoy being a bottom to another man, don’t you?”
Elex’s head bobbed slowly. “There’s nothing like it…”
Another sip of his brandy passed some time, and Master Dorian nodded. “I enjoy a little ass play myself.”
I nearly choked on my laugh. A little? The man was mated to two men. That was more than a little.
But what was Master Dorian doing…?
“It’s not easy to find satisfaction inside these walls,” the ancient master mused. “Not when each move is scrutinized.”
Sweet Savior. He wasn’t.
A small hesitation preceded Elex’s reply. “I’m finding that myself.”
“Is that why you keep disappearing to the university?”
Elex laughed quietly. “No. Unfortunately, that is for my work. I have to go…elsewhere to seek it out.”
Master Dorian worked his jaw. “I have it on good authority that your Kimber will be gone for several more hours.”
Master Dorian was seducing my lover.
The pregnant pause ended, and I held my breath. I could hear Elex sucking his teeth while he was thinking.
“Would you care to join me in my room for another drink, sir?”
I couldn’t believe they didn’t hear my gasp—but I lucked out because the chair scraped on the floor, covering it up.
Walking side by side, carrying brandy glasses, the eldest temple master and my now-former lover headed through the halls to my old room for some stupid tryst that…
I was flustered. No, I was beyond flustered. I was pissed and betrayed and didn’t understand a thing going on.
The curtain I was semi-hidden behind rustled, and Roran appeared, holding out his hand.
“Come. We have to get to your old rooms.”
Confusion wrinkled my forehead. “That’s where they’re going…”
“Yes. Come. This is important.”
Roran led me away from the stairs, and I was even more confused. A right turn down a hall and another right a moment later brought us to a set of doors I had never seen.