Page 9 of The Cordial Bride

“I understand.” Ian bit off nearly half the sandwich and moaned. It was almost the same sound he made when he came. “This is delicious.”

“I’m glad you like it. The mustard is my own recipe and my aunt baked the bread, but neither of us can take credit for the ham. Our neighbor is a hog farmer. We get all our meat from others. I’m no good at animal husbandry. The caring of them is fine. The ending of them, not so much. Fishing is too hard for me, let alone slaughtering animals.”

Ian nodded. “I understand. It’s hard for me, too, but I never ask anything of those who work my lands that I can’t do myself.” He stuffed the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth before picking up another one.

Calan nibbled on his own, having a small stomach that rarely needed more than he’d already eaten. “You don’t mean to say you work beside your people all the time?”

Ian nodded as he chewed. “That’s exactly what I mean. We labor together almost every day all year round. I love the physical nature of it and being outside.” He shrugged. “And, how else would I occupy my time?”

“I guess I imagined that Moorcondian nobility spend their days having fun.”

Ian grinned broadly. “Working the land is fun, although I must confess I’m different from the average man of my class. And I enjoy reading and playing cards and such during the winter months when there’s less to do.” He shrugged again. “I don’t like idleness, and court life is excruciatingly boring, so I stay at home most of the time. I also travel to visit my sister and niece as often as I can, but that’s the extent of my wanderings.”

“You’re here now.” Calan finished his sandwich and grabbed a stalk of celery to clean his teeth. “Shadow Valley is a long way to come.”

“I’m here for my sister. Now she’s excellent at maneuvering around the court and other diplomatic matters, as well as healing. There was no better choice for our king to make. I just can’t help worrying about her, that’s all. So there was no question I was going to accompany her.”

“She’s perfectly safe here, you know. My people might be hesitant about sharing our medicinals, but we are not dangerous unless provoked.”

Ian snatched his own celery before lounging down on one elbow. “I know. That’s why I’m perfectly comfortable spending this glorious day with you and not her.” The suggestive look he gave Calan caused the predictable reaction.

He wrapped his arms around his waist in a futile effort to hide his erection. “You need to stop doing that unless you want to use the cream.”

The count actually laughed and moved with a dizzying swiftness, pressing Calan onto his back and holding him there by the hips. “I told you there are other ways to give pleasure that don’t involve having sufficient time to take great care. You’ve seen one. Let me show you another.”

With his heart threatening to burst, Calan could only nod. Then he slammed his eyes shut as Ian took his cock into his mouth. It was shocking in its intensity—his entire dick being swallowed up by a soft warmth that nevertheless gripped him like a vise. He clenched at the blanket hard enough to make his hands hurt. Staccato pants escaped his mouth and a keening noise welled up from his throat. The sensations of being sucked and licked overloaded him, leaving his thoughts to be consumed by a dizzy maelstrom. He tossed his head back and forth and bucked into Ian’s mouth, demanding…he didn’t know what. That was until the man swallowed. Then he understood what he’d needed. That last claiming of his cock sent him over the edge. He yelled into the sky above him and shook as the orgasm rushed through him.

The next thing he knew, Calan found himself lying in Ian’s arms. The man held him in a light embrace, stroking his arm. He snuggled against Ian and yawned against the back of his own hand.

“I think I need a nap.” He giggled at the notion. His energy was usually boundless.

Ian kissed the top of his head. “Do so. I have you, my dear, and promise you are safe with me.”

“I know.” As silly as it might seem to trust someone so completely after such a short acquaintance, there was no denying the truth of it.

* * * *

“I can’t believe I slept so long.” Calan rushed to dress, the position of the sun telling him time was short for them to return before the evening meal. They’d have to push their horses to gallop, which he liked doing anyway.

The count lounged on the blanket, eating an apple, and given that he was already clothed, at his ease. “You were dead to the world, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. And there is plenty of time. I doubt we’ve even been missed.”

Knowing his aunt as he did, Calan was of a different opinion. But he didn’t want to make Ian feel guilty, and it had been wonderful to wake in the man’s arms. “There’s a shorter path we can take back to where we left the horses now that I’m not foraging.” He righted his clothing, then started to disentangle his hair to re-braid it.

“Let me do that.”

Calan looked skeptically at the man. “You want to do my hair?”

Ian smiled. “Why not?”

With a shrug, Calan sat down with his back to the count. “If you wish.” He was thrilled, actually, at the thought of it. There was something intimate in the simple act of touching another’s hair. To his surprise, the count proved adept at plaiting. “How are you so good at this?”

“Oh, I used to do Isabeau’s all the time.”

“Didn’t she have a maid or something for that?”

“Yes, but not outside where we would spend the day playing. It might be hard to believe now, but that proper woman you met used to chase after me when we were children, determined to do everything I was. Our father frowned upon such activities for girls, however, so we had to make her as presentable as possible when we returned to the manor so that he wouldn’t know what she’d been up to. Happily, she has raised Amalie differently, although I like to keep my hand in by braiding my niece’s hair on occasion. There.”

Calan ran his hand down the braid and looked over his shoulder. “I couldn’t have done a better job myself. Thank you.” He dared to peck Ian on the lips and was tempted to do more, except the sun wasn’t going to wait on its journey down. “We need to hurry.”

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