Page 71 of The Empty Throne

"Damn it, Lindquist, you were supposed toplug me, not tear me in half!"

"Shut up." Cohea curled a hand around histhroat, the other one braced on the table, and picked up the paceand fervor of his movement, the table jerking with the force of hismovements, until he draped himself over Bittersea's body andspilled. "Fuck, you're beautiful."

Bittersea couldn't deny he preened at thewords. Obviously, he was beautiful; it was a trait that served himwell. He still liked hearing Cohea say it.

Pulling out slowly, Cohea immediately pushedin the plug he'd brought from the wardrobe. Not one of theobscenely large ones, but not so small he'd be able to mostlyignore it either, the bastard. Bittersea wanted to squirm, but heldhimself still, letting Cohea control every movement.

When he was satisfied with the plug, Coheaturned him around and dropped to his knees, taking Bittersea's cockinto his mouth, sucking him quick and dirty. Bittersea gripped theedges of the table, thrusting into his warm mouth, down his tightthroat, as best he was able without grabbing his hair and fuckinghis face, which wasn't something they had time for. Just momentslater he spilled down Cohea's throat, slumping against the tableuntil Cohea forced him upright and righted his clothes. "You're afucking bastard."

"Your cock didn't seem to mind my bastardways," Cohea said with more of that smugness that Bittersea lovedand hated in equal measure. "Come on, boring meetings await." Hekissed Bittersea, though, reaching down to gently jostle the plugthrough all his layers. "Behave."

"That's asking entirely too much when I haveto deal with this damned thing up my ass for hours."

Cohea just chuckled and took his hand,kissing the back of it before leading them out of the room. Hedropped Bittersea's hand then, though only because that wasBittersea's preference, especially right now, when sore loserscould be skulking about looking to get whatever revenge theycould.

Thankfully, and disappointingly, they made itto their destination unmolested. Nearly everyone else was alreadythere, only Kite and his pretty little contraband missing. Oskiasat with Sobeki, of course, nobody surprised by that reunion. Oneside of the large table sat all their new friends, and on theopposite side were generals from both armies. Working diligentlyaway like the fat bees that emerged during the brief stint ofspring and summer to work their teeny little hearts to death.

A servant came up with a small pot of tea andsingle cup for him, and Bittersea thanked her. "Of course, LordBittersea," she said with a smile. Other people looked at themoddly, clearly baffled that Bittersea would be so polite, but hewas never rude to staff or others below him in power unless theydeserved it. He liked hurting thosewiththe power, or whothought they had it. That was where the fun lay: taking that power,making them weak, making them reveal their true pathetic heart,watching them sob and plead and bleed out.

He liked good tea; he wasn't about tojeopardize that by being rude to the people who made it and broughtit to him. People neverthought.

The woman returned after a moment with adifferent pot for Cohea, and a platter of snacks for them, littlesandwiches and other delicate bits that were far from real food."Must I be here? We all know I'm not a politician. Just your goodlittle future wife."

Cohea cast him an amused look, but didn'totherwise reply. The doors opened then, and Kite came bustling inwith Lysa right behind him, both of them looking ever so slightlymussed. Well, Bittersea could hardly criticize, not when he was theone with a plug up his ass in the midst of a tiresome politicalmeeting.

After a few more people drifted in,politicians mostly, lords and ladies who must have remained hiddenaway in the city rather than fleeing like most had, the doors wereclosed and locked, and the meeting began with a ring of theenormous bronze gong against the wall behind Sobeki.

Bittersea tuned out Sobeki's little welcomespeech, vastly more interested in his tea. It was a green tea,flavored with peach blossoms and mint, making it grassy and sweet,with that underlying cool of the mint. He interspersed it withbites of the ridiculous little sandwiches, which must be a new fadfrom the south, because such nonsense was a waste of time andresources in the nearly always frozen climes of the north.

They weren't bad, for all that. His seemedfilled with some sort of smoky fish paste.

A sharp jab to his thigh forced him tofinally pay attention.

"—will take a force to make final sweeps ofthe city to ensure the safety of the people who will be returningnext week. Yes, Lord Bittersea?"

"Yes," Bittersea replied, delight curlingthrough him.

Sobeki's glance lingered a moment, but thenthe conversation shifted to repairs and funds, and Bitterseasilently planned how he would go about clearing the city, ensuringthat few to none were able to slip past him. It would require hoursupon hours of working, clearing the homes, sealing them off,hauling off or, preferably, killing whatever rats they found.

When he was prodded again, painfully, hescowled at Cohea. "What?"

"Pay attention, this concerns you."

"Unless it involves blood and knives, I don'tcare."

"Yes, you do," Cohea said patiently.

Huffing, Bittersea watched as most of thepeople in the room filed out, leaving only their inner circle andtheir guests.

Shuffling some papers, Sobeki handed one pileoff to a clerk hovering at his shoulder. "Lord Bittersea, youexpressed no interest in retaining your title."

"None whatsoever," Bittersea replied. "Whatpoor, unfortunate soul are you giving it to?"

Sobeki's mouth quirked in amusement, and hecast a glance at the pretty young woman sitting almost directlyacross from Bittersea. He gave her the barest nod.

"Congratulations, Lady Corinta," Cohea saidsmoothly, his warm, friendly Lord Honor and Manners smile firmly inplace. "I'm sure you'll do a great deal of good for the title—"

"You certainly can't do worse than raping andmurdering," Bittersea said.

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