Thankfully, as soulmates, they didn’t have to worry about protection.
And Asher thought he was prepared for anything the wickedly demanding mage might want. But when Xem eased his weight away and rolled onto his elbows and knees in one smooth move, Asher stared in stunned silence at the flawless arse peeking up at him.
Without turning around, Xem stretched out one elegant leg and kicked Asher on the shin.
“Ow.”
“I know you’ve got it in you, recruit,” Xem taunted, his voice muffled from the way his face was pressed into the mattress.“You always demonstrate so much...enthusiasmin class.” He shifted impatiently on all fours. “Show me the same.”
Those last words were delivered as an order, icy dominance dripping from each syllable. If anyone could be so unquestionably in charge while face down with their arse in the air, it was Xem fucking Whitlock.
Asher moved to his knees, fingers reaching out to lightly trace the enticing lines of Xem’s body. The mage shivered beneath his touch, equally delicate and vicious. When Asher reached the pale globes of his arse and withdrew his hands, Xem jabbed a careless thumb to the right.
“The oil is in the drawer...fuck, Asher!”
Asher grinned, working his finger deeper inside him as Xem twitched and yelped in surprise. The oily liquid he’d silently cast from water and earth gushed over his hand, slicking up Xem’s entrance and dripping down to the bedsheets beneath.
“Don’t make a mess,” Xem growled, obviously noticing the same thing. “There’s now only one bed, and I refuse to sleep on soiled sheets-”
The complaint was gratifyingly cut off when Asher added a second finger, making the mage howl.
“You’re courting danger again, Asher Larsen!”
Oh, Asher planned on doing a lot more thancourtinghim.
He scissored his fingers to patiently work Xem open and then gave careful attention to that place inside him that he himself loved being touched. It made Xem’s head whip around, a crazed look in his exotic eyes and his hair mussed from where he’d been writhing against the bed. He’d never looked so dishevelled, even after a duel, and Asheradoredit.
“Fuck me,” he demanded, still so fierce.
Asher obeyed. Quickly slicking up his cock, he lined it up with the mage’s glistening hole and thrust his hips forward.Xem’s body welcomed him with ease, drawing his cock into its hot, silky heat.
They both exhaled as one.
The scent of cinnamon was thick in the air, mixing with their sweat and shared desire as Xem began to move. Asher attempted to hold him still—he was the one topping, damn it—but it was like trying to keep waves from lapping at the sand. Slippery and determined, Xem continued to rock backwards onto Asher with a series of satisfied grunts, and it was all Asher could do to hold on so he wouldn’t fall backwards off the bed.
Sensation crested. Xem was clenched tight around his cock, greedily taking more of him with each roll of his hips, and Asher was lost amid a sea of desire and delight.
“Now,” Xem murmured in a voice thick with pleasure. He grabbed Asher’s right hand and brought it beneath him with a slight tilt of his head that dared Asher to object.
He didn’t.
He curled his fingers around the heavy cock that danced between Xem’s legs, revelling in the warmth of it against his skin, and began to stroke it in time with the man’s aggressive movements. Feeling daring, Asher let his thumb explore the shape of the head. He grinned into Xem’s hair when he ran it over the sensitive slit and the mage bucked beneath him with a cry.
And when their shared climax overtook them a few moments later, bliss cascading down Asher’s spine and warmth blossoming over his hand, the soulmate bond solidified between them with a resounding thwack that felt like a physical blow to the chest. Exhilarating yet soothing, it stole all thoughts but the feel of Xem’s body wrapped around his throbbing cock, and how he shuddered and shivered in Asher’s arms.
As mages, the pair of them already had access to earth and water, fire and air. But with their consummated connection thefifth element had snapped into place, denied to all but those who were lucky enough to find their bonded mate.
Soul.
Now Asher could feel the other mage as part of himself, sense the beat of his heart and the hitch in his breath. If one died then they would both die, but that was no burden at all, for how could Asher live without this clever, impossible man?
“Xem!” he cried into his mage’s shoulder, acutely aware of Xem calling out his name in turn, and then they were twisting, grabbing, kissing, crying, laughing, and no longer caring about the mess they’d made of their shared bed.
Xem sighed long and loud against Asher’s mouth.
“Fucking magic,” he murmured happily. “Take me again.”