Page 58 of The Omega Thief

Raz gathered him close and eyed every burn, scrape, and—Raz gasped. There were healing puncture wounds in his side, and Raz quickly looked, and yes, the same on the other. His wolf was healing them, but they must have been deep. “What in seven hells?”

Attiker didn’t answer immediately, but then shook his head. “If I said I couldn’t tell you yet, that not even Ash knows, would you respect my decision?”

Raz frowned. “Are you protecting me or someone else?”

“Someone else, an innocent,” Attiker replied immediately. “But I also can’t place you in the position of knowing yet, either.” Attiker brought a hand to Raz’s cheek, and Raz closed his eyes, reveling in the touch he worried he would never get again.

“I trust you.” He did. He wanted to know what Attiker was hiding, but maybe he had more help than Ash and that would negate the trial, so it would probably be better ifRaz didn’t know. Not that he would tell anyone. “Let’s get you in the bath. I can’t stand another moment without you in my arms.”

As they climbed in, Attiker told him about Markell cornering him. How he’d captured a fire lizard before he’d even arrived at the palace. “Somehow, he had to have known about the challenge.”

“I’m afraid that was Grandmother. She told Harcourt.” Raz told Attiker that Veda had seen Harcourt at the Market of Lost Souls, and that they thought Harcourt was responsible for both apprentices’ deaths and the fire. “He’s disappeared, or I’d have him strung up in the cells.”

“How did Grandmother take it?” Attiker hummed his approval as Raz drew him gently back to him so Attiker was laying in the water against Raz’s chest, which left both of Raz’s arms free to very gently make sure his bonded was clean and comfortable.

And if that meant teasing touches to show him how much Raz had missed him, who was going to blame him?

“She feels like she betrayed us,” Raz admitted. “She needs careful handling,”

Attiker chuckled. “Careful handling my arse. TheViperneeds a job.”

Raz grinned. “Then I will leave her in your capable hands.”

Raz used the softest cloth and the healing soap to lightly skim Attiker’s chest. He may have cheated a little with knowing Attiker’s nipples were particularly sensitive and used a slight scrape of nail to elicit the gasp he was after.

“We need to talk about the next trial,” Attiker said, but he squirmed in delight as Raz’s hand slid lower.

“Not tonight, we don’t,” Raz said and reached down. No, they didn’t need to talk about that tonight. Tonight was all about making Attiker feel good.

Tomorrow, with the knowledge that someone was trying to kill them both, would come soon enough. And tomorrow, he would worry about what Attiker was hiding because he’d agreed to trust his bonded, and he did, but he needed to know what Attiker thought he was protecting him from.

And if it might kill them both.

Chapter twenty-six

Attikerwouldhavedearlyloved to have spent the day in bed, but they only had two more nights before the morning of the second challenge. Raz lay asleep at the side of him, no doubt exhausted after attending to him just about every hour on the hour, most of the time insisting on nothing else but for Attiker to allow himself to be spoiled.

But he had some thinking to do and mentally compiled a list in his head.

He agreed Harcourt had betrayed them. The motive he doubted was anything other than money and power. He’d tried it with Grandmother, and when that hadn’t succeeded, he’d gone elsewhere, or he might have always been in league with Markell and Grandmother was simply a means to an end. He needed to see her today. That was urgent.

He put off thinking about Eldara. She was safe. And he wondered in awe at her ability to disappear. It wasn’t surprising humans thought them extinct, and knowing he’d never even heard a rumor about it, he hoped their secret was safe. He couldn’t feel her in his head, and he’d had to concentrate really hard in the throne room to ask her where to break the red rock, but he’d seen the image she’d sent of where she put a large claw to the rock, and it had worked perfectly.

There were many more problems. The kingdom as a whole, whether Eryken would always consider him the best thing for Cadmeera, how Raz would get the heir that Attiker couldn’t give him, and a million other things, none of which mattered if he couldn’t solve the second trial.

He mentally put down a meeting with the Viper’s Den for later, as well. They needed a plan.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Raz murmured, and Attiker smiled and gazed at his prince. His smile fell, and worried, Raz propped himself up on one elbow and cupped Attiker’s cheek. “What is it, my bonded?”

“I thought I was going to fall on the mountain and die.”

Raz made a distressed noise in the back of his throat, lay down, and pulled Attiker into his arms.

Attiker cuddled close. “I remember thinking that. That I was going to die, and I remember the one regret I had.” Attiker lifted his head and met Raz’s gaze. “My one regret was never having the chance to tell you that I loved you.”

Attiker held his breath for a moment before he noticed the sudden moisture in Raz’s eyes and the way he simply shook his head as if he couldn’t speak, but Attiker didn’t need declarations of love. Raz had been prepared to give up his kingdom for him, and it didn’t get much more real than that. Attiker bent his head and caught Raz’s lips with his own, settling his very naked body over Raz’s very naked and very warm one, and taking his time to explore every inch with his lips, with his teeth, and with his fingers.

And when he’d reduced Raz to a trembling, begging mess, he simply loved him harder until they both could barely move.

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