Page 14 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

Up until this morning, there had been a limit on how long Perian had to be here. But Brannal had made an open-ended invitation this afternoon, and now Perian was actually capable of leaving the room.

“You’d be more comfortable if I took the other room?” he asked.

Brannal looked a bit frustrated. “Are you deliberately not answering my question?”

Perian frowned. “Hmm?”

“I asked which you would prefer, and you’ve spent a lot of time giving me reasons whyImight prefer one or the other.”

Oh. That was true. It felt like the safer option, somehow.

Brannal’s lip curled up a little. “Now who’s making assumptions?”

Perian rolled his eyes and admitted with more difficulty than he expected, “I would prefer to be here.”

Brannal smiled at him. “Then here is where you shall stay.”

Perian would also prefer that whatever they were doing lasted as long as possible, so he wasn’t altogether certain that this was the right choice. Perhaps giving them a bit of space was exactly what he should have done to help make sure that nobody got fed up. His father had always said it was good to give people space. It was part of why he’d chosen to have no live-in staff. But this was a different situation. Besides, did he really think a corridor was going to make him more appealing?

He’d been thrown by Brannal suggesting another room, and now he’d made the whole thing awkward.

“Would you like to test out the bed?” Brannal asked.

Perian had already tested out the bed over days of being an invalid, but one look at Brannal told him that wasn’t why he had asked the question. He was trying to put Perian at ease.

Perian raised an eyebrow. “That depends. Will it end with you serving me tea and being all frosty?”

Brannal swore at him, Perian laughed, and in short order, they ended up in a tangle on the bed, kissing and touching and grinding together until they both spent in their trousers like raw boys, the rush of pleasure blissfully intense.

They’d remembered to unbuckle the sword, and a couple of the daggers had been left next to the bed, but Perian knew there were more. He might never before have been intimate with someone who carried so much weaponry, but he’d never enjoyed himself so much, either. It was definitely worth figuring out how not to get accidentally stabbed.

“So?” Brannal asked.

They were lying side by side, catching their breath.

Perian hummed a querying noise.

“What’s your opinion on the bed?”

Perian laughed. “It’s lovely. Nicer now than it was when I was trapped in it.”

“You’re feeling better, then?”

“Ever so much.”

Concern threaded into his voice. “Your ribs are all right? I didn’t think to ask.”

“Perfectly fine,” Perian assured him.

Though the ache would have been worth it, he hadn’t even noticed. It really was like that first blow job had fixed them up, which was absurd but awesome to imagine.

“I’m glad,” Brannal said softly.

“Me too,” Perian agreed. “It’s nice to be up and about.”

Brannal eyed him pointedly from next to him in bed, and Perian laughed.

“You know what I mean.”

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