Page 43 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

“And we don’t need to see that,” Delana said, sounding unimpressed.

“I do!”

The sound of Molun’s pouting disappointment faded away, and Perian didn’t need to announce to them that actually, he wasn’t categorically opposed to an audience. But he didn’t know how Brannal felt about it, and his priority right now was most definitely the man beneath him.

With a move Perian was probably supposed to have been ready to block but didn’t even make an attempt for, Brannal twisted them. He was now on top, strong body pressing Perian into the mats beneath them, mouth hungrily kissing. Perian let his legs fall apart so Brannal could slot his own leg in between them, then he bucked up into the contact. Brannal tugged at Perian’s hair, which had fallen out of its tie, and Perian grabbed the man’s ass. It took what was probably an embarrassingly short amount of time until they were coming in their trousers.

“This was an excellent lesson,” Perian told Brannal earnestly.

Brannal laughed and rose to his feet, offering his hand to pull Perian up effortlessly.

“Come on. We’d better go get cleaned up.”

They did get clean and didn’t get too badly distracted, because Brannal had to go report to the Queen prior to the meeting of the full Council.

Brannal gave him a final lingering kiss.

“I will likely be asked to dine with the royal family afterwards,” he told Perian.

“Better you than me,” Perian repeated.

“I can have something sent here.”

Perian shot him a look. “I am perfectly able to fend for myself, thank you.”

Brannal’s lips quirked. “I’m sure you are. All right, I’ll see you later.”

Then he was gone. Perian felt altogether more settled. Of course, Brannal had to fulfill his role as Summus, and sometimes it meant having dinner with different people.

Food on his mind, he decided to go and ask for his own dinner. He wasn’t hungry yet, but he thought it might be more polite to give the kitchen more warning than he did when he wanted a picnic.

“Do you mind delivering it?” Perian asked. “Or would you prefer me to come and pick it up?”

The woman who’d taken his request looked a little bemused and assured him they would deliver it.

“I’m going to need a picnic lunch again tomorrow,” he told her. “Shall I book it in advance or just show up like I’ve been doing so far. Whatever’s easier for you!”

She assured him it was no problem if he just showed up, since food for one or two people was easy enough.

“Perfect. Thanks again. I’ve really been enjoying everything!”

He decided a breath of fresh air would be nice after the workout he’d had. They’d all warned him he was likely to be sore tomorrow. He rode and swam back home, but he hadn’t been as active in the city. He knew the worst thing he could do was sit around afterwards and not move at all.

He avoided the training yard, since he was not about to volunteer to be knocked down again. He picked a new path through the garden, wondering why Renny hadn’t been available this afternoon and if they were getting to a point where he could ask those sorts of questions. He really didn’t want to upset her, though, and he’d only known her for a couple of days.

Huh. Maybe it was the castle. With both Brannal and Renny, he felt like he’d known them longer than he actually had. Nisal too, although to a lesser degree. Maybe they were just that sort of person. He certainly wasn’t feeling a close, personal bond with Cormal.

Yeah, he was pretty sure they were just that sort of person.

After walking around aimlessly for a bit, he headed inside, making his way back to Brannal’s rooms, where he found that dinner had arrived. It didn’t seem quite as welcoming when it was set for just one person instead of two, but it still looked like a lovely meal. Perian sat down to eat it, reminding himself that he’d just exerted himself rather more than he had in days.

When he was finished, he settled in front of the fire with a book. This one was on the history of the castle, all the way back to its construction and the work that had gone into making it defensible, especially against demons. It had apparently been partly destroyed during the Great Cataclysm and then rebuilt.

Perian thought about how many lives had been lost in order to rid their world of so many demons. But some demons still lingered, and they still attacked in order to consume human energy, and people still died. Since demons couldn’t be reasoned with, they were killed whenever they were found in order to protect humans. Their numbers were far fewer following the Great Cataclysm, but Perian didn’t know if the ones that were here now had bred here or if they continued to come from the demon realm in reduced numbers. He didn’t think that anyone knew. Thankfully, humans had never again been overrun, not the way it had been before the Great Cataclysm. But they’d never been completely free, either.

The castle had remained defensible, but in more recent decades, Earth Mages had apparently helped shift and modify the stone to allow for the retrofitting of plumbing and larger glass windows. That was pretty amazing. He hadn’t realized they could do that.

Perian was startled from his musings by the sound of the door, and he looked up to find that Brannal had returned.

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