Page 11 of Over the Emerald Valley
“What will you report back to your master, Temaj?”
Temaj let loose a chuckle. “To Abasi? Ha! Nothing at all. I speak mainly with the other members of the harem.”
“He won’t ask what you’ve learned of me?”
“The viceroy couldn’t care less what I do in a man’s bed so long as there are no complaints. You’re not planning to complain, are you? I’m still perfectly willing to earn my place.” He’d like to emphasize the point with a meaningful shift of his hips or a hand wrapped around Solon’s length, but something told him advances like those would drive the man from the bed. And Temaj wanted him to stay.
“I will say nothing.”
Temaj huffed. “Nothing? Why, that’s almost worse than a complaint. You must insinuate to anyone who inquires how fabulous I was. Tell them you’ve never seen someone so limber nor heard someone so wanton. Tell them how prettily I beg and how hot my mouth is when you slam your cock down my thr—”
“Laying it on thick, aren’t you?”
“Skies, no. I’m all those things and more. I’d happily show you if you could bring yourself to stoop so low as to fuck…” Temaj didn’t think of himself as a slave anymore. He was a member of the viceroy’s harem and a treasured concubine, and his place in the palace was a great deal more comfortable than a slave's. His status higher. But the urge to throw Solon’s words back at him was too tempting. He licked his lips. “A slave.”
Heat darkened Solon’s brown eyes; interest widened his pupils. He wasn’t immune to Temaj’s charms, but still he held back.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” Solon’s voice grew serious. “I’m sorry.”
Temaj shrugged it off and cuddled closer to Solon’s chest. The man was like the sun itself, putting out warmth that made Temaj wish to cling even tighter. “I can think of a few ways you could make it up to me.”
“I’m sure you could.” Solon gathered Temaj’s wandering hand and pressed it to the bed between them. “But I have a full day ahead of me. I need to get ready. And you have stories to spin of our exploits for your comrades. Just please refrain from making me out to be the fool.”
“You mean I shouldn’t tell them you asked me to call you Daddy?” Temaj arranged his lips to a pout.
Solon gaped at him. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
“Don’t.”
“What’s to stop me?”
“What do you want?”
“Request me again tonight.” Temaj pressed his fingers to Solon’s mouth before he could protest. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but request me again. Let me sleep next to you in this giant fluffy cloud of a bed and brag to the others about how you pounded me through the feather mattress. Please?”
Solon raised his brows and glanced down at Temaj’s fingers.
Temaj pulled them away. “Sorry.”
“Why do you want me to request you?”
“Why not?”
Solon shook his head. “No, truthfully, Temaj, tell me why you want to stay with me. Are your own lodgings not adequate? Are you avoiding someone? Has the viceroy put you up to this? If there’s something I can help you with, let me know because I can’t see why you’d want to linger another night in the company of a man who just wants to be left alone.”
“First of all, you may say you want to be alone, but it’s not the impression you give.”
“What impression do I give?”
“I see the way you look at me when you let your guard down. Second, there’s nothing wrong with my life. I like it here. But we don’t get nearly enough visitors, and you’re the pharaoh’s general. I want your stories. And finally, as we’ve established, it’ll do my ego good to have you request me. Is that not reason enough?”
Solon seemed to consider it, which wasn’t a no and gave Temaj a good feeling about the outcome.
“Please?” He put on his best puppy-dog expression. “I won’t be a bother.”
“Now you’re lying.”
