Page 22 of Dragon Fight

The food was delicious.After having been healed by Glimmer, my body seemed to be more receptive to the different flavours in each dish, with the different herbs or spices exploding on my tongue. More than that, it was as though I heard, sensed, smelled, felt, everything so much more intensely. Was this how Glimmer had felt, emerging from a shell of pain out into a world that dizzied her with all of this array of stimulation?

Somewhat, she told me sleepily.But no pain now.

No pain, I agreed, feeling like a flirtatious maid as I glanced through my lashes at my husband and then, more surreptitiously, my lovers.

We hadn’t been able to explore things much further between us physically, for obvious reasons, and considering a sexual romp after an attempted assassination seemed insane. Yet, as I stared at each of them in turn, I began to feel warmth rising from deep in my core. As my eyes slid across Flynn’s forearms, watching the muscles flex as he cut into his lamb, he paused for just a moment, as if feeling my eyes on him, and looked up, to stare back at me with blue eyes that glittered then darkened in response. I watched Soren wipe his fingers with a cloth napkin and remembered just how his fingertips had felt on my skin, plucking, stroking. I took a deep breath as the memory stirred in me. He glanced my way, at first seemingly to monitor what I was doing, then when he noted my attention, his gaze filled with increasing heat. Ged seemed to anticipate the shift of my attention to him, lifting his fork and chewing his food with undue care then licking his lips sensually, before shooting me a wink. And then there was Brom.

He had laid his fork down, not bothering to even pretend to eat, and when I looked at him, he turned my hand over so he could trace his fingers across the sensitive palm. He smiled wickedly when I shivered in response. I darted a glance down the table but saw Bernard and Kay were caught up in conversation, though when Kay’s attention turned to us for a moment, her face took on a thoughtful expression. Whatever idea had crossed her mind was pushed to the side, however, as the butler, Jonathon, then appeared.

“Milord.” Jonathon’s voice was rich and resonant and, although he addressed his master with correct courtesy, there was an inexplicable dimension to his tone. “I have decanted the port.”

“But, Bernard, we were going to plan the party,” Kay said and her words struck me as odd. She was mistress of the house and Jonathon was one of her staff, so why would her wishes be overturned by his announcement?

“The twenty-year-old one?” Bernard’s face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen at any point when he’d been speaking with his wife. “Gods, was it corked? I was sure that cork would have fallen to bits.”

“It was a close call, milord. But, no, I managed to open the bottle without incident.”

Port, corking, the age of the bottle; none of this was of any interest to me. But I was struck by the way in which Jonathon spoke of the process, the reverent tone in his voice, and how Bernard’s enthusiasm had a similar sense of veneration.

“Well, come on, lads,” Lord Emberly told the other men. “Eat up. Roasted lamb is a pleasure, but nothing matches a well-aged port and some sharp cheese.”

“I’ll have to decline,” Brom said and I saw a strange expression flicker across Kay’s face, a sort of hopeful yearning. “While Pippin seems much recovered—”

“You’d only be gone for an hour or two,” Bernard said, before looking at me. “Pippa can hardly take a turn for the worse in that time and Kay can sit with her.”

“If she did and I wasn’t in the room, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself,” Brom replied quietly but firmly. “It’s been a long, draining day for both of us and right now I think all we want is to retire to bed and sleep.”

Well, he was half right. I wanted the bed part, very much.

“We’ll have to decline as well,” Soren said, with the brisk manner of a drill sergeant. “These lazy bones might think they can use this time to sleep off a hangover, but we’ve got a young dragon to train.” He turned to Brom. “You’ve got a beach within walking distance?” Brom nodded. “Then we’ll get young Glimmer strengthening those pectoralis muscles by leaping off the cliffs onto the soft sand. That way we’ll have no need for horses.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Bernard looked slightly affronted, not so much because he was offended, but because it appeared he couldn’t think of any reason why any man wouldn’t want to take the opportunity to sample his port. He looked up at Jonathon, again, with a smile on his face. “I guess it’s just the two of us.”

Bernard treated Kay with warmth, affection and respect, as far as I could see. He seemed content to let her have her way, except when her ideas got a little too outlandish. But I wondered at the nature of their physical relationship as I watched the way Bernard stared up at Jonathon and the butler stared back.

Love, need, desire: I knew what they looked like now. But seeing them sweep across the faces of the two men as they looked at each other sent a cold wave of shock washing over me. And when I shifted my attention to Kay, I saw that all of her irrepressible warmth had leached away, leaving her face quite naked with pain.

Love between two men was neither approved nor disapproved of in Nevermere. Some of the more radical branches of the church tried to say that it was a sin against the gods, but as they did not direct the same ire against two women who were lovers, the reasoning became apparent. Men were to impregnate women, providing us with the next generation of citizens. My mind turned over the fact that Brom had no siblings. My mother had died trying to provide my father with another child. But, perhaps Kay…? I set my fork down, my appetite having deserted me.

“Finished, my love?” Brom asked me and I nodded.

“Thank you so much for dinner,” I said, but my voice was a little wavery. “It was delicious.”

Kay recovered immediately, beaming up at the two of us as we got to our feet.

“I’m glad. Sleep well, all of you, and hopefully tomorrow will be far less adventurous.”

The five ofus climbed the stairs, and, with a quick glance down the hallway to make sure we were unobserved, we all slipped into the room I shared with Brom.

“Gods, Pippin…” Ged groaned, tugging me closer and claiming my mouth, kissing me until I pulled away. “Tell me we can all be together tonight. After watching you—”

“Yes.” I said, then kissed him back, because once one hunger had been satisfied, another had risen in its place, stoked by Brom’s hand on my skin, and my close contemplation of all my men. But as Ged started to pull my shirt free of my pants, I turned around to face Brom. I had held my question until we were away from any listening ears, but I wanted to pursue my earlier line of thought.

He was watching Ged’s hands with an intent gaze, his eyes tracking each inch of skin as it was revealed. I really didn’t want to change the mood, but I had to know. Ged finished unbuttoning my shirt, bared my breasts to the room as he pressed his mouth to the back of my neck, the prickle of his beard making me shiver.

“Brom…” My attempt to frame my question was curtailed into a gasp as Ged’s clever fingers found my nipples and tugged at them, creating a very distracting sensation between my legs. I put my hands over his and captured his fingers, so that I could focus. “Brom, what is the nature of your father’s relationship with his butler?”

It was a rude thing to just blurt out, or to even ask at all, but something about the situation meant that I couldn’t just let it be. The whole room went quiet, Ged’s hands grasping mine. As I waited for an answer, I watched the looks that they all exchanged, as though a form of permission was being sought and granted.

---