The Enemy's Triumph Read online

  “We still have a lot to do,” Rain reminded him. “We need to find out if we have the resources to afford this many Andinna. We need to figure out the new rations, or we’ll run out of food before we make it back to our home village because I bet everyone who came off those ships is starving.”

  “We can do it at home,” he repeated.

  Rain shrugged and stood up, collecting the papers. Alchan realized he needed to help and began pulling everything into a pile for himself. It took time he didn’t want to waste to get out of the building with everything they needed, but he was getting his way, as he normally did.

  He didn’t feel the least bit guilty, knowing once he had Rain at home, he could at least enjoy the work instead of feeling like he was going to rip his eyes out of his skull.

  It was late, the sun already down when they walked through their front door. Alchan had a perverse enjoyment, thinking of the tall house in Kerit as theirs—his and Rain’s. He had never shared with anyone except family, and family wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. They deposited everything on the desk, and Alchan sat down behind it, watching as Rain left him there.

  When Rain came back, he had a loaf of bread and a plate of fruit and cheese.

  “We missed dinner,” Rain said softly, putting the food down on the corner of the desk. “Let me get us something to drink.”

  Alchan knew he needed to start working while Rain was setting them up for a quieter evening, but he found himself staring at Rain’s ass as the male walked out, completely entranced. It didn’t take long for him to start thinking about what he wanted to do to it once Rain was out of sight. When Rain walked back in, Alchan was rock hard.

  I’ve never been this easy to get a rise out of. I didn’t think sleeping with him was going to make this a problem.

  He always wanted Rain. He wanted Rain no matter who was watching or who might show up. It took all his self-control to get Rain into his bedroom every night instead of taking the male where he stood.

  He’d never had a problem with control before, not over sexual manners. He locked it all away for a long time, but Rain had broken the dam, and now they were both going to suffer the consequences, good and bad.

  When Rain drew close to him with the drinks, Alchan watched with heavily lidded eyes, his mind still wandering as he considered how easy it would be to untie those breeches and bend the mutt over his desk.

  “Alchan? Should we go to bed early?” Rain asked softly, leaning over him. One of Rain’s hands touched his chest and trailed down, feeling Alchan’s problem.

  “No,” Alchan growled. “We need to get this done, as you said. I just wanted to do it here. That can wait.”

  “Okay, but you know…” Rain smirked, and Alchan knew trouble when he saw it. Rain went to his knees next to him, not pulling his hand away.

  “Rain,” he murmured, looking down now at the sapphire blue eyes. “We really do have work.”

  “It would only take a minute.”

  “Let’s finish one task, at least.” He was holding on to every shred of his self-control. One task was probably all he was going to be able to manage. “You keep surprising me.”

  “Why’s that?” Rain’s fun smirk disappeared into a frown.

  “I’d never thought you would be so…confident with your affections,” he managed to say. Rain’s blush made his balls ache.

  “When I like someone, I like to be with him,” Rain explained. “I like to make someone feel like the center of my world. And sex is great. I’m really annoyed I let them…ruin it for me for so long.”

  “I’m not someone you need to work so hard with,” Alchan said gently. Removing Rain’s hand from his crotch, he used it to pull Rain to his feet. “Rain, with you, I just want to be an Andinna. Not the center of anything.”

  “I understand, but I can’t help what I like to do, Alchan. You know that better than anyone.”

  “I do know better.” Releasing Rain, he reached out to grab whatever drink Rain poured for him and took a sip—simple water. Nothing good right before bed, then. “Let’s review the day. We’re not going to fix the rationing problem tonight, and I find myself too tired to deal with it.”

  “The day started with the wyvern report, then you proceeded to have a meeting with Nevyn and Varon. Is there going to be a follow-up tomorrow?” Rain launched back into business without missing a beat, something Alchan respected. He sat down on the other side of the desk, leaving Alchan’s grasp, moving out of his reach. Alchan always noticed when Rain wasn’t within his arm span, able to be grabbed and held.

  “Yes,” he answered, getting down to business. “Nevyn should be meeting with me again early tomorrow. He was supposed to work up a list of possible warriors we can trust with the assignment, but that was probably pushed back until tomorrow. Hopefully, by tomorrow evening, we’ll have our group to send out to the potential nesting spots to drive the wyvern to a better area.”

  Rain was busy scratching everything down, dipping his quill in the ink repeatedly. Alchan watched as he wrote. When Rain looked up, it was a clear indication he was ready for more.

  “I don’t want you doing your rounds tomorrow, not with the gladiators here now. You’ll be vulnerable—”

  “I can turn into a wyvern,” Rain reminded him. “And they know it.”

  “Everyone knows it, but we both know what angry males can do when they feel they have the chance. You’re not going.” He met the sapphire eyes he found himself dreaming about and held the stare.

  “Alchan.” Rain dropped his eyes right after that, the natural need to submit taking over.

  He didn’t much like the annoyed way Rain said his name. He liked it much better when there was an airy quality to it or it was being screamed, but that annoyed tone made him growl. He stood up and walked around the desk, sitting on it next to Rain’s work.

  “Try that again,” he warned. “I know I had to give them mercy, but they hurt you, and I won’t tolerate that happening again. I’m removing the possibility from the situation until I know their mental states a little better. Don’t try to push this boundary.”

  Rain nodded silently, keeping his eyes down. Alchan felt guilty for the hard way he laid down that law and grabbed his chair to sit next to Rain instead of on the other side of the desk.

  “What’s next?” Rain asked softly when Alchan wrapped an arm around his waist and caught his tail to hold with his own.

  “We lost two ships,” he whispered. “I’ve been trying not to think about it. Two ships. One full of adult and young adult males. The other was full of females and children. Rough estimates from the captains assumed they were able to rescue maybe half of the females and children, their priority, and nearly none of the males. There’s nothing I can do about it, no solution to bring those lost at sea back to life, but I want to have a moment in their honor. Do you think we can arrange that before we leave Kerit?”

  “We can do that,” Rain agreed, turning to him. Their mouths were close. It took everything in Alchan not to lean just a little further over and kiss him. He wanted to, but he had rules, and he was desperately trying to follow them.

  I know how to toss cold water on this, and Rain is going to hate me for it.

  “How is your father?” he asked. Rain immediately made a face. “I heard something, but no one wanted to confirm it for me or tell me the details while we were waiting for the ships to dock.”

  “He tried to fly today and met the stone street,” Rain snapped, his frustration with his father, and probably with Alchan for bringing him up, apparent. “Mave tried to stop him, but he took off from her rooftop and fell the entire way down when he lost control.”

  “He’s a good warrior, but I never thought he was the brightest,” Alchan muttered, shaking his head with incredulity.

  “That’s my father you’re talking about,” Rain warned. Alchan raised an eyebrow.

  What’s that saying? Never force a lover to pick between you and family? Apparently, that’s true.

  �
�My apologies. I’ve never experienced it, but I saw you quietly handle not being able to fly. I know it isn’t easy.”

  “Exactly. I chewed him out for it and got the healer. Everything should be fine. Mave is going to keep an even closer eye on him than she already was. He’s not her male, but she’s willing, and I’m here and…”

  “You can go back to help him,” Alchan reminded him. They’d had this talk already, once Zayden was up and moving, but Rain had said no.

  “You know why I won’t do that,” Rain whispered.

  Alchan sighed and leaned in, finally claiming the kiss he wanted. This was why. Rain had told him under no uncertain terms, he wanted to stay with Alchan, do his job, and explore whatever they had together. His father was an adult male with a circle of friends around him. They didn’t need to share their space all the time anymore, which was healthier for both of them.

  Alchan realized his mistake quickly. The kiss didn’t stop fast enough, Rain practically crawling into his lap. He shifted the smaller male on his legs and crotch, positioning Rain to feel exactly what was waiting on them.

  So much for using Zayden to throw cold water over us.

  One of Rain’s arms snaked around his neck while the other slid down between them. Alchan hissed as Rain undid his breeches and grabbed hold of the erection plaguing him.

  “Rain, we’re not in my room.”

  “Then take us there,” Rain whispered on his lips.

  “It’s hard when you’re holding my cock,” Alchan growled but kept it non-threatening. Rain, the brat, stroked it fast, sending Alchan’s mind to other places. He tried to cling to the rules, but he leaned back from the pleasure, absorbed in what Rain was doing to him.

  “If there’s one thing you could break your rules for, what would it be?” Rain asked, hot and heady.

  “I want to take you over my desk,” Alchan answered without thinking.

  “Then do it.”

  He’s fucking daring me to. Varon was right. Rain doesn’t joke around or hold back. He wants everything.

  “Rain.”

  “Alchan.”

  He closed his eyes with a groan as Rain added more pressure.

  He barely heard the door open and close. Alchan’s eyes flew open as Rain’s hand left him. He tried to shove his cock away and tie his breeches, but Rain was having a hard time untangling from him to get off his lap. Neither of them was very effective, tails wrapped up together, and Rain’s wings hitting the desk while Alchan was pinned in the chair. He knew he couldn’t jump up and knock his lover down, so he tried another tactic.

  “Halt,” he ordered loudly to whoever was there. “I’m not suited for company.”

  “What do you mean you aren’t suited for company?” Luykas replied, continuing his steady pace. “I’m your brother. You don’t get to tell me—”

  “Luykas! Don’t come in here,” Rain said loudly. “Please.”

  Alchan gave Rain a look. That wasn’t going to help. It stopped his brother, but only for a heartbeat.

  “What the fuck is going—”

  Alchan knew the moment his brother was behind him, able to see Rain trying to get up from his lap. There was no way to think of it as anything except what it was. There were no explanations Alchan could conjure to make it seem like this wasn’t happening.

  “No,” Luykas gasped.

  “Luykas—”

  “You should leave, Rain.” Whatever Luykas was feeling was carefully covered by the tone of his voice.

  Alchan snarled at that. No one told Rain what to do except him. Rain was his. His brother didn’t get to order his lover around.

  “Rain, you can have a seat behind the desk,” Alchan ordered, overriding his brother. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  I’m not sure my brother will let you come back if I let you leave.

  Rain, shaking hard enough for Alchan to feel it, carefully extracted himself from their embrace and moved back. His breeches were undone as well, the top of his cock sticking out. Alchan couldn’t help but look. His lover’s face was red with embarrassment, but he made it to the other side of the desk, tying up his breeches as he went, and sat down in Alchan’s chair.

  I need to apologize to him later. I can’t imagine a more embarrassing moment in my life, and my grandmother who was the Queen, and she thought every room belonged to her.

  He felt like a boy again, not ready to face the music. Alchan took a deep breath, finished covering himself, and stood slowly, turning to see his brother, rage filling every line of his face.

  “Before you say anything, Luykas, let me make some things very clear. I did not order Rain to do anything with me outside of his duties as my nemari. What you just walked in on is the personal business between two Andinna, outside of our roles and titles.” Alchan met the hard gold eyes of his enraged brother. “Did we consider this might look bad? Yes, but we decided those things didn’t matter to us in the end.”

  “This isn’t okay, Alchan,” Luykas said, everything about him looking taut and held back. Alchan figured if his brother could get away with it, he would have been attacked the moment he got out of the chair. Or maybe even sooner when Rain was no longer at risk of being hurt. Luykas’ gaze flicked back at Rain, causing Alchan to snarl. “Fuck, you…”

  “He’s mine,” Alchan explained as if that was an answer enough. For a dominant female, it would have been perfectly valid. As a bedru, it was in his nature, but nowhere near as socially acceptable.

  “He can’t be yours,” Luykas snapped harshly. “His father is a member of the Company. He’s too young for you. He’s been through things that could make it really easy for you to hurt him. Have you fucking lost your mind, Alchan?”

  “We had all of those discussions.”

  “And you forced him to what? Jerk you off? Suck your cock? Let you fuck him? Even after you had those discussions?”

  It was more vulgar than Luykas generally was. Alchan was a little surprised by the phrasing since his brother still held some very small holdovers from his Elvasi upbringing. He never spoke of sex with that sort of roughness.

  He was clinging to that curiosity, that surprise, to cover a deep rage himself. His brother just accused him of taking someone by force by using his position to get Rain in his lap, and the longer Alchan thought about the words that just came out of Luykas’ mouth, the angrier he grew.

  “Don’t you ever accuse me—”

  “I came on to him,” Rain said from behind him. Alchan closed his eyes, half glad and half upset Rain had cut in like that. He’d been willing to take the blame, but Rain just took that opportunity from him. “When we went camping, I made the first move, and Alchan tried to tell me it was a bad idea, but right after Al Moro Nat, we talked more about it and decided to give it a chance. I started this. He didn’t order me to do anything. He didn’t force me to do anything. This is what I wanted.”

  “Rain…” Luykas seemed shocked enough to deflate. “How far are we talking here? What have you two been doing?”

  “That’s none of your business,” Rain said.

  “Sadly, it is,” Alchan said softly. “You can go, and I can talk to him in private if you wish.”

  “Why?” He heard Rain get up and saw the mutt come into his sight, stepping in front of him. “Why is it anyone’s business?”

  “Because I’m the king,” Alchan reminded him. “Privacy in this matter isn’t my right. It’s something I have to steal for as long as I can.”

  Rain reached up and touched his face. Luykas softly cursed behind him.

  “How did this happen with none of us noticing?” he asked as Alchan leaned his face into Rain’s hand.

  “Varon noticed,” he answered his brother. “Until right now, only he and Nevyn knew anything was going on or possibly going on. They’ve never asked us to confirm it.”

  “What?” Luykas seemed disbelieving. “Varon and Nevyn…Obviously, a priest and his male lover are going to…”

  “Don’t tell anyone,” Rain said, turnin
g away from Alchan. Alchan felt the absence of Rain’s hand like he had an open wound.

  “I should have known something was going on. Alchan’s mood has been better for weeks. How far…I hate asking this, but how far along is this? Are you two just fooling around or…”

  “We have rules,” Alchan said with another sigh. “If Rain sleeps in my room, he consents to be with me that night. If he sleeps in his room, I’ll leave him be, taking it as a sign he needs some space from me and how I…you understand. We’re physical.” He would elaborate more if his brother needed it, but he hoped Luykas would be satisfied with that much.

  “I do. So, I’m going to guess that I just walked in on an accident?”

  “It was my fault,” Rain whispered, a youthful guilt in the words. “I don’t really care about the rules.”

  “No…of course, you don’t,” Luykas muttered, stretching out the words sarcastically. “Mave…Zayden…” Luykas lifted his arms and dropped them. “You two are fucking.”

  “Yes,” Rain said defiantly.

  “Don’t act like it’s a good thing, Rain.” Luykas shook his head, rubbing his temples. “Alchan, if you weren’t the king, I’d drag you outside and gut you.”

  “If I weren’t the king, this wouldn’t be a problem to anyone,” he retorted.

  “Good point,” his brother conceded. He turned back to them, opening his eyes. “Tell me the truth. This is consensual and…”

  “It is…” Alchan realized his brother needed to hear some things Alchan wasn’t ready to tell Rain. “Rain, can you head upstairs? I need to have a private conversation with my brother.”

  Rain nodded, and as he left, his hand trailed over Alchan’s chest, beckoning him to follow once he was done talking. Alchan couldn’t help but watch Rain leave.

  “You’re in deep,” Luykas said in a hushed voice. “Oh, Alchan…”

  “He wanted me. I’ve never been…wanted like this before, and it was the end of me. I couldn’t tell him no, and I tried. I still can’t,” he explained to his brother. “He’s mine, and no one else can have him. You have to understand, Luykas. I never thought about this or wanted this, but he…he kissed me and I…I’m not used to these sorts of feelings.”