“You were a good leader, Chand. You were a great Arch Lich. It’s taken us a while to get on board and understand that, but the truth never hides for long. And get used to seeing me. I won’t stop until you get your crown back,” Simon repeated.
Chander stood and gave his old friend a hug. He was nowhere ready to be Arch Lich again, but he appreciated that there were at least some out there who saw him as their future. Sigimund was not going to allow them to prosper and for their sake, he did hope the necromancers were able to unseat him, but he wanted no part of that fight. He’d spent too much of his reign going head-to-head with people like Sigimund, and it had damaged his standing with his people. And it seemed to be to the detriment of all necromancers. It had given the elders a constant platform to tear apart the decisions he made and had resulted in his own poor reputation.
They’d had no confidence in his abilities, and that was why there had been barely a whimper when he’d finally resigned the title that apparently, few were happy he had in the first place. Chander refused to feel guilty about it; time would tell what legacy he was left with and whether he would ever have a future with the Order of Necromancia. He wasn’t the same man who had held the crown of the Arch Lich, and that was something to be proud of. The last year had changed the way he viewed the world around him and more importantly, how he viewed himself.
After Simon and the Reverent Knights walked out, Chander slipped his fingers between Alaric’s daggers and his body and pressed his head against his chest. Two strong arms wrapped around him, and happiness filled him. No matter what job he held or what race he called himself, his focus was on the true gift Fate had given him, and that was Alaric. The gift of caring and liking himself was one he’d discovered on his own and with the help of the men in this room who loved him. Although he been born centuries before and overcome a near-death experience, his life had only just begun.
Chapter 47
Saturday night found Alaric reclining on the bed he shared with Chander with the man in question straddling him. He’d managed to get Chander naked but so far, they hadn’t done much more than make out. Alaric was still dressed in his T-shirt and pants though they were open enough to expose his underwear. Pleasantly aroused, he was in no rush to get to the finish line. He was enjoying this time simply to be with Chander. But that didn’t mean he was above teasing the man.
“So, tell me about your whoring days,” Alaric said close to his ear after nibbling on the lobe.
Chander pulled back. “I thought you didn’t want to discuss my past.”
“I was fairly confident I didn’t, but I’m curious as to just how many thousands of men have seen you naked.”
Chander gave him a pewter eye-roll. “It certainly wasn’t anywhere close to a thousand, and none of it meant anything. It was just sex.”
“I’ll remind you I came to our bed as a virgin.”
Chander rubbed his knuckles lightly up the rigid outline of Alaric’s sex covered in gray cotton. “That’s because this didn’t work until you met me.”
“That waited two thousand years for you.”
“Not my fault you’re older than me,” Chander countered. “Fate didn’t match us up until I was born. Since you are the eldest, the fact that we didn’t meet until last year is on you.”
Alaric swept his lips over Chander’s lightly. “I don’t think so. I’m a sentinel and you’re a necromancer. You could have summoned me at any time. You were probably a teenager when you first heard my name.”
“That’s true. Bax and Ben used to talk about you.”
“And yet there I waited for you.”
“You heard my name. You could have dropped by to say hi,” Chander teased.
Alaric smirked. “I didn’t know much about you, but I did not like the fact that your people kept mine imprisoned. If I had dropped by, it would have been to yell at you…except thanks to that asshole Sigimund, I wasn’t able to do what I wanted.”
“I wonder how different things would have been without that spell.”
Running a hand up one thigh, Alaric tugged Chander close for another kiss. “I guess we’ll never know, but I’m glad I didn’t pop in and catch you in bed with some guy.”
Chander chuckled. “That would have been embarrassing.”
“You want to know what was embarrassing?” Alaric asked. “Try meeting your mate and then suddenly your dick starts working. Only you can’t jerk off because of a spell, so you have to try and socialize with your men while holding half your body behind a wall, so no one wonders why you’re pointing at them with something they all believed at that time was only used to piss out of.”
Leaning their foreheads together, Chander practically giggled. “You poor thing.”
“Baby, you okay after our little visit from Simon this afternoon?” Alaric asked while smoothing his hands up Chander’s pale skin.
Pulling back so their eyes would meet again, Chander nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m trying not to feel guilty for not wanting to help the necromancers, but I still think it’s the right decision.”
“They’ll never deserve you.”
“I suppose that’s up for debate, but I know I can’t just pretend I’m not the Arch Lich. Fate chose me at birth. It’s impossible to believe I’ll be able to get through the rest of eternity without assuming my title again.”
Alaric pressed their lips together and darted his tongue in for good measure before ending the kiss. “In the meantime, the Sentinel Brotherhood is happy to have you, and we’ll miss you when we lose you to the Order of Necromancia.”
“Won’t be long before all the sentinels are here.”
“I can’t wait.”
Chander slid his hands under Alaric’s T-shirt. “Why am I the only one naked here?”
“You tell me.”
“My mate is good at distraction.”
“Maybe I’d be willing to remove the rest of my clothes if you did a favor for me.”
“Anything.”
“Switch to your demonic form.”
Chander scrunched up his nose. “You sure? Last time we did that, he bit you and you wound up coming in your pants.”
“I know,” Alaric said dryly. “But yeah, I want to know how sensitive those wings are.”
Alaric watched in anticipation as Chander’s eyes switched to red, his fangs popped out over his bottom lip and finally, a gorgeous pair of green and black wings emerged. He raised a hand and used a fingertip to trail over one of those pretty appendages. Chander shivered in response.
“Feels good?”
“Almost as good as when you touch my dick,” Chander confessed as his back arched. “But it feels weird to be like this when we’re having sex.”
Adding his other hand to trace over the pattern created by Fate, Alaric watched as Chander’s shaft jerked and began to leak. “Why is that, baby?”
After a little moan, he said, “Well, a dragon shifter doesn’t unleash his beast before he gets down and dirty.”
“You aren’t a shifter,” Alaric replied as he continued to torment him.
“No, but my demon is definitely an entity inside me. I’m okay with biting you,” he panted out. “But this is practically a threesome.”
Alaric snickered. “Not hardly.”
His fierce mate gave him a very un-Chander-like pout. “Can’t you at least take off your shirt?”
More than willing to start moving things along, Alaric raised up enough to grab the back of his T-shirt and yank it over his head. He reached over and grabbed the lube from the end table and set it down next to him on the bed. Then he tugged his mate close for a deep kiss as he returned to trailing his hands over Chander’s wings. Chander gave another shiver as they tongued around his fangs. Chander gripped his pecs and began kneading them.
“I love your muscles.”
“You’ve got a pretty sexy body yourself.”
“At least you can’t see my ribs anymore.”
Alaric cupped his cheek and rubbed his thu
mb over his cheekbone. “You look good healthy.”
They kissed and Chander humped the air above him. “I want you so much,” he whispered.
“It hardly shows,” Alaric joked as he latched his teeth on to one hard nipple.
“If your plan is to make me come by playing with my wings, I don’t know why you need lube.”
Alaric snatched the bottle and squeezed some out onto his fingers. “Not my plan at all.” Once it was warmed up, he reached behind him and used two digits to play around Chander’s hole. His mate let out a long, low moan and pushed back against Alaric’s touch.
“I need to lose the wings, or you’re going to be shooting into your undies,” Chander informed him.
“I want to come inside you, so tell your demon to behave.”
Chander closed his eyes and his wings slowly disappeared behind him. Then he leaned down and all but mashed their lips together. Luckily, he’d retracted his fangs—otherwise the action might have been a painful one. As they kissed, Alaric worked his two slick fingers into Chander and began the fun work of preparing him for intercourse.
“I don’t know why you’re still wearing pants,” Chander gasped out between moans as Alaric found his prostate and rubbed it.
“Be patient.”
When Alaric was confident he wouldn’t cause Chander any discomfort, he pulled his fingers out and replaced them with three. Chander broke their most recent kiss and began to mutter a litany of curse words and incoherent sounds. It was something he did each time they made love, and it was music to Alaric’s ears. He fucked Chander’s ass with his slippery digits as his own dick throbbed in the confines of his boxer briefs.
“In me. Oh fuck. Feels good. Yes, Alaric,” Chander huffed out.
Those words, the lust in his pewter eyes, and the ecstasy on his face were ramping up Alaric’s desire. His plan had been to slowly make love to Chander, but it wasn’t going to work out that way. Alaric was ready to burst, and Chander was pleading with him to get inside. Chander’s dick was dark red and dripping, and the small necromancer was bouncing on his fingers like he couldn’t get enough. Lust was proving too great a foe for Alaric to battle against. He stopped toying with Chander’s ass and rocketed up to grab him in his arms. Once his mate was secure against him, he rolled them so Chander was underneath.
Chander responded by wrapping his legs around his back and locking his ankles. Alaric reached behind him and gripped his calves. He carefully escaped the cage Chander had created and lowered his feet to the mattress. Chander’s gaze was confused as he stared up at him. He looked incredible, his curls mussed and his lips swollen from their kisses. His body, glistening with perspiration, was spread out below Alaric like a feast. Another time, he promised himself, when his hunger wasn’t so strong, he would use his mouth on every inch of him.
Alaric pushed his pants and underwear down in one smooth movement. He pulled the garments off the rest of the way and tossed them onto the floor. Next to Chander, the lube laid atop the sheet. Alaric seized it and used it first to make sure the demonic hybrid was good and ready. Then he rubbed it over his own cock. Chander whined as he watched.
“Put your hands on the headboard,” Alaric ordered.
Chander reached up and slapped his palms against the padded surface. “Come on,” he demanded.
Alaric grabbed the undersides of Chander’s thighs and pushed his legs up until his knees were practically at his ears. He pushed his dick into Chander’s ready hole and they stared at one another as he slid in all the way to the hilt. Alaric paused just long enough to allow Chander to adjust before he began driving in and out of him at a brutal pace. He knew he wasn’t hurting Chander; he was yelling out for Alaric to please hurry the fuck up. Hammering his ass harder, Alaric did as he was told. Their wet skin slapping together was loud in the quiet of the room and Alaric’s blood heated further at the primal sound. Electricity danced down his spine and he knew he was close. That thought had barely registered when Chander let out a shout and his body clamped down hard on Alaric’s shaft. His orgasm would not be denied, and Alaric gave out a yell of his own as he emptied his balls into him. When his brain next registered thought, he realized he was still grinding against Chander.
He stopped and took stock of the situation. Chander was still trying to catch his breath, but he was smiling and there were thick white ropes decorating his belly and chest. Alaric eased out as Chander sighed and then grabbed his T-shirt to clean up the mess he’d so willingly created.
“Shit, that was hot,” Chander said once he was no longer panting.
Alaric threw the soiled shirt onto the floor, lay down, and hauled Chander up against his chest. “Damn right.”
Chander pressed a kiss to his pec and then snuggled close. “I’m glad you’re mine.”
“I couldn’t be happier Fate chose you for me.”
“My only regret is that I ever caused you sorrow.”
“Chand, we wouldn’t be where we are today if not for that photo. It broke us apart, but we overcame it. Our relationship is stronger because we already know what it’s like to be separated.”
“Yeah, it was a fucking nightmare.”
Alaric kissed his tangled hair. “Not one we ever have to live through again.”
“Nope, because I no longer like punishing myself, and I sure as hell don’t want to punish you. I love you, Alaric.”
“Nothing will take me away from you again. I love you, too.” Alaric pressed his lips to Chander’s curls one more time and thanked Fate he’d been given a mate so worthy of being cherished. Their love had been built on a solid foundation that would only grow sturdier as they journeyed through their immortal lives together. They were a team ready to take on whatever challenges were pushed into their path, and Alaric looked forward to each hurdle. Chander might not always be able to rule the sentinels alongside him; Fate had chosen him for more, but whenever the Order of Necromancia was ready, Alaric was going to make sure no one ever took the Arch Lich for granted again. It was a sentinel’s duty, after all, to defend his necromancer and Alaric knew Chander was bound to him so strongly nothing would ever tear them apart again.
About the Author
Jessamyn Kingley lives in Western Maryland with her husband of nearly two decades. She considers it a bad day when the lovely men in her head refuse to speak to her. When she is not writing, Jessamyn is pretending to be one of the magickind she loves to create in the rich world of video gaming.
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Fall of the Arch Lich (D'Vaire, Book 6) Page 33
