Resurrection Of The Fallen

by Jessamyn Kingley

  The waiter appeared and they ordered their steaks. Over the course of the week, they’d discovered they had very similar tastes and often ordered the same thing. It still didn’t keep Conley from trying to sneak things from Drystan’s plate.

  “So back to our previous discussion,” Conley began when their server disappeared. “Not being intimate. Does that include everything? Like our first kiss will be at the mating ceremony?”

  “Are you nuts? No. I’m going to kiss you later.”

  He thought that sounded promising. “I look forward to it.”

  “I’m just not going to do it in your apartment.”

  “Scared you’ll set aside your rule about waiting?” Conley asked.

  “You’ve got mirrors in your place; you don’t need me to answer that.”

  “Don’t you trust me to put a halt to it?”

  “I’ve seen you looking at me,” Drystan said with a wink. “No, I don’t. I think you’d have us both out of our clothes faster than you kicked Vann’s ass in training.”

  Conley’s blood drained south as he thought about them naked together. It was probably time to change the subject. “How come I haven’t had the chance to kick your ass yet?”

  “You may try, but I doubt you will succeed,” Drystan remarked before leaning close. “You may not know this, but I’m a Reverent Knight.”

  “As it so happens, so am I.”

  Drystan’s eyes went comically wide. “I had no idea.”

  “Since I know you have nothing planned tomorrow besides working, I can hand you your ass then.”

  “I had other plans, but I suppose I can accommodate a thorough thrashing to our cocky new Reverent Knight.”

  “Other plans? Bullshit, all you do is work and visit your kid.”

  “That was the old me,” Drystan said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I have a mate now. He requires a great deal of care. I have to take him out, make him feel pretty, and shit like that.”

  Conley barked out a laugh. “Men aren’t pretty.”

  “We can debate adjectives if you like, but I think as your mate I get to call you what I want.”

  “Such arrogance. I have to like your compliments for them to be effective.”

  “Not necessarily, I just have to express some you’ll like so you will ignore the ones you don’t.”

  “How does that work?”

  “Well, I call you pretty and then I tell you how incredible your ass is.”

  “Kind of obsessed with my ass, aren’t you?”

  “I dream of it,” Drystan said. “Can you imagine what I do when I wake up?”

  Conley grew warm thinking about Drystan jerking off. “Okay, now I understand your philosophy about couching the bad compliments with the good ones.”

  “I’m glad I illustrated my point.”

  Their steaks arrived and Conley’s eyes nearly crossed at the delicious aroma. The only thing on the planet that smelled better was the man sitting across from him.

  “You look like you are about to confess your undying devotion to your dinner,” Drystan remarked.

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  “Someday I’m going to put that look on your face.”

  “Keep it up, and it’ll be sooner than you think,” Conley promised before digging into his meal.

  * * *

  Leaving the restaurant, Conley decided to take the initiative and slid his palm into Drystan’s. The other fallen knight gave his hand a squeeze and then offered him a smile.

  “I’m still not sleeping with you tonight,” Drystan said.

  “I don’t think I’ve watched enough porn yet to even know what I’m doing anyway.”

  “Had to put that image in my head, didn’t you?”

  “Of me jerking off while I’m watching porn and looking forward to doing all that good shit with you? Oh yeah, I did.”

  “I really wish we weren’t impervious to temperature extremes so I could take a frigid shower.”

  “From what I understand, it gets hot as hell here in Vegas, so I’m kind of glad we have that talent,” Conley said.

  “Yeah, wait until summer. Everyone will be bitching about it.”

  “Speaking of summer, that’s when the fallen knight annual conference is, right?”

  “Yes, still several months away but we can go over the preliminary plans for it this weekend if you want.”

  “I’d like that. Was it something you borrowed from the dragons? I know the other shifters followed their example.”

  “Believe it or not, I started doing them within a couple of years of my resurrection,” Drystan said. “It seemed like a smart idea to get everyone together and exchange ideas, go over law changes, and things like that.”

  “Only difference now is we can’t invite everyone, right?”

  “Yes, we try to get as many as we can but we have to leave a skeleton staff around the country to handle things during the conference. Most of the large offices that have to leave people behind will rotate attendees so everyone gets a chance to go at some point.”

  “It’s here in Vegas?”

  “Yes, that way most of our office can go and we can still facilitate any issues at Council Headquarters. We even bring Kyle.”

  “What’s the deal with him anyway?”

  “You mean why doesn’t he carry a weapon or cuffs, and why does he break shit all the time?” Drystan asked.

  “Yeah, he doesn’t seem like he’s a typical fallen knight.”

  “Can you imagine the average fallen knight doing nothing but administrative duties?”

  “Now that you mention it, no.”

  “I used to rotate people, which meant we were in a constant state of disarray. One person would do things one way and the next the opposite,” Drystan said. “So, two centuries ago after the Council merger and our responsibilities doubled I asked Chand to resurrect someone who wasn’t a warrior. I wound up with Kyle.”

  “He’s good at managing the office.”

  “Yes, but he’s a menace to machines everywhere,” Drystan stated as he opened the door to their apartment building. Conley couldn’t believe he had hardly noticed they had arrived at their destination.

  After riding the elevator up to Conley’s floor, they got off and made the short walk to his door. Dropping Drystan’s hand, he reached up, grabbed the lapels of his mate’s suit jacket and yanked him down. With no hesitation, he pressed their lips together. Drystan stiffened for a second as if surprised before releasing the tension in his body. Licking his way into Conley’s mouth, Drystan took over the kiss. This was no gentle first time. Drystan plundered and turned Conley’s whole world upside down.

  Fused together, Drystan took a step forward and pinned Conley against the wooden surface at his back. There was not a part of Conley that wasn’t pressed up against Drystan’s tall length. He moaned at the exquisite pleasure as his sex thickened beneath the zipper of his dress slacks.

  Drystan had been wise to stick to kissing outside of the apartment. If they were inside, Conley would have done exactly what Drystan expected. As their bodies heated, he wanted to rip and tear away at the expensive suit covering his man. He ached to not only see the muscled physique he knew Drystan kept hidden but to touch it. Conley wanted to lick, suck, and run his fingers over the entire length of him.

  Conley bit down on Drystan’s bottom lip when he tried to pull their mouths apart. He heard a groan and then Drystan managed to extricate himself and took a step backward to create some space between them. Setting aside the desire to scream or beg for him to continue, Conley focused on getting oxygen into his burning lungs while staring at the disheveled, sexy man in front of him.

  “Wow,” Drystan said after a few minutes of stunned silence.

  “Yeah.”

  “Suddenly, four weeks sounds like an eternity.”

  “At least we can practice kissing in the meantime.”

  “We get any better and we might become the first fallen knights to
spontaneously combust.”

  Conley let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah.”

  “Good night, Conley.”

  “Better get plenty of sleep. You’ll need it for your ass-kicking tomorrow.”

  “I’m going to jerk off,” Drystan revealed before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. “Twice. I shouldn’t have a problem sleeping after that.”

  Conley closed his eyes at the delicious image Drystan produced in his brain. “Good night, Drystan.”

  Chapter 35

  It wasn’t easy to make a fallen knight sweat, and Drystan had always imagined if he was dripping with perspiration it would be while doing something much more interesting with Conley than getting his ass kicked. But here he was on a Saturday afternoon with his dark T-shirt plastered to his chest, lying on the thick mats of one of the fallen knight gyms and wondering how long he had to catch his breath before Conley the Cruel attacked again.

  Shimmering into invisibility, Drystan closed his eyes and allowed his senses to find Conley. He was close, he knew that much but the little fucker was so fast it was impossible to track him. The air around him shifted slightly and he reached behind him just before Conley’s boot struck his spine. Drystan managed to get his hand around Conley’s ankle but it turned out to be a very bad thing when Conley’s other foot came out of nowhere and connected with the side of his head.

  Reflexively his grip on Conley relaxed as his body was thrown off balance. Before he could right himself, Conley shoved him from behind. Drystan landed on his face on the mat and before he could blink, his arms were pulled to the small of his back and his wrists were cuffed. It was humiliating. The power in the cuffs which nullified other magickind only dulled a fallen knight enough that Drystan lost the ability to keep himself hidden from view.

  Turning his head, he was gratified to see Conley as sweaty as he was. At least the beatdown hadn’t been a total cakewalk for the other fallen knight.

  “How’d I do?” Conley asked with a tired grin.

  “I actually kind of hate you right now.”

  “Just for that, I’m leaving the cuffs on.”

  “You do that, and I’m going to call Aloisa and see if she can find a room for you in her big, ugly house.”

  “No need to get nasty,” Conley commented as he released the handcuffs.

  Drystan lifted his torso from the floor and raised himself into a sitting position. “How the fuck are you so fast?”

  “I guess I was just resurrected this way,” Conley said with a shrug before handing Drystan a bottle of water.

  “Remind me to have a few choice words with the Arch Lich.”

  “He still avoiding you?”

  “I called him this morning to invite him to our mating ceremony,” Drystan said. “I got his voicemail. That’s not unusual; he hardly remembers to charge the damn thing but it was weird he texted me back. He would normally call.”

  “What did the text say?”

  “He said he’d be delighted to come, and then he asked if we were going to exchange mating bands like shifters do,” Drystan revealed as Conley sat and stretched out his legs next to him.

  “Are we?”

  “We probably should; we’re going to a dragon court for the ceremony.”

  “Good point. Is that what you told him?”

  “I told him I hadn’t talked to you about it yet but I guessed we would.”

  “Wonder why he wanted to know that?”

  “Well, that’s when it really got weird because the next thing he asked was if he could get the rings for us as a gift.”

  “Gifts are not necessary, but people do give them at these things, right?”

  “Sometimes, but the rings are usually handled by the couple,” Drystan replied.

  “Did you tell him no, then?”

  “No, I said I would discuss it with you.”

  “I don’t know anything about rings. I didn’t even consider having one until a few seconds ago.”

  “Once Trystan moved to Court D’Vaire and had his mating ceremony there, I started thinking if I ever found my mate I’d want to do it like that,” Drystan remarked.

  “Is this the point where I’m supposed to apologize for taking so long to be resurrected?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right. I’m ever so sorry I was dead and not here.”

  “You’re still dead.”

  “Walking dead not dead dead.”

  “Anyway, rings,” Drystan said, bringing them back to the point. “I want them but like you I haven’t the foggiest notion about styles and such.”

  “So, do we just let the guy who turned us into the aforementioned walking dead do this nice thing for us?” Conley asked.

  “Works for me. I guess I’ll text Chand since he’s still being strange.”

  “This ever happened before?”

  “With Chand avoiding me like the plague? No.”

  “We could arrest him for not stealing Killian the Dwyer’s crown,” Conley offered.

  “How about we consider it as a last resort?” Drystan asked as he got to his feet.

  “Done deal. Want to go make out?”

  “I need food first,” Drystan said, reaching down to give Conley a hand getting to his feet.

  “Whose turn is it to buy?”

  “Mine.”

  “You got lunch.”

  “You bought breakfast and dinner last night.”

  “All right, but I don’t feel like wearing anything fancy.”

  Drystan grinned. “Please tell me you are as tired as I am.”

  “I may be fast, but you aren’t half bad at hand-to-hand.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Conley replied. “Hey, you ever had sushi?”

  “Yeah, and you’ll love it. Let’s get cleaned up so we can eat.”

  * * *

  Drystan dropped Conley’s hand so he could open the door to Redmilla’s. They had just enjoyed a great dinner and as Drystan had predicted, Conley had enjoyed his sushi. After eating, they’d both agreed a beer sounded great and headed to the favorite watering hole of the fallen knights.

  Conley strode in with Drystan in his wake. Redmilla was in her usual spot and pouring out drinks to waiting patrons. Ramona was at the end of the long wooden bar and as Conley got closer to her stool, she waved him over. Drystan came to a halt next to him, greeted Ramona, waved at Redmilla to get a drink and was content to let Conley chat with his friend.

  “We picked a date for our mating ceremony,” he heard Conley say.

  “That’s awesome,” Ramona exclaimed. “We did too.”

  “When is it?”

  “Next week. It’s going to be a very low-key thing. When is yours?”

  “Congratulations,” Conley said. “Ours is in a month.”

  Drystan smiled at the smugness in his tone. It was obvious the other fallen knight was happy their date was set and they could both look forward to being bonded. The pair continued to chat about their respective relationships and then switched to work gossip as Drystan gratefully took his beer from Redmilla and turned away from the bar to look around the room. It was then he saw Vann and Roman at a table in the back. Drystan’s gaze locked with Vann’s and he saw his Venerable Knight grin.

  “Hey Drystan, you too good to sit with us now?” Vann hollered.

  “Can’t you see Conley is talking to Ramona?” he shouted back.

  Conley turned to him and asked, “You want to go sit with those idiots?”

  “I don’t mind staying here if you want to keep talking with Ramona.”

  “Don’t stick around on my account,” Ramona said. “I’m just going to spend the rest of the night enjoying the view.”

  “See you Monday,” Conley replied and the two exchanged high fives before he slipped his palm into Drystan’s and all but dragged him over to the table with their Venerables.

  “Are you always here?” Conley asked as he dropped into a chair.

  “Hasn’t he figured out we don’
t have lives yet?” Roman asked Drystan.

  “Apparently not.”

  “The real question is, what are you two doing here?” Roman asked.

  “Getting a beer?” Conley replied.

  “If I had a mate, I think I’d rather be drinking beer in bed,” Roman commented.

  “I’m saving all my sexiness for our mating ceremony,” Conley retorted as he leaned back in his chair and took a swig of his drink.

  “Does that mean you’ve picked a date?” Vann asked.

  “Four weeks,” Drystan revealed.

  “Roman, our little Reverent Knights are all grown up,” Vann said with a fake sniff.

  “Who you calling little?” Conley asked.

  “You’re an asshole,” Drystan stated to Vann.

  “We’re all assholes, sir,” Vann replied in a serious voice.

  “You really need to stop watching Spaceballs,” Roman insisted.

  “Dude, it’s a totally hilarious movie,” Vann said.

  “Anyway, it’s at D’Vaire,” Drystan interjected. “We’re going to be out there next weekend; we’ll get all the details taken care of then.”

  “We’re invited,” Vann remarked with supreme confidence.

  “Not if you keep calling me little,” Conley retorted, to which Vann just smirked.

  “Meanwhile, you should convince your mate to spar with Gavrael and Gedeon,” Roman said to Drystan.

  “Gavrael and Gedeon?” Conley asked.

  “Trystan and Blodwen’s sentinels,” Drystan answered.

  “Oh, I’m definitely going to want to do that then,” Conley said. “Did Drystan tell you I kicked his ass this afternoon in hand-to-hand?”

  “Why the fuck didn’t you invite us to watch the carnage?” Vann demanded.

  “I’m pretty sure Drystan thought I was going to be the one eating mat and thought he would be sparing my vulnerable feelings,” Conley replied.

  Drystan was amused Conley had already figured out why they had been alone for that afternoon’s workout. He decided to lean over and give his mate a firm kiss on the mouth. Conley’s lips tasted of the beer he was drinking. “You read my mind.”

  “Oh Roman, aren’t they the cutest couple?” Vann asked as he leaned his head on Roman’s shoulder.