Page 50 of The Night Prince 6

“I do not sense anything adverse, do you?” Aquilan asked as they neared the copse’s edge.

“No, but I don’t like to pre-judge,” Declan said, easily moving the Niri blade from one hand to the other.

That was wise though it hurt Aquilan to think that Declan had learned just how precarious life was. But he should be just as careful. A golden light suffused both of them.

“A shield,”Aquilan explained. “Another layer of protection. Defense as well as offense.”

Another nod from Declan.

The light from the center of the glade was bright, but it did not hurt his eyes. It was as if the stars had come down from the sky to bob and weave among the blades of grass. As they stepped through the final line of trees, it became clearer what was there and it was more than dancing wisps. There was a bed covered in pure white bedding. A comforter that overflowed with feathers and pillows so plump as to appear like ripe fruit. There was a silver ice bucket with a clear glass container inside and two glasses beside it. On top of that comforter was a single sheet of paper with incredibly lovely handwriting. Sweeping letters that ended with a swoosh of a signature. Declan picked it up. He tilted his head back and sighed.

Aquilan gently took the letter from Declan’s willing fingers and read it out loud, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Your loving father.”

Aquilan’s cheeks blazed with heat even as his cock jerked in his pants. But then his gaze skipped to the bed and then to Declan who was staring at the stars well above their heads even as the wisps continued to dance around the glade. He touched Declan’s elbow.

“My Shadow, is this… what ails you?” Aquilan asked, even as he hoped it was not the idea of lovemaking with Aquilan, but just that his father was involved and–

“Forgive me, King Aquilan.” Declan was suddenly on his knees in front of Aquilan who was rapidly blinking. “My father can see my desires and he… he thought this was helping things along. But I know that this is most–most–inappropriate.”

“Why?”

“What?” Declan’s head lifted for a moment, but then quickly dropped. “Because… because we have hardly… because this is my fantasy and… to have this thrust upon you is not–what are you doing?”

Aquilan had thrown himself onto the bed on his back and spread his arms and legs. “Mmmmmm, comfortable. It is softer than it looks.”

“Aquilan?” Declan stared at him through his lashes.

Aquilan tilted his head to meet Declan’s burning gaze. “I think your father knows my fantasy, too, my Shadow. For I was just thinking about how I wanted to love you under the moon and stars in your true form and out here–under the Night King’s watchful magic–we can do just that.”

Declan’s eyes flickered to Tyrael in the far distance. “I wouldn’t put it past him to send Vesslan out here to see what’s going on. A Night Elf and the Sun King in a… a…” Here, his head and voice lowered, “a lover’s embrace. He will out me and you.”

“He could do that to be sure,” Aquilan agreed. And maybe Vex thought this would be the only way that Declan would reveal his true nature and his heritage. But he didn’t think so. At least, not yet. There was still plenty of time for them to come to a conclusion that the Night King wanted. “But… I’m willing to risk it. If you are.”

Declan remained still for a long moment, but then he was there. On top of Aquilan. A single light leap and he was straddling Aquilan on the bed. And the glamour was gone. The Adiva was loose in Declan’s fingers while he dropped his own glamour.

Red eyes.

Starlight hair.

Pointed ears.

Pointed canines.

A Kindreth.

The Night Prince.

His Shadow.

Love Lessons

Aquilan was spread out before him like a feast. Declan didn’t know where to start. Every single inch of the Sun King was an indulgence. His heavenly face. The sweep of dark lashes against sun-kissed skin. The plush lips slightly parted and swollen as if already ravaged by kisses. The strong jaw that begged to be nibbled. The cut glass cheekbones that needed to be mapped with his tongue.

Then that throat. Completely exposed as the Sun King arched back beneath him. His Adam's apple climbing then falling to the hollow. That hollow. A receptacle for kisses.

The sweep of shoulders. Broad and strong and covered with acres of silky skin that smelled of sunshine, but a sunshine that didn’t hurt. Instead, there was the scent of flowers. Growing things. Life. His tunic had already slipped off those rounded shoulders as if it wished to puddle on the floor.

And then that chest. Nipples the color of ripening fruit. They were half-exposed and beaded into hard nubs that made his mouth water. Aquilan shifted again and the belt came undone as if it, too, was escaping to the floor. The two sides of Aquilan’s wrap-around tunic fell open.