Page 59 of Apple Boy

“Am I doin’ it wrong?” He panted, ever self-conscious of his prowess. Adam pulled out and wiped the sweaty curls from his brow.

“I just want to try another position.” I turned over and lay on my back. I saw the lust kindle as Adam’s hungry eyes roamed my naked flesh. Eye to eye, the intimacy between us sparked anew.

“Give me the stone,” I ordered. Adam’s eyes narrowed and his brows knitted.

“Do you want to know what happens?” I enquired, my tone sounding far too haughty. I regretted the words immediately, but I could not deny the intensity of my craving. Adam met my gaze and hesitated for a long moment. I was not surprised by his hesitation because we did not know what would happen when we added the Star-fall magic to our lovemaking. My hunger for him coiled in my belly, and I could hear the rush of blood thundering through me. I needed this joining like it was imperative to my existence—our existence. If he said no I was unsure what I would do. But I need not have worried because Adam reached and grabbed the Star-fall then tossed it to me. It flew to my hand.

“Come, lay atop me. I want to see you.” I instructed. Adam did as directed crawling between my splayed milky thighs. He placed a kiss on my sensitive lips. I felt it then when our lips touched, and we connected with the gemstone—It did not hurt; as a matter-of-fact, a surge of white heat shot down my spine to lick at my groin giving me a jolt of mind-bending pleasure. Touching Adam while holding the Star-fall was as deliciously intoxicating as I’d hoped.

“Again!” I called when Adam drew away, and so once more Adam laid a kiss on my mouth then pulled away.

“Did you feel that?” I knew from the look of curious surprise on Adam’s face that he had felt it. We grinned at one another, both knowing we were about to dive into a sea of pleasure the likes of which ordinary, mortal men would never know. We were not ordinary—not by any means.

As Adam pushed inside me I gripped the Star-fall in one hand and his firm backside with the other, fixed my gaze in the tempestuous pools of green, amber, and silver that looked down on me, and we set ourselves adrift.

I was once again outside of my body, but I was not alone because there was no him, or me, with our mingled power there was only US. We watched the animalistic ferocity of our lovemaking from above. My calves rested over Adam’s shoulders and the globes of Adam’s flawless, powerful backside humped up and down, taking me in deep brutal strokes. We could see the desire and pleasure glazed upon our faces, and as the speed increased, how the silvery mage light began to leak from every pore of our skin. We shimmered as if we were made of light and our need to burn our magic hit in a wave, pleasure crashing down to obliterate thoughts, words, breath. At the moment of completion, our consciousness was pulled back into our physical forms. We met and coalesced like drops of rain in a river of magic as his hot seed pulse inside me and mine gushed over my belly. Adam belonged to me—body and soul and I belonged to him. We knew this now without a shadow of a doubt.

I lay there, panting and sweating with the heaving weight of my lover on top of my body and in my heart.

Adam was trembling with the overwhelming exertion of our coupling. I let the gemstone drop from my hand onto the sweat-soaked mattress and eased us onto our sides. Adam just stared wordlessly at me, his pupils blown wide and his green eye colour gone, replaced by swirling silver tinged with rose-gold. I wondered if my eyes looked the same. I laid a kiss on his brow.

“Thank you, thank you.” I said softly, and then I cradled Adam until he slept.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

RETURN

My third day in Serein initially played out like the previous day. Ivon, Adam, and I sat in the carriage winding our way through the twisting streets of The Dell’s district heading towards the magnificent Great Council’s Tower. However, things were not the same. I was not the same. I felt like a new man and in a way I was. The Winter Aeling who had set out on a tour of the Empire three months ago was no more, and this new me, this man who had discovered that he held the power of a mage was also in love for the first time. I belonged to Adam Sewell, and he was mine, no matter the laws of Erias. Therefore, sitting beside my mate, and dressed in our new Sereinean garments I set out to embrace the day with new-found determination and fresh eyes.

The Star-fall rested weightily in my pocket. It may sound absurd, but I’d felt a little naked without it last time we traveled to the tower, so I was glad to have the gemstone with me. It was approaching the noon bell, and I needed to get my thoughts in order to face the Great Council once more. Nearly a day had passed, giving them plenty of time to discuss what I reported about The Trojan Star—what it meant to the city of Serein, and Empire as a whole. I hoped to hear of some positive news as to how they would act to protect their city and seek revenge on the Twin Kings.

The Star-fall began to jump violently in my pocket as we got closer to the tower and I was relieved that my uncle was resting his eyes once more, because the sight of my pocket bulging and trembling like I was smuggling a rodent was laughable. I thrust my hand inside my britches and fisted the stone. A tickling, humming vibration ran up my arm. Adam was biting his lip trying desperately not to laugh and wake uncle.

Adam appeared so much happier now that we had, at last, expressed our desire. Our lovemaking was the most intense experience of my life, and I’d wager Adam had never experienced anything as all-encompassing either. His emerald green eye color returned on his waking, and he appeared at peace with himself. And now that he knew where his brother was, he no longer carried the weight of that anxiety. Evan and Adam promised to meet later that evening. I am sure both men had many stories to share. I was invited to dine with the brother’s but decided I would not join them. These past few days had been far too tiring, and so I planned that I would have an early night.

At the citadel gate, we did not meet with such fierce treatment from the City Watch, who checked our missive and waved us through.

Again, Chamberlain Hawk was in the basement courtyard to greet us, but this time he looked more agitated than the previous day.

“Well met, Hawk.” Ivon greeted as he stepped out of the coach and gave a thunderous yawn that echoed around the underground chamber.

“Aye, my Lord”, Hawk said tensely.

“Is all well?” Ivon narrowed his eyes, and his brows met in concern.

“The council is already in session. In fact, they have been in the chambers since midnight. There have been… strange occurrences in the city this past night that have caused much concern. I am told to bring you to the door, but I am afraid you may have to wait for entry.” He shrugged meekly and as he hurried out his explanation.

Hawk’s announcement concerned me. Did the Great Council know we performed magic? Surely they would not know that Adam and I were the source?

We exited the coach and walked at a harried pace behind my uncle and Hawk. Adam gave me a cursory glare, and I returned it. We both feared that we would be discovered as the source of magic in the city.

I wished now that I had not brought the Star-Fall stone with me because; with childlike exuberance, it danced a merry jig in my pocket. It was, for all intents and purposes, home. This polished half-walnut-sized gemstone was hewn from the giant shard that once lay embedded in the earth in this very spot for thousands of years. There were other items made from Star-fall, but they had all been rounded up and confiscated by the twin kings when they claimed power twenty years before, and so the gemstone I clutched was priceless. In truth, it was worth killing for.

With Adam staying close to my side we followed Chamberlain Hawk and my uncle through the arched doorway and into a hall which led to a stairway that followed the curve of the exterior wall. We mounted the steep honey-stone stairs, ascending to the ground level of the colossal tower.

The high ceilings, lavish stucco plasterwork, and intricately tiled floors looked somehow more vibrant now I held the Star-fall, and the air seemed to shimmer with power—as did Adam. The spacious hallway circumnavigated the outer wall of the tower, where every few meters soaring arched windows were set to permit daylight to flood in. I saw the sconces on the walls lit by flames that burned with a strange rose-gold hue, just as the flames had done at The Half-Mast Tavern after we performed our sorcery, and back in our chamber at Copperdall. Had I given us away?

We stopped abruptly outside the council chamber, “My Lords, I will inform the council that you are here, and come when they are ready to see you.” Hawk snapped. There was a distinct tremble to his voice, and I could see that this was a man on the edge. Was the thought of magic returning to the city so terrifying a premise, or were the council afraid of what the kings would do when they found out? I had not even considered the wider ramifications of using the gemstone in this city, for at the time my only imperative was to free my boy from the tavern storeroom.