A Bond of Three (19 page)

Sorran’s brows knitted and he pressed his lips together. “Ignore him. Aroman would rather that I stay in his sights, but he can say naught when you have decreed it otherwise.”

Tanish felt immediately that there was more to it than the need to keep Sorran safe, but his betrothed was clearly uncomfortable. “Come, then, let us be on our way.”

Sorran halted Forena once they were through the courtyard gates. “There is something I must do before we join Feyar.” Without another word, he had Forena trot over to a flower stand by the palace wall, where the seller, a woman in a long, flowing robe of green, greeted him with a huge smile. They spoke for a minute or two, their words too quiet for Tanish to pick them out. To his surprise, the woman held up her arms to embrace Sorran, and he leaned down so she might kiss his cheek. Sorran’s shy smile was beautiful to behold.

He bade the woman farewell and then rejoined Tanish. “There is somewhere I must go before we join Feyar.”

Tanish grinned and gestured to the streets with a flourish. “Lead on. It seems you have already made friends in Teruna. Doubtless you know where you are going, too.”

Sorran smiled. “I have an errand to run.”

Tanish followed him, intrigued as to their destination. When their journey took them into the older part of the city, Tanish grew concerned. Sorran seemed perfectly relaxed as he made his way through the narrow streets, the sound of Forena’s hooves loud against the cobbles.

What business can Sorran have here?

Sorran stopped at a small house on the outskirts of the city, dismounted, and tied up Forena. “I shall only be a moment or two.” He hurried down the cobbled path to the door of the dwelling.

Tanish was shocked into stillness when it was opened by a youth in a
cashor
, who greeted Sorran with a faint smile and a low bow. They spoke together, and Tanish’s heart soared to see the young man’s smile grow wider. Tears sparkled in his eyes, and he flung his arms around Sorran, who returned his embrace. The young man went back into his house, and Sorran returned to Forena, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his dark blue robe as he approached him.

Sorran climbed onto Forena’s wide back and then turned to face Tanish. “Now it is your turn to lead us, Your Highness.”

Tanish clucked under his breath and nudged Nerita to take the opposite direction. Sorran joined him at his side.

“Are you going to tell me how it is that you come to know a
Seruan
so intimately?” Tanish was still shocked by the event. It kindled hope within him that his husband-to-be did not view the
Seruani
with the same eyes as the Terunans.

Perhaps he thinks as I do.
The thought filled Tanish with warmth.

Sorran smiled. “I helped him once, and we struck up a friendship. I promised to send word from his mother. You saw her—the flower seller?”

Tanish regarded Sorran with affection. He evidently had a large heart. If the way in which both mother and son had greeted him was any indication, the Terunans were going to take Sorran to their hearts. He would endear himself quickly to the people.

Tanish said nothing, but stored these thoughts away. They rode through the sunlit streets toward the western edge of the city. Now and again large, heavy-looking clouds blotted out the sun, and Tanish hoped fervently that the storm promised by their weight would hold off until the ride was over.

As they passed through the huge, ornate gate that marked the western boundary of the capital city, Tanish caught sight of Feyar’s red cloak. His lover was astride a black stallion, standing by a well. Tanish and Sorran trotted past, and Feyar joined them, the three of them riding along at an easy pace through the fields that lay beyond the city wall.

When they had traveled a fair distance, Tanish twisted in his saddle to regard his companions. “And now we ride.” He grinned and gripped Nerita’s reins. The mare needed no other instruction, and broke into a gallop.

Beside him Sorran and Feyar met his pace, and the three of them rode swiftly through the countryside, its fields striped in bands of light and dark as the clouds overhead passed in front of the sun. The wind ruffled his hair and laid flat the hood of Feyar’s cloak. It was exhilarating to feel the breeze on his face, the air, clean and fresh, filling his lungs. Sorran looked to be at peace as he galloped beside Tanish, and Feyar’s expression was a mask of sheer joy.

Suddenly the heavens broke and large drops of rain began to fall, quickly soaking them. A loud rumble of thunder rent the air.

“We should take cover.” Feyar shouted to be heard above the thunderclaps. He pointed toward some ruins a short distance away. “They might shelter us for a while.”

They galloped toward the ivy-covered remains of what might once have been a temple. An arch was still standing, and beyond it the branches of nearby trees, towering above the structure, had formed a living roof, ivy curling around them, providing respite from the rain’s onslaught.

When they reached the ruins, they dismounted and wrapped the horses’ reins around a column of stone. Tanish and Feyar took cover beneath the branches of the trees, Feyar removing his
cashor
and placing it in a dry spot along with Tanish’s cloak, hung across the bough of a tree.

Sorran remained out in the open. He turned his face upward to the heavens and smiled, letting the rain fall onto his cheeks. “It is warm!” His smile of joy made Tanish’s heart skip a beat. Sorran held his arms outstretched and spun around, laughing. “How good it feels to be alive this day!” The air around him crackled as if full of some unseen energy.

There was something so enticing about him that Tanish could not resist. He left the shelter of the trees and joined Sorran in the rain, seizing him in a tight embrace and kissing him with passion. Sorran responded eagerly, his hands going to Tanish’s head, drawing him in closer and deepening the kiss. When he explored Tanish with his tongue, Tanish let out a groan and plundered that sweet mouth. Sorran moaned into the kiss, the sound of the rolling thunder in the background a passionate accompaniment. The rain continued to fall on them, warm against Tanish’s skin, but he paid it no heed. Sorran’s kiss consumed him.

Sorran broke the kiss and gazed at Feyar where he stood beneath the ivy-covered canopy. “You too,” he pleaded. He held out a hand toward him, and Feyar moved swiftly. It seemed he too could not resist Sorran’s allure. They stood in the rain, soaked to the skin, their mouths joined once more in a three-way kiss, raindrops clinging to their eyelashes and hair.

Why should these kisses prove so sweet?
Tanish did not have an answer, but they lit a fire in him.

Hands stroked over damp flesh. Sorran’s robe clung to him, its light fabric revealing the tight nubs of his nipples, the strange markings on his body now visible. Tanish gasped when Sorran untied his robe and let it fall to the ground, where leaves were strewn across a cracked stone floor, most of its flags broken or worn away. Sorran stood between them, naked, his skin glistening in the rain. Tanish applied his mouth to that damp flesh, kissing him on the shoulder, across his chest and down to his navel. Feyar joined in, his lips on Sorran’s neck, making him groan with pleasure. Sorran placed his arms around their necks and drew them to him, clinging to them, eyes closed as shivers danced through him.

“Oh, how you stir me, both of you,” Sorran murmured, his head rolling back as they kissed him with increasing fervor along the flowing line of his neck down to the hollows of his collarbones. Feyar ran his hand along Sorran’s length, now slick with water, and Tanish watched it grow harder, rising to meet Feyar’s touch. Sorran groaned. “Oh, by the Maker, yes!” He pushed with his hips, forcing his cock through the tunnel of Feyar’s hand. Feyar’s breathing quickened, and Tanish grew hard at seeing him so aroused.

The heavens opened once more, and the skies poured out a fresh deluge of rain as lightning ripped across the now-darkened sky.

Tanish pulled them toward the shelter of the trees, Sorran going willingly this time. He shivered violently, and both Feyar and Tanish hurried to warm him with their bodies. Feyar spread out his cashor on the ground and they laid Sorran upon it, then lay with him, huddled up to him. Tanish untied his damp robe and stretched out naked next to Sorran, his body pressed to Sorran’s side. Feyar followed suit. Sorran’s shivering eased as warmth blossomed between them. Tanish stroked Sorran’s chest and belly, and he let out low sounds as they kissed him, softly at first but with increasing intensity. Sorran opened for them, accepting their caresses, their eager tongues and hands. The rain hitting the dense canopy of leaves above their heads made an almost cozy sound, not a single drop penetrating its thick layer. They lay there, sharing one another’s embrace, the air growing warmer around them as the rain began to peter out, the storm rumbling away into the distance.

Sorran sighed and shifted in their arms. “Your kisses awaken something deep within me.”

Feyar stroked his chest, tracing the strange blemish there with his fingers. “You want more, do you not? Your body dances when we touch you.”

Sorran nodded. “I hunger for your touch.” Then he shivered.

“You are cold?” Tanish edged closer, sharing his warmth.

Sorran shook his head. “I tremble with….” His words trailed off, his voice cracking.

“You tremble with desire,” Feyar told him. “You ache to know how it feels to have a man inside you, filling you, making you cry out.” He stared intently at Sorran. “I speak the truth, yes?”

“Yes!” Sorran blurted out. “How do you know this?”

Feyar smiled. “Oh, my sweet prince, I read men as you would read one of your texts. And I promise you, tonight when we return to the palace, you will know how it feels.”

A full-blown shudder coursed through Sorran, and Tanish held him close. “Warmer now?”

He nodded. “Thank you.” He snuggled into Tanish’s touch and then pulled Feyar closer. “Though it is better with both of you.” A shy smile lit up his face.

They lay together, eyes closed, Tanish enjoying the feel of Sorran’s skin next to him. Beyond their shadowy dell, the sun burst through the clouds, lighting up the now-clear blue sky, all the dense clouds having rolled their way off to the east. Tanish looked to where Sorran’s robe lay on the ground, still damp. He jumped to his feet and ran across to pick it up. He hung it from the boughs of the trees and then returned to Sorran and Feyar’s embrace. Feyar had wrapped Sorran up in his
cashor
and was holding him close. Sorran looked blissfully content to be encircled in his arms. Tanish smiled to himself at seeing them both so happy. Then it struck him that he was not jealous to see Feyar and Sorran embracing.

It feels… right to see them like this.

He left them thus entwined and went to take a closer look at the ruins. All that remained were the archway and the crumbling walls. When he looked closer, he noticed a squat structure at one end, covered in a dense layer of ivy, its vines trailing onto the ground. He went to investigate it further. It seemed to be some kind of altar, reinforcing his impression of a temple. He trailed his hands over its surface, feeling an indentation beneath its covering of ivy. Intrigued, he pulled aside the vines to view it—and then froze.

At first his throat seized as he tried to process what he was seeing. When at last he found his voice, he called for Sorran and Feyar to join him. “You need to see this,” he insisted.

After a moment or two they joined him, Sorran still with the
cashor
around his shoulders. They stood behind him, and Tanish knew the instant they saw it. He heard the hitch in their breathing.

Carved into the stone altar, set in the center of it, was a circle of three hands, joined where each hand grasped the wrist of another.

Chapter 14

S
ORRAN
TOOK
an involuntary step back. “What… what is this place?” His mind could not process what his eyes were seeing. Without thinking, he brought his hand to his chest, his fingers scrabbling over the mark. His throat seized, making it difficult to breathe.

Tanish placed his arm protectively around Sorran’s shoulders. “Deep breaths, Sorran.” Feyar moved to his other side, his arm around Sorran’s waist. He too was staring at the carving, eyes wide. A warm breeze caressed their naked bodies.

Sorran inhaled, dragging the fresh, clean air into his lungs. He sagged against Feyar. “I cannot comprehend how
this
”—he touched the blemish with a single finger—“comes to be here.” He shivered. “There are forces at work here that I do not understand.”

Tanish tightened his grip on Sorran’s shoulder. “We have you, Sorran. Lean on us.”

Feyar kissed his temple. “This is incredible, I know, but there must be an answer and we will find it.”

Sorran looked up at him and flashed him a grateful smile. It amazed him how quickly the two lovers had passed from being cool and distant with him to providing this welcome support.

As if something moves the three of us closer together.