“You have a mischievous look about you.”
“Well, my fierce warrior, I plan to make it so you never question my desire for you.”
Segreti threw his head back and laughed. When he met Ezra’s gaze, his eyes were filled with passion and tenderness. “I’m eager for this lesson,” Segreti replied as he stroked Ezra.
“Take me in hand,” Ezra commanded breathlessly.
Segreti poured some oil into his hand, then palmed Ezra’s hard cock. He stroked Ezra, making him feel as though he’d go mad from the pleasure. He rose and impaled himself on Segreti’s iron rod over and over until he couldn’t distinguish Segreti’s heartbeat from his own. All the while, Segreti pumped Ezra’s shaft, and as Ezra began to lose his pace, so did Segreti. Ezra dug his fingers into Segreti’s shoulders, riding him madly, the sweat trickling down his brow and neck. His skin was too tight for his body.
Leaning forward, Ezra brought their lips together, a shiver wracking his body as Segreti released Ezra’s shaft and spread his cheeks once more to lift up, pounding into him over and over while Ezra pumped his cock.
“Ezra,” Segreti roared, his hips bucking as he continued to thrust into Ezra, their bodies finding the perfect rhythm together. Segreti changed his angle, hitting some part of Ezra that had him all but bursting at the seams.
“Segreti… I can’t… please.” Ezra felt as if his body were about to come apart. Segreti continued to hit that sweet spot, his thick shaft driving inside him, their bodies smacking together and the bed moving beneath them. Ezra dug his fingers into Segreti’s shoulders.
“I’m going to spill myself inside you,” Segreti warned.
“Yes, please. I want all of you.” Ezra had never been more certain of anything in his life. He wanted Segreti, all of him, for however long Segreti wished Ezra to have him. Just when he thought he couldn’t take any more pleasure, Segreti roared with his release, liquid heat filling Ezra and sending him tumbling over the edge. He shouted Segreti’s name, the light from his Soldati soul erupting from him and filling the room as he spilled himself over his hand and Segreti’s chest. He rode madly until the explosive heat and light faded, leaving him spent and exhausted to collapse on Segreti’s chest, uncaring of the sticky wetness beneath him.
A contented sigh escaped Ezra, and he snuggled close, loving the much larger body beneath his, the weight of Segreti’s arm wrapped around his waist as Segreti caressed him. Was this what it was like to have a mate? One who held your heart with theirs? No wonder Riley looked upon Khalon as if he hung the moon. Ezra could easily lose his heart to Segreti. A part of him believed he’d already lost pieces of it to his strong and noble warrior.
“How are you feeling?” Segreti asked tentatively.
Ezra hummed in satisfaction. “I can’t recall a time when I felt more at peace than at this moment.” A thought occurred to him, and he bolted upright.
“What is it?”
“You didn’t claim me.” Ezra couldn’t help the concern in his voice. They’d discussed how Segreti had to be the one to claim Ezra, and Segreti had happily accepted. He hadn’t been the least put off by the mention of Ezra’s powers being a threat.
Segreti brushed Ezra’s hair away from his face. “The time wasn’t right, my sweet.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve disappointed you.”
Ezra shook his head. “You could never disappoint me.” He leaned forward, his chin resting on his hand as he ran a finger over Segreti’s jaw. “I am puzzled, though, as to why your inner bear still feels unready to claim its mate.”
Segreti took hold of Ezra’s hand and kissed the tips of his fingers. “All will be revealed in time, I’m certain. Do you regret what we’ve done?”
“I have no misgivings in my heart where you’re concerned.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” Segreti kissed the top of his head, and Ezra begrudgingly removed himself from Segreti. He smiled against Segreti’s lips.
“Stay right there. I’m simply going to get a washcloth so we don’t stick together. As much as I’d like to have you at my side at all hours, at some point, I suspect, one of us will need to use the facilities.”
Segreti chuckled, and Ezra forced himself away long enough to enter his washroom and clean himself up. He dampened a clean cloth and delivered it to Segreti with a kiss, then climbed onto the bed next to him. His heart danced with delight as he kissed his way down Segreti’s jaw and combed his fingers through his untamable mane.
Ezra had been about to tease Segreti about being ready for another bout of sensual activity when a chill engulfed him and he gasped, the world going bright around him.
No, please. Not now.
The power of the Eye pulsed through Ezra, throwing him into a vision. He stared up at Segreti, who stood tall in the moonlight, but he wasn’t Ezra’s Segreti. His lips curled in a snarl, anger filling his dark eye as shadows enveloped his handsome features. He swung back his arm, a sword in his hand, but Ezra no longer stood in the path of the weapon intent on murder. Instead, another figure took his place. Segreti swung his sword and sliced a deadly blow, blood spraying his clothes. He loomed over the fallen figure, and Ezra lurched forward, his heart lodged in his throat and tears in his eyes as an agonized wail tore from him.
Khalon lay dead.
Chapter Eight
“Ezra? Love? What’s wrong?”
Ezra’s eyes flew open, and he lifted a trembling hand to his lips as he shook his head. No. He refused to believe it. The Eye was wrong. It had to be. Tears welled in his eyes, the scene replaying in his head. Perhaps he’d drifted off and had a nightmare. A terrifying, heartbreaking nightmare. He scrambled out of bed and grabbed his trousers and tunic. Segreti quickly did the same.
“The Eye.” Recognition seemed to dawn on Segreti. “You had a vision.”
Ezra nodded. The Eye, which had at some point entered the room and been dormant, resting on its velvet pillow, pulsed with golden light. It lifted off the pillow and hovered near Ezra.
“Please,” Ezra begged of it.
“Can you tell me?” Segreti asked softly. “You needn’t carry this burden yourself. Not anymore. Let me help you.”
How could Segreti help when he was the cause of the vision? “For the first time in my life, I’m at a loss of what to do.” Ezra knew what he was supposed to do, what his mind demanded he do, but his heart declared war against him. The love in his heart overflowed for both his king and now… Segreti. How was this possible? How could he have lost his heart to Segreti so quickly? They weren’t fated to be together, not like Khalon and Riley. He shouldn’t feel so strongly, and now…
Ezra glared at the Eye. “How can you be so cruel?” The Eye itself had brought Segreti to Ezra over and over. Why would you bring him to me only to rip him from my life?
“That terrible?”
“Yes,” Ezra whispered, unable to stop the tear from rolling down his cheek. “I am torn.”
“Between?”
Ezra lifted his gaze to meet Segreti’s. “My duty and my love.”
Segreti sucked in a sharp breath. He closed his eye and hung his head. When he opened his eye, he lifted his gaze to Ezra’s, his smile breaking what remained of Ezra’s heart. He took Ezra’s hand in his and kissed his palm.