Capture (23 page)

“I’m sorry….” Nykin’s gaze dropped away, fixating on the blood as he spoke. “Your Highness.”

The formal address had Ryneq gripping Nykin’s chin and forcing him to look up, the afterglow from only moments before quickly fading away. “Nykin?”

“I didn’t mean to draw blood,
fuck
…. I didn’t mean to bite you. I just forgot who we both were for a moment, and I—”

“Stop.” Ryneq narrowed his eyes, not lessening his hold on Nykin’s jaw. He wasn’t quite sure how they’d gone from shared passion to this. “I don’t understand what just happened?”

Nykin’s eyes had lost some of their earlier brightness, and he had a resigned look about him that Ryneq hated. “You are the
king of Torsere
, and I… I’m just one of your dragon riders.” Nykin sighed and tried to move away, but Ryneq refused to let him.

“So?” Ryneq hissed, irritation flaring in his gut. “You think I care about any of that?” He stared, incredulous. “Especially after everything we’ve just been through. Fuck, Nykin.” Ryneq finally let go of Nykin’s jaw, rubbing at the red finger marks with the pad of his thumb. “And being one of
my
dragon riders is something to be proud of. I’ve seen you on a dragon, Nykin, don’t try and tell me you’re
just
a rider.” He tugged Nykin forward, letting his hand slide round to grip the back of Nykin’s head, and kissed him. Ryneq felt Nykin hesitate, but he wouldn’t let him overthink this, and just kissed him harder. He stroked his fingers through Nykin’s short hair, scratching his nails against his scalp and gently tilting his head to the side. Nykin’s whole body seemed to relax as he finally gave in, wrapped his arms around Ryneq’s waist, and kissed him back.

“Sorry,” Nykin breathed, pulling back just enough to catch his breath. “After the past few days… I don’t know what’s real anymore and—”

“This might be sudden, Nykin, and yes, if I’m honest, a little unconventional. But it is real.” Ryneq pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes. “The rest of this whole thing might all be for Hatak’s benefit. But this?” He kissed him again, quick and chaste but just as desperate as before. “
This
is definitely real.” With Nykin’s hard, wet body pressed up against him like this, it would be easy for Ryneq to take it further, to coax them both back to full hardness again, since it was fairly evident they both wanted to. But as appealing as that thought was, they needed to get moving. The scabs on Nykin’s arms rubbed over Ryneq’s back and served as a harsh reminder of the reality of their situation.

They had an unknown number of Athisian and Rodethian soldiers following them, as well as Hatak, who wasn’t known for his patience. Ryneq wondered again if Seran would be with them too. If they could take them both out at the same time, maybe the continuous threat Torsere faced from both lands would be eliminated for good. “We need to eat and then start moving again,” he said, reluctantly letting Nykin go and dipping down into the cool water to rinse off. “I’ll gut the fish.” He waved over at the forgotten pile on the side of the bank. “See if you can start a small fire, otherwise we’ll be eating them raw.” As Nykin made a disgusted face at the mention of eating raw fish, Ryneq grinned, relieved that the tension between them was now gone.

T
HEIR
CLOTHES
were almost dry from the heat of the afternoon sun. After they’d both pulled on their pants, Ryneq sat down next to Nykin on the soft grass and handed him one of the skewered cooked fish.

“Thank you.” Nykin eyed it warily before picking off the skin and starting to eat.

The fish wasn’t the best thing Ryneq had ever tasted, but he was hungry enough that he hardly registered what he was eating. He was already halfway through it when he paused, regarding Nykin curiously. Ryneq knew that all dragon riders were born with their marks, but he knew little else about the youngest members of his airborne guard. “How old are you, Nykin?” He didn’t think Nykin was much younger than his own twenty-five years, but looks could be deceiving.

“Twenty-two,” Nykin replied, sounding surprised that Ryneq had asked.

Ahh, yes.
Now Ryneq remembered. Nykin had told the elves that he’d only been bonded to Fimor for just over a year. He felt a familiar twinge of jealousy as he thought about Faelon but pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on Nykin instead. “Did you always want to be a rider?”

“Yeah.” Nykin grinned, suddenly seeming much younger. “From the moment I knew what it meant.” He glanced down at his bare wrist, and his smiled turned rueful. “I used to stare at it all the time when I was little, didn’t actually believe that one day I might get to ride an actual dragon.” His gaze landed on Ryneq again, and Ryneq shivered under the intensity of it. “There were a lot of things I thought I’d never get to do.”

Ryneq smirked at the implication, and Nykin blushed, ducking his head. “Your parents must be proud,” he said instead, not wanting to address what was happening between them just yet.

Nykin’s face fell immediately, and Ryneq knew instinctively what that meant. He sighed and reached out to lay a hand on Nykin’s thigh. “What happened to them, Nykin?”

Nykin swallowed and wiped at his mouth before answering. “They’re both dead.” He looked back down at his fish, idly picking at the meat but not eating. “My father was killed by the same Rodethian scouts that killed your parents, and my mother fell sick shortly after.” He rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, and Ryneq looked away to give him a moment to collect himself.

Ryneq hadn’t been with the king and queen when they were attacked, but he remembered the day with startling clarity. “I’m sorry.”

Nykin turned to face him. “Yeah, me too.”

They ate the rest of their meal in silence, and as soon as they were finished, Ryneq was on his feet. “We should get going.” He grasped Nykin’s hand and tugged him up off the ground. Nykin just nodded and walked over to retrieve his shirt from the side of the stream.

Ryneq followed after him, his gaze sweeping low over Nykin’s back and settling on the curve of his ass. It looked firm and tight, well toned from hours of clinging to Fimor’s back. Ryneq swallowed and tried to ignore the way his dick twitched with interest. They didn’t have time for
that
, and the closer they got to the edge of the forest, the more dangerous it would be if they were distracted.

The sound of a throat clearing in front of him had his gaze snapping up to meet Nykin’s amused one. Ryneq stared for a moment longer, then walked past to rinse the knife off in the stream. He felt Nykin’s eyes on him the whole time, but he resolutely kept his back to him.

Fuck
. Now that the afterglow of sex had worn off, second thoughts started to creep in. Ryneq liked Nykin, there was no denying it, and he’d meant everything he’d said earlier. But maybe he shouldn’t have let things develop between the two of them like this. In a life-or-death situation, emotions were always heightened, and he should have known better than to give in to them. No matter how good it had felt at the time.

Ryneq doubted very much that any of this would have happened if they’d successfully escorted Cerylea to Hervath. Although he’d undeniably been attracted to Nykin, he probably wouldn’t have taken it any further.
Probably
. But that was beside the point. As the king of Torsere, he had the responsibility of keeping his people safe—and whatever was happening between the two of them had the potential to cloud his judgment and make him sloppy.

Ryneq shaded his eyes as he looked up at the position of the sun. They’d already stayed here far longer than he’d meant to and he wouldn’t be surprised if Hatak was starting to get suspicious. He and his men must be close. He might even have a couple of scouts watching them right now. Ryneq was almost certain he and Nykin didn’t appear as though they were in any great hurry to get away. He sighed heavily, adjusted what was left of his uniform, and finally turned to look at Nykin.

“Ready?” he asked, forcing his voice to sound detached and cold. Nykin gave him a questioning look, no doubt confused by the sudden change in his demeanor. He continued to stare at Nykin, not reacting to the way Nykin’s smile fell away as he nodded and fell into place behind Ryneq. “Good. Let’s go.”

T
HEY
WALKED
just inside the tree line for the rest of the afternoon, and Ryneq kept a sharp eye out for any sign of movement in the surrounding forest. Hatak’s men were good. Ryneq had to give them credit. Nykin continued to leave them a pretty obvious trail to follow, and Ryneq just knew they were out there somewhere, but try as he might, he couldn’t see any indication they were close by. It made him wary and anxious. He liked to face his enemy and fight. All this creeping through the forest, knowing Hatak was there but not doing anything about it, was setting his nerves on edge.

Nykin had tried several times to engage him in conversation, but Ryneq wasn’t in the mood and silenced him with a raised hand every time he opened his mouth. He felt the tension pouring off Nykin as Nykin stomped along beside him, and it didn’t come as a great surprise when Nykin finally pulled Ryneq to a halt with a hand on his arm.

“I’m thirsty.” Nykin’s tone was as cold and unaffected as Ryneq’s had been earlier. “Can we stop for a drink…
Sire
?”

Even though he deserved it, and it was what he’d wanted, it still stung. But what else had he expected? Ryneq spun around to face him, catching the brief flash of hurt and confusion on Nykin’s face before he quickly schooled his features into a mask of indifference. “We can rest for a moment.” They’d reached another of the smaller streams that ran into the Neest River, and Ryneq crouched down to get a drink from the cool, clear water. “There’s not much light left, maybe an hour or so, but we need to keep moving for as long as possible. It was the most he’d spoken all afternoon, but Nykin only hummed in response to let Ryneq know he’d heard him.

It was a far cry from how things had been when they’d stopped for lunch, but Ryneq was convinced it was the only way they were going to make it out of this alive. He already felt more alert, his brain busy calculating and planning how tomorrow would go, while he scanned the trees for potential danger.

Nykin, on the other hand, looked anything but focused. He paced along the edge of the stream, his whole body tight with tension. Ryneq eyed him from his position on the ground. Nykin was young and relatively inexperienced as a soldier, and dragon riders in particular were notoriously high-strung. Ryneq cursed himself for not considering this earlier. If he wanted Nykin calm and focused, he was going to have to sit him down and explain a few things. “Nykin.” He made his voice a little softer this time and gestured to the ground beside him.

“Sire?” Nykin hesitated for a moment but sat down with a grunt when Ryneq raised his eyebrow at him.

“I know you’re annoyed and confused.” Nykin rewarded him with a vicious glare but remained silent. Ryneq would have laughed at his open defiance under any other circumstances, and found it incredibly arousing. But lives were at stake, the future of Torsere was at stake. “And I take full responsibility for that.” Nykin’s expression changed slightly, that flash of hurt he’d seen earlier creeping back into his eyes. Fuck, this was harder than it should be. Ryneq sighed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to find the right words to make Nykin understand without alienating him further. “We shouldn’t have done that earlier, Nykin. It was reckless and—”

“I understand.” Nykin cut in, his voice sounding cold and lacking any emotion at all. “You’re the king, and I’m just—”

“Stop.” Ryneq reached out and grabbed Nykin’s shoulder. “I already told you I don’t care about any of that.” He relaxed his grip slightly and let his hand fall away. “I meant everything I said before. But,
fuck
, Nykin….” He met Nykin’s gaze, willing him to understand. “I
am
the king, and it’s my duty to protect my people. That means making sure this whole thing goes to plan, and I can’t do that if I constantly want to push you up against the nearest tree and rip your clothes off!”

Ryneq hadn’t meant to say it quite like that, but he was fooling himself if he thought he could blame these feelings solely on their circumstances. Judging by Nykin’s shocked expression, it wasn’t what he’d expected him to say either. “It could go horribly wrong tomorrow, and we need to be ready for anything.” When he looked down, their hands were so close together. He slipped his fingers around Nykin’s, taking the chance that Nykin wouldn’t reject him. “I need to focus on that and nothing else for now. Do you understand?”

Nykin didn’t answer straightaway, turning to look out into the forest instead. Ryneq waited patiently, stroking his thumb over the back of Nykin’s hand. His own feelings were all over the place, so he knew it was more than likely the same for Nykin. But as much as he wanted to draw Nykin against him, breathe him in, and forget everything around them, he couldn’t allow himself to drop his guard again.

“What about after?” Nykin finally answered, turning to face Ryneq again. The hurt and confusion were gone from his eyes, but he still had a wariness about him. “When we kill Hatak and his men, and all return safely to the palace. What happens then?”

Ryneq was unable to stop the small smile that crept over his face. Nykin said it all so matter-of-factly, as if it were a foregone conclusion they’d all get out of this alive and in one piece. “When all this”—he waved his free hand around them—“is over. Maybe we can try this again, if you want?”

“Yeah.” Nykin smiled back, squeezing Ryneq’s fingers briefly before getting to his feet. He pulled on Ryneq’s hand until they were both standing. “I want.”