Fighting for You Read online

  He dragged Teia down as he thrust deep one more time and came, moaning his release into Penli's mouth.

  When they pulled apart, Teia laughed breathily as his cock slid free of Penli's body, sweat gleaming on his skin, drops running down his face and chest. "I wish all my homecomings were as fine as this." Anguish and fear flashed briefly across his face, quickly banished by that beautiful smile.

  Penli kissed him again, then shifted to put Sendaar in his place. "How do you want it?"

  "Like this," Sendaar said, spreading his thighs and holding his arms out to draw Penli into more kisses, then turning his head to kiss Teia, who had crawled up to sit beside him.

  Slicking his cock, Penli pushed easily into Sendaar's body, groaning at the tight heat. Yes, it had been far too long since he'd done this. If only he could last for as long as he wished, but Sendaar was too magnificent, and Teia too marvelous, for him to last very long at all. Next time, there simply had to be a next time.

  He thrust hard and deep one last time, then bent to kiss them both, enjoying how mingled their flavors had become, that at least for one night he'd gotten to enjoy these two beautiful, intriguing men.

  Gently pulling out, he then crawled over to sprawl on the bed—and somehow wound up right back in the middle, arms full of sated, pliant beauties. Far be it for him to complain. After a few minutes of savoring the encounter, Penli finally asked, "Are you expected somewhere soon, or shall I arrange an overnight and we can have one last bit of fun in the morning?"

  "We're not expected anywhere until the afternoon."

  "Splendid." He'd already warned the staff they might stay through the night, and payment could be taken care of in the morning as well. "You have returned home for a good reason, I hope?"

  They both tensed, and Teia said, with a failed attempt at levity, "Most consider marriage a good reason."

  Marriage. Realization slapped Penli across the face. "That's why your name was familiar. You're Tishasanti's betrothed." His lips pulled into a grimace.

  Sendaar laughed sourly. "I see you've had that pleasure."

  "I had that pleasure years ago when I smashed his face into a wall, and many times since."

  They both stilled again, then Teia dissolved into laughter, rolling over to curl in on himself as it consumed him.

  Sendaar sat up on one elbow and gaped. "That was you? Everyone knows that story, much to Tishasanti's dismay. He hates you. He must be livid you're here instead of in Remnien. So what was the defiance that forced you to come here?"

  "Hardly forced, honey biscuit," Penli replied. "I'm here with a friend. The situation is complicated, and I'm sure you'll hear all about it tomorrow. But the hatred between Tishasanti and me is mutual, I assure you. I am so very sorry you're the poor bastard being forced to marry him."

  Teia and Sendaar looked as though they wanted to cry for a moment. Sendaar's expression smoothed out, but Teia buried his face against Penli's arm. Penli shifted to curl the arm around him, letting Teia rest against his chest, and kissed the top of his head. While he could understand the hollow, helpless feeling that came from having your life planned for you, at least his parents hadn't been forcing him to marry a monster. This was precisely one of the reasons Penli hated forced arrangements of any sort.

  "They've been betrothed since Teia was nine," Sendaar said quietly. "We were best friends, have been since we were five, when I was sent to the royal palace to foster with the army. I showed a great deal of promise and so was offered the chance to become a bloodgiver. Since by that point Teia had already been betrothed several years, and someone like me has few promising options, I took it. Fortunately, when Teia took up traveling and needed a bloodgiver to accompany him, his request for me was granted." His mouth twisted. "But once he is married, Lord Tishasanti will probably see that my contract is severed, as Teia will no longer be traveling and no longer require my services."

  "Which is stupid," Teia muttered. "I may not look like much, but my travels have not been idle, and my family is both wealthy and powerful—not as powerful as Lord Tishasanti's family, but nothing to sneer at, either. Tishasanti is just cheap and greedy."

  "He also doesn't want you to have allies," Sendaar said. "The more power he has over you, the more control over your life—your money."

  Teia made a face.

  "I thought bloodgivers were for life," Penli said with a frown. "At least, that was my impression from Prince Kallaar and the rest of his family."

  "Traditionally, but not everyone abides by the tradition anymore. The royal family is rare in the way they fully abide by the bloodgiver traditions. More and more, the rest of the country is seeing us as glorified bodyguards and servants." He grimaced. "But I apologize, my lord, our troubles are not yours. This was meant to be a last night of pleasure for us, before Teia marries and we are separated."

  Penli kissed him softly, then Teia. "Apologies aren't necessary. I assure you, I know what it's like to have family disregard your every want and need because they are so focused on their own. If not for the complications that brought me here, I would even now be married to a man I do not like and swept up in political games I detest. Come now, you both look tired, and I could use some rest myself. We'll sleep, play some more, and return to the palace tomorrow. I cannot help you with your marriage, I'm afraid, but I can certainly distract you until we must part ways. And I do so happily, darlings, I promise."

  They smiled, shy and sweet, leaving his chest aching in a dangerous, foolish way. Cuddling close, they fell asleep quickly.

  Penli gingerly untangled himself to piss and douse the lights. Climbing back into bed, he was quickly surrounded again. Lulled by their warmth, he easily fell into sleep himself.

  He was stirred a brief time later by the sound of soft singing. Sitting up, he immediately noted Sendaar was no longer in bed. A quick glance found him sitting in the room's single window, bathed in moonlight as he sang a Morentian travel song. As Penli had suspected, he had a beautiful voice.

  When the song ended, Penli said quietly, "Why in the world did you train as a soldier with a voice like that?"

  Sendaar's mouth twisted in a wry smile as he turned to look at Penli. "I'm from a small village that thinks singing is something you do while working in the fields or at festivals. They would never send a perfectly good worker away to spend all his time on something so frivolous. But a royal soldier, and later a bloodgiver, who could send plenty of money home? That's different. But it was my bloodgiver training that taught me to sing properly; it's one of many things we can be taught, to be wholly of service to our sworn."

  "Fascinating," Penli said, and climbed out of bed to join him at the window. The sky was clear for what seemed like endless miles, hundreds of thousands of stars filling it, the moon fat and bright, washing them in silvery light and making everything seem vaguely dreamlike. "Too troubled to sleep?"

  "This may be one of the last times I ever watch over him," Sendaar said, voice hitching slightly.

  "Don't give up hope yet," Penli said, curling a finger under his chin and tilting his head up. He kissed away the drying tears on Sendaar's cheeks, then his mouth. "The battle isn't over until it's over."

  "That doesn't make any sense."

  Penli laughed faintly. "I suppose it doesn't translate well. I'm not sure what your equivalent would be."

  From the bed, a rough, sleepy voice said, "Life isn't over until the heart stops."

  "Ah," Sendaar said. "Perhaps, but I think sometimes it's better to accept the fight was over long before it started. It would take interference from the gods to stop this wedding."

  From the bed, only soft snores replied.

  Penli would have laughed again, but the misery etched deep into Sendaar's face banished any levity. "I do not think divine intervention is required. You could always run away."

  "We considered it, over and over," Sendaar said. "But a life on the run is no better option, really. Eventually, we'd be caught and dragged home." He touched his face, the white t
attoos that covered it. "Anyway, running away requires being unremarkable, and I tend to be noticed wherever I go."

  "I am surprised to see a bloodgiver with such distinctive markings," Penli replied.

  "Where I come from, they're important. They denote family, important events, and other such things. It's unique to my area of the country, especially my village, where the practice was founded. I was advised not to get them, since I started bloodgiver training before I came of the age where the tattoos are bestowed, but…" He shrugged. "It's fairly common for bloodgivers to be assigned to those nobles who travel frequently, so I was going to stand out anyway. And if I wound up assigned to someone who remained here, I'd be unremarkable, since the practice is well known. It seemed stupid to hurt my family—and myself—by not doing something for a reason that didn't actually exist."

  Penli smiled. "I'm glad you got them. They're beautiful."

  "Thank you." Sendaar drew him closer and kissed him. "I am tired of sitting here brooding. Distract me?" He shifted around so his legs fell open, putting Penli between his thighs in an invitation as old as time.

  Sliding a finger inside him, teasing lightly, Penli dragged his tongue across Sendaar's mouth, then asked, "Teia won't mind us playing without him?"

  "No," Sendaar said.

  "Then I'm happy to distract," Penli murmured, removing his finger. His cock slid easily into Sendaar's body, still slick and stretched from their earlier fucking. He kept Sendaar's hands pinned to the window seat, muffling those pretty moans and whimpers with his own mouth, swallowing the long groan that spilled out as Sendaar came.

  Penli came with a few more thrusts, sinking deep into that lovely, pliant body and burying his face in Sendaar's throat.

  When they were both steady again he gently withdrew and carried a sated, sleepy Sendaar back to bed.

  "You sing beautifully," Penli murmured, kissing the space behind his ear.

  Sendaar smiled faintly, and hummed a soft lullaby until sleep got the better of him.

  If only Penli could fall back asleep so easily. He cleaned them up and resumed his place between Sendaar and Teia, but his mind was far too busy now to let him rest. He stared up at the ceiling, thoughts spinning and spinning, discarding one foolish idea after another. There wasn't anything he could do, not that he was aware of. It wasn't his problem.

  But Tishasanti was a vile, mean-hearted bastard who didn't deserve to be called human. Penli had just assumed like would be marrying like and not paid much attention.

  But Teia… Teia who was sweet and earnest and wanted only to please. Tishasanti would break him in a matter of months, if not weeks, and the first crack would be getting rid of Sendaar. He was far too smart, loyal, and capable for Tishasanti to let him remain by Teia's side. Penli's stomach turned thinking about how badly hurt both men would be by the separation. He'd only known them—and 'know' was generous—a few hours, and he could see that to break them apart was the cruelest thing anyone could do.

  It wasn't his place to get involved. It was the very definition of stupid. Reckless. Foolish. And a whole bunch of other words that amounted to the same: he shouldn't do it. There wasn't anything he could do.

  But walking away from a problem had never really been his style.

  And he had a sneaking suspicion that a certain hopelessly romantic, mischief-loving prince would know a way to intervene, and the very moment he returned to the palace, Penli was going to make Kallaar tell him what it was.

  Chapter Two

  "I've been informed you wanted a word with me."

  Penli looked up at the familiar voice, smiling at the amusement in it. "Yes, Your Highness, if you do not mind."

  Kallaar rolled his eyes. "You do not have to be so formal. You call Shanna by her name, why not me?"

  "Because your home is even more obsessed with formalities than mine, Highness." Penli looked back down at his sleeve, scowling at the minute tear in it. Damn it, this was only the second time he'd worn this shirt. He did not lack for funds, but neither did he have quite the fortune he'd possessed back home. He could not afford to replace his clothes as often as he once had, and dash it all, he liked this shirt.

  "I swear you cry harder over your clothes than you would over a dead body."

  "Depends on the body," Penli said. "Also depends on the clothes. This shirt is Damarrian silk, and brand new; it should not have a tear. It wasn't there an hour ago."

  "Blame Tishasanti," Kallaar said, one side of his mouth turning up, eyes sparkling.

  Penli snickered. "I think I shall. Perhaps I'll charge one to his account. He won't know until too late, if he notices at all. What a marvelous plan, Highness."

  "I'm full of them, as long as one doesn't mind the bending and discarding of a few rules. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

  Laughter faded, Penli sighed. "A far more serious matter. I should not be involved at all, but I cannot seem to talk myself out of doing it. I've had three days to do so, and failed miserably."

  Kallaar's eyebrows practically vanished into his hairline. "I sense this has to do with the way you've been sniping with Tishasanti more than usual."

  Penli's nose wrinkled. "I'd rather wear sackcloth the rest of my life than look at that moldy crust of bread ever again, but we all have our burdens to bear." He sighed and finally stopped fussing with his ruined sleeve. "This is about Tishasanti's marriage. Specifically, the man he is marrying."

  "Lord Teia. He's sweet. Far too sweet for a bastard like Tishasanti." Kallaar's eyebrows went back up. "I wasn't aware you were acquainted with Lord Teia."

  "I think anyone with a beating heart would be concerned," Penli said. "I do not know him well. I barely know him at all, to be honest. But I do know Tishasanti better than anyone would ever want to, and I cannot in good conscience stand by and do nothing while someone as commendable as Lord Teia is forced to marry that vile bastard spawn of a worm and rat."

  Kallaar laughed and laughed. Penli was considering ruining the shine on his boots when he finally stopped. "I see. So you want a way to prevent the marriage?"

  "I realize it's probably impossible, but—"

  "Stopping the marriage, yes," Kallaar interrupted, the last of his levity burning away beneath an intensity he rarely showed when Shanna wasn't around or the topic of conversation. "At this stage it simply isn't possible, barring very specific circumstances that generally involve death."

  Penli grimaced. "I prefer to leave my killing days behind me."

  "I agree it's a little extreme, even for Tishasanti," Kallaar replied. "There is another way, although death would be less dramatic."

  "Now I'm terrified."

  Kallaar grinned. "Two days from now is the Ceremony of Declaration. It's generally just a dull party where we listen to officials and the families drone on, because laws have to be obeyed even if they're boring and largely pointless. The law states that one month before the wedding is the last chance everyone has to back out or otherwise halt the proceedings. The parents declare they support the marriage, the couple declares they want the marriage, so on and so forth, to prove the marriage is desired and believed in from all sides. Toward the end, the temple priest who will be performing the wedding ceremony asks if there are any challengers to the marriage."

  "Challengers. That sounds promising." Hopefully this challenge involved breaking a certain little vermin's nose. Or ribs. Or even just an ankle. Penli wasn't picky.

  Kallaar made a face. "Only two types of people are allowed to challenge a marriage: family and other suitors. You are not family, so you will have to challenge as a suitor, meaning one of the first things you will have to do is prove you are the equal of Lord Tishasanti so far as benefiting Lord Teia and his family with the marriage."

  "I see." That might be difficult. Even impossible. If he dared set foot in Remnien before Shanna returned to claim her throne, he would be arrested at best, murdered where he stood at worst.

  "You're the best friend of Queen-in-Waiting Shanna, extremely wealth�
��"

  "Oh, I think 'extremely' is overgenerous these days," Penli replied.

  "You still have a title, even if you cannot do much with it right now."

  Penli shrugged. "Earl of Graymark I might be, but it doesn't do me much good when there's a warrant for my arrest and I cannot access the funds that estate provides." The only money he had came from the few businesses he owned or invested in that operated outside of Remnien, but even combined they did not compare to the wealth he'd been forced to leave behind. "I do not think I am a viable rival." He pressed his thumbnail against his teeth, not quite gnawing on it but he may yet get fretful enough to do so. Even the lacquer wouldn't stop him. Well, not until too late, anyway. It looked beautiful on his nails but tasted absolutely vile.

  Kallaar's mouth curved in one of those slow, evil grins that always preceded somebody storming through the castle in want of his head. "Maybe, but maybe not, because here is the amusing part: my parents are not thrilled about this marriage. Tishasanti plays the part of affluent noble, but he's just this side of destitute and the marriage will refill his coffers. In exchange, he's handing over additional power, prestige, and connections. This marriage will combine one extremely powerful house and one modestly influential but ridiculously wealthy house into a sum far greater than the parts. The result is a great deal of international economic power that almost nobody wants in Tishasanti's hands. But my parents cannot simply say 'we forbid this marriage because he's an asshole and makes us nervous.' By all appearances it's an excellent match, and my parents forbidding it out of hand would cause more problems than it solved. But if the marriage was challenged, well, they have to abide by the law, even if the tradition has not been practiced in at least seventy-five years."

  "Surely Lord Teia's family would disapprove."

  "They can disapprove all they like, but they cannot ignore the law, and the contracts already signed include the challenge clause. They always do; it's considered highly suspicious to leave it out, even if challenges are never called anymore. If they do refuse the challenge, then the whole affair is considered suspect and the marriage is called off anyway."