"The simple truth is that there is an empty place, and I feel you are meant to fill it."
"I—" Ramsay looked at the table again, heart beating fiercely, skin feeling too tight for his body again, and real hope was so foreign a feeling, he only barely knew what it was. "I left because that's what I wanted, and I did not think I could have it."
The hand still on his took firmer hold and tugged until Ramsay looked up again. "It is yours, if only you say yes."
Ramsay looked at Shafiq, then nodded, scarcely believing this was happening. "Then yes, Your Majesty. I accept and gladly."
Shafiq broke into a wide smile and pulled more firmly. Ramsay went easily, looping his arms boldly around Shafiq's neck, eager to have now that it had been offered and accepted. Shafiq's kiss was hard, possessive—claiming. Ramsay could not believe this was actually happening, but he kissed back for all he was worth, determined to get what he could for as long as the dream lasted.
"Jankin was right," Shafiq murmured when they finally broke apart. "You know much aboutsuch things."
Ramsay made a face. "I am going to beat him black and blue."
Shafiq laughed, breath warm on Ramsay's skin as he brushed it lightly with his mouth, kissing and tasting. "Now, I am certain you know there are much better ways to discipline him, my lynx."
Ramsay shivered at the touches, at the memories of the best ways to make Jankin suffer. "Yes," he agreed, words coming out a hiss as Shafiq bit with entirely too much awareness at a particular spot on his throat. "I'm not a cat," he added belatedly, though Lynx was far better than kitten.
That made Shafiq laugh again. "I am afraid you are stuck with it and not least of all because it suits you. My harem is often called after wild animals. They can be quite unruly, you see. People have taken to calling them my menagerie."
"Somehow, that does not surprise me," Ramsay replied, words trailing into a moan as hands slid beneath his clothing.
"Perhaps they will behave for a little while, distracted by petting our new cat?"
Ramsay tried to roll his eyes, because he really did get tired of being compared to cats, but it was extremely hard to think when Shafiq did some petting of his own, and maybe being a cat was not so bad a thing after all, so long as he belonged to Shafiq.
It probably made him a shameless harlot to spread his legs right there on the floor, but Shafiq's hungry eyes made him hot and reckless, and it had been so very long since he'd felt like this, like he was alive again. By the time Shafiq slid inside him, began to fuck him in earnest, panting his name in Ramsay's ear, he was so hot he half feared they'd knocked over a lamp.
He came with a cry in just minutes, and might have been embarrassed at how easy it had been to send him over the edge, but Shafiq followed almost right behind, and for several minutes after they simply lay there, sated and spent, on the floor.
Eventually, though, Shafiq withdrew, and Ramsay gasped at the emptiness.
Shafiq cleaned them up and righted their clothes, then kissed him again. "Come, Lynx, the others will be waiting in ourchambers to greet you themselves. I have kept you from them long enough, but I could not help but be greedy."
Ramsay shivered at the hot hand that slipped inside his clothes to stroke his skin, achingly aware of how empty he still felt. "Be as greedy as you like," he whispered, and happily enjoyed another flurry of kisses before Shafiq finally drew him into the secret passages. "These are a stupid safety risk. Who allowed such an absurd thing to be built?"
"My ancestors," Shafiq said dryly. "They've been here since the palace was first built."
"So the builders could blab about it all to anyone who would listen?"
"I'm certain a few did, but most people simply do not care enough. It hardly matters now." They spilled out into the chambers he was already so familiar with—
And whatever he'd been going to say was forgotten as he watched Ender and Nadir, kneeling on the floor, twined together intimately as they kissed ravenously. Berkant sat watching as he sipped wine with Jankin's head in his lap.
"Ramsay!" Jankin said, rolling smoothly to his feet, the others right behind him. He threw himself into Ramsay's arms and kissed him ravenously, trembling faintly as Ramsay held on for dear life. "I told you to stay, you stupid bastard."
"Well, I'm staying this time, so stop yelling at me."
Jankin smiled. "I never thought I'd get to see you again, let alone like this, Ramsay." He trailed his fingers over Ramsay's mouth. "You always did look so very pretty thoroughly tumbled."
"Shut up," Ramsay said, face hot as he pulled Jankin's hand away.
Before he could say anything else, he was attacked by the twins, who dragged him over and down to the lounging area, where they'd just been all but fucking each other. "Am I allowed to ask now how brothers…"
"We'll tell you the full tale later," Ender said, "but suffice to say we did not even know the other existed until a few years ago, when I was summoned to the palace. We…do not really see each other as brothers." Ramsay listened avidly to the abbreviated tale. "I hope it doesn't…"
Ramsay kissed him, then Nadir. "If it concerned me, I would not be here. I admit I was taken aback, but I quit the rules and expectations of others when they left my brother to die. Anyway, I would be a hypocrite, because I enjoyed watching you together just moments ago."
Grinning in delight, eyes full of mischief, the twins withdrew and helped each other undress, until they were naked, save for their jeweled piercings.
