They headed upstairs, and a few minutes later, the buckets of hot water started being hauled up.
The server from earlier was one of the two who was filling up the bathtub, carrying up the buckets from the kitchen. Perian pulled her to the side on one of her trips.
“Do you think that when you’re done with this, if you have a minute, you could take a couple of carrots or apples out to our horses?”
Her eyes flew to his.
“They would very much appreciate it,” he said gently. He wasn’t here very long, so he had to work on a schedule. “And I think they… wouldn’t be the only ones?”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks went pink, but Perian just smiled encouragingly at her. A tiny, bashful smile tipped up her lips.
“I could certainly do that for you, sir. Would you like me to come let you know about the horses after?”
“Oh, no,” Perian told her. “That won’t be necessary. They appreciate the company of anyone feeding them, and I’m sure they would be quite delighted to spend a few minutes with you. Don’t feed them too fast, mind. They’ll want to be greedy and gobble the treats down, but it’s much better for them if it’s spread out.”
Yeah, that was one of the least subtle things Perian had ever done, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, because there was still a little smile on her lips.
“I’ll be sure to do that, sir.”
“Thank you so much,” Perian told her.
She bowed and then went back to work. Brannal came over and wrapped his arms around Perian, cradling him against his chest, pressing a kiss to his temple.
“You have a bigheart.”
Maybe Perian did. He wanted everyone to be happy, and he thought the world might be a better place if more people tried to do the same.
Once the bath was filled, they stripped and climbed in, scrubbing one another clean even more carefully than normal, because they really had gotten food and dirt in some unusual places. Perian didn’t want to get it all over the bed. This was their last night, and he wanted to make the most of it.
Once they were dry, they tumbled right into bed and just made out until Brannal was hard again against Perian’s hip.
Then he made slow, beautiful love to Perian, drawing them close to climax and then backing off so that he could do it again… and again… and again.
Perian was a panting, writhing mess by the time Brannal finally drove them to orgasm, and he realized he was clutching at the other man, whispering, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” over and over. Brannal kissed his face and made soothing noises that finally seemed to penetrate Perian’s brain, and he stopped holding onto him quite so hard and just relaxed back against him.
They stumbled out of the room for dinner at some point, and it was just as lovely as always, but Perian didn’t really remember eating it, just remembered pulling the other man back into the bedroom because this was their final night.
They brought one another off with hands and mouths and cocks until they were both so sated Perian was pretty sure they may actually have hit the limit for how much sex he could have in a row. He hadn’t even been sure therewasa limit.
“I love you,” Perian told the other man again, heart overflowing, so much love and so much satisfaction.
“And I love you,” Brannal said, kissing his temple.
In the morning, Brannal slid into Perian from behind, and this sex was slow and languid, the perfect way to wake up. Perian was pretty sure Brannal had chosen it to try to lessen that feeling of urgency, the knowledge that their time here was coming to an end.
Perian pulsed into the sheets one last time as Brannal spilled deep inside him, and he let out a very satisfied sound, even if part of him had wanted to hold out, had wondered if he didn’t come, if they could stay like this and never leave.
Not exactly a realistic expectation.
They eventually climbed out of bed, Perian with great reluctance, but he didn’t want to spoil this perfect holiday by being depressed at its ending.
As they got cleaned up in the bathroom, Perian came over and wrapped his arms around Brannal, giving him a hug from behind in a reversal of their usual configuration. It also let Perian feel those beautiful chest and back muscles, which was never a hardship. Perian pressed a kiss to his shoulder.
“Thank you,” Perian told him. “This has been so very wonderful.”
Brannal spun around and took Perian’s lips in a fervent but unhurried kiss.
“I agree,” Brannal said. “And it couldn’t have been that way without you. Thank you for making it so wonderful with me.”
