“Are you going with the Progeny?” Andrew asked as he closed the door to the library behind him.
Books lined the shelves built into the two-story atrium. The skylight let in what sun it could with Nox’s Sphere surrounding the planet like a great shell.
Andrew remembered Xelan’s face when the Icarus had told him outside of Hall High School which method they’d planned to invade with. Resurrecting an old experiment of the Traitor Prince to imitate the properties of Cinder’s Elden’s Sphere on Earth. The sphere prevented a certain kind of radiation from penetrating the atmosphere. Designed during their first invasion, this protected the Icari. Unfortunately, it could filter the sun’s rays too well. Xelan had told Andrew all life forms—animal or vegetable—dependent on light might suffer before too long. Followed by a breakdown in the condensation, evaporation, precipitation cycle. This could harm the atmosphere.
Only time would tell.
“No. The fewer people there, the fewer to hide in plain sight,” Lucas answered without glancing up from his book. He sat with his feet propped on a table, crossed at the ankles. Were all Icari mysterious, aloof, and sexy as hell? “What’s the current timeline?” Lucas turned a page.
Nervous, Andrew paced along the wall. He trailed a finger on the spines of Icarean and Earthling tomes. “They’re leaving in two hours.”
Lucas dropped the book on his lap and glanced up at Andrew with those molten gold eyes. “They? Not we?”
Andrew ignored the question. He needed to ask Lucas for help, but he really came here for another excuse to accept Xelan’s latest mission and stay. Change the subject. “Tameka’s still unconscious.”
The chair groaned as Lucas leaned back into it, folding his arms across his chest. The bulk of him stretched the seams of his expensive suit. Lucas said, “Well, she would be. That exchange with anyone other than Xelan might kill the donor without a nacre.”
Engrossed with a philodendron draping from the bookshelf, Andrew berated his ability to flirt with everyone at every single fucking Iona compound aside from the one man he wanted. Three months. Almost four. Stop beating around the bush and be direct already. “Do you want to try on me?” There. Nothing more direct than that.
Lucas straightened the chair with a creak. He removed his legs from the table, planting his loafers on the squishy rug beneath. Then he leaned forward, intrigue playing on the lines of his handsome face. The smiling mask shifted with a shimmer of… what? Hope?
Lucas asked, “Without a nacre?”
“With Frullop’s nacre after you help me steal it.”
The Icarus vanished, but Andrew could follow his movements. Lucas reappeared in front of him, not even a step apart. His shoes made no sound on the slate tiles. A rare occurrence with this alien race, Andrew stood an inch or two taller than the extremely attractive man before him. Their eyes were almost level. Andrew stared into them, growing warmer the longer the connection remained unbroken. Must be the mirth ever-present in Lucas’ gaze, or maybe the soft bow of his lips.
They quirked into a genuine smile. “The summer sun suits you, Andrius.” He shivered at the use of his ancestor’s name. “You know what the girls call you behind your back?”
The topic veered a little off course, but Andrew enjoyed the cadence of the Icarus’ smooth voice. He encouraged him to speak on, “Enlighten me.” He wet his lips as Lucas’ gaze swept over his bare chest and arms.
Then, unironically, Lucas confessed, “The Golden God.”
Andrew failed to contain his laughter, head thrown back and everything. “I knew that. They’re not exactly quiet about it. And they’re lucky.”
Humor sparkled in Lucas’ eyes. “Why is that?”
Teasing, Andrew swept a hand through his recently made over hair. “I’m an honest man, and I won’t use my superpower to seduce them.”
“Care to experiment on me?”
The invitation stilled the air. Froze time. Caught the very breath from Andrew’s soul.
Lucas’ eyes dripped gold like the foundry on the train. The heat was almost too much for Andrew to bear at this proximity. But he wanted it. Wanted to feel the sear. Test the boundaries of its forge.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Andrew gripped Lucas by the sides of his face and melded their lips together. In response, Lucas brushed a hand into his hair and held on. When the cheeky Icarus slipped him the tongue on the first kiss, Andrew moaned into his mouth, welcoming the spicy taste of ginger.
Drawing away for breath, Andrew leaned his forehead against Lucas’. He gazed, lost in the transformation of the other man’s eyes. Gold, yes, of course gold, but the stripe in the center wasn’t white or black like the others. It was teal. A beautiful, tropical teal.
At the sight, Andrew groaned. “I’ll need a nacre.” Unable to stop himself, he pecked another light kiss on the alien’s lips.
Lucas returned it. “I know of a spare.” His voice pitched low and high altogether. In the middle, a third pitch, soothing and warm.
“Can you get to it?” On a more serious note, Xelan relied on Andrew to complete this mission. He trusted Lucas to help. They both did. As much as he looked forward to exploring this recent development in their relationship—and Andrew hoped it was on its way to a relationship—this needed doing first. This entire designated survivor thing required commitment.
That said, Andrew made no move to resist Lucas as he leaned in and placed a light kiss on Andrew’s neck. Nope. No resistance at all.
Between the first and second kiss, Lucas answered, “It is unguarded.” After the third peck. “Mostly.”
Andrew wanted to moan but also wanted to hold it back. Savor it a bit. Panting with the effort to resist, he said, “Then we’ll test how well my ability works before the steroids.”
Lucas straightened. “Will you show me?” His eyes shifted back to normal; his voice followed suit. “I’m very curious.” Then he removed his tie. He let the silk slide through his fingers to the slate floor. After it formed itself into a pile, he stared down at it for a long minute, before looking back up to Andrew, blinking. “Why… Why did I—”
Andrew bit his lip as Lucas reached up to unbutton his collar and then his cuffs. He slipped out of his suit jacket, which added to the growing pile. Meanwhile, Andrew experienced the slight strain near his temples he’d discovered during practice with Xelan. He staggered.
Lucas caught him, staring wide into his eyes. “The power of suggestion?”
Andrew squeezed out, “So far.” He paused for a deep, steadying breath. “Xelan thinks it could be more with a nacre.”
“I dread to think.” Then, at Andrew’s smirk, Lucas popped an eyebrow, asking, “Something else?”
“Well, also so far…”
“Yes?”
Andrew couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “It only works if the subject wants to perform the suggestion. I just give a little push. Gave you… a little push.”
Icari could blush, and it was magical.
When Andrew thought he might have the upper hand in seducing an almost immortal alien, Lucas slipped the buttons loose of his shirt and exposed his chest to the library.
Andrew forgot how to breathe as Lucas confirmed, “For the record, that was all me.” He took Andrew’s hand and flattened it against all that bare skin, running hot beneath the surface. “And so is this.” Great wings unfurled with a rustle of feathers. The span was almost too much for the library to contain. Beautiful shadow-dark and unreal, they curled around Andrew and pressed him closer to their bearer. While they embraced him, Lucas’ hands remained free for other firsts.
Led by Lucas, Andrew explored lower across tight abs, below pronounced hip bones, to the crux of the matter. The Icarus watched him with transformed eyes. He felt it, even as his own gaze followed his hand. Limited in his experience with male partners, Andrew gulped, audibly.
When he met Lucas’ stare, he didn’t hide his reticence. “I—”
“You’ll need nacre healing, first. Believe me. I know. Part of my agreeing to help you serves my own self—” Lucas’ eyes roved over Andrew. “—Interest.” The feathers whispered around him as Lucas retreated, stepping away. “After—”
Where the fuck did he think he was going?!
Andrew snatched what remained of the Icarus’ shirt and jerked him into another tongue melting kiss. Lucas gasped but accepted. Aware of how ‘gladly’ he’d accepted, Andrew took the evidence in hand, and the other man suddenly clung to his back, nails and all.
Andrew stared at the older being as he stoked the flames, saying, “Let’s not waste an opportunity to get to know each other. There’s plenty we can do without super healing, and I intend to do all of it in this library.” Wings gathered back around them, shielding them from any immediate interruptions.
Lucas closed those gorgeous eyes and let his head fall back as Andrew unfastened his belt with his free hand.
Andrew asked, “How long?”
Lucas said, “Inches or…?”
Andrew chuckled at the Icarus’ breathlessness. He nipped at the other man’s neck as he relieved him of his slacks. Andrew repeated, “How long have you wanted me?”
Lucas opened his eyes and peered at Andrew through heavy lids. “When you came to us, The Brethren, a lone Progeny, a young man… So brave and so pure.”
Andrew raised an eyebrow at the notion anyone could confuse him with purity, especially while squeezing until Lucas gasped for him.
The Icarus panted through the words. “Your intentions. To save your friends. To save the world. A proper knight. What a fucking turn-on.”
Andrew whispered as he teased, “I felt it.” A lick on the carotid. A trace of the finger to the tip. “I knew it then. You watched me giving speeches, training, working my ass off. I was sure.” A press of the lips followed by a gentle suck. He left marks. Let everyone know. Lucas purred and groaned with each sensation. As one hand swept into Andrew’s hair, he continued, “It lit me up inside to know you wanted me.”
With Lucas’ slacks gone and nothing beneath, the Progeny went to his knees.
The Icarus with his heart laid open in his fantastic eyes made no move to resist him as Andrew began hours of exploration. He might have suggested to Lucas that resistance was a waste of time. Precious time on the eve of this war. They needed to make every second—and inch—count.