Invading Pietas's space, Luc took a step closer.
The king drew a breath and held it, back ramrod straight. "Cyken? Talk to me."
Luc took in Pietas's dimpled chin and strong mouth, straight nose and bright turquoise eyes. His dark lashes and brows stood in sharp contrast to his white hair. Inhumanly perfect. No man should be this beautiful.
Their people called Pietas the Bringer of Chaos because his strongest Sempervian gift was Chaos, the ability to create chaotic feelings with no outside source. In battle, it mind-dazed an enemy. But with a lover, his gift rendered a partner helpless, inundating them with overwhelming pleasure.
Only Luc ever dared call him by that title--to his face.
"The thing is, Bringer, I will never be over you." Luc drew back one silky lock of the man's shining platinum hair. "I think of you every single day. And every single night. And every time I wear your scent, I long for you." Curling a hand behind Pietas's head, Luc stretched upward and pressed his mouth against his king's.
For one breathless moment, Pietas remained detached, but then he yielded into the kiss, slipping his arms around Luc, pulling him close, close, kissing him back. Not a ravaging kiss. Not all-encompassing desire. Tender, sweet with longing.
The kind of kiss Luc remembered when he was alone at night. Hungry for touch. The kiss--not of a conqueror--but a lover. Instead of shouting, "Mine!" this kiss whispered, "Yours..."
Pietas broke away, bracing his hands on Luc's shoulders. "No." He wiped his mouth with the back of a hand and turned aside. "This isn't what you need."
"Wrong." The heat behind his eyes had nothing to do with his inner beast. "You're exactly what I need."
"No." Pietas stepped further back. "You're lonely. You think you need to be with another person and lose yourself with sex."
Luc smiled. "Two points for you. That is what I want." He reached for Pietas.
"No." The man stepped out of reach. "It isn't."
Must Pietas fight with him over everything? "Bringer--"
"No." Pietas held out both hands in front of him. "You're vulnerable. You're in pain and you think being with me will take it away."
"I know it will." Pain was what he needed. Chaos. Who better to give it to him than the bringer of it?
