his body on fire. It just felt so good: the scent of his Master, his mouth, his hard body on top of him, the thick cock inside of him. But something was still missing.
“Master,” he whispered, reaching out mentally. “Please.”
He felt Castien’s telepathic mark vibrate with tension before it moved forward and pushed into him, too. The noise that left Eridan’s mouth was embarrassingly high. He welcomed his Master into his mind, their pleasure doubling as a full merge snapped into place. He could see himself through Castien’s eyes: his flushed face, his pretty, swollen lips, his naked body, writhing under him, on his cock—so tight around him, so beautiful, his Eridan, his, just his—
Eridan went very still, just allowing himself to be kissed, feeling stunned. He soaked up the hungry desperation and the overwhelming affection pouring into him from Castien. But affection wasn’t the right word. It felt all-encompassing, unstoppable, and limitless. It felt like a necessity. He was a necessity.
His Master needed him.
His Master. Needed. Him.
The thought was enough to make him come with a confused moan, Eridan’s vision blurry with overwhelmed tears. Castien shuddered and went still on top of him, spilling his release deep inside him.
Master.
Eridan.
He felt Castien’s lips on his face, kissing it softly, reverently.
It was almost too much. His chest felt like it was about to burst from affection, love, and need. He felt like he was choking on them.
I love him, Eridan suddenly thought. I will always love him. I will never love another person as much as I love him.
Any other time the thought would have been disheartening, but not at this moment. Not when he could feel how much he mattered to Castien. Their minds were still joined in a deep telepathic merge, and it was impossible to lie in a merge. He could feel everything Castien was feeling. He felt precious. He was precious. The most important thing in the world.
Eridan blinked his eyes open, having trouble believing what he was sensing. Was this why Castien had denied him a full merge for years? Because he didn’t want him to sense this? Or was this a recent development? He didn’t understand.
“Sometimes I think about it,” Castien said quietly, breaking the silence. His voice was slightly muffled by Eridan’s cheek. “I think about what if I took a different route to Hronthar that day nineteen years ago. Or what if I ignored the boy with a toddler in his arms trying to get my attention. What if I just delivered you to the Fifth Royal House instead of taking you to the Order.” He nipped at Eridan’s jaw, no doubt leaving a hickey. “If you lived to adulthood, you would be just another prince for me, one of many to manipulate and control. I wouldn’t even pay you a second thought. I would marry you to someone else and not give a damn.” Another hickey. “What a nice concept. A nice fantasy.”
Eridan stared at the high ceiling, his heart beating so fast he felt nearly dizzy. “Master?” he whispered shakily, unable to believe what he was hearing. What Castien was implying.
“You are mine,” Castien said, sucking a hickey into his neck. “You will always be only mine. I will kill anyone who touches you.”
Eridan shivered. Coming from any other man, that would have sounded like melodramatic exaggeration. Coming from Castien, it was just a statement of fact.
“If you didn’t kill Tethru yourself, I would have done it anyway.” Castien nuzzled against his collarbone, nipping at the skin there. “Therefore, your guilt over his death is not only foolish, but misplaced and irrational. He was dead from the moment he touched you.”
“This is still hardly a love confession, either,” Eridan said dryly, not knowing whether to laugh or be horrified. His heart felt like it was about to burst.
Castien lifted his head and gazed at him. “I… I’m trying, Eridan,” he said, his voice quiet. “Frankly, I am not sure what love is. But you are the only thing—the only person—I care about deeply. The only person more important to me than my Order.” He smiled ruefully. “Which is not something I have ever thought I would say. The Castien Idhron from five years ago would have thought someone had brainwashed me into this foolishness.” He stroked Eridan’s cheek with his thumb. “Maybe you have, and I just have not noticed. I’m rather irrational and short-sighted when it comes to you.” He grimaced a little. “My blocking your memories of your real