Hamish swallowed. His legs trembled slightly. He braced himself against the tree for good measure. “Actually, I’m nae so sure this is a good idea,” he said, breathless. “To do it here, I mean. What if they find us?”
Confusion tweaked Darshan’s brows. Those hazel eyes lifted, even as Darshan’s palm continued massaging Hamish through his clothes. His other hand was deftly working on unbuckling Hamish’s belt. “Are you afraid your brother will berate you?”
His brother? “Nae exactly.” Hamish wet his lips, struggling to form words. If Darshan kept this up, he wouldn’t have to worry about being found in the midst of anything. “If one of me nephews find us first…” He trailed off, already seeing the answer in the lack of fire gleaming within his lover’s eyes.
“Blast,” Darshan muttered. “That does put quite the damper on things. You are, of course, right. This is perhaps not the best time or place. Although…” With an impious twist to his lips, his lover practically climbed Hamish, stopping only once he straddled Hamish’s hips. “I am not letting you take another step without a little something,” he breathed, their lips not quite meeting. “It is a matter of pride.”
“I love you,” Hamish murmured, laying his forehead against Darshan’s. By the Goddess, which one of them was sweating? “It’s going to kill me if you go alone.”
Darshan laughed, the sound small and breathless. “I am not going anywhere you cannot follow. I promise.”
“That depends on how well we manage the next two trials.”
“Then how about a kiss for my troubles?” Grinning wickedly, Darshan pressed close. “A nice chaste one that shall remind me just what I will lose should I not try hard enough.”
The small gap between them was sealed before Hamish could think of a reply. True to his lover’s word, the kiss was softly innocent. Or it would’ve been had Darshan not tightened his legs around Hamish’s waist.
Two can play at that. He grasped his lover’s rump and the man moaned against his lips in response. His legs wobbled at the sound. Hamish pressed his back against the tree in support. He sucked on his lover’s lip until the majority was trapped by his teeth to the sound of a hushed whimper.
He ground himself against Darshan, groaning alongside his lover. Maybe… maybe they did have time. He had witnessed only a single sign of someone having come this way recently, but the noises had been much further from here than—
“Found them!” Ethan’s voice cut through the haze of Hamish’s thoughts.
The reality of the forest slammed back around him and heat flared across his face. The wisp of a curse tightened his throat, unable to escape his lips as more than a senseless grumble.
“By the Goddess’ bleeding ears,” Gordon barked. “Can I nae leave you two alone for a moment without you snogging each other’s brains out? Or cannae you two find a room to grind against each other like frustrated dogs?”
With his body shaking in poorly-restrained mirth, Darshan bent forward until his lips brushed Hamish’s ear. “He is fortunate to not have found us a little later,” he whispered in Udynean.
Hamish barely had time to let the implications sink in—and just what would his nephews and brother have stumbled upon had they been delayed in discovering them even a short while later, anyway?—before his lover tipped back in his arms to shoot Gordon a charming smile.
“There you are,” Darshan said, seamlessly switching to Tirglasian. “I was beginning to think we had lost you.”
Gordon’s face was carefully neutral, but his brother wouldn’t look directly at them. Saying nothing, he headed back the way he had come. The boys tailed him. But not without Ethan shooting him a wide grin and whispering to Bruce.
Darshan snickered.
“It’s nae funny,” Hamish mumbled, his face growing hotter. Could he even release his hold on Darshan’s backside without embarrassing either of them? His own trousers and overcoat should hide the obvious outcome of them grinding against each other—slow as it was in getting the idea that nothing further was happening—but Darshan’s trousers were slightly more formfitting.
“Of course not.” His lover laid a hand on his chest. “If it were one of my siblings, I would have been mortified to be caught in any sort of intimate act.”
“But you’re still laughing,” Hamish growled, gently prising the man’s legs from his waist and lowering Darshan to the ground. His lover’s overcoat seemed long enough to avoid immediate embarrassment.
“Well, he is not my brother, is he?” Still chuckling quietly to himself, Darshan stepped back. “Are you going to stop leaning on the tree?”
Hamish tipped his head, resting it on the bark. “I’m nae sure if me legs will hold me weight just yet.”
“Well, I—”
The nearing crash of something moving through the foliage caught his ear.
Hamish straightened. His bow was in his hand before he had finished righting himself. Was it another person walking through the forest or a potentially dangerous animal? His focus darted momentarily to the boys—who had taken a few steps towards the sound—as he nocked an arrow.
The trio seemed more troubled than scared. Should he order them back further? Or maybe have Darshan shield them? Nae. Not until he saw what they were up against. If there was a time for someone to try and cheat their way through, it would be during this trial.
A figure emerged from behind a tree, lightly trailing their hands across the bark.
Hamish lowered his bow. Sorcha? Although the girl was glancing over her shoulder, her face hidden by the windswept mass of auburn curls, Hamish had known his niece practically from birth. He could pick out every one of his siblings’ children from a crowd.
“ ‘Cha?” Ethan blurted, rushing to his cousin’s side. “What are you doing out here?”
Startled, Sorcha swung about. She tucked her hands at her back, instantly raising Hamish’s suspicion. The girl wasn’t usually one to cause trouble, but she also didn’t tend to
