Abyss - Book Five of the Alpha Series - MxM

Chapter 7 (M)

I crane my head back, resting my neck on the rim of the stone tub, supported by one of the large, fluffy towels. I keep the temperature as hot as possible, trying to melt away the stress of Loan enforcing his rules on me again. 

"What am I going to do about him?" I want to unseat him, but I feel as though we are safer with him close to us. If I kick him out, he could start his own rebellion, and right now, we need all the support we can get. The uprising he gathered could be against the Empire, or, with rumors circulating, it could be against me. 

If the church were appropriately motivated, it could easily put him in my place. 

"If I die, god forbid, someone must rule this place, and I don't have an heir. I need to think of my people, I need to think of what is best for them." 

Before he can speak, I quickly add, "And I'm not interested in having an heir, before you get any ideas." 

I can feel the smirk as he takes my foot in his hands, sitting on the opposite end of the tub. My feet are in his lap, and he kneads my foot between his skilled thumbs. It's absolutely heavenly, given my ridiculous shoes and the amount of time I spend stationary listening to the babble of how and why I'm the king. 

"If you're not going to convict him, or let me kill him, then you can't cut him loose. He's better off at your side, where you can watch him. Loan is your Caspian, without the infatuation. Just set ground rules and stick to them, mean it. You will be the king in only a few days. 

Loan knows that and is acting out because he's afraid. It's a good thing, it'll make him sloppy. He'll out himself soon enough."

I can tell that he's sweating and hot from the water's temperature by the way his hair is matted down to his forehead, the gray darkened to an almost black color with a few stray strands. 

Stealing a peek, admiring the beaded sweat on his chest, I test my libido as I crane my head back in admiration for the worship this man lays before me. I'm between his legs. With his size, he's always taken up most of the length of this tub, though truthfully, we never got in it together very often. 

"What if he doesn't stop?" I ask after a moment, influencing the water's surface with slow paces of my fingertips. He brings my foot up to rest it on his shoulder and starts work on the other one. I stretch and groan at the mixture of pampering and warmth.

 "What if he just keeps doing this? I know he planted that man, I know that Chancellor Aschim is one of his appointed officials, and I know for a fact that Loan wanted that man to kill me. What's stopping me? Why am I struggling with this?"

 Verando exhales, tracing his fingers over the tendons in my foot. He glances up at me as if wondering if I want his opinion. "Because you're a good person? Better than the rest of us, at least, I'd have had his head that very night if you'd have allowed it. But that's why the people love you, they trust you not to act rashly."

"Randy," I complain.  

He thinks it over, kissing the ankle of my shoulder-foot. "Caspian never did stop. When I killed my father, he was jealous of what I was capable of. When I formed the army, he was envious that he was not the Alpha. When I met you, he was resentful that I had not chosen him. Caspian was born to lead a different path, but he was so busy trying to steal mine that he had lost his way. 

I had always hoped he would find it, but greed and revenge are hard to combat. Stealing someone else's accomplishments can seem easier than making your own. It's up to you to decide what to do with him. I never could beat Caspian, as he was stronger than me. 

There was no hope, especially once my shoulder was damaged. You saw that I did not win in our fight, and you had to heal me. It was ultimately you who stopped Caspian's rise to power.