Farebury surprised Yangus. Or the inn did, at any rate. He'd have thought, in a proper town like this, the inn would offer more than an upstairs common room with a few thin dividers for the illusion of privacy. Even in Pickham, the inn had rooms with proper doors and locks.
Of course, in Pickham locked doors and barred windows were a necessity. Likely that was the difference.
Still and all, this was the first time he and the guv had been out from under the eye of Grandad and the horse-princess. He'd even had a bath; be a damn shame to let that go to waste.
Heaving himself out of his bed, he went to the end of the dividing wall and listened. There was no sound, and more important, the inn felt quiet, the kind of quiet that meant a bloke didn't have to be too careful when he was jimmying locks and such. And the guv wasn't the type to make much noise.
Satisfied, he padded over to the occupied bed. "Oy, Guv." His voice was low, but Eight still woke instantly, conditioned by so many nights spent camped on the road.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin'. I just never got to thank you proper-like for savin' me."
Eight frowned, visible even in the faint moonlight spilling through the window. "You've thanked me plenty of times."
"Words ain't a proper thanks for what you done, Guv."
Eight still looked confused, and Yangus thought maybe this was another way things here were different from Pickham, where gold was rare enough that most folk traded themselves as easily as their possessions. Still, Eight didn't protest when Yangus dropped a hand to his blanket-covered leg, or make more than a sound of surprise when Yangus pulled the blanket away.
Here, where it was safe, Eight slept in nothing more than his long blue tunic, and that had ridden up around his hips. Yangus ran a hand up his bare thigh, felt muscles flex and tense under his palm, and Eight said, "Yangus, what are you..." before his words broke off into a gasp as Yangus wrapped his hand around him.
"You don't have to. You already thanked me enough."
The words were breathless, surprised and maybe a bit scared, but the guv was half hard just from being held, and Yangus figured that meant more than words anyway. Besides... "I been lookin' forward to it, Guv. Just had to get away from Grandad an' the 'orse-princess."
"Are you..." Eight began, but Yangus ducked his head and took him in his mouth, and the words were lost again.
He'd been right about the guv; his only sounds were soft gasps and bitten-back groans, but those were better guides than words would have been, telling him what worked best and when to ease off so this wouldn't end too soon. Because he didn't want it to end, not with the guv grabbing at his short-cropped hair, digging fingers into his shoulders, and it might be wrong, this being a thank you and all, but Yangus couldn't help but think about putting those fingers to work somewhere else.
"Goddess, Yangus." Eight's hips arched off the bed; his fingers dug in hard. "Fuck me."
It was a shock to hear coherent words, and it took a moment for their meaning to sink in, another moment for him to get his voice working after he'd released Eight's cock. "Wot?"
Eight's eyes were wide and dark, his hair a sweaty tumble around his flushed face, and it would have taken the Lord High Priest himself to refuse when he repeated, "Fuck me. Please."
"Cor blimey," Yangus muttered, because he hadn't been prepared for that; lucky that rich merchant and his wife were staying beside them and it took only a minute to go through their bags and find a jar of some fancy hand cream. It seemed likely the guv'd done this before, what with him asking for it, and being one of the youngest guards before Trodain got itself cursed, but still Yangus was generous with the stuff, slicking them both up good, thick fingers stretching Eight carefully.
Then he was inside, and Eight was straining up against him, all heat and sweat and hard muscle. Yangus wrapped his lotion-slick hand around Eight's cock and stroked until Eight spent himself with a sound that would have tipped Yangus over the edge, even if the way his body tightened hadn't.
And really, Yangus decided as he settled back into his own bed, that was something else he ought to thank the guv for.
