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Big warning: there's a ton of mxm smut in this chapter.
If you're uncomfortable with reading it, please skip this chapter altogether

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"There's still time to go back..." Valis muttered under his breath, standing before the tavern door. His fingers hovered over the handle as muffled laughter seeped through. His chest tightened with the thought: one step back, and he could walk away, vanish into the night, and choose safety over whatever waited inside.

"Shall we go in?" A person who was standing right behind him whispered in his ear, making Valis flinch. It was Raven.

'It's too late now...' Without saying a word, he took a deep breath and pressed the handle.

They both entered the tavern. It was spacious and full of life. The wide hall buzzed with chatter. Along the walls stood long tables where merchants, soldiers and travelers sat with mugs of ale.

Valis led the way, heading for the only empty table in the corner but Raven placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him "No, no, not this way, we're going straight upstairs." Then added quietly, "I have a room prepared for tonight where we will discuss the details of our transaction...."

Val stopped mid-step. He slowly removed Ladven Prince's hand from his shoulder and turned to him with a direct question: "How did you know I would come?"

"I didn't know for sure," Raven replied with a smooth grin. "But I had a hunch no prostitute would pass on the golden opportunity like this."

Anger surged inside Valis. He used every ounce of his energy to keep a neutral expression. He hadn't come here without a plan. He wanted to learn as much as possible about Raven's intentions, even if it meant playing the part of a kept man. And if the price was his own body, so be it.

He clenched his jaws and said nothing, simply turning back again and following the directions upstairs.

On the way up, he thought of another Raven. Not this bitter bastard from now, but the boy from years ago, tall, always smiling, laughing with him as they chased each other across the beach. He remembered his eyes shining with joy when he offered his hand on the steep rocks, steady and strong, as if together they could climb any peak.

Then that same hand shoved him down. Threw him out onto the street like trash, without a moment's hesitation, as if those years had meant nothing.

And now, when he looked at him again after all these years, all he saw was a cynical asshole. The smile from those days was gone, replaced by cruel contempt.

The tavern bedroom was surprisingly well kept: a broad bed in the middle was neatly made with clean sheets, and the scent of freshly laundered linen surrounded the room. Everything inside seemed carefully prepared, as though awaiting a guest of high importance.

Raven took off his coat and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked straight at his prey, who was still standing by the door.

"Aren't you going to start?" the predator teased, his voice dripping with mockery.
Valis snapped back to reality, "I thought we would talk first..." he responded quietly but with steel resolve.

"Oh, we will..." the dark-haired noble murmured, his lips curling. "With our bodies."

'Calm down, it's just a performance, none of it is real,' Valis thought to himself. 'But can I do it?'.

He had no experience, not with men, nor with anyone else, just a man playing a role he didn't know the script for. He sighed and slipped off his coat, letting it fall with a barely muffled thud near the door and forced himself to move closer to the bed, stopping a few feet away, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides.

Raven simply watched, his lips curled in that infuriating, patient half-smile. "I'm not going to beg, Valis."

Valis swallowed hard. He couldn't just stand there. His gaze darted around the room; at the clean sheets, the table in the corner, anything but the cynical bastard before him. He took one step, then another, until he was standing right between Raven's spread knees. It was a position of extreme vulnerability, and his stomach twisted.

With a rush of panicked resolve, Valis forced himself to move. He placed one knee on the mattress, then the other, his heart hammered against his ribs. This felt wrong. Every instinct just screamed for him to run.

He used his whole inner strength to muffle his feelings and straddled Raven's lap, looking him straight in the eyes, feeling the heat radiating from his body and his hot breath on his face. 

"Playing the virgin?" Raven's lips stretched into a predatory smile. "I'm happy to play along." He grabbed Valis's chin and pulled him in, their lips crashing together in a kiss.

Valis's entire body went rigid. He didn't know how to kiss, much less how to perform for a cruel audience like this. His arms were pushing slightly against Raven's chest to keep the rest of his body from melting into the contact. When Raven's tongue made insistent entry, Valis flinched, pulling his head back an inch, with a jerky, involuntary movement, before man's strong grip on his chin yanked him back.

Dark-haired man pushed further, with increasing urgency, as if he couldn't get enough of his partner.

Valis felt a shameful rush of heat to his groin. He let out a soft groan of frustration and self-betrayal when Raven's hardened erection brushed against him. Swearing in his mind at his oversensitive body, he tried to push him away, needing to catch his breath and regain his senses, but the more he pushed, the more Raven pulled him back in, refusing to let go.

He shuddered as Raven's lips slid down his neck, nipping lightly at his skin before his tongue traced a path over Valis's adam's apple. A moment later, Raven's hands gripped his waist, pulling him in even closer as he began to grind his hips against Val's.

The sensations were overwhelming. A voice of reason deep in Valis's mind screamed that this was a terrible mistake, that he should stop. But another voice, far stronger, insisted that it was just a game, nothing more. That his desire was a pretense; only his body was reacting, while his heart remained untouched.

Before he could truly process the thought, Raven's actions demanded his complete, undivided attention. He reached down, freeing both their shafts and grasping them in one hand, instantly sending a wave of heat through Valis's body. Struggling slightly, he began to stroke them both at once, his hand moving up and down. Then, with a decisive move, he used his other hand to capture Valis's, joining their hands together.

Val felt a flicker of surprise, a split-second urge to pull away, but the commanding heat of Raven's grip swept it aside. He managed to glance down at their joined hands. His was underneath, Raven's, visibly larger and slightly darker, on top of his, dictating the tempo of their movements.

He didn't have a moment to process the sight. His mouth was instantly devoured in another kiss, more ravenous and demanding than the last. Raven's hand quickened its pace, and Valis's joined it, as he tried to stifle his moans of pleasure. "A little bit more," Raven whispered against his lips, his breath was ragged and his half-opened eyes were completely filled with lust.

The tension between them grew with every passing second, like a thread pulled taut.

Then it snapped.

A shuddering gasp tore from Valis, his body arched as he climaxed. A strangled sound escaped Raven a moment later as he followed him, collapsing against Valis.

Val leaned his head against Raven's shoulder, breathing heavily and trying to steady his racing heart when he heard: "Are you going to sit there all day?"

Valis flinched, half in surprise, maybe with some embarrassment and quickly fixed his shirt, standing up, not even caring that it was completely soaked. At the same time, Raven took a handkerchief from his pocket, carefully wiped his hand, and threw the wet cloth at Valis's feet.

"I feel like you were the one being serviced, not the other way around. But... a deal is a deal." Raven reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small brown pouch. Valis didn't even have to guess what was inside; he could clearly hear the clink of coins.

"Same place next week? Try a little harder," Raven said with a cynical smile, leaving the pouch on the bed.

"That long?" Valis asked with feigned sincerity. He didn't want this meeting, too, to turn out completely unproductive.

"Someone's being impatient," the other man replied with mockery. "Or... Do you need more? On Friday, there's a parade in the city. I promised long ago that I would be there. I can't disappoint my mother, you understand, right? I will find time for you on Monday, though." Then he smiled coldly again, grabbed his coat and left the room, closing the door behind him before Valis could respond.

Val sat back down on the bed, picked up the pouch of gold, and squeezed it tightly in his hand, seething. He was furious with himself and his traitorous body, and with Raven for treating him like a common prostitute. A small voice in his head didn't let him forget that it was by his own choice. 'It's just a body, nothing else," he kept repeating to himself.

But he had one piece of information that might prove very useful. The Friday parade in the city. He needed to prepare for it carefully.