The laugh that escaped Nero's throat was dry, half-derrisive, and tainted with a thick coating of smooth arousal. It caught on the breath he drew, a low rumbling sound, and he gritted his teeth as the second finger twisted inside of him, splintering pleasure up his spine. The muscles in his jaw flexed and the motion rippled down his shoulders and arms.

"Oh yes," Nero confirmed, his tone low and heady, "Her inspections were always..." He pauses inadvertently to release a hissing breath through his teeth, the twist of Ephram's fingers brushing against the ideal spot inside him. The wood beneath his hands creaks and his fingers grind against it, in silence. As he continues, his voice is restrained and thready, "Thorough."

He takes a long breath and cranes his neck again, half catching sight of the man at his back. "And her tests quite...unique."