Chapter Eight—Goodbyes

 

Tanis stirred the bubbling pot with a long stick of wood. The flooring creaked as Curran crossed the room, but he didn’t look up. If the young man was determined to throw away his future, his life, on Luthias’ whim, there was nothing left to say.

“I did not come here to fight you with, Tanis,” Curran said softly.

“Then why did you come?”

“To tell you of my good fortune in case you wondered about my fate, and to…” He trailed off. “Never mind that now. I should go.”

“Speak your mind. This may be the only place on the Duke’s land where you are free to do so.”

Curran seemed to draw courage from those words and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I came to see if you would have me again.”

“Luthias would not be pleased if he were to learn of your visit here.”

“Be that as it may, tonight I still belong to myself. I want to spend it with you.”

Tanis couldn’t resist such an appeal, especially when it fit so neatly with his own desires. If this was their last chance to be together, he’d do his best to make it a memorable one.

He spread the burning embers out to cool them then rose to his feet. Curran waited for him, a half smile across his thin, talented lips. He was so beautiful, so full of life. “You are a living dream.”

He drew the younger man into his embrace and lowered his lips for a deep kiss. Curran’s mouth immediately opened, giving him access to every part. Their tongues met, but rather than a clash of wills they dueled in mutual seduction. Curran melted against him, slipped his arms around Tanis’ waist and rubbed his needy, hard cock against Tanis’ inner thigh.

This was not destined to be the slow taking Tanis had fantasized about. Their needs were too great, their time together too short.

Tanis guided Curran backward. “My bed.”

With a gentle push, Curran tumbled down upon the mattress and spread out with his hands behind his head. His pants pulled tightly across his crotch, showing Tanis how much he enjoyed being there.

Tanis stripped off his shirt first this time, letting the younger man see his scars in the firelight. His boots were tossed somewhere behind him, followed closely by his drawers. The raw evidence of what Luthias was capable of doing to his fellow man was also illuminated by the fire’s warm glow.

Curran sat up. He reached out a hand to caress the calloused lines.

“Do they frighten you?” Tanis asked, only then realizing that he had hoped to do just that. Scare Curran into walking away from the Duke, from Otterburn, from him.

“They sadden me.” He leaned close to kiss one at the edge of the short, black curls. “I wish you had not been caused such pain.”

“It is not pain I feel now,” Tanis told him, his voice rough with restrained passion.

The young man kept kissing around the base of his lust. It grew steadily, sometimes brushing against Curran’s stubble-roughened cheek as he kept up his light teasing. Then, just as Tanis was reaching the limit of his patience for this kind of play, Curran took his shaft into his mouth.

Tanis gripped a handful of dark blond hair and pulled Curran off his cock. “You have until the count of three to shed your clothes. On four, I shall do it for you and I promise you will have no more than scraps left when I am done.”

Curran’s eyes widened in surprise as Tanis called out, “One.”

Boots and a leather vest hit the floor as Tanis said, “Two.”

Tanis let Curran continue to struggle with his tight pants as he uttered, “Three.”

Then, like a starving man, he fell upon Curran and ripped his shirt of fine linen in half. He impatiently shoved the fabric aside to get to the well-muscled chest. It looked even better than he remembered. Tasted better too, he discovered as he lowered his mouth to lick Curran’s nipple. No water to dilute the man’s natural musk.

Curran gasped with pleasure but struggled to gain more freedom of movement. “You are making this task twice as difficult.”

Tanis looked down between their bodies where both cocks were freed and rising toward their bellies. “Looks like you are doing a fine job of it to me.”

Curran groaned under Tanis’ renewed assault of his sensitive nipples but managed to finally kick his legs free of the rugged fabric. Curran planted his heels on the bed and lifted his hips so he could grind against Tanis’ belly.

Tanis relished the feel of the hardness rubbing against his skin. He wanted more of that. He wanted more of everything, more of Curran.

He kissed, nipped and licked his way down the younger man’s body until he reached Curran’s cock. He lightly gripped the rigid shaft between his fingers, and beat his own tongue with the plump head. Curran’s eyes rolled back in his head as he attempted to thrust into Tanis’ mouth.

Tanis used his weight to anchor Curran’s legs, restricting the young man’s movement. It had a bonus he hadn’t considered, giving him a channel in which to bury his own needy shaft. He rocked his hips in time with his sucking. The soft hair on Curran’s legs added to his pleasure until he was in danger of spilling his seed.

Abruptly, he broke away and sat up.

“What is it?” Curran asked, concerned.

“You make me forget myself.” He’d been ready to take his lover without so much as a gob of spit to ease the way.

Curran cuddled him from behind. He rested his chin on Tanis’ shoulder as his busy hands stroked Tanis’ swollen cock. “Tanis.”

“What?”

“That is who you are. I like having your name upon my lips as I make love to you.”

His heart expanded in the same way the room had contracted earlier. Tanis knew nothing outside the world he and Curran created. A world of passion and emotion and, at least on his side, fear.

“Lard,” he said, springing away from the younger man’s embrace. “It is all I have but it will do.”

“I will never think of it in quite the same way again,” Curran replied, laughing.

Tanis located what he sought and brought the container back to the bed. “Top or bottom?”

Curran pierced him to his soul with his pair of clear, sky blue eyes. “I want you inside me, Tanis. Unreservedly, like before.”

Tanis swore with wonder as he fell upon his lover. In between slow, drugging kisses, he prepared both of them for entry. Curran tried to turn over but Tanis held him in place.

“Face me this time,” Tanis told him. Then seized by a weighty misgiving, he added, “Unless you’d rather not.”

The young man reached between their bodies and positioned Tanis’ cock right where they both needed it to go. “Now,” Curran urged him. “Push. Hard.”

It was a tight fit, even better than before. He lifted Curran’s legs onto his shoulders so he could drive deeper. He pushed until Curran howled, letting him know he had hit that special spot.

“Do that again,” Curran begged him.

Tanis withdrew slightly, then rammed his cock in. Curran bucked under him. He loved the way his balls slapped against Curran’s arse. The way the young man tied himself in knots to give Tanis deeper access. The way they fit together, and seemed to share the same needs. It wasn’t a matter of deciding who would lead and take their pleasure first; it was mutual need driving them both. Their lust grew together, fueled by their mutual passion.

“Fuck,” Tanis growled, his release gathering in his balls. “You make short work of me.”

Curran’s cock oozed liquid pleasure. He ran his fingers through the pre-come then spread the sticky substance on Tanis’ lips. “Maybe this will help. Taste how much I want you to come, Tanis.”

Tanis licked off the salty flavor, then drew Curran’s fingers inside his mouth. The combination of having something to suck, something to fuck, and the blue-eyed lover who offered him both without reserve undid him. He tilted his head back and let loose a primal roar as he spilled his seed into Curran’s tight, sweet arse. He jerked again and again, his climax so strong that it brought black dots to his eyes.

After he shuddered through expelling the last few drops, Tanis lowered himself onto Curran’s chest. Arms that had been strengthened through swordplay wrapped around him. The only slight note of discord was the way the young man continued to pant in his ear.

Tanis tried to shift his weight so he was no longer crushing his lover beneath him. Immediately Curran surrounded him with both arms and legs in a firm bear hug. “Do not…move,” Curran ordered.

“You need more air,” Tanis said, amused that Curran couldn’t work that much out for himself.

Then he felt a hard ridge of flesh gliding against his lower belly and realized what Curran’s problem really was. And how he could help.

Tanis raised himself on his elbows, putting more pressure on his hips so that Curran’s thick cock was pinned between their bodies.

“Oh, God.”

“Your turn,” Tanis urged him. “Fuck me. Like this.”

Curran gripped Tanis’ hips and continued the rocking motion. Tanis kept as still as possible, letting Curran use him to maximize his pleasure. The young man’s grunts became rhythmic warnings of his impending explosion. Curran’s teeth bit into Tanis’ shoulder as his body flexed one last time. The sting mattered little in comparison to the way his lover’s body tensed and released under him.

When Curran finally opened his eyes and gazed into Tanis’, tears shimmered there. Unable to bear seeing them and what they might mean, Tanis rolled away then spooned against the younger man’s back. He petted and soothed, the way he would care for any creature in pain. Never before had another man permitted him such intimacy. Curran warmed to it naturally. He was the picture of a sated, content lover and it broke Tanis’ much-scarred heart to know he would never see this look on Curran’s face again.

Damn Luthias, and the Celts, and the whole bloody world. Damn his bastard of a father, and the choices that had left Tanis impotent to help those he loved most.

Because he had to get out of bed or give in to the urge to keep Curran there forever, Tanis declared the stew ready. They got dressed and ate in silence, pausing frequently to look at each other as if this would be the last occasion they would ever have to do so.

When it came time for Curran to depart, he said, “I will pledge Luthias my sword and my loyalty when he asks for I can do no less and be the man I have been raised to be.” He kissed Tanis’ cheek where the muscles bunched as he clenched his jaw. “To you, I offer my heart.”

Pushed beyond his limits, Tanis growled, “If you intend to offer your life to that monster, I will not have your heart nor any other part of you.”

Curran lowered his head in acceptance and pulled away for the final time. “So be it.”