But his words had a strange effect on Cailte. The man froze for a moment, and then a broad smile spread across his mouth. “Aye, lad. I have fulfilled my duties to my uncle, his people, and our king. I am… free.”
“Free,” Ario breathed, feeling joy for the man, but a touch of sorrow, too. Would he ever be free, free of family obligation, of guilt, and of this damnable curse? But he shook off his melancholy and returned Cailte’s smile. “And as a free man, old thin one, what is it you would like to do first?”
“Fuck you.”
The words passed through his ears a moment before his mind caught up. Did Cailte just say… Then there was an explosion of heat as Cailte sat up, his long arms reaching for Ario, the heat of his body covering him as the world tilted on its axis.
Ario felt his powers hum, burning hotter and more intense until he could feel it like lava flowing under his skin. He could feel his eyes grow wide as he reached out to Cailte.
“That is what I am speaking of, lad.” Cailte was now looming over him, and Ario was a shaking mass on the futon. “A good, old-fashioned fucking.”
“I -- I -- I…” Ario didn’t know what to do! He stared up at Cailte with a shocked expression on his face that he knew he could not control.
“All you have to do is say yes,” the red-haired giant insisted, running his callused fingers over Ario’s face. “Say yes, and we can share this.”
“I -- I cannot!” Ario gasped, though it nearly killed him to say the words. His blood was racing, and his dick was a hard, swollen thing between his thighs. But he was so afraid! The pain would be tremendous, almost as great as his need to be touched, and he wasn’t sure he could deal with that pain right now.
“Why?” Cailte leaned over, his hair falling around them, encasing them in a world tinted red. “Give me one good reason, Ario, and I will let you go.”
He moved closer and closer with each word until the hot press of his body caused Ario to force down the urge to wrap his legs around the man’s waist and damn the consequences.
“C-curse,” he stammered, closing his eyes as Cailte’s musky scent filled his nostrils. He moaned and licked his lips, almost tasting the heat of the other man.
“A curse, love?” Cailte purred. “Well, I am pretty good at breaking those.”
“You don’t understand what was done to me.” The need was so thick within him that Ario felt tears well up in his eyes. His whole body was on fire, burning and shivering, and it was driving him insane.
He needed to be touched. How long had it been since he could enjoy the press of flesh against him and not suffer the consequences for it? Years, it seemed. Years he had resisted temptation, and now one naked, red-haired giant was going to undo all the control he had fought over the years to develop.
“Explain it.”
Cailte was running his hands over Ario’s hairless chest, his fingers gently tracing one puckered nipple as his heated gaze traveled over his bare flesh. Ario gasped for breath, his body twisting under that touch, begging for it without a word, without his permission.
“My cousin… He… I cannot…”
“Is this a sex curse, Ario?” Cailte asked, his breath smelling oddly of mint and wood smoke. “Is this part of what they made you do at the temple?”
“No.” Ario nearly sobbed, his hands trembling uncontrollably, coming up to grope Cailte at the waist, his nails leaving shallow red imprints in the pale skin.
The man was all hard muscle, he absently noted as he fought to get his thoughts in order. If he were to top this man, he would place him on his back so that he could run his nails over all that pale, hot flesh, so that he could see those muscles glisten and flex as he moved back to take his cock in deeper.
He closed his eyes, his imagination supplying the motions and making his overworked libido go into overdrive.
“No?” Cailte bent low again, moving to run his nose through the dark hair at Ario’s ear, baring the tender bit of flesh to his light kisses.
“When -- when I was cast out,” Ario whimpered. “Please stop touching me.”
“Oh, you don’t want me to stop. Your body does not want me to stop, Ario.”
“Please?” he whined, almost beyond caring. All of this felt so good, and because it felt so good now, later it would be so very, very bad.
“But I want to touch you,” Cailte whispered, licking the ear before transferring his kisses to Ario’s neck. “And as a good host, you will strive to give me what I want.”
Ario writhed in indecision, but his conditioning was winning out over his common sense. He could feel his body begin to make itself ready to receive and give anything, lips, cock, or any information that the man lying over him wanted.
“And now, I want some answers, you windy bit of allure.” Cailte’s words were given with a soft kiss to his neck. “So when you were cast out, they cursed you?”
“My cousin.” Ario turned his head to the side, giving in to his earlier training and opening up all that he was for possession. “My cousin cursed me before Grandfather cast me away.”
“This cousin does not sound like a gentleman, no?” Cailte’s hand on Ario’s chin moved his head back to Cailte’s intense scrutiny so that the purple eyes bored deeply into his.
“No,” Ario agreed. “Not a gentleman.”
“And this curse…” Cailte nipped at the side of his neck.
“Causes me pain,” Ario gasped.
“By touching? ‘Cause, lover, you don’t look to be in pain right now.”
“Sex,” Ario moaned, closing his eyes as shame gripped him. “I cannot experience orgasm without pain.”
“Now that is a right arsed thing to do.” Cailte reached down under Ario’s shorts and cupped Ario’s swollen cock.
“No!” Ario bit back his scream as the hot roughness of a hand not belonging to him gripped his cock.
But Cailte silenced him with his mouth. He lowered his head, pressed their lips together and swallowed down Ario’s cry, giving him his tongue in exchange. And, helplessly, Ario sucked at that appendage, spreading his legs as waves of white fire washed over his body.
“Yes,” Cailte murmured, reluctantly breaking the kiss. “I can break curses, Ario, m’love. Any curses.”
Ario opened his mouth to comment, when those purple eyes closed and Ario felt a warm rush of magic roll through his body.
“Mmm, a big one, Ario.” Cailte pulled away from the kiss, licking his bottom lip. “You are well built, lover. Feels good in my hand, in my mouth… in my ass.”
Ario moaned, his hips rocking helplessly as he felt magic the likes of which he had never felt run from Cailte’s fingers through his body.
“Cailte!” he struggled to say but his body arched even higher, a moan tearing from his throat as he felt his magic rise to meet that of his would-be lover.
It was a heady thing, the way the two magics melded and combined, twisting around each other, warming his whole being until Ario could feel a sliver of cold deep in his abdomen.
“The curse.” Cailte was speaking as he gripped Ario’s dick harder, the heat almost scalding. “That cold spot is the curse. I can feel it. Nasty bugger.”
Ario could not answer because as Cailte spoke he could feel his magic surrounding the cold spot and pushing at it.
“Together, lover,” Cailte whispered, his free hand reaching up to pull one of Ario’s hands from his waist. He twined their fingers together as Ario felt him give a magical push, and their magic combined once more. “Together,” he whispered, and suddenly Ario felt it damn easy to take that combined stream of heat and slash at the cold spot deep within his soul.
There was a pinch and then a painful explosion as the cold burst into shards that the combined magic melted before they could do more harm. But with the disappearance of that spot, Ario’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.
“Ah!” he growled, his whole body stiffening. Fire raced down his spine as his balls rose high against the base of his dick. Odd noises and unco
ntrollable sounds were pouring from his mouth as his toes curled and his cock swelled to its hardest.
“Gods, yes,” Cailte breathed, pressing his palm against Ario’s cock, tightening his fingers around the shaft, pressing and rubbing that hardness faster and faster. “Give it up, lover. Give it up!” he urged, his hand tightening around Ario’s. “Come for me!”
“Can’t!” he whimpered, fear holding back the force of the release he had just fought to achieve. He’d felt the cold spot disappear, but dare he trust it? “I cannot!”
“You can!” Cailte groaned, leaning down and biting one nipple, the pain shooting straight down his chest to Ario’s balls. “You can do this, Ario! Take this, Ario! Take it! Trust me, lover. It’ll be so good… so good. Come for me, lover. Come for me!”
“Ca -- Cailte, Cailte! Cailte!”
As if the commands were the final force to push him over, Ario’s eyes snapped shut, and his roar nearly shattered the window glass as his hips thrust up against Cailte’s hand. His cock began to spurt as his release tore through his body, his seed wetting Cailte’s fingers and dampening his shorts.
For the first time in years, Ario climaxed without the painful, tearing sensation that had prevented him from getting close to anyone. For the first time in years he climaxed, and the tears were not from loneliness and loss. For the first time the tears were for ecstasy, pleasure and triumph. For the first time… it seemed like the first time.
Chapter Five
“Shower,” Cailte purred. “Oh, I liked that.” He stared, still utterly fascinated, at the cascade of water flowing from the wide, round head that hung suspended above them in the tiny glass room.
“I thought you would,” Ario chucked, his body still tingling. With a stupid grin on his face, he shut off the water and reached for a large towel sitting on his bathroom counter.
“Even the Romans could not produce such wonders as this.”
“Hmm,” Ario murmured, making motions for the giant to move toward him.
“I am teaching you, young one.” Cailte chuckled, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist and pulling him to his wet body, ignoring the towel Ario held. “You should pay attention.”
“I am paying attention, old, dusty one.” Ario smiled. He felt relaxed, truly relaxed, for the first time in years.
“Well, I have been paying attention as well, lover.” Cailte gently pulled the towel from Ario’s hands and began to pat his lover dry. “Is it a custom to remove the body hair here?”
His hands moved over Ario’s groin, soaking away tiny silver drips of water while touching the still bloated base of Ario’s hairless cock and gently cupping the equally denuded balls while his free hand ran over Ario’s face.
“A habit from my youth.” Ario blushed, staring down at Cailte’s body, partially denuded of hair by his hand.
“And you decided to share?”
“I am not used to red hair.” Ario repeated his comment from earlier before reaching for a second towel. He reached up and wrapped the towel around Cailte’s head.
“So you removed it?”
“Yes.” He shook his head and looked down. “I apologize for my actions.”
“Growing back is going to itch like a son of a bitch,” Cailte complained.
Ario could not help the smile that filled his face. His Cailte was so accommodating, he thought, stepping back and briskly drying off the man.
“One grows used to it or one continues to shave.” Ario sounded smug, he knew. In response, Cailte spun him around and swatted his full ass, just once.
“Respect your elders.” Cailte chuckled, watching as Ario twisted around to look down at the light pink mark that rose on his ass before fading away.
“If they do something that warrants respect.” Ario snorted, using the towel he had dried Cailte off with to dry his long hair, a wicked grin pulling at his lips.
“I thought that I earned that respect, lad.” Cailte laughed outright. “In that pallet on the floor and in this shower.”
“Mmm.” Ario nodded as he strode from the room, a still-dripping Cailte on his heels. “Perhaps.”
“Perhaps, he says,” Cailte muttered as they bypassed the guest room and entered the master bedroom. “Oh, hey!” He stopped at the door and just looked around.
Ario’s bedroom was an indulgence for him, the only place where he chose to drop his Japanese minimalist design scheme and just go with what felt right. What felt right was the huge, cast-iron head- and footboard on his California king-sized bed. The bed was heaped with so many pillows they spilled off and onto the dark, carpeted floor. Instead of a dresser, there was a huge walk-in closet.
“Nice room,” Cailte breathed, and Ario turned to watch him walk over to the huge bed and press down on the mattress. Cailte’s eyes took in the ceremonial katana sets on the walls and the low bench that sat against the far wall across from the bed.
“Thank you.” Ario dived into his closet and emerged quickly, wearing a loose pair of boxer shorts and a button-up cotton shirt. “Now if you are done dripping on my floor…” He walked over and grabbed the towel that was still around Cailte’s head and began to dry his massive body once more.
“I like it that you’ve dressed, lover,” Cailte purred, reaching around Ario and pulling him up against his still nude body. “One of the best things in the world is to be undressed by your lover.”
Cailte ran his hands through Ario’s damp hair as Ario’s motions with the towel slowed, then stopped completely.
“I have never been undressed by a lover.”
Cailte paused in the unbuttoning of Ario’s shirt to stare in open-mouthed amazement at his longhaired lover. “Never?”
“Never.” Ario blew out a breath that ruffled the strands of hair hanging in his face.
“Why?” Cailte tilted his head to the side, his purple eyes curious. He pressed the palms of his hands to his lover’s chest, feeling his warm skin and the beating of his mending heart beneath his hands.
“I guess they thought I wasn’t worth it.” His eyes closed, and he leaned into Cailte’s touch, enjoying the press of skin against him.
“Then they were fools,” Cailte snarled, his eyes narrowing at the thought of Ario’s previous consorts. “How dare they…?”
“Hey!” The warm palm caressing the rough stubble on his face stopped Cailte’s tirade before it could really begin. “Hey,” Ario repeated, a small smile spreading across his lips as he stared up at his new lover. “I never really complained.” He sighed, looking a bit sheepish. “I mean, I did what I had to do, and you know…” He blushed.
“That is no excuse!”
“But I really didn’t care about them,” Ario insisted. “So it didn’t matter to me who stripped who so long as the job was done.”
“You truly cared for none of them?” Cailte asked, running his hands over Ario’s chest. “Truly?”
“Not all of them…” Ario paused in his speaking, his eyes going a bit hazy as if he was lost momentarily in thoughts of the past. “But the ones I… I endured for, they were the ones that frightened me the most.”
“Because you cared,” Cailte divined.
“You… you frighten me.”
“Because you care?” The grin that spread across Cailte’s face was too big to be hidden. “You care about me, little Ario.”
“I am willing to have sex with you,” Ario began, but the kiss that was pressed to his lips stopped any more words from spilling forth.
And Cailte took advantage, thrusting his tongue deep into his lover’s sweet mouth, diving his tongue along his back teeth and tickling the roof of his mouth.
“I want to feel…”
Ario didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until Cailte drew back, just a little, his eyes sparking with hope. He moaned as Cailte bent low and paused, breathing him in, his lips barely touching those of his lover.
“I -- I --” Ario stammered, shuddering at each soft press of lips, his heart racing, his palms sweating, his knees
growing weak. And hope -- horrific, beautiful, derisive hope -- was once more building rainbows in his mind and pressure in his chest.
“Ario?” Panting from their near kiss, Cailte breathed his name. His hand surrounded that most precious face, holding it so their gazes locked. “So you feel me?” he demanded, pressing against Ario’s growing erection, tearing a moan from his throat. “Do you feel me, Ario?” he all but growled.
“Yes.” The word was muffled as Ario buried his face in Cailte’s neck, inhaling the rich scents of soap and musk. “I feel you. Kami-sama, do I feel you.”
And then there was no stopping Ario.
He leaned back as Cailte pushed his shirt from his body to flutter to the floor at their feet, and then he reached out and took his lover -- his lover -- into his arms. He moved backwards, Cailte following closely as they moved to the bed.
“Here.” Ario shivered as he tugged Cailte. “I need you here.”
“Gods, take what you need, lover,” Cailte growled, reaching out and lifting Ario completely off the ground, surprising him by his show of strength. Cailte deposited him on his back on the bed. Ario’s boxers were torn from his body and tossed aside as he scrambled to his knees.
“I want this,” he breathed as Cailte joined him, getting so close that Cailte’s cock pressed high above his navel while his own pressed against Cailte’s warm thigh. His arms went around the taller man’s neck, and he pulled his lover’s mouth to his. “I will have this.”
“Without pain or fear,” Cailte whispered in his ear before suckling at the lobe, drawing a growling moan from Ario.
Then it was all about exploration. Ario’s hands roamed over the pale flesh set before him like a present, and he treated Cailte like the gift he was perceived to be.
He squeezed the hard, rounded shoulders and arms of a man who had wielded a sword for years. His chest was a feast of hills and valleys that were warm and firm to the touch. Cailte’s pink nipples responded to his touch, growing even harder as he lowered his head and sucked at them.
“Whatever you want, lover mine,” Cailte gasped, moaning as his head dropped back, leaving himself open and vulnerable to whatever ministrations Ario wished to visit upon him.
How Not to Date a Fae Page 5
