Restless Shadows, Waiting Roads

by Yolande Kleinn

  Then the man stopped between Caleb and the oak, suddenly and undeniably real.

  He was dressed as Caleb had first seen him, minus the heavy winter cloak. Dark eyes gave Caleb an assessing look, and it was several seconds before the man spoke.

  "You've certainly grown."

  "Eli." Disbelief tightened Caleb's voice, but the name still came out breathless.

  Eli's expression shifted, the briefest flicker of a smile, and Caleb's heart stuttered painfully. Something hot and possessive twisted behind his ribs—a sensation to match his feelings about this forest, but far more powerful—and he moved so suddenly he surprised even himself. He strode forward, straight into Eli's space, backing him into the oak's enormous trunk. Eli's eyes widened, but he stood his ground as Caleb braced both palms against the rough bark on either side of Eli's body, bracketing him in. He offered no protest to the way Caleb loomed, a wall of helpless intensity and jumbled emotion.

  Eli was shorter than Caleb now, by at least two inches. His slim frame was all but eclipsed by the imposing bulk of Caleb's body. Caleb knew he was staring. He knew 'rude' didn't even begin to cover his behavior. He still couldn't bring himself to retreat.

  "You're real." He barely recognized his own voice.

  "Of course I'm real." Eli's piercing gaze turned considering. His expression smoothed, but not before Caleb caught a glimpse of something sad in his eyes. Eli's hand was soft when he touched Caleb's face in a strangely tender gesture. "Did you doubt yourself, little one?"

  A frantic bubble of laughter threatened in Caleb's chest, but he crushed it down. He leaned thoughtlessly closer, emphasizing their difference in height. "Not so little anymore."

  "No," Eli murmured. "I suppose you're not." The cryptic facade fell away, offering a glimpse of wry humor beneath. Eli's hand at Caleb's jaw was steady and cool, and the moment stretched confusingly between them.

  Caleb knew he needed to step back. It wasn't only bad manners to crowd Eli like this. Caleb knew his own mind. He knew why it was so difficult to retreat, why it was even more difficult to meet Eli's eyes. His own gaze kept falling to Eli's mouth, and he knew his interest was broadcasting like a neon sign, blundering and obvious.

  The wind that had followed Caleb into the forest was gusting harder now. The dismal sky breathed a heavy rumble above them, and the threatening clouds tinted darker. Eli's hair, long and black, whipped sharply in the mounting wind, and he spared a glance straight upward before once again meeting Caleb's eyes.

  "You owe me a favor, I think." Eli's expression was deceptively light.

  "Yes," Caleb agreed.

  "Come along, then. It will be very wet out here in a moment." Eli pushed one of Caleb's arms aside in order to maneuver past him.

  "But there's nowhere to—" Caleb's protest died in his throat as he turned from the tree. The clearing was no longer empty behind him. An imposing manor stood there now, the same impossible mansion that had sheltered Caleb once before. He could see it clearly in the gloomy daylight, but he couldn't place the intricate architecture. Every line was elegant, sleek wood and smooth banisters carved with twining shapes. It was like nothing he'd ever seen.

  Gawping and dumbstruck, he followed Eli inside.

  Cool air met them in the narrow foyer, a relief after the suffocating heat of the woods. Dark wood paneling and a dusty, familiar scent made Caleb's head spin. It seemed basic manners to toe his shoes off near the door, especially once he realized Eli was barefoot. Had he been barefoot outside? Caleb couldn't remember. He hadn't been looking at Eli's feet.

  "Who are you?" Caleb asked as he followed Eli down the short hall. Eli paused, casting a look over his shoulder that Caleb would have done anything to soothe away, a raw hurt so old Caleb couldn't fathom the source.

  "It doesn't matter who I am." Eli's expression cleared, but not enough. A hint of pain still shadowed his eyes. "There are few enough who would remember my name. I have been here too long."

  "Here?" Caleb blinked, confused, putting the pieces together slowly. "In the forest, you mean? You're trapped here?"

  Anger crested behind dark eyes, but it vanished quickly beneath tired resignation. "I was imprisoned here long before your grandparents were born, by enemies who would just as soon have killed me."

  "But you have magic," Caleb protested, hovering closer and struggling to keep his hands at his sides. "This place is impossible. And I remember the night you found me. You carried light in your hand."

  "Simple tricks." The fierce bitterness in Eli's voice caught Caleb off guard. "I was once a true force to be reckoned with." Hurt and anger tightened Eli's posture as he surged once more to motion, leading the way out of the front hall and into the jarringly familiar room beyond. No fire burned in the hearth. The sitting room was far cooler than the agonizing heat outside, cooler even than the foyer behind them.

  The first heavy drumroll of rain began against the windows, and Eli took up a tense stance between the two tall-backed chairs that flanked the empty fireplace. Caleb ached to go to him. The desire was an almost physical compulsion, and it took enormous effort to remain where he stood.

  Eli's voice was soft when he said, "I am little more than a shadow now. Haunting a wilderness where no one dares venture."

  "I dared." Caleb bit his tongue. He hadn't meant to speak.

  Eli looked at him, expression unreadable. "Yes. You did."

  Something in that voice, in Eli's guarded posture, knocked flat the last of Caleb's failing restraint. A wild protectiveness lit in his chest. Eli was watching him closely, something ancient and lonely in his eyes, and in that instant, Caleb was helpless to keep his distance. He wanted—needed—to touch, to show Eli that he wasn't alone.

  Caleb's long stride carried him across the room in seconds. Eli stood eerily still, letting him approach. His dark expression had turned brighter, curious, and Caleb's hands were shaking as he finally drew near enough to grasp Eli's narrow shoulders.

  He pushed Eli back against the ornate mantel, cupping the back of Eli's skull with one hand. Soft hair threaded through Caleb's fingers, easy silk, until he tightened his touch into a commanding grip that tilted Eli's head back with unmistakable intent. Caleb's other hand slipped from Eli's shoulder, sliding lower, ghosting his flank and pressing warmly to the small of his back. Eli met his eyes like a challenge, and Caleb didn't hesitate. He leaned forward and drew Eli into a hard kiss.

  Eli's mouth was softer than Caleb expected, pliant and yielding as Caleb adjusted his hold to take the kiss deeper. Eli parted his lips wider at the first tentative press of tongue, arching against him as Caleb's eyes fell closed. Eli's hands rose between them, but his palms pressed to Caleb's chest for only a moment before sliding up to frame his face.

  Caleb's blood beat violently beneath his skin, and his pulse roared in his own ears. Arousal twined inside him, twisting low and hot and making it difficult to breathe. His jeans had gone tight, and were growing less comfortable by the second. The closer he crushed Eli against him, the higher rose the fire in his blood, and all Caleb wanted was more.

  He broke the kiss with a growl, burying his face against Eli's shoulder. The fabric of Eli's shirt was crisp and cool to the touch, and Caleb breathed a sound that fell somewhere between a sob and shattered laughter. How many years had he spent dreaming and fantasizing over the memory of something that didn't exist? To suddenly have Eli here, impossible and real beneath Caleb's hands, was too much to process.

  Eli's touch was restless but gentle as it ghosted over Caleb's scalp, brushing the short fuzz of his hair before trailing lower to trace soothing patterns through the back of his t-shirt. Caleb drew an unsteady breath, wanting too many things at once. He pressed a kiss to the pale column of Eli's throat. He placed a second, harder kiss just beneath the first, and then caught the cool flesh between his teeth as he sucked a deliberate mark into pale skin.

  His blood warmed at the way Eli's pulse sped beneath his mouth. Outside, a roll of thunder sounded as though in counterpoint,
and rain beat louder against the walls.

  When Caleb reluctantly drew back, he found Eli watching him with wide, knowing eyes.

  "Is this really what you want?" Eli asked, sliding a clever hand lower between them and—

  "Christ," Caleb gasped, hips bucking forward as Eli's slender fingers cupped him through his jeans. The stutter of Caleb's hips jostled Eli against the hearth, but Eli only gave a cryptic smile and curled his grip more firmly around the bulge between Caleb's legs.

  "I'll take that as a yes," Eli purred, and his voice sent a shock of heat straight to Caleb's cock.

  Caleb groaned, but he moved to grab Eli by the wrist and yank his hand away, before Caleb could do anything so embarrassing as come in his pants.

  "No?" Eli asked, but his tone was teasing. He strained deliberately against the grip Caleb still held in his hair, arching his throat and running his tongue over his own kiss-swollen lower lip. "What do you want, then? Do you want me on your own terms? Do you want to hold me down? Put me on my back? Show me what you're really made of?"

  Caleb choked back a helpless sound. Yes, he wanted that. He wanted it so badly he could taste the need on his own tongue. He loosened his grasp and stared into Eli's dark eyes.

  "Or perhaps..." Eli murmured, and dropped without flourish to his knees.

  The sound Caleb made then was more growl than moan. His cock ached to be free from the confines of denim and boxers. The sight of Eli on his knees, peering up at him through long lashes, was almost enough to bring him over the edge untouched. The collar of Eli's shirt gaped open, yanked carelessly askew by Caleb's previous fumbling, and his throat was already beginning to bruise where Caleb's teeth had left their mark.

  "Please," Caleb breathed. He could barely hear his own voice over the pounding of the storm outside. Or perhaps that was the thundering of his own pulse drowning everything else out.

  He closed his eyes as Eli's nimble fingers opened his fly, then had to bite hard at his own lower lip when that steady touch drew his aching erection into the cool air. He opened his eyes only with difficulty, and found Eli watching him with patient heat. Caleb stared down in return, his breathing ragged and quick.

  His legs trembled as Eli leaned forward and closed his lips around the head of Caleb's cock.

  Caleb cursed aloud as Eli took him in deeper. His heart rocketed in his chest, and he flailed forward with one hand, bracing himself on the sculpted mantel. The wood was smooth beneath his palm, a grounding sensation, and he drew a shuddering breath. His other hand reached down to curl at the base of Eli's skull. Caleb's strong fingers curved around the nape of Eli's neck, urging him forward. When Caleb's length slid deeper still, Eli only dropped his jaw to take more, barely hesitating before swallowing Caleb to the hilt.

  Even now, Eli stared up at him, lips stretched wide around Caleb's straining length.

  Caleb's grip tightened, holding him there. Holding him still and steady, despite the nearly overwhelming urge to thrust in earnest. The powerful intimacy of this moment, the weight of Eli's stare, the feel of cool fingers at his hips—all went straight to Caleb's head and left him dizzy. It would be too easy to finish like this. It would be over too soon.

  A deafening thunderclap roiled through the sturdy walls, shaking the windowpanes and jarring Caleb's heart in his chest. He drew abruptly back, and his slick length slipped from Eli's mouth. Before Eli could ask what was wrong, Caleb fell hard to his knees. He dragged their bodies flush and claimed another, fiercer kiss. He could taste himself on Eli's tongue. He thrilled at the way Eli opened for him, welcomed him, invited the kiss deeper.

  Caleb let go reluctantly to struggle with the buttons of Eli's shirt. His eagerness made him clumsy, and he gave up halfway through, yanking at the fabric. The shirt tore open, and the remaining buttons scattered in all directions.

  Eli broke the kiss to shrug out of the ruined shirt, breathing a noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh. He dropped the shirt aside, and Caleb surged forward with greedy impatience, knocking Eli onto his back on the green-and-gold rug. Even in the cool sitting room Caleb was overheating now, and he dragged his own t-shirt over his head, tossing it aside. Eli watched his every movement with rapt focus. He was almost smiling by the time Caleb dropped to blanket Eli's body with his own. In the narrow space between them, slender fingers traced Caleb's chest, brushing a hard nipple as Eli painted invisible patterns into his skin.

  Eli's eyes were glowing now, faintly. The rain beat harshly against the window as Caleb rose once more onto his knees and reached for the laces of Eli's trousers. It was an awkward struggle of limbs and fabric; Caleb's efforts were too desperate to allow for coordination. But eventually he achieved his purpose—Eli naked beneath him—and tossed the offending garment aside.

  Caleb stared his fill then, dumbstruck by the disconcerting beauty beneath him. Eli was perfect, smooth skin and narrow hips, arousal curving stiffly against his thigh. He didn't look quite human, though all the particulars were correct. He was better than Caleb could ever have conjured with pale fantasy.

  Caleb's heartbeat rushed beneath his skin now, and suddenly he couldn't bear another instant of not touching the naked skin before him. He dropped forward, blanketing Eli's body with his own, claiming his mouth in a greedy kiss. Eli's tongue teased along Caleb's lower lip and he arched beneath Caleb's weight, offering maddening friction.

  "Wait," Caleb breathed. He drew back, bracing himself on one arm. He struggled for calm as he met Eli's dark eyes. "I want to fuck you."

  "Yes," Eli agreed amiably, rocking his hips deliberately upwards.

  "Stop," Caleb protested, reaching down to grasp him by the hip and hold him still. "We can't—I don't have—" He inhaled more slowly, grasping after his fading control. "I don't want to hurt you."

  For an instant the green glow in Eli's eyes pulsed brighter, as if in surprise, and then he said in a low, sleek voice, "Give me your hand."

  Caleb obeyed, glancing down to see a small vial materialize in Eli's grasp. Eli quirked a pointed eyebrow at him, then unstopped the vial and poured a generous quantity of something slick and sweetly scented across Caleb's fingers.

  Caleb tried to be patient. He tried to be gentle as he slid his fingers between Eli's thighs, into the tight heat of Eli's body. He kissed Eli, swallowing every breathless sound as his fingers slipped deeper. His hand pressed further between Eli's legs, stopping flush with his body. Then he paused, stroked his fingers out and in again, and curled them deep inside. Heat overwhelmed and hurried him, alongside the mounting desperation beneath Caleb's skin.

  All his better intentions crumbled, and he withdrew his fingers too soon.

  Eli only spread his legs wider, making space for Caleb between them, and Caleb breathed a hungry growl as he used the rest of the vial to slick his straining cock. He slotted his hips between splayed thighs, and bit possessively at Eli's pale collarbone.

  The windowpanes rattled with thunder when Caleb thrust in. He had little control left now. He was wound too tight by the need driving him forward. He fucked in, enthralled at the way Eli's body arched beneath him, at the low cry that escaped Eli's throat. Eli reached for him, grasped tightly at Caleb's shoulders. When Eli's eyes met his, they were edged with glowing green.

  Caleb drew his hips back, then thrust hard, jostling Eli against the soft carpet. He drove his hips forward again, holding Eli down with his hands, his thrusts, the weight of his body.

  Caleb made no effort to measure his pace. He was past that now, past everything but the pressure surrounding his cock, the friction as Eli met his thrusts. He could feel Eli's arousal trapped between them. Eli's legs around his waist tightened, wordless encouragement urging him faster. When Caleb claimed Eli's mouth now, it was nothing at all like a kiss, and he clung with bruising strength as the force of his own climax overtook him.

  He closed his eyes as he came. Beneath him, Eli cried out, following Caleb over the edge.

  *~*~*

  Several exhausted minut
es crawled past before Caleb could convince his sated body to move. He could only imagine how uncomfortable Eli must have been, trapped beneath him in stillness, with Caleb's softening cock still seated inside him. Eli offered no protest, though. He trailed soothing fingers along Caleb's spine, making no move at all to push Caleb off of him.

  Eventually Caleb's heartbeat slowed, and he drew back, sliding his length free as gently as possible. He and Eli stared at each other for a long moment, Eli on his back, Caleb on hands and knees above him. It shouldn't have been possible for Eli to look more alluring than before, but in the wake of their exertions, he was devastating to behold. His hair was a mess, his eyes bright and fierce, his lips barely parted. A single bruise darkened his throat. He looked freshly fucked. The sight made Caleb want to take him all over again, and it was with fractious willpower that he rose to his feet instead.

  He tucked himself away, doing up his fly and then glancing helplessly around for his shirt.

  "Here, just, let me," Eli's voice murmured in his ear, and then he was wiping the slick mess from Caleb's stomach, using the white shirt Caleb had destroyed in his earlier haste. Then he handed Caleb's own t-shirt over. The fabric was rumpled but clean, and Caleb tugged the shirt over his head.

  When he turned to Eli, Caleb found him standing close by, wearing only the dark trousers from before. Eli was still barefoot, and of course he hadn't donned the ruin of his shirt. He made no move to correct the disarray of his hair, and though his eyes were no longer glowing, they were locked unflinchingly on Caleb.

  "I must admit I wasn't expecting that." Eli's gravel-rough voice made Caleb's skin warm. He was standing close enough to touch, but Caleb kept his arms at his sides. If he touched Eli again, he wasn't sure he could stop. He couldn't afford to be greedy when he still had his word to keep.