Eirik took two short steps and dragged Kaer into his arms. He pulled him close, pressing his lips into his wet hair and ignoring Alfdis's shocked expression. Kaer buried his face in Eirik's chest and shook.
Alfdis's voice was just barely audible. "War comes."
Eirik shook his head. "The war is here. They tried to kill him, too," he told Alfdis. "I found him right after I left you, lying unconscious in the snow. I fought a pair of child beasties for him, and carried him here to warm him." He paused, cheeks burning, and went on. "Then you found us."
Alfdis's golden brow rose, but she didn't comment on the obvious gap in his timeline. "You defeated a pair of shape wreakers by yourself?" she asked instead.
Eirik scowled at her and she raised her hands in defensive apology. She eyed Kaer with a resigned laugh. "You always did have a weakness for the things you had to save." She tapped a finger against her chin. "And for beauty," she added innocently. "So what now?"
Eirik squeezed Kaer and released him. "Now, we go home," he said firmly. He caught Kaer's gaze to confirm this was still agreed. The young man's eyes were full of sorrow, but he nodded slightly.
With some reluctance, the boys left their steaming sanctuary and moved swiftly to pull on their clothing. "Later," Eirik continued as they dressed, "we can worry about kings and wars and why Alfdis the Half Hidden will be staying far away from both." He glared meaningfully at his sister.
"Save your decrees, priest's son, for when you are Lawspeaker," Alfdis shot back. "Or did you want to talk about kings and wars, and which one of those is okay to bed with?" She dodged his lobbed handful of snow adroitly.
"This is not over," she informed him solemnly, crossing her arms across her chest. "You keep your king, but I will not run away from the loyalty owed to my huldufolk kin. They might be hidden, but they're as much my family as you are, Eirik." Her gazed flicked to Kaer. "Your Highness understands," she prompted.
Kaer looked at her sadly. "Better than you, Alfdis Halkellsdottir." He spoke for the first time since hearing confirmation of his sister's death. "Tell me, did you understand my sister's crime?"
"She—she betrayed your family," Alfdis faltered. "She plotted with your enemies to defeat your own father's plans."
"She was used, and cleverly, by those enemies," Kaer corrected her grimly. "She was raised as heir to the Hidden Throne, and taught to think of what was best for all huldufolk."
Alfdis hesitated. "Halkell says that as your father aged, he used the throne more and more to the advantage of your family, at the expense of others."
Kaer nodded. "My older sister was idealistic, and impulsive, and too fearless by half. She trusted wrongly, and was betrayed."
Comprehension darkened Alfdis's face. "It was a brilliant blow against your family, wasn't it? Her betrayers brought proof."
Kaer nodded again. "Proof," he said mildly, "that the heir had broken the highest law."
"Loyalty to the family."
Kaer's expression was bleak. "Our father could either deny the truth of their claims, an impossible flouting of our oldest laws that would certainly have turned most families against him, or he could follow our ways and execute his heir."
"You think he chose wrongly." It wasn't quite a question.
"That would be treason, wouldn't it?" Kaer's smile was sharp and self-mocking. "You think you understand, but consider this—it was the law of family loyalty that gave our father the right to kill his daughter. You are young, Alfdis."
Alfdis reddened, not in a graceful blush but with her characteristic temper. Eirik, tugging on his boots, almost lost his balance when she didn't snap a sharp retort at the huldu prince. Somehow, the boy's ability to silence Alfdis was far more intimidating than his royalty.
Kaer considered her as he tucked his billowy white undershirt into his trousers. "I can understand why you would think avoiding this war would mean running away from my family."
Eirik's heart soared, even as Alfdis's jaw unhinged in astonishment. "You're not going back?" She sucked in her breath. "But you—you're the heir now."
Kaer flinched. He fumbled with the laces of his overshirt. "I can ignore the call, with some effort," he said tersely. He didn't look at Eirik. "But not forever. Eventually, like any huldufolk, only my death would keep me from the paths."
Alfdis shifted uncomfortably. "The families are naming you dead, or turned traitor yourself."
"They would know if I were dead, and there will be no treachery." Kaer shook his head. "I won't make my father kill me, too." Anger and anguish warred briefly on his face; anger won. "But I have no wish to fight anyone's war. Least of all that of a King who would sacrifice his own daughter and the huldufolk's best hope for a future ruler, all for the empty promise of a few more years peace."
Eirik wanted to take Kaer into his arms again, but while grief could be lessened by such remedies, bitterness could not. Instead, he bowed his head and fell to one knee, shoving his axes out of the way.
"Prince," he tested the new appellation. "I am your man." He tilted his head back and caught Kaer's searching silver gaze. "In this world or the other, in peace or at war, I am with you, always."
The silence stretched. Eirik couldn't interpret the look on Kaer's handsome face. Was that fear flickering in his eyes? Was it of him, or for him?
Finally, Kaer shrugged despairingly. "Always," he promised. "Only please call me Kaer?"
A smile tugged at Eirik's lips. "As you like, Ljuflingur." Beloved. He rose and took Kaer's hands into his own.
"That was very romantic," Alfdis cut in. "But please don't start kissing again."
Eirik just squeezed Kaer's hands.
"No bedding each other with your eyes, either," Alfdis said sharply. "I'm freezing."
Eirik chuckled despite himself. "We're short a cloak," he realized in dismay. The snow was still light, but the weather of the Ice Island was liable to change drastically between one breath and the next.
Kaer smiled, and there was a cherished hint of his private brightness in it. "Then we'd better hurry. My garments are warmer than they look. Wear your cloak, Eirik, and if a storm catches us, we can share."
"Not likely," Eirik growled. "Take the cloak, or I'll carry you the whole way."
"He's serious," Alfdis advised. "I used to forget my boots a purpose, so that he'd carry me when I pretended to realize my feet were ice cold."
Eirik frowned at her in surprised indignation, but didn't press it when Kaer let him drape the heavy, too-long folds around his slender frame. Alfdis smirked at him and took off towards the mountains.
Eirik planted a quick kiss on Kaer's lips and turned to follow Alfdis. The distant peaks were nothing more than dimly defined shadows in the cloud cover, but Eirik knew the way.
"Coming?" he asked, taking Kaer's hand.
"Did you miss it?" Kaer teased softly.
Eirik coughed, but recovered quickly. "I meant again," he suggested. "Later." He laughed when he saw the hungry gleam lighting the other man's eyes. "Soon."
"I can walk as quickly as you can," Kaer observed.
Together, they followed Alfdis into the swirling snow.
The End.
At The End Of A Long Day
The faint click of the lock opening was nothing at all compared to the sound of her soft sigh as she opened the door after a long, exhausting day at work. In fact it seemed to take forever to carry the groceries into the kitchen and put everything away. Today had been the day from hell, everything that could go wrong at work, had. She really hated Mondays.
"What a day! I need a long, hot shower, and", she glanced at the clock on the counter, "he'll be here in a couple of hours."
It took less time than one would imagine to undress and pull on a silky robe. The thought of hot water washing away the miserable day was the only thing on her mind as she slipped out of the robe and hung it on the hook outside the linen closet door. Reaching in, she turned the shower dial to warm and closed the large glass door to hold back the warm spray.
Humming softly as she took out two towels, one to twist up the mass of wet curls and one to wrap around her petite body in place of the robe. By the time she grabbed the new bottle of shampoo, steam was already rising over the top of the glass walls.
Once she moved under the cascading spray, a sigh of pleasure slipped past her lips as the stinging water met her shoulders and back. It felt good, and she bent her head, letting it rain down on her.
In fact it felt so good she didn't hear the bathroom door open, or the sound of his clothes falling onto the floor. She was so lost in the steamy water that the sound of the shower enclosure door opening and closing never even registered.
He tipped the silky shower gel into the palm of one hand and rubbed both together before reaching out to slide them across her shoulders. A smile curved his lips as a startled gasp echoed around them. She stiffened and one hand quickly reached for the foamy back-brush.
As she was turning he caught her raised wrist and pulled her into his arms. The kiss was slow and sensuous, any air remaining in her lungs left in a rush as his free hand cupped and squeezed one rosy pink cheek.
The kiss was easy to recognize. She murmured his name and the brush fell to the floor with a thud. Rubbing her wet body against his, she moaned at the feel of his cock pushing between her slightly parted thighs. Tilting her head back, she grinned up at him.
"You're early. I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so."
"I had my secretary reschedule the last meeting. I couldn't get your voice out of my head, so I thought I'd come over early and take advantage of the free time it gave me. You don't mind, do you?"
She raised up on tiptoe and gave him another lingering kiss, swirling the tip of her tongue around his lips before easing back down again. This time with his cock firmly caught between her legs. A wicked little smile crossed her face as she rocked her hips, causing his cock to slip back and forth along the wet lips of her sex.
"Wash my back and maybe I won't mind."
With that she turned around and bent over, placing her hands on the flat seat that lined one end of the oversized shower enclosure. As he watched, she spread her legs and bent even more, so that her pussy was displayed perfectly, right before his eyes. Reaching between her legs, he pushed a long finger into the moist slit, growling as she moaned and the muscles tightened around the tip of his finger.
"Does my good girl need to be fucked?" he hissed as he bent over her back.
"oh gdd yess, please fuck me" she whimpered.
He pushed both hands between her thighs and forced them wider. One hand began to tap insistently against her clit, and the other to tease around the entrance to her hot little tunnel. Soon her knees were shaking, and she moaned helplessly.
"Aren't you glad I arrived early today, dear?" he murmured.
Her ability to answer was lost and all she could respond with were moans and whimpering cries. Her body shivered as his finger entered and retreated over and over again. Suddenly there was a shattering scream as her body convulsed in his hands. A pleased smile crossed his face and he held her while streams of her creamy juices dripped across his fingers.
He pressed a kiss against the small of her back. Then after making sure she could stand on her own, he gathered a palm full of her cum and began to smear it over the little star revealed when his hands parted her ass cheeks. He guided his throbbing cock to the tight little ring and slowly pushed past the outer rim. She shuddered but didn't protest at all. If anything, she began to slowly push back.
"That's my good girl." he growled and began to slowly pump his cock in and out.
She groaned and began to sway her hips slowly from side to side. This helped him push deeper and he reached up under her body to capture a breast in each hand. Squeezing the firm globes, his fingers finding and teasing the puckered nipples until she began to beg for more.
"Please, don't stop. I need your cum. Please fuck my ass. Oh please fuck my ass."
He didn't need the encouragement, his balls were already screaming for release, but he still liked hearing the sound of her lust filled husky voice beg for his cum. Releasing her nipples, his hands grasped her hips in a bruising grip and he began to pound against her ass in a merciless rhythm.
His eyes were drawn from the slick, glistening skin of her back to the sight of his cock, shiny with her cum, sliding faster with each stroke into her tight little asshole. Each time his balls slapped against her swollen lips, the vibration made it hard to think.
Determined to hold on as long as he possibly could, he started to slow down, but suddenly her hands pushed against the seat, and her back arched to meet his every thrust. She stiffened just before another piercing scream broke loose and her body jerked wildly, twisting under his assault. He almost howled as the muscles fastened onto his cock and jerked him to a shattering orgasm right along with her.
It was several minutes before they could do more than lean against the cool tiles, panting weakly. Finally he struggled upright and pulled her out of the way so he could drop onto the seat and pull her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and lay her head limply on his shoulder.
"I love when you take off early."
"So do I, Dear, so do I."
The End.
The Cigarette
It was Sarani and me at the table, and Wygotzki and Cherkov playing cards by the door, keeping an eye on the dirt track leading up to the cabin. We were waiting for the batch to arrive, but it wouldn't be in for hours. Needless to say, we were bored.
Somehow, we began talking about sex. I don't remember just how it happened, but there I was, laying out the graphic details of my kinky sex life for Sarani. I suppose I was trying to shock her. Like I said, I was bored.
"Kinky girl, huh?"
I shrugged and brought a cigarette to my lips. As I reached for the lighter she grabbed my wrist.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you."
"How else am I going to smoke it?"
"You're not."
"That an order?" I said, arching an eyebrow at her.
Sarani kept her firm grip around my wrist, looking into my eyes. "Do you want it to be?"
My heart skipped a beat. Thing is, Sarani is hot. All lean and sinewy, with small, firm breasts and narrow hips, a flat stomach and abs and biceps to die for. If there was anyone in the group I'd fuck, it'd be her. In a heartbeat.
I looked down at her hand holding my wrist, and then up at her face again, struggling to find a witty retort to her question, one that wouldn't come across as either disinterested or desperate. In the end I opted for silence, but when she released my wrist I took the cigarette out of my mouth and placed it at the table between us as a wordless challenge.
Sarani sipped on her beer, reading the intent in my eyes. I didn't look away. Finally she turned to the two men.
"Wygotzki. You've got the time?"
He glanced at his watch. "Twenty-two hundred. Want me to check in with HQ?"
"Nah. They'll be here when they'll be here. They said midnight, right?"
Wygotski shrugged. "We should be so lucky."
Sarani glanced at the cigarette lying between us, then met my eyes. "You've got a safeword?"
"Jesus."
It made her laugh. She took the cigarette, flipped it over, and stuck it into her breast pocket. "So, want to play?" She might as well have been asking for a beer. Like it was all the same to her.
"Why not?" I said with a shrug, going for the same kind of easy carelessness. "It's not like we've anything better to do."
For a moment the words hung in the air between us. I fiddled with my sleeve, stomach clenching, trying not to think about how much the prospect of a game with her excited me. She leaned forward.
"I've got to warn you, kid. I play rough."
"I like it rough."
"I'll make you cry."
I scoffed. "Good luck."
She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and watching me with a small smile on her lips. "Stan
d up."
I stood. Her smile grew predatory and my heartbeat picked up. I could feel the wetness growing between my legs.
"You into pain, Nielsen?"
"Yeah," I said, hoarsely.
She beckoned me around table and caressed my cheek with the back of her tanned hand, then grabbed my chin and turned my face up. "Yeah, what, Nielsen?"
"Yeah, ma'am?" I guessed.
She nodded and let go off my chin. I was both relieved and disappointed.
"Do you enjoy being slapped?"
I nodded.
"Want me to hit you?"
I glanced towards Wygotzki and Cherkov, but she'd kept her voice low enough and they didn't seem to have caught on yet. If it were up to me, I'd have taken this game upstairs, but if Sarani didn't mind their presence I had no intention of letting her think that I did.
"Hell yeah," I said.
Again, that smirk. "Ask nicely."
Acutely aware of the guys only a few feet away I straightened my back, looked Sarani square in the eyes and said: "Please hit me, ma'am."
Sarani backhanded me across the face. It wasn't a hard blow, as such things go, but I turned with it, savoring the heat that rushed through me. I heard a curse over by the door, and from the corner of my eye I could see both of the guys staring at us. I touched the burning cheek with my fingertips and grinned at her.
"That all you can do? My last lover was half your size, and even she wouldn't call that hitting."
Cherkov sniggered, and Wygotzki made some wise-ass comment I barely heard. I kept my gaze on Sarani, whose reaction was the only one that mattered. She stood up, towering over me. I saw her pull her hand back and steadied myself.
The blow sent me staggering back against the table. I knocked over a chair that fell to the floor with a crash. "Fuck, boss!" Wygotzki reached out to steady me. "You trying to break her neck?"
I could taste blood in my mouth, mingled with the sharp, metallic taste of fear. I licked my lips, looking up at Sarani.
"Better?" she asked, sarcasm thick in her voice.
Arousing Family Page 116
