by M. D. Grimm
My fingers brushed the smooth gem, and I sighed in relief. I lifted a small amethyst pendant out of the box by its chain. Forgetting about the mess I'd made, I sprinted back down the stairs and reached Aishe in time to see him eyeing the boygles that had appeared at every opening. They were eyeing him back, suspicious and twitchy. I walked toward him and slipped the pendant over his neck, giving the leader of the boygles a significant look.
Her squinty eyes widened, and she nodded and gestured for everyone to leave. They did, quickly and silently. Aishe lifted the pendant.
"What is this for, Lazur?"
"Protection." I said. "I created my home as a deathtrap. Invaders would be killed or driven insane by a number of spells and hexes throughout all the rooms. Only I and the boygles can move safely through. I created this pendant that allows the wearer to go through my home unharmed. Never take it off, at least until I modify all the spells to let you pass unharmed."
I looked him dead in the eye to make sure he knew I was serious. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck, holding me close.
"You really are extraordinary," he whispered. "And extremely scary sometimes."
I chuckled and allowed my hands to stroke up and down on his back, exhilarated that he was here, that he liked my home. His opinion mattered very much to me, and his approval settled like a warm blanket on my shoulders.
"Do you have somewhere I can wash the mask off?"
It took me a moment to realize what he was asking. "What? It just comes off?" I realized I'd never seen him actually apply, what I thought to be, black paint.
"No," Aishe grabbed a small vial from inside one of his belt pouches and held it up. Purple liquid could be seen through the transparent vial.
"I have to use this to get it off, and it stings, but I need water."
I nodded and pointed the way. I learned something new every day. I led him into my modern bathroom and showed him the faucets, his eyes widening in amazement.
"Where did you learn this?" he asked, playing with the water.
"Believe it or not, the same place I learned the word 'fuck'." I laughed.
"I don't believe it," he smiled. I stepped out and waited outside. I really loved plumbing; it was truly a heavenly invention.
I heard the water turned on and off and found it amusing to think about all the new experiences I would introduce him to. I fingered Rambujek in my pouch and felt it hum. It still called to me.
The door opened; I looked up, and if it was possible, I fell more in love. The mask was gone. Aishe suddenly looked much younger, happier, and indeed, he was smiling big. He had finished his hakum, he had given justice to his tribe, and now he was free to do as he pleased, no restrictions except those he put on himself.
The biggest barrier between us was gone. Aishe would see it that way, certainly. Suddenly uncomfortable, I lifted up the pouch that held the ruby.
"I have to put this menace away."
"Can I come?" Aishe asked, taking my other hand. By the Mother, I didn't have the heart to say no. I nodded, and we walked up the stairs, weaved through the corridors and passing countless doors. Aishe kept turning this way and that, his eyes wide with curiosity and joy. He couldn't fake that, and I was starting to really believe that he wanted to stay with me, that he wanted to make a life with me.
He pulled to a stop in front of the paintings I had done, and the wonder in his eyes made me embarrassed and pleased at the same time.
"I did those," I said proudly. "It's of Earth. It has the most amazing natural wonders. That one's called the Grand Canyon."
It was a large portrait, and I had painted it while standing on one of the taller columns at the Grand Canyon. If there was one thing I did the "old fashioned way," it was painting. No magick, no taking an image in my head and making it appear on parchment with a snap of my fingers. No, I took paint and a brush, and I made every stroke myself. I gazed at Aishe, and the urge to paint him became stronger. He was the perfect subject and muse.
"You really are full of surprises," he said and turned to face me. "I had no idea you were this talented. It's brilliant; I can almost imagine that I'm there, standing next to you, seeing what you see."
Pleased, I took his hand and continued on to the room where I kept the stones. We went through the invisible door, the stone slab, and arrived in the small tower room. The small pedestal stood, innocent enough, and I could feel the stones' powers calling to me. I took out the ruby, and it took a while to unlock the spells I had cast around the stones. Aishe stayed silent, but I always felt him behind me, watching me, waiting. Once the spells were fully unlocked, I put the ruby on the pedestal, careful not to touch any of the other stones. Pinching a piece of the cloth, I pulled it away. Rambujek throbbed with cosmic power and begged for me to not lock it up. It wanted to be used. It promised me things, unspoken things. But I only had to feel Aishe's hand on my shoulder to know that what it offered could never compare with what I could get for myself.
Now I had Dilacheuj and Rambujek, and their completely different personalities yelled at me; one screamed for peace, the other for bloody war. Both promised me the world, the universe, and I denied them both. But how long I could deny them, I didn't know.
I redid the spells and was tired by the time I was done. The spells weren't simple, and they weren't lightweight. I stared at the colorful stones and wondered if I'd ever find all of them.
"Morgorth." Aishe came up behind me. He put his arms around my waist, and I let him hold me.
"If you're so afraid of what you will become, why do you keep these stones?" he asked softly.
I took a moment to think about my answer. "To prove to myself that I could be different. That I'm more in control than those who came before me."
Aishe kissed my neck, and I closed my eyes, leaning into him. He continued to torment my neck until I turned around, and he snapped his arms around me, his mouth fusing to mine. I couldn't move my arms, and the passion the dialen exuded crashed into my system. I no longer felt tired. I felt energetic and enthused, and I wanted to devour him in greedy bites. With a surge of power, I slammed him against the wall, and for a moment I worried I was too rough. The thought vanished when he gripped my face hard and kissed me with wild abandon. He tangled his fingers in my hair, and I swore my lips were bruised under the force of his kiss. He invaded my mouth with his tongue, and it slid and danced around, tangling with my own, igniting fires in my stomach and making my palms burn. My magick was reacting to the passion and force, and I had to stay in control of it or else I might hurt him.
I never wanted to hurt him.
My hands tugged at his tunic, his belt, ripping them away, trying to find skin. His belt hit the floor, and I shoved my hands under his tunic, moaning when I felt his warm flesh. His muscles quivered under my touch, drawn tight as his bowstring. I kept shoving my hands up, feeling his pectorals and his nipples, which were hard, and I pinched them, causing him to groan.
"You are so sexy," I growled and nipped his lips, pushing my own tongue into his mouth. Aishe shuddered and pulled away to toss away his tunic, his beautiful body exposed once more. I've never felt so obsessed with anyone before, never so desirous of another's body and mind and soul. My hands reached around and gripped Aishe's perky butt while my mouth nipped his shoulders, the muscles firm under my lips. He wrapped those solid arms around me and sucked at the skin of my neck, his hands gripping my jacket and tugging it impatiently.
"I want skin, Lazur," he groaned, and gripped my own ass, making me jump. "I want to see you, I want...by the Mother, I want you so much."
My belt fell to the floor, and he gripped the ties of my trousers.
"I want you so much every time you do magick," he said, his lips brushing my ear as my hands were going to work on his leggings. "You're so forceful and powerful. I want to worship you."
He bit my earlobe, and I became rock hard in that instant. His palm brushed my bulge, and we both gasped. I yanked down his leggings and pulled back to see w
hat I had revealed. Oh, by the heavens... Long and pale with a rosy tip, Aishe's penis was beautiful, and I licked my lips, encircling it with my hand. He groaned, and I looked up to see the brightness in his eyes, his face flushed and his lips swollen. He was even more beautiful this way. Then Aishe lifted his hand and brushed the back of his knuckles across my cheek. Something inside me quivered with fear, and my insecurities rose up again.
Look at him. Just look at this perfect, courageous, passionate dialen... What in the Mother's name did he want with me? What if after this one time together his passion for me just died? What would I do if he left? What would I do if he stayed?
Something of my thoughts must have shown on my face because Aishe surged forward and reversed our positions, slamming me against the wall. He gripped my upper arms and gave me one hard shake.
"You think too much," he murmured, panting and looking like some ancient Greek god. An angry one at that. "Stop thinking, Lazur. Stop thinking and just feel. Feel this."
He took my hand and wrapped it once more around his dick, and I shuddered. Then he cupped his palm around my bulge, and most of the air left my lungs.
"Or this," he squeezed, just enough to wring a cry from me. "Just feel us."
"That's the problem," I gasped and shoved away, stumbling. "That's the problem, Aishe. I do feel, too much." I looked at him, with his leggings around his ankles, naked as a jaybird and currently pissed off, and decided he deserved the truth.
"I feel too much for you, Aishe. So much that I wouldn't survive if whatever there is between us dies."
Aishe's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his hands into fists. "You're saying you don't trust me. After all we've been through, you don't trust me?"
The dialen ripped off his leggings and tossed them violently across the room. He really was phenomenal in his anger.
"Damn you to the underworld, Lazur!" he shouted, and for the first time, I saw just how far I had pushed him. I couldn't hide my wince. He stalked to me and actually gripped my arms and lifted me off my feet. I gasped as he pressed me against the wall, trapping me with his body. I could make him let me go, but at that moment I was a little afraid of him.
His eyes burned with green flame, and his face was uncomfortably close to mine.
"I love you," he said in a pained whisper that slammed me harder than if he'd shouted it. I felt my soul actually tilt, and I believed him. By the heavens and the cosmos, I believed him.
"We were meant for each other," he continued, his declaration keeping me immobile. "I'm staying with you; wherever you go, I will be there. You don't have to be alone anymore. I trust you, Lazur. Morgorth. You would never hurt me."
He kissed me hard. "You don't think much of yourself, but I think the world of you. You're beautiful, Lazur."
I closed my eyes against the tsunami of emotions drowning me. My eyes burned, and my heart ached. Aishe crushed me to his chest, and my arms clutched him around the waist.
"I see you," Aishe said softly. "I see you, my love. I need you, just as you need me. My tribe, my family, is gone, carried beyond this world, where I cannot reach them."
His voice became thicker as he continued. "My heart shattered when I saw them all, when I had to carry out the cremation rituals all by myself. I was broken, just as you are."
He paused and took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "But I know my heart will mend, it will survive, because of you. We're both broken, Lazur, but I know we can fix each other. Please give us that chance. I don't know what I would do if you rejected me."
I couldn't find my voice. I tried, but nothing came out. I held him tighter and feared my shaky legs wouldn't hold me for much longer.
"I'm giving you my broken heart, Lazur," Aishe whispered. "I'm taking that risk. Will you not risk with me?"
I cried. I pressed my face into his chest, and I cried. He lowered us to the floor, and I knew he didn't know what my tears meant. Regret? Grief? Happiness? I didn't even know, but all the emotions bubbling around inside me suddenly flooded out. I was unable to contain them. All his words repeated like a skipping record inside my head, and I knew there was only one answer I could give, only one that would save both of us. If only I could stop crying long enough to get it out.
I struggled, and it hurt, but I finally lifted my head and looked at him. He used his thumbs to wipe away my tears, and I knew I could live forever, search all the worlds in the multi-verse, and never find someone as wonderful as him.
"I love you," I choked out. If I'd handed him the world, he couldn't have looked more joyous. He cupped my face and kissed me, his own tears sliding down his face. We really were an interesting pair, and what he said to me worked. I shoved away my doubts, my fears of the future, even my embarrassment about what I looked like.
He loved me. He loved me. I had been blessed, and I wasn't about to throw it back to fate.
"Get your things," I gasped and helped him gather his things up before we left the room. I frantically closed the magickal door, and we ran down the stairs to the invisible door. As soon as that was locked behind us, I gripped him to me, said a word, and we ended up in my bedroom.
I blinked in surprise before letting out a triumphant laugh. Aishe dropped his pack, bow, and quiver on the floor along with his clothes before swinging me up into his arms.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked as he set me on my bed and began taking off my boots. My heart pounded like a jackhammer, and it was pounding for him, all of it was for him.
"I've never mastered the teleporting yourself magick, until now."
Aishe raised an eyebrow and set my boots aside before going to my trouser laces. "And you just decided to attempt it with both of us at risk?"
"Well, I really wanted to be successful this time. Magick is as much about desire as it is power and skill."
My trousers fell open, and my stomach tightened. He'd seen me naked before, but I was unconscious that time. Now I was fully conscious, and a certain part of me was fully awake.
"I was almost successful once," I said, trying to keep my mind off of how Aishe stared at my erection with hunger.
"What happened?" Aishe asked as he began to unbutton my jacket.
"Well, I sort of ended up inside my wall."
Aishe paused and laughed. I smiled and shrugged sheepishly. "I don't like to talk about it. I didn't try again after that."
"Inside your wall?" He continued to laugh as he slipped off my jacket and made me as fully naked as him. He leaned close and kissed my chin before descending to my neck and down to my collarbone.
"Uh-huh," I managed, most of my effort focused on remembering how to breathe. I had just made a fool of myself just to make him laugh, I mused. Master Ulezander was right. Again.
One of these days, I was going to be right.
I scooted farther onto my bed, and Aishe followed, his muscles moving sleekly under his skin, like a cat. My mouth watered, and I found myself in slight envy over his beauty and grace. I had never been born with that, and while I could gain an illusion of it with magick, it wouldn't be real. I would know it wasn't real.
"Stop thinking," Aishe murmured and captured my mouth once more, sending fire down my veins, making me even harder. It was almost painful, and he shoved me down on the mattress, his body pressing me down and his heat seeping into me. I wanted that heat. I wanted the weight and the knowledge that he wouldn't leave me. He would stay, and he would love me, and I wouldn't be alone anymore.
I wouldn't be alone.
The amethyst pendant swung from his neck as he lifted his head to look down at me. Deep down, I must have known that I would find him someday. I must have had hope in En's prediction. By giving him that gem, I had given him free rein in my home. My sanctuary.
"You shouldn't be so self-conscious," he told me as he moved lower down my body. "I like what I see."
That was nice, but I wanted to see more of him first. With a burst of strength, I shoved him underneath me, and instead of fighting he opened up to me, s
preading his legs and rubbing his erection against my thigh. I shuddered and tasted him, my mouth never once leaving his skin. My hands slid under his body, and he arched up, his moan urging me on. My fingers bumped the scar that ran across his back, and I leaned back and brushed his hair away from his eyes.
"Where did you get that scar?" I asked.
His eyes were hazy with desire, and his swollen lips pulled into a smile. "I was young and stupid. I tried to prove myself and nearly got myself killed."
"I've done that," I said, nuzzling his neck. His hands drifted over my back, his fingers trailing over my scars, following their paths. My heart melted. He wasn't disgusted by the evidence of my past abuse. He was interested, compassionate.
His body was so firm and hairless. The only hair was that on his head and at his groin. His body was built for war, and he obviously took care of it. My lips drifted over his navel, and I nipped his skin. He sucked in a breath and gripped my shoulders.
"I want you, Lazur," he moaned.
"Not yet," I murmured. I realized it would take more than my lifetime to properly worship his body. I wanted to eat him alive.
I nipped at his thigh, making him shudder. His taste was on my lips, on my tongue, and his smell surrounded me, comforted me. I drifted down his leg, brushing under his knee, and his fingers combed through my hair as he squirmed on the bed. I was amazed by my own willingness to linger over him like this. I was never one to indulge in foreplay, but I had to this time. I just had to, like I had to breathe.
I shoved him on his stomach, and Aishe lifted his hips, spreading his legs. His surrender was so sexy that I felt myself near explosion. I grabbed his perky ass, and it filled my hands, full and smooth. I parted him, looked at him, and felt more possessive than I ever had in my life.
He was mine. He belonged to me.
