Chasing Wings

by Hanna Dare

  “Tris.” One moment there was a dragon and the next it was Ormur — Ormur as Tris had known him, as a man — standing in front of him. “Don’t fuss.”

  “Oh,” Tris said. He must have sounded disappointed because Ormur’s eyebrows arched. “I just thought you’d want to stay like, well, yourself, after so long.”

  He gazed at Tris steadily. “It’s easier to do some things in this form. Let me show you.”

  He turned away and began walking toward the waterfall. As he turned, Tris realized something.

  “Your hair.”

  Ormur no longer had the light close-cropped curls. Instead, dozens of tight silvery braids swept over his shoulders and down his back.

  “Oh, yes.” Ormur gathered the braids back from his face and into a topknot that he tied with a leather cord. “This is how I prefer it, but I was trying to travel unnoticed before.”

  “You?” Tris laughed. “Unnoticed?”

  Ormur shrugged testily. “Our forms are not completely under our control. They are a reflection of ourselves to some extent.”

  He was dressed in the light-colored tunic and trousers that Tris had first seen him in, but now the clothes were fresh and whole, tailored perfectly to his long, slender body. He also wore low leather shoes.

  “It’s good,” Tris said. “Whatever it is. Your self, the reflection, you. You look good, I mean.”

  He was blushing and stumbling over his own tongue, but Ormur didn’t roll his eyes or glare. His head tilted and he licked his lips.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  Tris followed him up a rocky path. It seemed like they were heading for the water and while Tris was never one to turn down a proper wash, he was about to point out that the night air was chilly and the water likely colder still, when he saw that there was an opening in the rocks behind the waterfall.

  A fine curtain of mist hung in front of the cave entrance. Tris stumbled a bit on the mossy rocks and Ormur reached out without a word and took his hand. Tris’s breathing hitched a little. They’d walked together through fire before and now water.

  The space that they entered was quite a bit humbler than the Earl’s grand rooms. It was dim, with the only light coming from the entrance, and Tris squinted around, trying to get a sense of the cave. Ormur let go of his hand to pick up a heavy lantern from against a rough stone wall.

  “I need your fire-starter device again.” He sounded a bit apologetic. “I usually light a torch outside and bring it in.”

  Tris reached into his bag for the flint and steel. “Must be a handy thing, to be able to make fire anytime you want.”

  “It is useful.” The lantern flame came to life beneath him, casting otherworldly shadows onto his face. “But dangerous as well. Fire is its own force and dragons who think they control it often find that it’s the other way around. Fire can be… seductive.”

  His eyes met Tris’s over the glow of the lantern. Tris tried not to gulp audibly.

  “So,” he said brightly and quickly, “this is all yours?”

  It was not a large cave, maybe twice the size of Tris’s attic bedroom. The ceiling was high, lost in shadows, so it didn’t feel like it was pressing in and, despite the waterfall rushing past the entrance, it was surprisingly dry inside. Books and cooking pots were neatly stowed in wooden boxes or in natural niches among the stone walls. There was bedding on the ground, thick and strewn with pillows.

  Ormur crossed his arms and frowned at Tris. “You were expecting a mound of gold? A vast cavern where I could loll about on jewels? I told you, I reject all that greedy nonsense.”

  “But you still like caves?”

  “Well…” Ormur shrugged. “Not all traditions are stupid. Sleeping outdoors loses its attraction very quickly.”

  “It really does.” Tris smiled as he looked around. “I like this. You know, I’ve never had a place that was my own? It’s always been at my parents’ home, or inns, or borrowed beds or haylofts. If I did, it’d be like this. Somewhere cozy and private.”

  “Yes, it is.” Ormur sat down on the pile of bedding. “And I’ve brought you here.” He stretched out, just as sinuously as he’d done on the cot back in the cell. The effect on Tris was much the same, and he turned away.

  “I’m just gonna, uh, refill the waterskin.”

  He hurried to the entrance and stuck the waterskin under the waterfall. It took a while to fill, but it gave Tris time to quiet the stirrings of his cock and gather his courage.

  When he turned back, Ormur was sitting up and glaring.

  “Tris,” he said in precise tones, “what exactly do I have to do to seduce you?”

  “Seduce… me?” his voice squeaked.

  “Subtlety seems wasted.” Ormur got up gracefully and stalked toward him. “I want to have sex. With you. Now. Are you agreeable?”

  Tris stopped himself from backing away. That let Ormur come close enough so that Tris could count every freckle on his cheeks. “How— how can you be sure you want to?”

  The corner of Ormur’s mouth quirked. “I’ve been in a prison cell. You nearly died. Aren’t those reasons enough? We’re well past shyness, you and me. We’ve been through too much. I know you want me, Tris, I can smell your desire.”

  “That’s just it,” Tris said miserably. “I want you, but do you really want me?”

  Ormur’s lips parted, but before he could say anything, Tris reached for the amulet around his neck and lifted it over his head. “The Earl was able to control you — what if I’m doing the same thing? I could be making you want me.”

  He pressed the stone into Ormur’s hands. Ormur stared down so that Tris couldn’t read his expression, beyond a few frown lines on his forehead.

  “Here, let me get the other one.” Tris fumbled with his bag and pulled out the Earl’s necklace. Ormur took it without saying anything.

  “I’m sorry, Ormur, if I did some kind of magic on you. I didn’t mean to, I swear.”

  Ormur moved away, still looking at the amulets in his hands. He paced the edges of the cave, while Tris stood in the middle of the space and felt ashamed.

  Ormur finally stopped, though Tris saw that he was standing next to the entrance.

  He looked up at Tris. “Before I even knew these amulets existed, when I was trapped — in that cage, in this form — there was a… sense of malice. All around me, all the time. It was under my skin and filling my nose.” Ormur’s hands clenched tight over the necklaces. “I thought my anger was driving me mad, but now I think it was that old man and his magic.”

  Tris made himself ask. “And when I had it?”

  “It was…” Ormur pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I did not feel anything.” He tossed the amulets carelessly into a corner and stepped closer to Tris. Close enough that Tris had to tilt his head up to look at him. “But I wanted you before you ever put it on. I want you now.”

  “Oh.” Tris felt a bit faint. “That’s good.”

  “Is it?” Ormur’s voice dropped to a purr. “Do you still want me?”

  He didn’t touch Tris, just watched him with half-lidded eyes and the hint of a smile playing over his lips. His very full and very near lips. Tris decided he needed to stop acting like a bleating lamb and prove he was a man of the world.

  He reached out and traced the curve of Ormur’s cheek with his fingertips. Ormur’s eyes fluttered closed as Tris cupped his face. His skin was so warm, which was good because it matched the fire coursing through Tris’s body.

  “You’re everything I ever wanted,” Tris said.

  Tris pulled him closer and their lips met.

  Ormur’s hands were lifting the strap of Tris’s bag, his coat, and then his sweater away. Tris knew it wasn’t possible, but it seemed like somehow Ormur did all that without breaking their kiss. It was hard for Tris to know what was going on because Ormur’s lips were as soft as he’d dreamed and his tongue twice as clever. Tris gripped Ormur’s face, determined to get as much of him as possible and chasing the
faintest taste of smoke and spice. Breathing was all but forgotten in favor of that hot, sweet mouth.

  “Tris.” Ormur broke away, lips swollen and eyes bright. “Lie down on the bed.”

  “What?” Tris saw that they had moved backward to the pile of bedding. He also noticed that while he was half-naked, Ormur, most crucially, was not. “Oh. Yes, but you need to take off your clothes. Please, Ormur.”

  “Since you asked so politely.”

  Ormur stepped back — which was bad — but then he took off his tunic in one grand sweep — and that was very good. Tris reached out, eager to touch the smooth skin of his chest and stomach, but his hands were lightly slapped away.

  “I’m not finished,” Ormur said. “And you were meant to lie down.”

  It was mainly because Ormur was reaching for the fastenings of his trousers that Tris willingly lay back. The bedding was soft, if a bit musty from being so long unused — but Tris didn’t care about anything except the slide of Ormur’s pants down his hips.

  His cock sprang out, just as pretty as Tris remembered. It curved up toward his belly, flushed and eager. Tris stared up, reminding himself that this wasn’t a dream — that Ormur’s body, with all its sharp planes and long lines, was naked and able to be touched. Not that Tris had done much touching, but clothes were coming off and he was on a bed, so things seemed to be proceeding nicely.

  As soon as Ormur’s trousers hit the cave floor, Tris started hastily fumbling with his own pants, but Ormur pushed his hands aside.

  “Let me.”

  Ormur lifted one of Tris’s legs. He drew off a boot and tossed it aside, and then did the other, setting Tris’s ankle on his shoulder and gazing down at him with a predator’s gleam in his eyes.

  “Look at you,” Ormur said. “Good enough to eat.”

  “My pants are still on,” Tris managed to point out.

  “And we do need them off.” Ormur ran a hand up his cloth-covered thigh, fingers skirting the straining bulge of his cock. “There’s only so much I can do with you like this.”

  Nimble fingers danced over the fastenings. Tris thrust his hips up helpfully as his trousers were finally loosened, but Ormur only hooked his fingers in the waistband and tugged the garment slowly down. When the pants were finally free of Tris’s ankles and cast aside, Ormur knelt between his legs. He tapped one finger against his lips thoughtfully.

  “That’s right,” Tris groaned. “You like to tease.”

  “Not always.”

  He slid forward to stretch out on top of him, every part of them touching, his mouth finding Tris’s. It all felt so good that Tris cried out and nearly came, just from the feel of skin on skin.

  Ormur seemed to sense how close he was because he didn’t move, just lifted his head to regard him with a fond and patient look.

  “Well,” Tris said, struggling to control his breathing, “here we are.”

  Ormur did smile then, a real smile. “It truly is the most improbable thing, the two of us being here now.”

  “But you’re glad?”

  “Yes, I am glad to have met you, Tris, even though I regret the circumstances.” He smoothed the worried frown that Tris was starting to form. “You’re the most unlikely thing of all.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A good man.”

  He kissed Tris, softly and sweetly. Tris felt in control enough to run his hands down Ormur’s back. He reached the dip of Ormur’s lower back and, feeling bold, went even further, filling his hands with the firmness of his backside. He squeezed and they both groaned as their cocks rubbed together.

  “I have oil,” Ormur murmured into his ear.

  “Oil?” Tris turned his head to stare in confusion at the light. “Like for the lantern?”

  “You really are that innocent, aren’t you?” He smirked. “And here I’d thought you’d been to Ens.”

  Tris finally clued in. “I’ve done plenty, just… not that.”

  Ormur looked at him more seriously. “Do you want to?”

  “I— I think so?” He knew that wasn’t much of an answer, so he added with absolute honesty. “I want whatever you want. I want to do everything with you.”

  “You shouldn’t say things like that. You make me feel—” Ormur said nothing more.

  “What?” He kissed him, lightly, teasingly. “What do you feel?”

  Ormur shook his head and turned practical. “Let’s do it this way then; you fuck me.”

  “Really? I mean, are you sure?”

  Ormur licked up the side of Tris’s neck. “I want to feel you inside me.” Tris felt teeth pressing against his skin. “I want your cock.”

  Tris gulped against Ormur’s mouth. “All right then.”

  Ormur laughed as he rolled off Tris. “I’ll get the oil.”

  “You’ll guide me?” Tris asked a bit anxiously as Ormur took out a small stoppered vial from a box. “I have some idea, it’s just—”

  Ormur raised an eyebrow. “Tris, when have I ever hesitated in telling you what to do?”

  He straddled Tris’s waist and took his hand. Ormur drew Tris’s hand down his chest, pausing to let him tweak a dark nipple, then he drew that hand along his belly and settled it on his cock.

  “I seem to recall you like a firm grip. So do I.”

  Tris turned his palm up and Ormur smirked as he dropped a small amount of oil onto it. Tris spread the oil over Ormur’s cock and then took hold. He squeezed, just for a moment, and began to pump in sure strokes, his way smoothed by the oil and Ormur’s sudden gasps.

  Ormur tilted his head up to the cave ceiling, giving himself over to Tris’s ministrations. Tris put his other hand on Ormur’s hip. He manoeuvred him so that his own cock rubbed between Ormur’s buttocks as he began to thrust along with Tris’s strokes.

  “Enough of that.” Ormur stopped his strokes with a strong grip on his wrist, voice rough and eyes dark. “We have more to do.”

  He poured more oil in Tris’s hand and clasped it with his own, their fingers slipping and squelching as they tangled together. Ormur reached behind himself and while Tris had some idea of what he was doing, he couldn’t see and that was frustrating.

  He may not be as experienced as Ormur, but he was strong. Tris sat up, clasping Ormur around the waist and lifting him. He set Ormur on his back on the bed.

  “Let me help,” Tris said.

  Ormur pulled his knees back toward his chest, spreading himself for Tris’s gaze. “Be my guest.”

  Tris wanted him so much, but he still hesitated. “Should I…?”

  “Push one finger in — slowly. I’ll tell you when I want more.”

  Tris stroked a slick finger over Ormur’s opening. He bent down and took Ormur’s cock into his mouth, circling the tip with his tongue before sucking the length down. He was rewarded with a surprised yelp of pleasure and Ormur’s hands grasping his hair. At the same moment, he carefully pushed his finger inside and felt Ormur stretch around him.

  “Yes,” Ormur hissed. “That’s it. Give me another.”

  Tris worked a second finger in beside the first. He moaned around Ormur’s cock at how hot and tight he felt.

  “Fuck me with your fingers, Tris. Pump them in and out.”

  Tris began to move his fingers. He lifted his head to see Ormur’s reaction. Ormur’s lips pouted briefly at the loss of Tris’s mouth, but then he tossed his head back and arched up.

  Tris had seen Ormur as a dragon earlier that night, so it was understandable that seeing him writhe with pleasure at Tris’s touch was only the second-most wondrous thing he’d ever seen.

  Ormur’s eyes opened and seemed to flash gold. He launched forward, his hand on Tris’s throat. He pushed Tris onto his back and rose up above him, leaving no doubt as to who was in charge. A hot, slick hand found Tris’s cock, coating it with oil. Tris sucked in a breath as Ormur lowered himself onto his cock.

  It was so much. Tris was being squeezed — his cock, his throat, and his heart — and he wanted nothing
more than to melt into Ormur completely.

  “Remember to breathe.” Ormur loosed his hold on Tris’s neck and drew a thumb across his lips. Tris chased it with his tongue. “Here we go.”

  It was like flying all over again. Ormur rose and fell on Tris’s cock, his silvery braids flying around his head. Tris ran worshipful hands up his sides. He took hold of Ormur’s bobbing cock, stroking it in time with his upward thrusts.

  Ormur arched his back, reaching for a hidden sky as Tris held on and tried to match his wild pace. They moved together, climbing ever upward toward some impossible peak. Tris began to babble some nonsense, praising Ormur’s beauty and strength.

  “That’s it,” Tris panted. “Fly as high as you like. I’ve got you. I’m here. Always.”

  Ormur’s eyes suddenly snapped open and fixed on his.

  “Tris,” he gasped as though surprised.

  And then he was erupting hotly over Tris’s chest. Tris clutched Ormur’s hips and thrust desperately into him until he shouted and tumbled over the edge, lost in a white-hot rush of pleasure.

  Tris found himself in a tangle of limbs, his brain so addled that he couldn’t tell which part belonged to whose body.

  “Ormur?” he managed because he was less certain about his own name.

  Soft lips pressed against Tris’s collarbone. “Here, more or less.”

  “That… I’ve never felt… You were…” A wide and likely very silly smile spread over his face.

  Ormur raised his head. “I’d forgotten how poetical you are in the aftermath.”

  But there was no sharpness in his voice or face, all the angles had been smoothed into something soft and sleepy, and he punctuated his words with a kiss to Tris’s nose.

  “It was like flying, wasn’t it?” Tris said as he searched for words that made sense. “Both better than I dreamed.”

  “The boy who dreamed of dragons,” Ormur murmured. “You are a marvel.”

  “Hey, not a boy, I’m a grown man.”

  “You certainly are.” Ormur ground his hips against him and Tris felt his spent cock give a hopeful stir. “Though it is strange that you like dragons so much.”

  “I wonder why you don’t like them.”