by Sawyer Caine
Morning came again as it does in the Amazon, wet, moist, and sweltering. Frederick woke me with a coughing spell and I crossed the tent to him, concerned that he might have picked up some ailment.
“I’m fine, love,” he assured me as he pushed away my hovering hands and sat up. “I’ve had this dratted cough since before we left London.”
I watched him as he moved stiffly about the tent. I couldn’t help but feel that I was responsible for his health and well-being. We made our way out to the others and joined them for breakfast. I didn’t look at Nekai. I knew that if I did, it would lead to more, and it was too early to start thinking about that.
“Nekai thinks that by this evening, we should be able to spot the top of the pyramid through the trees. He doesn’t want to spend the night camped at its base. Too many spirits protect it, and we might fall under attack. We will travel at a more leisurely pace today and stop sooner. Tomorrow we will reach our destination,” Nekana announced.
“Good, I’m getting weary of this jungle,” Frederick mumbled.
“It will all be over soon, my love,” I assured him, rubbing small circles over his shoulders.
Frederick looked strained and tired. I knew it was most likely my fault. Paulo called me to help him tear down the tents and load the mules. I left Frederick sitting beside the fire and did as he asked. It took us little time to be ready to move again. We had all become experts at setting up and tearing down our campsites.
It was soon blatantly obvious, however, that the path was more overgrown as we journeyed on. Nekai had to stop from time to time and reorient himself to the direction he wanted to go. At times, he couldn’t find the path at all, and we had no choice but to trust to his instinct.
When we stopped for lunch, Frederick and I sat together against a large rock and sipped a bottle of Scotch. I wanted the strong bite of it to keep me going, and I knew Frederick would appreciate it as well. He leaned his head back against the stone and closed his eyes. I watched the sunlight filtering down through the trees as it played over his pale skin in flickering patches.
“Beautiful,” I breathed against his ear.
“Who, Alfred? Me or Nekai,” he asked, grinning up at me.
“Both of you, you devil!” I said, punching him in the arm.
We were all of us startled to our feet when we heard Nekai cry out. Nekana and Paulo ran ahead of us, and Frederick and I followed behind. My heart was in my throat as I imagined all the possible scenarios that would have made the boy yell like that. As it was, none of them were spot on.
“Frederick!” he called. As we neared him, we all looked up in the direction he was pointing.
There above us, growing out of a crack in the cliff wall was the most exotic flower I’d ever seen. It was the elusive and legendary Sobralia orchid Frederick had been searching for and not only that, it was black.
“My God!” Frederick breathed as he moved closer.
Nekai was smiling broadly and gesturing up to the flower. Nekana put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head no at him, her face set and determined. He ignored her and tossed his machete down, reaching for the rock face.
“Paulo,” she gasped. Paulo tried to catch Nekai as the boy clambered up, but he was too quick and was out of reach before Paulo could lay hands on him.
I stood, clutching Frederick’s hand, absolutely terrified. “Nekana, tell him to come down. It’s not worth getting hurt over…” Frederick trailed off into silence.
Nekai was sure-footed and easily found the holds he needed to ascend the cliff face. The flower was growing nearly fifteen feet above us. How he’d managed to spot it, I would never know. He had reached it and carefully lifted it from the crack in the rock face, drawing it out and placing the delicate stem in his teeth as he began the precarious descent.
I had not realized that my breath was frozen in my chest until his feet touched the earth. I gasped for air and nearly fainted. Nekai brought the delicate flower to Frederick and held it out in his hand for my love to take.
“Sobralia noir,” he said as Frederick took it from him.
“Tell him thank you,” Frederick said breathlessly. “Tell him thank you so much.”
“What does that mean, Sobralia noir?” I asked.
“It means the black orchid,” Paulo answered.
Frederick tucked the flower between the pages of his journal and held the book against his chest like it was a precious treasure. His face beamed, and he looked more content than I’d ever seen him.
“Come, my love. We must go a bit further,” I said as I took his arm and led him through the jungle following our guide. I glanced up at Nekai, and he was looking back at me. He gave me a quick smile which I returned.
It was a moment in time when all was right, all was perfect. We were alive, and we were well fed. We were safe and happy and warm. In the morning, we would be standing in front of the pyramid, and we could return the damned idol and begin our homeward trek.
*
Nekai had been correct in his assumptions. As the sun began to set that evening, we saw the upper topmost section of the pyramid peeking out above the jungle canopy. We stopped for the night and set up camp. Paulo and Nekana walked back to fetch water from a small stream we’d crossed. Frederick went into the tent to play the Victrola and study his new treasure, laying the flower out on the cot and examining it from every possible angle as he sketched and wrote.
I sat down next to Nekai as he whittled beside the fire. I gestured to the object in his hands but he grinned, turning a little away from me so I couldn’t see it. I tried to force his arm down so I could get a glimpse, but he was too impossibly strong. When I grew bolder and tried to tickle him in an effort to distract him, I found myself outmanned and forced down onto my back on the ground with a very heavy, sultry-looking, native boy pinning me down.
We wrestled about, him trying to keep me pinned and me trying ineffectively to get out from beneath him. Frederick lifted the tent flap and noticed us rolling about.
“Good heavens, Alfred,” he said. “Paulo and Nekana will be back in a moment.”
“I’m not trying to seduce him. I wanted to see what he was carving… damn it…” I struggled to breathe as he ground his body against mine, keeping me pinned in place.
“Don’t just stand there, man. Lend a hand,” I cried.
Frederick laughed and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, my love, it would seem that you are in quite a predicament,”
“Damn you, Frederick. Help me.”
He laughed again and came forward, tugging at Nekai and attempting to pull him off. Together, Frederick and I managed to get him off me, and Nekai sat back on the ground laughing and swiping at the dirt on his hands.
I struggled up, kneeling beside him and made one more play for the small piece of wood in his hand. When I did so, he frowned and tucked it behind him.
“Alfred, perhaps you aren’t meant to see it,” Frederick said.
“Yes, my love. I suppose you are correct,” I conceded and reached for a stick with which to poke at the fire. If I didn’t watch myself, I’d end up like Paulo.
He and Nekana finally made their appearance, walking toward us through the trees. She carried the clay pot of water on her head, balancing it with one hand. Paulo followed behind with the mules.
The sun had not yet set, and we’d taken an early meal. Nekana had told us over supper that we would be starting at soon as it was light enough for Nekai to see. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the pyramid when night fell. I tended to agree. If he believed the place was crawling with spirits, then I didn’t want anything to do with it in the darkness.
Paulo stretched out on the ground, his hands behind his head and Nekana took out her weaving. Nekai sat on one side of me, my Frederick on the other. Frederick startled me with a light touch on my sleeve.
“Let’s go inside and listen to some music. You can bring Nekai if you like,” he offered.
I stood and followed him, reaching my hand down to Nekai.
He looked over at Nekana, and she gave him a severe look. He ignored it and grinned back at her in defiance. He took my proffered hand and allowed me to help him up, though it nearly took me off balance.
Frederick put the Allegri Miserere on once again for Nekai and set the paper lantern to spinning, just as it had been on that first night in the village. Nekai laughed out loud and dropped onto the tiger skin rug to watch and listen. I took the Scotch and lay down on my cot. Frederick rummaged through his trunk for a bit, and then sat down, cross-legged in front of Nekai.
Frederick had in his hand a little wooden disk with a cat painted on one side and a cage painted on the other. Two strings were threaded through each side of the disk. Frederick wound the strings tightly and held the disk up for Nekai to see. When my love pulled on the strings, it appeared for a moment that the cat was in the cage as the disk unwound itself. It was a kind of street magic the vendors in London used to trick children.
Nekai’s eyes went wide, and he reached for the toy. Frederick showed him how to make it work, then sat back watching as Nekai did the trick for himself. He laughed out loud at the optical illusion, twisting the strings and making the trick over and over. Frederick leaned back, lighting a cigarette and smiling over Nekai’s shoulder at me.
“We could take him back to London with us, my love. Imagine how intrigued he would be with it all. We could take him to Winchester Cathedral on Easter Vigil and let him hear the Allegri being sung in a proper place. Oh, Alfred, do you think they would let us take him?”
“No, Frederick, they would not. They would likely kill us if they even thought we meant to take him. He can’t go with us when we leave.” I hated to speak those words. I wanted that same thing Frederick had suggested. It could not be, and we both knew it.
Nekai slept in our tent that night. Nekana came to check on him, but she found him slumbering on the tiger skin rug. I’d covered him with a light quilt, and he was dead to the world. She gave me a look that could have curdled milk, and I nodded as if in understanding. When she left, I looked over at Frederick and found him grinning at me with a knowing look.
“I’m not going to touch him,” I protested.
“Well, we will see, my love, when he wakes in the night and is hard and willing. We will see if you can keep your English hands off his native body,” Frederick teased.
I tossed a pillow at him and nearly knocked over the hurricane lamp. Frederick threw the pillow back at me and reached up, cupping his hand behind the glass chimney of the lamp. He blew it out and darkness descended over the tent.
*
Hours later, I was awakened to the feeling of a warm body curling up to me on the narrow cot. I felt Nekai’s hand brush over my chest as he snuggled closer, lying next to me with his head on my shoulder. I wrapped the boy in my arms and sighed against the top of his head. He was asleep again in no time. I lay awake, listening to his breathing, Frederick’s soft snores, and the thunderous beating of my own heart.
I had no idea what we might be facing in the morning. The pyramid may have traps of some sort. We could be in danger from the very age of the structure. Collapse and entrapment were always a possibility. Nekai shifted against me and moaned in his sleep. I ran my fingers through his long hair and tightened my grip on him. I couldn’t bear the thought of him coming to harm because of me. It was bad enough that I’d drug Frederick along on this trip, but to think of causing harm to Nekai or his companions prevented me from resting properly.
I wanted to think that the only reason I couldn’t sleep was guilt over putting the others at risk, but it was only a small part of it. I wanted to stay awake and hold him. I wanted to feel him next to me like that. I entertained visions of doing just what Frederick had suggested earlier, taking Nekai back to London with us and showing him our modern life.
I imagined him dressed as a young man in London would be dressed, his dark hair cut short, a newsboy hat, plus fours, white button up shirt with suspenders, running through the gardens at Heathwood as I chased after him on a warm, summer afternoon. I pictured him lying naked in our bed, wrapped in my arms, Frederick and I loving him, the sun setting over us as we lay together, teaching him about the pleasures that men can give each other.
I saw him standing at the head of the great, sweeping stairway, walking down it to me, dressed in his finery preparing to go to a ball or some other social function. I could hear him speaking in accented English. I wanted it, but I knew even as I let those visions fade that it could never be, and that was why I didn’t want to sleep.
I fought to stay awake, hold him, and touch him gently as he dreamed. I breathed in the scent of his skin, his hair, memorized the feel of his eyelashes, his soft, full lips, the broadness of his shoulders. I burned those sensations into my memory to have forever. It would soon be the only thing I had left of him, the only thing to hold in the darkness of Heathwood with Frederick beside me, just empty recollections of this “never could be.”
“Nothing is set in stone, my love, and anything under the sun is possible,” Frederick murmured.
“Some things are certain,” I answered with regret as I pressed a kiss to the top of Nekai’s head. “Some things are certain.”
Chapter Thirteen
It was not yet dawn when I felt him shift and move away from me. He lingered beside the cot for a moment, and then he was gone. I felt the absence of him like physical pain, but it was best that Nekana not open our tent and find him twined against me when she came to wake us. I sat up and reached for my cigarette case. Taking my lighter in hand, I snapped open the top and put flame to the wick of my hurricane lamp. It gave forth a soft, sputtering light, and our tent was illuminated with the gentle glow.
Frederick stirred and opened his beautiful eyes. He stretched like a jungle cat, purring as he loosened his sore muscles for yet another taxing day of adventure.
“Good morning, my love,” he said, a bright smile lighting the corners of his cupid’s mouth. “Did you sleep well?” he asked with a tease.
“I did sleep rather well, actually. I was warm and comfortable if somewhat restricted by the big native boy wrapped around me like a python.”
Frederick suppressed a giggle with the back of one hand and reached for the cigarette I lit and handed over to him. He sat up on the side of the cot and inhaled, glancing over at me through the smoke. “Am I to assume that he behaved himself, then?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Yes, damn it,” I muttered as I reached for my breeches and a clean shirt from the trunk. I was feeling rather frustrated, and Frederick’s suggestive questions were doing nothing to ease my state of discomfort. When I turned away from him, I felt the warmth of his chest against my bare back and the press of the hardness, in the crotch of his breeches, against my buttocks.
“Unhappy about that, love?” he asked, the brush of his long lashes like butterfly wings against my shoulders, his feather-soft kisses stirring the organ between my thighs, making it ache and fill with unsated need.
“Frederick, what are you about? The others will be awake soon, and you know very well there is no time…” I sighed, but he silenced my protests by sliding his hands down my stomach and caressing the bulge in my knickers.
I gasped and leaned back against him, letting him hold my standing weight for a moment as I struggled for balance and grasped his arms for leverage.
“Mmm, love, I will gladly let that sensual, exotic, little cock-tease sleep in your bed and leave you in frustration every night, if I can find you this wanton the next morning.”
Frederick’s filthy mouth moved up and over my sweat-dampened and now very warm skin, drawing a line of wet kisses across my back from one shoulder blade to the other.
“You like it, lover, being this heady? Do you ache for him in your very bones? Do you want him right now, naked in your bed. A willing young slut of a boy for you? Can you feel it, Alfred? His tightness as you sink into him and grind away your need in his body?”
I was conscious of a sound com
ing out of me akin to the growl of an animal, as I thrust against his hand on my groin. He was kind enough to acquiesce to me and slid my knickers down. I felt them pool around my ankles. He took my stiff cock in his hand and pumped it slowly as he rubbed against me from behind.
“Want you, love,” he whispered, his warm breath welcome against my skin.
“Ahh, Frederick!” I cried as I tried to keep my voice low so as not to awaken the others.
“Oh, want you Alfred, need to feel myself inside you…” Frederick trailed off for a moment as he stepped back, my cock sliding from his grasp. I could not suppress a whimper as I felt him moving away, but in a moment he was back, and his slickened fingers penetrated me, stretching me, preparing me for him.
His new bravado was intoxicating, and I could not help myself as I thrust into the empty air in a vain effort to find some friction. “Frederick, what is this side of you? You are like a marauding pirate!”
He laughed low behind me, his voice deeper than normal and husky with his need. “I find that I am somewhat possessive of you this morning, my sweetheart.”
“Then by all means, Frederick, possess me,” I urged breathlessly.
He removed his fingers and took hold of my hips, turning me and then placing his hand between my shoulder blades, urging me down over my trunk at the foot of my cot. He closed one hand over my mouth to help keep me silent, and the other grasped his cock as he guided himself into me. The first initial stab of pain was quickly replaced with a languid rhythm that made me grind back against him, needful of my own passions.
Silently we rutted against each other like two men of low class, each one mindful, not so much of the other but driven on with an insatiable desire for his own pleasure. It was heady, and it was animalistic, and it was divine.
I felt my orgasm move through me, my back arched and my toes curled. I gripped the edge of the packing crate and sucked in a deep, ragged breath as best I could through my nose while Frederick pushed himself deep within me. I felt the perceptible shaking of his legs as he spent himself and nothing could hold me back from the plunge over the edge. The shock waves rolled through me, settling deep in my belly and flowing out across my groin and thighs.
