The Swithin Chronicles 3: The Comet Cometh

by Sharon Maria Bidwell

  At last, Markis turned his head and directed his gaze down to the brazier. His brow lowered, and his eyes flashed puzzlement that quickly turned to surprise, and then something Uly could only describe as astonishment. Markis barked out a laugh. “You can’t mean to…”

  Ryanac interrupted him with a chuckle. To Uly’s surprise, Markis blushed. It was true. A person really did blush with his entire body and not just his face.

  “Get over it,” Ryanac told his king. “This is for Uly, not you, though I think you’ll enjoy it as well.” One of those large hands pressed into Shavar’s stomach, guiding him. Ryanac had thoughtfully provided thick towels for Markis so he could lie down. Markis hesitated and made Uly frown. What would make Shavar reluctant? Still, Markis finally lay down, a small gasp leaving him as Ryanac clasped and separated his legs. The sight of the pale, denuded skin made Uly look away for a minute. When he managed to look back a few seconds later, Ryanac was watching him, one side of his mouth pulled up into a wicked-looking smirk. “We need your help,” he said.

  Uly, grateful that he was more than waist-deep in water so that his cock did not break the surface, moved closer. Ryanac lifted the cup and poured the contents over Markis’s groin. The king jumped at the first splash, and then the dark liquid poured in a steady, thin stream. With deft movements, Ryanac coated Markis in chocolate as though he were pouring it over a cake. The fluid moved with substance, but it slid like liquid silk. It had a rich, glossy texture that clung, adhering to the skin in all the right places. It coated Markis’s cock in thin ribbons, pooled into his groin, trickled down to his naked sac. A single drop dripped into the water. Ryanac even distributed it over Markis’s thighs, and then let the last drop fill his navel. To Uly’s horror or delight ‑‑ he couldn’t tell which ‑‑ his mouth flooded with saliva. He swallowed, only just managing not to lick his lips.

  Warm lips kissed the side of his face just in front of his ear, and only then did he realise that Ryanac had put the cup down. Markis had gone back to covering his eyes with an arm. “I didn’t think you would want any hair in the way of this,” Ryanac whispered. He didn’t. Markis lay there, naked, his chestnut hair snaking around his body in long semi-wet tendrils. He was a sweet feast for the eyes and tongue. The only thing Uly would have liked more was to see those chocolate brown eyes, but Markis hid his face. If he didn’t want this…

  Uly ran a hand along one thigh, spreading the chocolate. He took his fingertips to his lips. Shortly after removing his touch, Markis peeked out at him from under his arm. Even in the dim light, his eyes shone with a mischievous glint. His gaze flicked to Uly’s fingertips at his lips and stared as he licked them as though mesmerised. Markis was blushing again.

  He didn’t know why he chose to speak to Ryanac rather than Markis, but Uly said, “If he doesn’t want this…”

  Ryanac laughed. “Are you kidding? What man wouldn’t want your sweet lips? He blushes not from what we are doing, but by how you see him.” Fingers trailed up and down Uly’s spine, making him shiver despite the humid heat. His nipples hardened, and Markis’s glance told him his king had noticed. “Even as Swithin, we can be overcome by what we desire. It is not your desire that undoes him but his own.”

  “Could you not talk as though I’m not here?” Markis murmured. It made Uly smile and Ryanac chuckle.

  Warm lips and breath whispered and tickled at his ear. “Do you not want your treat?” Ryanac asked him, no doubt aware that he did want it.

  “I’m…not very good at this,” Uly admitted in a small voice. Markis gave a small shake of his head denying this. Ryanac’s lips teased his ear.

  “It takes practice. I’ve a feeling, before we leave here, you’ll be very good at this and a few other things besides.”

  Uly swallowed, unsure if his heart pounded from Ryanac’s words, or from the look in Markis’s eyes. Taking one last look at Markis’s partially hidden gaze, he looked down at the body Ryanac had so carefully prepared for him. He could do anything pleasurable with it that he wanted, and Markis would not only let him, he would rejoice in it. The certainty washed away his hesitation. He had as good as died today. He could not deny himself this.

  For the first time, Uly understood that part of sharing pleasure for the person receiving was the giver wanting to do so. Such sharing was mutual. His fingers reached for those soft thighs, which still had a smattering of hair. It didn’t matter that the chocolate had coated him there. He would only lick and kiss. He was going to suck in places that were more intimate. His tongue slid upwards, taking the sweet taste into his mouth. He didn’t worry about how much he would get on himself. He could wash it off afterwards. A quiet tension thrummed under his touch. When Markis sighed and finally relaxed, Uly gently touched his hanging sac. He pulled on it gently, his fingers sliding in the liquid velvet. As he did this, he became aware of a warm, wet heat against his spine. Ryanac’s tongue danced over his vertebrae, licking out to the side from hip to hip and back again. Questing fingers snaked between his thighs.

  Uly couldn’t help it. He opened his legs, sighing, when warm, knowing fingers cupped his testicles. His mouth opened before he intended it to, his tongue snaking out to tease Markis’s shaft. Glancing up the length of Markis’s body, he could see that his king’s eyes peered over his shoulder towards Ryanac. He was certain the two men were looking at each other, and Uly didn’t care. He widened his legs, arching his hips.

  Markis had seen the movement as Uly had meant him to. Those dark eyes flicked down to his face, and Uly stared back. Easing up but not breaking eye contact, Uly made a circle of his thumb and forefinger. He licked his lips and tasted chocolate on them. He could feel a peculiar sensation of something sticking to his skin at the right side of his jaw. It had to be chocolate. He captured Markis’s cock in his hand and attended to him with some long, slow strokes back and forth along his entire length. He smiled, knowing he had done it just right when Markis groaned, closed his eyes, arched his back, and the arm covering his face fell to the side, clawing at one of the towels.

  Their gazes no longer locked, Uly took the chance to look down at the strange but arousing sight of pink skin smeared with his favourite sweet treat. The chocolate possessed a glossy appearance, but even as he watched, the head of Markis’s cock took on even more of a shine. He gave it a gentle squeeze and watched the ensuing moisture ooze out the tip. His mouth fell open at the sight. His tongue hung slack. Uly wanted to cover the smooth glans with his mouth, but resisted because he also wanted to savour the moment. He dipped his head instead, widening his mouth to take in a testicle. A strange roundness filled his mouth, at once hard yet delicate. Uly sucked on one and then the other before a greed he didn’t understand took over, and he wanted both.

  A sound somewhere between a scream and a growl erupted from Markis’s throat. If Ryanac weren’t helping to hold him, he might have kicked Uly into the water. It made Uly pause. He had been gentle despite his need, but he had to wonder if he became lost in the sensation he might suck too hard.

  “He’s all right, little one,” Ryanac said. A slight chink of sound made Uly look up. Ryanac had set another cup on the brazier and he had a good idea what was in this one. A hand stroked his back. “Hush. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. Not now. Not ever.”

  Oh, but I do want. Uly swallowed. He didn’t know what tugged the words from his throat, but they came unbidden. “Do what you want.”

  “What?”

  It took him a moment to realise that both Ryanac and Markis had asked the question. Their bodies grew still. They waited. For some reason his answer carried great significance. He gave a passing thought to shaking his head and saying nothing, but it went just as quickly. “Do what you want. Both of you. I want you to do what you want.”

  Hands grabbed him. Markis reared up and claimed his mouth for an instant before he curled back down, this time holding his weight on his elbows so he could watch. The movement let Uly do what he wanted, to run a hand down from Markis’
s neck, all the way down over his chest and then his stomach to a straight line to his cock. Markis had intentionally or inadvertently shifted into a better position. Uly no longer needed to strain to hold him in place. He dipped his head, glancing up as he did. Staring into Markis’s eyes, he opened his mouth. His lips parted and slid down over the soft plum of Markis’s cock. It throbbed on his tongue. He came off, blowing gently where his mouth had made it wet. He could taste something besides the chocolate. Uly closed his eyes now, lost to the moment, licking and kissing, his tongue snaking into that small slit, sliding down to lap at the V-shaped place at the back. He licked down and around, coming up in a long swift line, engulfing, taking the length down in one long, rapid stroke. It pressed into the back of his throat too briefly to make him choke, but he wanted it deep in his throat for longer than that. Uly had learned by example and instinct showed him the rest. He opened his throat, took a breath, and went down. Once there, he stilled.

  Markis was having trouble seeing the room. As Uly enclosed him in the heat of his throat, and more than that, held him there, he blinked to clear his mind and his vision. The pulse in his cock matched his heartbeat. The heat that radiated from his skin had nothing to do with the humidity in the room. It matched the heat he could see in Ryanac’s eyes. The big man stared at Uly’s mouth, and Markis’s gaze followed his before they glanced at each other briefly. Markis had only seen this look on Uly’s face once before, and that was long ago, just before he truly kissed him for the first time. He looked adrift, at peace. Even as nature forced him to come up for air, Uly did it with a sigh that shivered over Markis’s cock, into his balls, up through his stomach, his chest, and into his heart.

  Those cool grey eyes opened and looked into his, and Markis lost any semblance of control. His hips thrust; noises erupted from his throat. He leaned up on one elbow and cupped Uly’s head with the back of his hand while Uly licked and sucked. He didn’t have to see to know what Ryanac was doing. For the second time that night, the big man lifted a cup from the burner. Markis gathered Uly up, holding him while one of Ryanac’s large hands dipped down under Uly’s stomach and lifted him from the water. Uly gasped, no doubt at the feeling of Ryanac lifting him, as well as the warm oil splashing down. Markis let go. Ryanac held Uly now, one hand taking the weight, the other working the oil into him. The sight of Uly’s face was too much. He looked a little surprised and yet desperate at the same time. Markis grasped the back of his Samir’s head, clenching his fingers into the hair just the right side of pain. When Uly did nothing to stop him, just looked at him with that cool trusting gaze, he tugged Uly’s mouth back to where it belonged.

  Somehow, the two men held Uly pinned. He had never doubted Ryanac’s strength, but he had no say in how they held his body. If he stretched out with his feet, he could just touch the floor of the pool with his toes. Uly would have giggled if Markis hadn’t made his intention clear and shoved his head down. The movement contained a suppressed kind of violence that he welcomed. Fingers pried at him, delved, opened him, widened, until he squirmed, begging with his body for more. A soft roundness replaced the fingers, and he pushed out, inviting it in. Just inside, Ryanac’s cock went still, the big man waiting for Uly’s body to open to his need. While Ryanac did this, Markis’s hand still clasped Uly’s head, but Uly had control of the motion now. He suckled and heard Markis hiss. The hand fell away from his hair. Two long, hard lengths inched into him until he could take no more. He was full.

  Uly squeezed with unseen muscles and swallowed at the same time, making both men gasp. Two answering throbs pulsated through two depths of his body. He caused this. They had him pinned, but Uly had just as much control. That hard, tight rosette closed around the base of one cock while his lips closed around the other. He moaned long and deliberately, twisting his head and straining his eyes until he could see Markis gazing at him. Short, hard thrusts assaulted him from both ends and he welcomed them with an open body, mind, and heart. His cock was hard, throbbing, caressed by the water but craving a touch. They weren’t going to touch him, not yet. Uly was aware of that without having to ask. This wasn’t about him finding release; it was about them. They would take care of him afterwards. He didn’t need reassurance to know that. They would take care of him and make him scream out their names as they did, and he was willing to scream. He wanted to cry, to sob, but it had nothing to do with pain or misery, but everything else. This was pure joy. They took only what he gave, and he was willing to give it all. Use me, use me, use me, fuck me… He had died and now he was alive. Now he understood what Antal had said to him when he had nearly died from the arrow attack: You performed this dance because it let you know you were alive.

  Use me, fuck me, use…

  Markis and Ryanac answered his silent plea as though he had shouted it aloud.

  Markis couldn’t hold back. He exchanged a look with Ryanac to let him know he was close, and then he looked back to Uly’s face. He reached out and touched Uly’s jaw in warning, but he already knew Uly wasn’t going to pull back. As his balls drew up, Uly closed his eyes, and Markis couldn’t have that.

  “Don’t close your eyes,” he said hoarsely, almost desperately. “Look at me. Let me see.” If Uly couldn’t do that, he would have to be the one to pull away. It had to be everything or nothing. His cock grew harder and throbbed, but he couldn’t tell if that was just timing or the sight of those cool grey eyes as they opened to his plea. The pulse beat through him and he spilled. Markis half expected a look of regret to enter Uly’s eyes, but instead the young man moaned. He sucked, swallowed, sucked some more, licked gently, and even dipped his head to recapture what had escaped his lips. Markis had never seen anything so erotic or beautiful in his life.

  Ryanac took him away from Markis, that incredible strength easing him free of both their bodies. Water engulfed him, sluicing away the chocolate and other fluids. Uly dipped into the water, opened his mouth and let it enter, washing over his tongue. Ryanac’s erection nudged his hip as the big man turned him in his arms. The expanse of Ryanac’s chest filled his vision and then Uly slowly looked upward, his gaze hungrily feasting on every inch of skin until it lingered on Ryanac’s mouth a moment, before finally reaching the other man’s eyes.

  He came for me, rescued me.

  Ryanac had kept his promise, and fought for him as surely as Markis had. Even as he thought of the other man, Uly felt Markis slide his arms around him from the back, but something tenuous existed in the king’s touch. At once, Uly understood. He needed to share this moment with Ryanac first, and Markis stood by giving them the time to…To what? He searched Ryanac’s dark eyes and saw what Markis surely saw there every day. Ryanac’s surety shone out from the man’s eyes. His actuality, his confidence, his strength, his self-possession, his loyalty, and his love. Once you found a place in Ryanac’s heart, Uly now understood you never had reason to doubt your place in this man’s life. The love he shared with Markis was just as certain but different, somehow, less tangible.

  “I want you both,” Uly suddenly said.

  “You have us,” Markis whispered.

  Uly shook his head, realising he would need to clarify. “I want you both inside me.”

  Ryanac’s gaze flicked over Uly’s shoulder, and Uly was sure he and Markis exchanged a questioning look.

  “Uly…” Ryanac’s voice was low, a warning against pain; Uly was certain of it. “There is such a thing as being too greedy.” The big man gave him a way out as always, as he and Markis always would, turning it into a joke.

  “I know it’s possible.” Uly, shivering now, stood between the two men, even though there was no way he could be cold. He feared they might refuse him out of worry, and he was so sure, so ready…

  “You’ve been reading too many books,” Markis said, gently kissing his shoulder and then his neck.

  Uly flushed. He had indeed read about it in a book. “Please.” He struggled to keep his voice steady. Surely they could taste his need. His skin was alive with
sensation, with what they had done already and what he longed to do.

  “Uly…” Markis’s voice urged caution simply by saying his name.

  “I’m ready,” Uly insisted. “I’m…” He closed his eyes, shook in their hands, the two men having to hold him upright now. “I want this.” That last left his mouth on practically a hiss. “You can prepare me. You can call the abyss.”

  Even as he said the words, Markis’s hand slipped down, examining him. Uly hissed, rolling his hips as Markis’s fingers explored. His reaction surely affected their king as Markis took him into his arms and gnawed on his neck. Leaning back against Markis, the fingers of the man’s right hand delving into him, Uly closed his eyes as Markis’s left hand fastened around his neck, tilting his head for a kiss. When they broke apart, Uly felt Markis’s consenting nod at the side of his face just as he opened his eyes. Markis apparently intended the signal for Ryanac. The big man grinned just short of a leer, but he didn’t fool Uly for a minute. The heated look he saw in the man’s eyes was only partly due to lust.

  “We need somewhere more comfortable.”

  There were plenty of comfortable places in the thermai.

  They’d dipped back into the cleansing pool for a quick wash before retiring to the rest area. Here, Ryanac pulled several of the mats from the massage tables and laid them out on the floor. Uly was right in telling Markis to call the abyss. It would numb any pain, but more than that, it would coax his body into obeying so that any pain would be minimal anyway. Yet Markis didn’t have to tell Ryanac that for this work, the more consumed by passion Uly was, the better and easier it would be. Uly knelt like a rag doll between them. He moved where they directed. He never even hesitated to open his mouth for Ryanac. The soft sucking sounds his mouth made kicked Markis’s own desire back to life. Uly’s ministrations were not what he could call tentative, but Markis knew that Uly’s love for Ryanac had changed. He knew it anyway, but the way Uly used his mouth spoke of love, not sex. Markis knew the difference and so did Ryanac, even if Uly didn’t consciously realise what he was doing. Clearly, Ryanac struggled to pull back, and Markis suspected it was more due to the look on Uly’s face than what he was doing.