Apprenticed to Pleasure

by Brandon Fox

  “First we get wet,” Sorel said. He released Ander’s hand and stepped under the sheet of warm water pouring from the pool above, letting it flow over his sleekly muscled body. Then he stepped aside while Nicolai and Ander took turns under the waterfall.

  Standing under warm flowing water was a first for Ander, and he was amazed at how good it felt. Sorel finally nudged him out. All three stood in the space between the waterfall and the marble wall enclosing one side of the highest pool. Warm mist filled the air.

  Nicolai and Sorel dipped their hands into a niche in the wall while Ander shook wet hair out of his eyes. The niche was filled with a light green gel, the source of the eucalyptus scent. “Soap,” Nicolai explained. “With some of Thane’s special ingredients.” He reached forward and began spreading the gel over Ander’s chest.

  At the same time, Sorel moved behind Ander and began soaping his back with long, slow strokes. Ander was breathless with delight as their slippery hands moved over his torso. Then he reached into the niche and scooped up some gel. Shyly, he applied the soap to the contoured slabs of Nicolai’s abdomen and began rubbing it over his body.

  Nicolai looked approving. “Good. You already understand the first principle of love. Your partner’s pleasure is more important than your own.”

  Ander smiled and let his hands glide along the sleek torso. He marveled at how hard the underlying muscle felt as he stroked the golden skin with his slippery fingers. Nicolai moved under his hands, making a low humming sound while massaging Ander in return.

  Sorel and Nicolai scooped more gel and then resumed stroking Ander’s body with slow, fluid movements. They turned him around so they could each caress every part of his body and let him explore their own slippery flesh. But they didn’t touch each other’s cocks, except for accidental brushes as slick bodies moved against each other. Ander closed his eyes and focused on the feel of his partners. He had no trouble telling them apart. While they both had smooth athletic builds, Nicolai was taller and more heavily muscled than Sorel.

  Finally Sorel moved close behind him, pressing the full lengths of their soapy bodies together and putting his arms around Ander’s chest. His hands slid lower, massaging the tight muscles that sheathed Ander’s abdomen. Then, as Nicolai stepped back, he slid one soapy hand under Ander’s balls while wrapping the fingers of his other hand around the shaft of Ander’s erection.

  Nicolai knelt on one knee and ran his hands up and down Ander’s legs, from the tight juncture beneath his balls to his ankles. Ander leaned against Sorel, his eyes closed, his knees weak as waves of pleasure swept through him.

  “There’s another thing you might already know,” Sorel whispered in his ear. “Waiting for release, then waiting some more and waiting yet again, brings your flesh to increased awareness. Only pain can achieve the same heightening, but pain is anathema to the art. So in the art, pleasure is prolonged and heightened. That’s part of the ability we’re testing for. Do you understand?”

  He took a deep breath and nodded. “You aren’t making it easy. But I understand.”

  Sorel’s hands continued to glide gently over Ander’s heavy cock and balls. The upthrust phallus jerked and drooled. Ander clenched the muscle at the base of his cock and fought his body’s demand to succumb to pleasure.

  Nicolai chuckled and started to soap Ander’s buttocks and the cleft between them. “Nobody said the test would be easy. Pleasurable, yes. But not easy. The art requires great capacity for restraint.” He stood and pressed their bodies together front to front. Then he put his hands on Ander’s shoulders and transfixed him with a clear-eyed gaze. “You’ve done well so far. But we’re just beginning.”

  Ander’s body arched with pleasure. He grabbed Nicolai by the shoulders and pushed down, desperate to disperse energy somehow. The muscles in his sturdy shoulders and arms flexed with power. He was on the edge of losing control but knew it was far too soon.

  Nicolai took the cue and stepped back. He took Ander’s hand and guided him into the curtain of warm water from the upper pool. They stood under the sluice, tangled in a breathless embrace, while the soap lather rinsed away.

  At last Nicolai stepped back and descended the stairs. Sorel and Ander followed with arms around one another’s waists. Nicolai removed three towels from a carved chest and handed one to his partner.

  “That was just preparation,” he said, giving Ander a sexy grin. “Ready to see what else lies beneath Thane’s tower?”

  Ander nodded mutely, still in a haze of lust. They enfolded him in their towels and started drying him, rousing him from his trance. When he was dry, he joined Sorel in enthusiastically toweling Nicolai’s body. Then it was Sorel’s turn.

  They left the bathing chamber and entered a corridor lit by bronze oil lamps. The air was still warm, and a dark green rug was soft beneath their bare feet. Vibrant tapestries depicting surreal landscapes decorated the walls. The strange images tugged at Ander’s attention, though he didn’t stop to examine them. He walked between his companions with an arm hooked around each one’s waist. The feel of their warm skin and solid muscle moving under his hands was more compelling than any art.

  Just preparing for the test had been challenge enough. He had a growing conviction that he had jumped into far deeper waters than he had dreamed.

  Chapter 7

  THEY walked by three large doors without stopping. All were arched, made of dense wood with a deep red hue, and surrounded by ornately carved frames. At the fourth door, they stopped.

  “Close your eyes,” Nicolai said. “We’ve got a surprise. It’s better if you see it all at once.” Ander complied, completely trusting. There was a faint whoosh as the door swung open. Nicolai escorted him through the threshold and some distance into the room, guiding him with an arm around his shoulders. “You can look now.”

  Ander opened his eyes and felt a lurch of disorientation. A flood of images confronted him.

  They stood near the center of a large space. Mirrors covered the chamber’s walls, ceiling, and floor. A broken circle of freestanding mirrors at the center of the room caught their images and scattered them around the chamber. Oil lamps mounted on bronze tripods shed flickering light, though the number of lamps was impossible to estimate because of the myriad reflections. It was as if the three of them stood among stars, their images echoing out to infinity.

  The ring of freestanding mirrors curved around the room’s central feature: a huge cushion covered with soft black leather. Ander’s cock started to swell again. “This is the best test I’ve ever taken!”

  Sorel’s fingers grazed his chest. “Are you ready to explore new realms with us? There are wonders to discover. Pleasures you’ve never imagined.” In answer, Ander turned and pulled Sorel into an eager embrace and kissed him fiercely. After a few moments Nicolai put a hand on his side and nudged him toward the cushion. “Lie down,” he said. “Let’s begin again. This time there will be no interruptions.”

  Ander released Sorel and sat on the edge of the cushion. Soft leather caressed him like warm skin, yielding so easily he guessed the pad must be filled with feathers. Nicolai gently pushed him onto his back. He bent down and brushed his lips against Ander’s. The kiss deepened as he pushed Ander’s shoulders into the cushion.

  Ander opened his lips to the exploring tongue. His body arched on the black leather, muscles taut as Nicolai’s strong hands slid behind his head and neck while they kissed. Sorel crouched at his side and trailed his fingertips from Ander’s neck down to his right nipple. Leaning close, he teased the nipple with his tongue. His hair whisked over Ander’s chest, and his breath was warm.

  As Nicolai’s kisses and playful licking moved to his neck and chest, Ander’s eyes were drawn to the mirrored ceiling. The reflection was spellbinding. Their bodies were lit by flickering light, a trio of lovers floating in a realm where only their intimacy mattered. Seeing himself at the focus of his companions’ ardor made him feel strong. It was a powerful thing, to be so desired.

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nbsp; Ander gasped as Sorel’s tongue dragged across his belly, pressing against the hard abdomen before lapping at the slippery fluid pooled beneath the head of his cock. His lips slid around the glans, tugged briefly at the sensitive corona, and then lifted the straining phallus upright.

  For a frenzied moment Ander thought he would come, but Sorel held his head motionless and the wave of pleasure crested without the orgasm that had seemed inevitable a moment before. His hips dropped back to the cushion as he forced the muscles in his back and thighs to relax.

  “Good,” Nicolai said. “Make it last. And don’t hesitate to say what you’re feeling. Or what you want. That’s the best way to make love, at least until you’ve bonded with your lover.”

  Ander nodded, unable to answer, his throat still tight. He slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. He was no stranger to intimacy, but something was different this time. His body felt awake and alive in a way that was new. An amazed smile spread across his face. “I’ve never felt like this.” His breath quickened. “I want to share it. Join us.”

  The northerner leaned down and kissed him. At the same time Nicolai’s tongue entered him, his partner’s lips slid down Ander’s erection to its base.

  Ander returned Nicolai’s kisses and caresses while Sorel sucked him with astounding skill. He was pinned, opened to the pleasuring his friends lavished on him, floating in a sea of intoxicating sensation.

  Nicolai broke the kiss and swung around so he crouched head to toe above Ander. His cock was proudly erect, wet with his arousal. Then he leaned forward, supporting himself on outstretched arms and lifting his knees off the cushion. Sorel moved aside as Nicolai held his body suspended over Ander with all the strength and grace of an accomplished acrobat. Slowly he lowered his hips until the head of his cock grazed Ander’s lips.

  The phallus looked huge. Ander could feel its heat against his face. For a moment the size gave him pause. It looked to be a third bigger than Leif’s. It was daunting, but lust made him bold. He put his hands on Nicolai’s hips and tilted his head. Drawing him down, he let the slick glans slide between his parted lips.

  Nicolai moaned as he eased forward. Despite the size and hardness of the erection, Ander accommodated it smoothly.

  The northerner controlled his thrust, never rushing. Ander took a deep breath and let the slippery shaft ease in deeper. In a few seconds, his nose nestled against Nicolai’s silky balls.

  Nicolai pulled back out as slowly as he had penetrated his new friend’s body. Ander’s tongue explored the rigid shaft and savored the taste of Nicolai’s excitement.

  Holding himself up with one arm, Nicolai reached for Ander’s erection and lifted it upright. He sealed his lips around it and let the smooth shaft fill him at the same time he eased his phallus back down Ander’s throat.

  They fell into an easy rhythm, as if they had been destined to meet each other’s needs. Ander’s body strained to contain the pleasure as Nicolai’s tongue explored his slick glans. Muscles flexed in hard curves as they moved together, giving and receiving pleasure in equal measure.

  Sorel gave them a little time before placing his hands behind Ander’s knees and lifting his legs. Without breaking the rhythm of his sucking, Nicolai hooked his right arm around Ander’s right knee before capturing the left.

  Ander moaned as his legs spread. He continued sucking Nicolai’s cock, squirming as Sorel caressed his buttocks and the cleft between them.

  Sorel rocked back on his heels and opened a compartment recessed in the floor next to the cushion. A red clay jar filled with blue gel lay inside. A faint aroma of mint wafted through the air as he dipped two fingers into the lubricant. He grasped the base of Ander’s cock with his other hand. Nicolai let the shaft slip out of his mouth and lifted his head. They exchanged a kiss while Sorel stroked Ander’s erection.

  “Trade places?” Sorel asked when their lips parted.

  Nicolai considered the offer. “I’d rather watch you enter him,” he decided. He paused, taking deep breaths while he slid his cock back and forth in Ander’s mouth. “Besides, I’m enjoying his skill. He’s exceptional.” Ander grunted softly, acknowledging the compliment as best he could.

  Sorel continued to hold the shaft, following Nicolai’s lips up and down with his fingers while using the fingers of his other hand to press a glob of the gel into Ander’s body.

  Ander felt a cool tingle between his buttocks at the same time his cock was again engulfed in the silky warmth of Nicolai’s throat. His back arched, and he pressed against Sorel’s fingers as the twin sensations jolted his body. Sorel pressed back, working the gel in deeper. It was incredibly slippery stuff. One of Sorel’s fingers slid inside the opening and began to gently massage the tight flesh.

  Ander moaned. He would have said more, told Sorel how good it felt, but Nicolai’s cock was sliding down his throat in a long, smooth glide. The moan was enough. Sorel rotated his finger, pressing first against one side of the tight muscle, then against the other. Cool tingling spread through Ander’s body as Sorel massaged more gel into him.

  Nicolai stilled his movements and lifted his hips enough to draw his cock out of Ander’s clinging lips, then eased his mouth off Ander’s erection. He held the spit-covered shaft in his left hand. Ander’s left leg draped over Sorel’s shoulder.

  “Don’t stop,” Ander said, his voice husky. “It feels so good!”

  Nicolai chuckled. “We’re just beginning.” He lowered Ander’s right leg and rolled to a crouch beside the leather cushion, then lifted a silver ring to open another compartment recessed in the floor. He lifted a small amphora of dark red glass out of the compartment. “You’ve done well so far. But now it’s time to make things harder. Thane spent years learning how to increase the body’s sensitivity. To master the art, you have to experience great pleasure while still maintaining control of your mind and body. This oil is just a small step. Some of the potions create pleasure so intense it can kill.”

  Ander raised his head to look without sitting up. Sorel’s fingers still probed him in slow strokes. “What’s in it?” he asked. “Do you put it on my cock, like you did on Sorel’s in the cave?” He pushed aside the disheveled hair that fell over his eyes.

  “No,” Nicolai replied. “What we used in the cave is too powerful for anyone but adepts. This oil just makes you more aware of what your body is feeling. It doesn’t increase the actual sensation.”

  Nicolai poured pale gold fluid into the palm of his right hand. A whiff of cinnamon and an unidentifiable smoky aroma filled the air. He placed his hand on Ander’s stomach and began spreading oil over the washboard muscles.

  It tickled, but it was definitely an erotic sensation. Within a minute the tickling was making Ander gasp. His body felt like soft feathers were brushing it. The sensation’s intensity grew with alarming speed.

  Nicolai grinned. “Not what you expected? I hope you didn’t think the test would be easy. But remember, we want to help you pass it.”

  Ander nodded mutely, swallowing hard. His cock lay against his belly, oozing a small pool of fluid. Sorel withdrew his fingers and smeared lubricant on his own cock.

  “Sit up,” Nicolai instructed. “Let me get behind you.”

  Ander sat up while Nicolai moved behind him and nestled down in the soft cushion. He slid his arms around Ander’s waist, then pulled and leaned back as Ander pressed against him. His hands roamed over Ander’s oiled torso, transforming the tickling sensation into waves of pleasure.

  “Easy now,” Nicolai said. “Feel the pleasure. Experience it fully, but don’t allow yourself release. Let us know when to slow down. Understand?”

  “Yes. I’ll try. But it’s much harder than I expected.”

  “Few have the control required to master the art,” Sorel said as he moved between Ander’s legs. He pressed his cock downward, lodging the glans against Ander’s well-lubricated opening. “But I’ve felt the depths in you. Your mind is strong enough to command your body. Do it now!” He pressed
forward just enough to push the head of his cock inside Ander’s body.

  Ander felt a sudden tickling sensation where Sorel had entered him. His back arched, his shoulders pressing against Nicolai’s chest. The spot became a throbbing point of pleasure that threatened to swell into an explosion as Sorel pressed forward again, easing into the warm and slippery hole.

  “Stop!” Ander said, gasping. “You’re going to make me come!”

  Sorel froze halfway in. Ander panted, his muscles clenching and unclenching on the shaft, his balls pulled up tight against the base of his cock. He knew it was too soon, that they were just getting started.

  Nicolai tightened his grip. “Try this,” he whispered. “Think about something else, like walking in the forest. Anything to take your mind away from what you’re feeling. But only until you recover your control.”

  Ander took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s working.” His expression changed to awe as he squeezed Sorel’s phallus with his body. “I can feel your cock as if I was holding it in my hands.” He licked his lips. “Put the rest in. I’m ready for you now.”

  Sorel snorted. “You have a lot to learn if you think you’re ready for me.” He resumed his slow penetration. “But don’t worry. I’m trying to make it last.” Thick hair fell over his shoulders as Sorel threw his head back. His cock probed deeper, gliding smoothly through the lubricating gel. It grazed over a small mound of firm flesh inside Ander’s tight channel.

  “Oh!” Ander’s erection jerked against his stomach, oozing clear fluid. He looked at Sorel in amazement. “That always feels good. This time it felt almost like coming, but I didn’t. How can that be?”

  “The art isn’t like ordinary sex,” Sorel replied. “Expect surprises. For now, concentrate on feeling the pleasure. And controlling it.”

  “I’ll try.” Ander let his weight fall back and looked at the mirrored ceiling. He saw himself sprawled on top of Nicolai, with arms around his midriff and Sorel’s strong body between his legs. The sight of the thick shaft as it slid out of his flesh made his breath catch.