by Lena Austin
Le-An was not sure in the half-light of the darkened room, but he thought he saw the quiet tonsured man wink.
Brother Andrew held up a hand and continued to whisper softly. “If I were so fortunate to have a cousin from my home village to be with, and hear my own tongue again, I would wish him near.” Then he shrugged. “I am also selfish. I would like Brother Brolly nearby in case God does not smile upon us, and Brother Jacques worsens.”
Leaning heavily on Le-An’s arm, Brolly chuckled weakly. “You are most kind, Brother Andrew. Yes, I must confess it is a pleasure to hear my own language and see a familiar face from home.”
Brother Andrew shooed them out with a flick of his rag, showering them both with peppermint-scented water. “First door on the right. I will see you are undisturbed for at least two hours. When the time for Matins comes, we will be there in plenty of time to see the sun rise.”
Le-An pulled Brolly from the room. “What the hell is Matins, Brolly?”
Brolly was closest to the first door on the right. He fumbled at the ring, and pushed it open. “Matins is the worship of their god at sunrise. It’s very pretty.”
Le-An sniffed the air. True to the monk’s word, the room was as clean as Brolly preferred a sick room to be. The spare nature of the room was proof it had been unoccupied until this night. The shutters were open to the night air, and the room smelled of herbs. Le-An shut the door and found himself pinned against it.
Brolly’s breath teased the back of Le-An’s ear. “At last.” Brolly sighed. “Now I may express my joy properly at seeing your face.”
Le-An, his cheek pressed to the wood, snickered. “How can you see my face at all when you’ve plastered me against this door?” Teasing was the only defense he had against the thundering joy in his heart.
Brolly released him and turned him around, his face sober. “I’ve missed you.”
Le-An stared into those golden brown eyes. “You have, my fine wolf? Then why did you run, and make me chase you down? Usually it is I who runs!”
“I’ll explain later, in detail. I have more interesting ideas on what to do with these two hours allotted to us.”
The caress against his trews left Le-An no doubts what Brolly had in mind. Neither did the insistence of the kiss that plundered Le-An’s mouth.
Kissing a man was a pleasure not to be missed. No worrying about breaking hearts, or the dance of romance. You wanted, you took, if both were agreeable. Le-An was definitely agreeable.
Brolly smelled of the herbs he used, and the pleasant aroma of clean sweat. Since his hands were now free to roam, he took advantage. Brolly’s muscles were a bit firmer than before, thanks to the hard work in the abbey and the walking he’d done to get here. His curls were longer, without his sisters insisting on regular haircuts.
Le-An tugged on a curl that conveniently wrapped around his fingers. That yank broke the kiss. “I thought you were tired.”
Mischievously, Brolly tweaked one of Le-An’s hardened nipples. “Sleep is for when you’re dead. I’ve better things to do to relax.” He brushed the other nipple. “Stay male, please. I owe you a promise, you may remember.”
Brolly proceeded to undress Le-An in a very efficient manner, starting with his boots.
Befuddled by this aggressiveness on Brolly’s part, Le-An blurted out more than he should. “I can’t change outside of the Valley. I can’t do anything. I’m mortal here.”
Grinning, Brolly looked up from tugging off Le-An’s boots. “Really, now? Interesting. I promise to be gentle.” He tossed the footwear aside.
Not the answer Le-An expected. “How about that promise? I think I’m the one who should be swearing to be gentle, since we have no oils to ease my way.”
Brolly knelt before him grinning. He brandished a small vial. “I have oil. I’ve kept it in a pocket, since it is the last I possess. It should be enough.”
“You think of everything.” Le-An took the vial from him. He felt a little exposed, leaning against the door with his pants around his ankles. It was interesting to feel so vulnerable. He was too impatient to care. “Aren’t I supposed to be the aggressor?”
“We have both switched roles before. Why stop now?”
While Le-An chuckled at the pun, Brolly lifted Le-An’s tunic and enthusiastically attacked the hard cock he found hidden beneath.
As was to be expected, Brolly was an expert. He did not simply fill his mouth and crassly suck while moving his head. He took his time, wrapping his lips around the head and nursing like a suckling cub.
Le-An gasped as his vision hazed. “Go gently, Brolly. If you do this as well as I suspect you might, our pleasures will be over much too quickly. Then you would still owe me a chance at your sweet ass.”
A humming chuckle sent waves of pleasure through Le-An’s cock and thence through his whole body. Brolly released him with a small pop. “A price I’ll willingly pay, many times. However, you’re right. I just want to taste you as I’ve dreamed about since I left.”
This time, he slowly took Le-An’s whole rod in, creating friction with his teeth, and did not release the delightful suction pressure at any time.
He couldn’t help it. Le-An fisted a hand in Brolly’s curls and fought the urge to fuck Brolly’s face with enthusiasm until his thighs trembled.
Brolly apparently noticed the trembling, since one hand rested on one of those thighs while the other caressed Le-An’s balls. He released Le-An again.
Le-An didn’t know whether to sigh in relief or whimper at the loss.
Rising and removing his robes with a hot look that held Le-An in an implacable grip, Brolly took the oil out of Le-An’s hand. He dribbled a generous portion on Le-An’s quivering cock.
“Ready?” He handed the vial back to Le-An.
“No.”
“No?” Brolly looked slightly put out and disappointed.
Le-An grinned and put his hands on Brolly’s shoulders, bending him over the nearest bed. The height wasn’t perfect, but it would do with a little acrobatics.
Dribbling the oil, Le-An enjoyed the small intake of breath Brolly made. He caressed Brolly’s ass, and massaged the oil around Brolly’s anal opening. It puckered and relaxed, seeming to wink at him.
“Now we’re both ready.” Le-An flung what was left of the vial on the bed next to Brolly, who fidgeted.
He poised his cock head at the pink opening, and Brolly pushed back against it with a moan of desire. Le-An gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to ram home, and entered gently past the first tight opening.
Brolly shuddered and pushed back more, helping Le-An ease in a little further until he was up against the second set of muscles within.
Tight. So tight. He slipped carefully past the second set, and waited again to let Brolly adjust. “I never thought I’d cover a predator,” Le-An teased.
Moaning, Brolly began to move. Le-An moved with him. The delicious pressure all around had Le-An already close to bursting.
Breathing raggedly, Brolly asked, “That sounds like you’re not a predator. Or even a carnivore. Another clue. I like this. My enigmatic lover reveals himself by inches. Shall I guess?”
Le-An couldn’t stand it anymore. He began to thrust home, now that Brolly was fully open and ready. The scent of their play filled the air.
Le-An reached around Brolly’s hip and grasped his cock on the down stroke. Now he played and tugged in time to his own movements. Brolly’s ass caressed his entire shaft, sending pleasure throughout his body. His balls banged just above Brolly’s, making delightful echoes.
The sane part of Le-An’s mind laughed at himself and his attempts to distract Brolly from guessing what he was. He told it to shut up -- all would be revealed soon enough. Coherent thought clicked off just in time for Le-An’s body to signal impending release.
Brolly moaned softly. “I can’t hold on much longer, Le-An. Let’s go together into the abyss.”
“With. Pleasure.” It was all he could say. He buried his nose in Brolly’
s back and released. A warm slickness in his still-moving hand told him Brolly had joined him. He collapsed against Brolly, breathing hard.
They stayed where they were, joined, until Le-An began to soften. He moved just as slowly exiting as he had entered, trying not to moan too loudly. As soon as he was free, Brolly collapsed to his knees, still bent over the little hard cot.
Le-An spied a small pitcher and bowl standing in isolation on a table near the window. He forced himself to walk there and found a small rag neatly folded beside the full pitcher. “Brother Andrew is thorough.” He poured some water into the bowl and washed, gasping at the cold water. Then he rinsed and brought the rag to Brolly. “It’s freezing cold, but better than nothing.”
Brolly had found the strength to crawl on the little cot and lie on his back. He too sucked in his breath, but allowed Le-An to perform the services of a lover.
When Brolly was clean, but shivering, Le-An tossed the used rag in the direction of the bowl. It landed on the floor near the table, and that was close enough.
Flopping down on the other cot, Le-An finally allowed his body to rest. However, his heart beat in fear. It was time, while Brolly was too tired to run. Time to reveal all.
Chapter Seven
“Why did you leave the Valley, Brolly? Was it because I’m immortal and so much older? Are you afraid?”
The question startled Brolly out of the enjoyment his throbbing body provided. Still, he was too spent to move. He grinned in the darkness. “Partially, lover. I’ll admit, it does give one a bit of a turn to know you’ve fallen in love with what amounts to a demi-deity.”
“You’ve decided you love me? Thank the gods. I didn’t want to suffer alone, again. Why else did you run?”
Brolly put his hands behind his head in lieu of a pillow. It was chilly with the windows open, but he didn’t want to get dressed just yet. “I needed to think, without distractions. Work, however much I enjoy it, is a diversion that takes up the whole mind. I must decide whether to return to the Valley and fight Aahz, or continue my search for Kenalf out here. I don’t want to be Pack Leader, Le-An.”
Le-An swallowed, hard. It was time. “You couldn’t, if you remained with me. I have my female side. It would ruin you for them. They want a lover of men.” He fought for breath and choked out, “Especially since I was born female.”
Brolly rolled over and stared. “You realize you just admitted something you’ve never said before.” He laughed in the moonlit darkness. “Going to come clean?”
A ragged breath. “Yes.”
He was so shocked, he sat up, and his bare feet protested the icy chill of the flagstones. It was everything he could do to look politely interested, rather than avidly fascinated. Appearing too eager might cause Le-An more distress than he already displayed.
Holding up one hand, Le-An swallowed. “Bear with me, Brolly. I’ve told no one for over 700 years.”
“Why? Why do you keep yourself so secret? We all know you are very long-lived, and you don’t seem to age. You also heal very quickly. These are known.”
“Those I can’t hide for long, can I? There’s more. Much more, and I’m not sure what to reveal. It isn’t just my secret, you see.”
“You and who else?” Brolly was ashamed to admit he was a little jealous. Who else knew? Very few were over 700 years old, except a few Unicorns.
“I… I can’t tell you. Except that you’ll never know them. They exist, but not as you understand life.” Le-An clamped his jaw shut and closed his eyes. “Perhaps I’d better start at the beginning. What I was, well, still am, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“I’m changed. I’m not what I was. Not anymore.”
“Okay. I’ll accept that, for now.” Brolly was still a healer. He could feel the fear and anguish coming off Le-An in waves. Fear of rejection, perhaps? “What were you? I swear I love you now. It doesn’t matter what you were then.”
Tears rolled down Le-An’s face. “Say that after I reveal my secrets. You’ll either kill me, or laugh.”
Brolly curbed his impatience and curiosity. Whatever this was, it was difficult for Le-An to reveal. “Just spit it out, Le-An. If it is so important I know, get it over with.”
Le-An managed a weak chuckle. “It’s priceless to me. All my masks of bravado are about to come off.” He sighed and stared at the ceiling. “I was born a squirrel.”
Brolly blinked. His jaw fell open, and he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “I was just fucked by a squirrel?”
The snicker from the other bed did not reassure him. “Um, yes. You might say that.” Another snicker.
“I hunt squirrels.”
“Not in front of me, please. It might be a relative.” Le-An continued to stare at the ceiling. He ran a finger through his short brown hair.
A thousand things skittered through Brolly’s mind. Again, he simply blurted the first thought that rose to the surface with any coherency. “Squirrels are listed as unintelligent.”
“True. And so was I, once. Until the Unicorns came and made my tree the center of the Valley creation.”
For the first time in his life, Brolly saw a vision that went along with his healer’s empathy. A view from a tree, watching many colorful beings without understanding. A flash of colors and lights that was painful beyond imagining. Then, blackness. With that vision, came understanding. “The magic changed you.”
Le-An sighed. “Yes. And tied me to the magic forever, as far as I can tell.”
The implications were so far-reaching, they wouldn’t stay long enough for Brolly to sort them. “You are tied to the Valley. That’s why you’re immortal. That’s why you can’t do anything when you leave, and why you can be hurt outside the Valley.” A single thought rose. “For all intents, you are the Valley.”
“No, not quite. Call me the living representative.” Le-An flung himself over onto his stomach. “Reject me now, if you’re going to.” He shut his eyes and turned his head away.
But Brolly didn’t have just his eyes and ears. He had the empathy. That sense screamed, assaulted by Le-An’s pain and loneliness. It battered at him, telling him more. That Le-An lived far beyond his years with no choice. The weight of age and memories knew no relief. To be so tired, and to look on death as a release. No wonder Le-An left the Valley often. It was a way of seeking death.
Brolly knelt next to Le-An’s cot. The wish for death was so strong his healer’s heart fought it automatically. He caressed Le-An’s hair and felt him stiffen.
“And now you need not seek death, at least as long as I live. Werewolves mate for life, you know.” He pressed a kiss to the nape of Le-An’s neck.
An instant of joy was quickly squelched. Le-An buried his face in his arms. “So do squirrels. But I’ll have to watch you grow old and die. The most horrible part is that I’ll envy you. Then I’ll be alone again.” Then the vision of graves and ashes. Former mates. Tears welled up in Brolly’s eyes.
Brolly continued to stroke Le-An’s hair. “I can’t promise more than my own span of life the gods grant me, my squirrel.”
A muffled laugh that ended on a choked sob came from the cot.
Encouraged, Brolly continued. “But saying you’ll never love again is like saying you’ll never eat. I can hear the hunger in your heart for a mate.”
Brolly’s tired body begged for rest, and his mind pleaded equally for a chance to sort this revelation out. One thing was clear -- for all the strangeness of it, he loved a squirrel named Le-An. That wasn’t going to change. He tried a feeble joke. “So I must bear the shame of being a Werewolf in love with a squirrel. That will keep me from revealing your secret.”
The laugh that sounded was stronger now. “So it is. I’ve a sword to hold over you. You, a predator, have fallen in love with your rightful prey. What a match. The gods have a sense of humor.”
Brolly got up and shoved his cot up against Le-An’s. The cots were so hard and firm, the combination made two beds into one. “Sleep
, Le-An. I’ll still be here in the morning. And I still love you.”
“It’s already morning.”
“Then you have nothing to fear. I’m here, and it’s morning.”
Le-An rolled over and they clung tightly to one another until Brother Andrew knocked politely on the door to remind them of Matins.
* * *
Le-An hefted the heavy basket of herbs and watched Brolly wave to the figure in the window. Their herb hunt had been successful, much to Brolly’s relief. The Abbey gardens had been decimated by the amount of need lately, and now those who knew what to look for scoured the hills.
“Brother Jacques is doing so much better today! He’s determined to walk on his own.” Brolly grinned at his mate with enthusiasm, his eyes dancing.
“With three days of constant attendance by you and Andrew, how could he not recover?” Le-An tried to be as happy as Brolly, but he couldn’t help disliking Jacques. He put it down to jealousy over the amount of time spent over one man, and refused to speak of his growing discomfort.
Brother Andrew, on the other hand, was welcome company. The quiet, soft-spoken human had a sly wit and a beautiful singing voice. He never grated on Le-An’s nerves the way Jacques did. He was teaching them both to sing the beautiful melodies used during the many hours of worship they devoted to their god.
They made their way to the Abbey stillroom and handed the herbs to the sister in charge. She immediately turned and began distributing handfuls to be made into medicines.
“How many more hours until Brother Andrew comes to teach us?” Brolly whispered.
Le-An, who had a better sense of time than his mate, grinned. “Another three hours, I would guess. I heard the bells as we left the forest.”
“Good!” Brolly yawned and stretched, seemingly unaware of the provocative nature of his stance. “I’ve a need of a nap. How about you?”
Le-An dared not leer. From a chance remark Jacques had made, they’d learned humans did not approve of same-sex couplings. “As long as sleep is not all you have in mind.”
“Is it ever?”
Giddy as a pair of naughty cubs, they pelted up the stairs to their room. The door banged shut behind them and they shushed one another, kissing between smothered chuckles.
