The air seemed to shimmer as the stranger turned to face him. His skin seemed to shine with an extraordinary glow. Then Dario’s eyes adjusted and he looked upon the face of a man who could have been his twin. Dario stopped and held his breath.
It wasn’t just that the stranger looked like him. He did, but there were differences. There was the long straight hair, where his own was short and curly. The stranger was at least half a foot taller than Dario. The face was longer, and the eyes larger. And his ears seemed unnaturally pointed.
What made Dario breathless was the tingle that rippled through him as if opening every pore of his body. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the other man. The crowd around him seemed dark and dirty in comparison, as though covered in a grimy film. Only the stranger seemed real.
Dario had been with men before. Hell, he’d bartered sex for room and board more than once before Karlie found him. He’d even enjoyed himself with some of them. But this was different. Dario wanted, very badly, to touch him.
“My name is Elorien.” The man’s mellifluous voice rang over the murmur of the crowd, who fell silent. “I’ve come for Dario.”
“I’m Dario.” He took a step closer as though in a daze.
“I see that.” Elorien stared at him, elegant brows furrowed, eyes darting over Dario’s face. Then the other man’s clear eyes burned into his and he found himself falling into a pool of soft musical sighs.
We must talk alone, the sighing voice said inside his head. Tell these people to leave. Despite the hypnotic wash of sound, Dario felt that it was more a demand than a request. Before he could compose himself, Elorien stalked past him and went to the porch, brushing Dario’s arm as passed.
Dario stared at his retreating back. He rubbed his arm, shivering at the tingling warmth spreading through his body at the man’s touch. He was painfully aware of his sudden erection which, thankfully, was hidden by the folds of his tunic.
“Everyone get out,” he croaked.
The crowd ignored him as the speculation and gossip began.
“Who is that guy?” Ash asked at his elbow, staring after him open-mouthed.
Dario shook his head, unable to answer. All he knew was that he wanted everyone out as soon as possible. He went to the light switch, flicked it and plunged the room into darkness. Someone squealed.
Dario flicked it on again.
“The party’s over!” he shouted. “Everyone out! Now!”
Chapter Three
Mirror Image
From his position on the porch, Elorien watched the crowd emptying from the house. Rather, he watched Dario. Since Dario spent most of his time with his back turned, ushering people firmly out the door, Elorien’s gaze lingered mainly on Dario’s butt. And a very fine butt it was.
He was amazed to discover that his stomach was fluttering unexpectedly, and his heart pounding. He’d only felt it as a lad when Guntoras had first become his lover. That had disappeared over time when he’d understood Guntoras’ roving eye and suffered his constant indiscretions. Elorien had shut down a large part of his heart then, locked it and all but thrown away the key.
It was extraordinary how beautiful Dario was. Elorien had carefully observed everyone at the party when they crowded about him. The faces had seemed ugly, most of them disfigured by an unnatural re-arranging of features, the women with lips too thick, the men with skins too tight. He’d almost thought them demons in disguise. He could never understand Guntoras’ fascination for this World.
Then he had seen Dario. The boy had appeared like a shining beacon. It was a shock to discover he looked so much like himself. Yet the boy had no elvish blood or he would have sensed it. Strange, then, to find such physical beauty in a human.
What captivated him, however, was Dario’s vulnerability. His open soul had been apparent in his eyes. Rare to find that openness even amongst elves. Like most fine things, he expected it was wasted on the humans.
Elorien watched as Dario dragged a half-dressed couple down the stairs and out the door. Then he leaned back against the closed door in relief.
Elorien realised they were now alone. His heart flipped quietly, once, before he took a deep breath and re-entered the house.
Dario approached him, padding quietly over the thickly carpeted floor.
“Who are you?” Dario breathed, staring at him with eyes like great unfathomable pools. Elorien frowned, catching himself. Now was not the time to wax poetic over Dario’s unquestionable charms.
“I am Elorien,” he said. “I’ve come to --” He stopped, frowned again. How could he say, “I’ve come to see whether you are more beautiful than I?” It sounded ridiculous and… petty.
A slow flush crept over his skin. No, he had been ridiculous and petty. How could two separate beauties be compared? As a poet, as a musician, he should have known that. He had to give Queen Elucinara her due. If not as beautiful, she was at least wiser than he.
“You’ve come to see me?” Dario prompted him, looking at him with a wonderful expectancy.
Elorien shook his head, disoriented by Dario. He realised if he told the boy the truth, he would seem vain and silly. No, he was vain and silly.
“Ye gods,” he muttered, as this realisation dawned. He began to pace about the room, at once berating himself for his foolishness while he wondered what excuse he could provide that would not reveal his own vanity and pride.
“We’re not -- we’re not related, are we?” Dario asked as he watched him anxiously.
Elorien turned to look at him. “Related?”
“Yes. We look alike. You’re not my -- my brother, or anything like that?” Dario’s voice sounded worried. “I didn’t know my parents but they could have fooled around, had other children. Did you track me down, is that it?”
Elorien gaped at him. Then he threw back his head and laughed. “By the gods, no! On the first hand, you’re human and I’m an elf --”
He stopped, bit his lip.
“You’re an elf?” Dario stared at him.
Elorien sighed. Then he leaned forward and tweaked his pointed ears as evidence. Dario reached out a hand and touched them gently, caressing the pointed tip.
A sudden heat suffused Elorien. Dario’s touch seemed to go straight from his ear to his groin. He was aware of the most sudden and painful erection of his life.
“Good,” Dario murmured, “Because if we were related, I couldn’t do this.” He swooped down and his lips captured Elorien’s.
Elorien stiffened in shock. Dario rested his lips on Elorien’s tentatively for a moment, testing his reaction. Then, using his tongue, he began to explore the other man’s mouth.
Elorien responded, slowly at first, unused to the experience. He’d kissed only one man before, Guntoras, who made it clear he was not the kissing type. Guntoras liked his lovemaking robust and athletic rather than gentle and romantic. Dario’s lips exploring his mouth with such tentative pleasure was a rare and beautiful thing. Elorien closed his eyes and gave himself up to their tender warmth.
Elorien opened his eyes as Dario pulled away. Dario was breathing heavily. Elorien noticed the bulge of his erection, tenting his tunic, and felt his own throbbing in response.
“Shall we -- go upstairs?” Dario asked breathlessly, jerking a thumb toward the staircase in the corner of the room.
“Upstairs?” Elorien murmured, wondering how the boy’s cock would feel in his hands.
“My bedroom,” Dario said. He blushed a little. “Only if you want to, that is.”
Elorien smiled. He reached out and placed a hand on either side of Dario’s shoulders, his thumbs resting on the throbbing pulse at the base of his neck. “Oh, I certainly want to,” he said, and crushed Dario’s lips beneath his own.
The boy gave a small whimper and then surrendered to the onslaught. Elorien’s mouth plundered his, sucking at his tongue, exploring every nook of the warm, wet cavity. He slid his hands across Dario’s shoulders and then angled down his back until they rested on his muscl
ed butt. He pushed Dario’s hips toward his and felt the warm bump of his erection against his thigh, and then moved so that it brushed against his own erection.
Dario moaned, his arms coming about Elorien’s waist, squeezing hard. His hands traveled down over the edge of Elorien’s doublet and caught Elorien’s behind, squeezing his tight buttocks. As their tongues probed and twirled around each other, they rubbed their erections together until Elorien felt as though his cock was about to burst free from the straining cloth.
“Upstairs, you say?” he gasped, pulling away for some air.
Dario grinned, his face flushed. He grabbed Elorien’s hand and bounded toward the stairs, taking them two at a time. Elorien allowed himself to be pulled and found he was grinning stupidly at Dario’s -- and his own -- growing excitement.
A large bed with a carved oak headboard dominated Dario’s bedroom. As Elorien paused to observe the plush surroundings in approval, Dario pulled his green tunic over his head and threw it to the floor, then kicked off the pointed boots.
“A strange costume,” Elorien said, watching as Dario pulled his trousers off, exposing his smooth, thick cock nestled in a brush of thick blond hair between muscled thighs.
“Yes, it’s an --” Dario stopped. He looked at Elorien’s magnificent clothing. Then he looked down at the heap of clothes he’d thrown over the chair, and laughed. “It’s a ridiculous costume,” he said. “I won’t be wearing it again.”
Elorien nodded, wondering at his laugh. He unclipped his cape and looked about for a place to hang it. Guntoras hated this about him and was usually waiting for him in bed, bored, by the time Elorien had fully undressed. But try as he might, Elorien could not bring himself to throw his clothes to the floor.
“Here, let me do that,” Dario said, taking the cape. He draped it over the back of a high-backed chair near the dresser, carefully arranging the folds.
Elorien admired the careful way he had fixed the folds as much as the way Dario’s hipbone jutted powerfully where muscled abdomen ended and thighs began. Dario came and stood behind him. Elorien could not help blinking in surprise as Dario began to unhook his stiff doublet.
“You don’t mind if I -- undress you?” Dario asked, his breath tickling at Elorien’s sensitive ear. Mutely, Elorien shook his head.
The boy unhooked his doublet and drew it forward over his shoulders, removing it. He took a coat hanger and placed the doublet over the back of the wardrobe door. Elorien was fascinated by Dario’s precision as he loosened the scarf at his neck and drew it away. Then Dario untied the ribbons at the front of his silk shirt and gently pulled it over his head. Another hanger and both scarf and shirt were placed before the doublet over the wardrobe door. Elorien shivered with a delicious excitement as the bare skin of his torso was exposed to the warm air.
Dario knelt down and took off Elorien’s boots and placed them before the wardrobe. Elorien admired the curve of his buttocks and the tight sac of his balls as he bent down. The boy was so beautifully formed. So powerfully formed.
When Dario returned, his hands resting on Elorien’s waist to pull down his hose, Elorien put a hand on his shoulder. “Enough,” he growled. His cock was fit to burst. He now understood Guntoras’ impatience.
Elorien cupped the back of Dario’s neck and pulled him close, lowering his lips to Dario’s and plundering his mouth. Dario responded with equal passion, breathing hard as Elorien’s tongue played with his, then traveled over his jaw and throat and down his chest to swirl around a stiff nipple. Elorien pulled away roughly and pushed Dario hard against the bed.
Dario leaned back against the edge of the bed and slowly looked down to see Elorien’s erection straining at the thin material of his hose. Noting the elf’s labored breathing, Dario rolled down the hose over Elorien’s slim hips until his cock sprang clear of the clinging material. Dario smiled as Elorien’s staff bounced before his face, then he whipped the hose down and Elorien kicked them away.
“You’re a strange one.” Elorien ran his fingers through Dario’s silky curls as the boy took the long shaft of his cock in his hands.
“Good strange?” Dario eyed him mischievously.
Elorien grinned. “Good strange.” Then he moaned as Dario’s mouth closed over the bulging cap of his cock.
Dario’s tongue worked magic, running up and down along the length and sucking gently at the head until Elorien was gripping his shoulders, trying to keep himself from thrusting mindlessly into the warm mouth. Dario’s fingers meanwhile explored his smooth balls, rubbing the tender point where they joined the bottom of his cock. Elorien groaned, then gasped as Dario’s hot, deft fingers caressed his thighs and moved to the bunched muscles of his buttocks. Gently, a finger slid between the crevice of his cheeks and Elorien willed himself to relax as the finger nudged deeper, fingering the dark entrance.
He gasped as Dario’s finger circled its way inside, sliding deeper and deeper until it touched the spot that had him bucking wildly into Dario’s mouth, burying his hands in his hair to steady himself. For a moment he thought he might hurt the boy, but Dario’s lips gripped his cock firmly, accepting his fevered thrusts until he groaned and shot his seed into Dario’s mouth.
Dario withdrew the finger as he swallowed, then smiled up at him. Elorien breathed harshly, his cock throbbing with the aftershocks of his orgasm. Dario leaned forward to kiss the side of his groin. His tongue moved over Elorien’s taut stomach, up over his ribs in feathery kisses, until he latched onto a nipple and began to suckle. Elorien sighed at the sensation, feeling his cock hardening again.
He gently grasped Dario by the hair and pulled his face toward him, crushing his lips down on Dario’s. His mouth was warm and salted with the taste of his own cum. Elorien sucked at his tongue, his hands restlessly traveling over the firm, round muscles of Dario’s torso, gently tweaking at the nipples until they peaked hard beneath his fingers. But as they traveled lower, brushing over Dario’s stiff cock, he felt the boy’s almost imperceptible jolt.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as Dario pulled back.
“An accident earlier tonight,” Dario said, looking embarrassed. “I’m a little -- sore.”
“You wish to stop?” Elorien asked, trying to hide his dismay as he looked down at his own painfully hard erection.
“No,” Dario said, shaking his head vigorously. “We haven’t finished yet.”
Dario lay on his front and looked back at him with a clear invitation. Elorien knelt on the bed between Dario’s spread-eagled legs and leaned down to gently kiss him on the back of his neck. Dario sighed as Elorien captured his mouth, thrusting his tongue in before gently running his tongue around his lips.
After a while he moved back, his lips tracing over the lean strength of Dario’s back and down over his buttocks, then slipped between them. Elorien’s willing tongue flickered over his anus, then darted in and out until Dario moaned in pleasure and his entrance was fully relaxed. Only then did Elorien come to his knees and grasp Dario’s hips. He rubbed the length of his cock along the tight crevice of his cheeks and Dario inched his ass higher, then came to his knees. Reaching for the lube, Elorien rubbed a thick bead over the head of his cock and positioned it carefully against Dario’s hole. He nudged slowly inside -- inch by careful inch.
Dario groaned. “I want you inside me. All of you. Please.”
With a hard thrust, Elorien plunged his cock deep into Dario. The boy gasped, shuddering. Elorien moved slowly at first, savouring the warm tightness enveloping his own throbbing flesh. Soon he could bear the pleasure no more and he found himself thrusting wildly. As the pressure built up in his balls, he saw Dario’s hand go to his own cock and, with one pull, his seed spurted over the length of the bed. As Dario’s orgasm shuddered through him, Elorien’s followed immediately. He cried out Dario’s name as he came in sweet pulsating release. Then he collapsed beside Dario, breathing harshly.
When their breathing had steadied, Dario turned and wrapped his arms around Elorien’s
waist. Gently, Elorien held him close and, so entwined in each other’s arms, they fell asleep.
Chapter Four
What Elves Eat
Dario struggled up from sleep, hearing his voice being called over and over again. He jolted awake and sat up.
Zinnah! He’d forgotten that he’d left her in the closet.
He jumped to his feet, careful not to wake Elorien who was sprawled, magnificently beautiful, over his bed. He padded across the room to the landing outside and looked over the railing to the living room.
Zinnah was standing below. She looked decidedly bedraggled with make-up smeared across her face and what looked like vomit across the front of her skimpy fairy queen costume.
“Dario!” she shouted. She sounded just as drunk as when he’d left her.
“I’m up here,” Dario hissed from the balcony.
Zinnah squinted up at him. “Whassapened? Where’s the party?”
“The party’s over.”
“They left without me? Where’d they go?” She paused, squinting at him again. “Hey, you left me in the closet.”
“Go home, Zinnah.” Dario sighed. “I’ll call you a cab.”
“I don’t wanna go -- Hey, who’s that?”
Dario jumped guiltily as Elorien came to stand next to him. The elf peered down at her.
“Hey, you’re both nekkid.” She hiccuped. “Why’re you both nekkid, Dario?”
She swayed dangerously for a moment and Dario was sure she would collapse. Instead, she recovered her balance and squinted up at them again.
“Hi, gorgeous.” She grinned at Elorien. “You doing my boyfriend now?”
Elorien looked at her with distaste. He raised an eyebrow at Dario.
“It was over before I met you,” Dario said quickly.
“Of course,” Elorien agreed. “But does she know that?”
“She does now.”
What Elves Eat Page 2
