But Kurtis wasn't blind.
"So, you met my friend Mekhi?" he asked, sitting next to Rohan with an amused smile.
"Ah, yes, he's... charming," Rohan answered, embarrassed. He dared to look at the prince. "Did you enjoy William's company?" he asked boldly.
"I didn't touch him," Kurtis replied, shaking his head. "Even though he threw himself at me, I couldn't care less. He's not you. He's just like Isabel. They have no power over me."
"And I do?"
Kurtis grinned. "You sure do," he whispered, leaning towards Rohan. "I'd do anything for you. Including finding you a bride, if that's what you want."
"No, it's not what I want." Rohan shrugged and looked away.
"So... what do you want?" Kurtis elbowed him and waited.
Rohan let go of his knees and turned to face the prince.
"I want to be with you, but I don't know how."
Kurtis took a deep breath, caressed Rohan's cheek. "I do," he murmured before leaning forward and kissing him.
***
Gods, he tastes good! Kurtis could never have enough of Rohan's eager mouth. He pulled Rohan's body closer and they rolled in the grass together, away from the willow's interlacing roots.
Rohan pulled away to gasp for breath, but Kurtis could feel his hardness against him. Rohan's eyes were wide with desire and fear.
"You... will not hurt me?" he pleaded.
"Never," Kurtis assured him, stroking Rohan's dark hair.
Rohan leaned to kiss him again. "I want you, but..."
"Don't worry, I know what to do."
Kurtis rolled over him and lay him down on the grass, slowly opening his tunic with butterfly kisses. Rohan moaned and closed his eyes as Kurtis explored him with hands and mouth. Soon Rohan was naked in all his glorious beauty, but Kurtis still had his clothes on.
Giving Rohan pleasure was the best thing that Kurtis could do. Listening to his groans of enjoyment and sighs of passion took his breath away. And when Rohan reopened his eyes, drowsy with spent passion, Kurtis lost himself in that blue.
He could die for Rohan. He could adore Rohan's body for eternity. He hoped Rohan would be by his side forever.
"Why are you still clothed?" Rohan asked with a little smile.
"Because it was all about you, and I wanted you to relax and feel good," Kurtis answered. "There will be time for you to explore me and return my caresses..."
Rohan hugged him. "Mmm... maybe I could start now..."
"Maybe you should rest now," Kurtis replied tenderly. "I told you, we have the rest of our lives to enjoy each other."
Rohan sighed in contentment, his eyelids heavy. "I love you, Kurtis," he whispered before dozing off.
"I love you too," Kurtis answered, caressing his lover as he slept.
Good thing he liked watching Rohan sleep. He covered the naked body with the clothes when the breeze picked up speed, and Rohan stirred awake.
"Maybe we better go back to the castle," Kurtis suggested as Rohan quickly dressed. "Are you hungry?"
"I'm famished," Rohan admitted. "I didn't have breakfast..."
Kurtis grinned. "Good. Then we'll eat, and then we'll retire to our rooms and continue this exploration, what do you say?"
"Your wish is my command, Your Highness," Rohan answered with his shy smile.
Alion Albright
Alion dreamed of Ethan's naked body again. He was roaming it and Ethan moaned at him to take him. Alion awoke with a boner and started touching himself, thinking about his friend.
Ethan Redmark was gorgeous. Brown hair and eyes, they were the same age, young warriors in training within the walls of Caer Nittak. Except Alion was the clan leader's son.
Blond and blue-eyed like his father, Alion Albright decided it was time to make his wet dreams come true. As he sat outside the walled town's enclosure with Ethan, he pondered his move.
They sat under a tree, watching the people milling around the walls and listening to bird-songs. Their conversation had trailed off after they'd exchanged their daily pleasantries, and Alion was trying to find a way to tell his friend how he felt.
"What's wrong with you, Alion?" Ethan asked. "You're so quiet lately..."
"I'm trying to find the courage to tell my feelings to the one I love," Alion answered with his heart in his throat.
"You're in love?" Ethan grinned. "Wonderful! With whom?"
Now or never!
Alion looked Ethan in the eyes.
"With you, Ethan."
Ethan's eyes widened in shock, then he frowned and looked away.
"Alion Albright, you've lost your mind!" Ethan snapped.
Alion didn't feel deterred by his friend's reaction and he pressed on.
"I want to spend my life with you and..."
"And what? We're both men, what could we do?" Ethan protested.
"I can show you if you want." Alion leaned forward, ready to make his dreams into reality. "I want you, Ethan." He pulled his friend closer and kissed him.
The kiss felt different from the dreams, but he could never have enough of tasting Ethan's lips.
"No!" Ethan pushed him away with a scowl. "Leave me alone, demon!"
He jumped to his feet and ran away. Alion sighed. So much for expressing his feelings. Just because he was attracted to another young man instead of women – was he really a demon?
***
"Alion!"
"Yes, Father?"
Breon signaled his son to get into his chamber, away from servants and friends. A private talk. Alion hoped his father wasn't going to tell him he'd found him a suitable bride.
"Ethan came to me," Breon said, frowning. "He complained about your behavior. How could you kiss him? How dare you keep looking at him that way?"
Alion lowered his eyes. So Ethan had given him away. Still, Alion didn't feel guilty for his feelings.
"I love him, Father," he whispered, staring at his feet.
"Damn you, even you, the seed of my loins!" Breon cursed under his breath. "The same wicked sickness of your uncles! What have I done to deserve a son like you? Kolia has gone back to the right way, but Axel is still lost to the vice..."
Alion gaped at his father. He had no idea of what Breon was talking about.
"Take your things and leave Caer Nittak!" Breon said, determined. "I can't allow my own son to bring evil back to town. Go find Axel!"
"But Father..."
Alion was dismissed with no further explanation. Still shocked, he went to his mother to plead for mercy.
"What did I do wrong? Why am I being exiled? What is this all about?" he complained.
"They call it vice, my son. Your Uncle Kolia had it, and so did his brother Axel and my brother Ryan, whom you've never met," his mother said with a sad look on her still beautiful face. "Your father was a victim of it, that's why he can't stand it."
"But I didn't force myself on anyone! I didn't do anything evil!" Alion protested.
"I know, Alion." His mother tried to soothe him with a light caress. "Come back with a wife and you'll be the heir of Caer Nittak again. A clan leader needs a woman to have a lot of children. Otherwise you must give up your birthright and find your destiny away from Caer Nittak, like your Uncle Axel. I'll miss you, but I can't fight your father's will."
She hugged him and he knew she'd always love him, even if he decided to leave Caer Nittak and follow his inclinations. His heart was heavy when he exited the town gates, though. Everything he'd always known was left behind after twenty winters in the castle of his family at Caer Nittak.
***
Alion reached Caer Lugh, another small town of the northern tribes located in a valley. It looked very old-fashioned and was best-known for its autumn festival and its fine dining. Also, there were all sorts of old artifacts still lying around the area. But the real reason Alion reached its gates was that his Aunt Beria had married the lord of Caer Lugh.
Eleven slim, round towers surrounded the castle, reaching twice the height of the walls and con
nected by reinforced, massive walls made of green stone. Crude windows were scattered generously around the walls in seemingly perfect symmetry.
A huge gate with large wooden doors, a regular bridge and hot oil pots guarded the stronghold. Small buildings, houses and other structures populated the grounds outside the castle walls, homes for the poorest of the poor. The castle showed signs of expansion as some parts were clearly built more recently than others, and the inhabitants were already working on another part and hoped to keep expanding.
Alion wondered if Aunt Beria would allow him to stay or at least point him to where Uncle Axel might have gone. He knocked on the castle doors and was taken to the lady's chamber. Beria the Adventurer, once an intrepid warrior woman, now wore a gown and had put down her sword to be a mother and a castle owner.
"Alion! Gods, you've grown up! You look just like your father! What brings you to Caer Lugh?"
"Know, Auntie, that my father exiled me because I dared kiss Ethan Redmark," Alion answered, a little gloomy. "Do you know where Uncle Axel lives?"
He vaguely remembered his father's brother who had left Caer Nittak when he was eight or nine to be with a man. But he had no idea of where he could have gone.
"I see, Breon struck again." Beria smiled. "Axel first, now you... Years ago he forced Kolia to choose between Joris and Caer Nittak!"
"Who's Joris?" Alion asked. So he wasn't the only one – besides Axel? Uncle Kolia had never mentioned a male lover! Maybe he should have talked to him before leaving Caer Nittak in wounded haste.
"He's a Genn. He and Kolia were lovers for fifteen years," Beria answered with an amused smile.
"And then?" Alion asked.
"And then, and then... Kolia decided he didn't love him anymore, so he dumped him and came back to Caer Nittak where he married Brenda. The rest you know." Beria shrugged.
"Why doesn't he ever mention that Joris?" Alion was still incredulous at the discovery.
"I guess he prefers forgetting that in his life he has loved only two men, even though he's very fond of Brenda. But he belongs to Joris and Ryan."
"You mean Uncle Ryan whom I never met?"
"Yes."
"When did he die?"
"Before you were born, killed by Kolia."
Alion gasped and frowned.
"I don't understand... he loved him and he killed him?"
"You've been raised to be warriors," Beria said. "Kolia couldn't understand his feelings and what he really wanted. He was young and he thought he hated Ryan. Too late he figured out he actually loved him. And thus he ruined his relationship with Joris."
Alion gaped at her.
"For Axel it was different," she continued. "His upbringing and education were never completed. He's been a bed slave for years, then, as a free man, he finally admitted his love for Orio. There has been a war between Albright and Cadwaller, did you know? It's because of Jehan Cadwaller's obsession with male lovers. Many died and many more were abused."
My grandfather started all this? Alion couldn't believe his ears. Although Kolia was an Albright, like him. He stared amazed at his aunt, who finished the story.
"Your father was raped during the war, that's why the vice is for him the worst sin. That's why he exiled you even though you're his son. Unlike Axel, he never liked male lovers."
"How could I know..." Alion sighed.
"What would it change?" Beria smiled. "You'd deny your feelings, like Kolia did, to please your father?"
"I... don't know... can I stay here for a while, Auntie?" Alion asked, unsure.
"Sure, you're welcome!"
***
Alion was reacquainted with his cousins Elan, eighteen, Gaia, sixteen, and Leo, fourteen. Caer Nittak and Caer Lugh were too far to keep in touch and visit each other often, and Alion hadn't seen them in years. Aunt Beria had recognized him only because he looked like his father, but he had changed too.
Elan had his father's raven hair and blue eyes, Gaia was just like her mother in her warrior woman's days and Leo was still growing up, but the more time he spent with him, the more Alion thought he was cute.
A fortnight later Beria called him into her chamber again. She wore her men's clothes and her sword, and had braided her hair. Alion had to admit that Beria the Adventurer was intimidating.
"Alion, listen... You're twenty, but Leo is fourteen and he's your cousin. He's not ready," she said sternly. "You can love all the men you want, as long as they're not related to you. Go to Salamar and find a man who really loves you."
"You're kicking me out too." Alion pouted like when he was a child.
"Alion, don't be childish," she replied bluntly. "And don't lie to me, I know you're considering Leo as a lover."
"Why not relatives? Cousins get married all the time..." Alion said.
"Alion... I said no! Garion wouldn't allow it!"
"Fine, I'll leave," he muttered, looking away.
Leo cheerfully waved him good-bye, oblivious. Beria hadn't told her husband and Elan looked sad to see him go.
Gritting his teeth, Alion headed south without looking back.
***
What Alion knew about Salamar, capital of the namesake kingdom, he had heard from Uncle Kolia and his wife Brenda. It was a big town with crafting as its economic base and weaponsmithing as the main craft produced. It was full of mercenaries, also for its position on the River Ondan and in the middle of the northern lands, further north from the former capital of the Moren Empire, Moriana.
The walls were wood and stone, with few gates, but the streets were paved with bricks. The buildings kept the windows shuttered and the town was built around a central bridge on the Ondan. It had city parks, well-stocked merchants and fountains, and was famous for its spies and acrobats.
The nearest tavern was halfway across town, but mercenaries met at the Sterling Star Inn. The guards were thugs who barely gave a second glance to the blond and clean-shaven barbarian that hopped off a cart inside the walls.
Now what? Alion wondered. Aunt Beria gave me money and advice, but... Uncle Axel vanished with his lover, I wonder where he lives now!
He'd better find the Sterling Star Inn so he could find work and then move around again until he found what he was looking for.
"Hello, handsome, what are you looking for?" An elegant young man stopped him. He wore an embroidered tunic and had a golden chain around his neck. Brown hair, blue eyes, clean-shaven, his lips curved into an impish smile.
"Are you talking to me?" Alion asked, puzzled.
"Yes, you. You're gorgeous, you know?"
Alion finally recognized lust in the other young man's eyes. Someone like me! he thought, happily surprised. He had barely set foot in town and already he had found a handsome man who looked like he wanted to undress him and do unspeakable things to his body.
"Um... thank you..." He blushed under the young man's stare. "My name is Alion and I come from Caer Nittak, in the Tribes' lands."
"You don't look like a rough barbarian! I'm Tristan ap Roderick. What are you looking for?"
"You..."
Alion found himself moaning with pleasure as Tristan roamed his body with his hands and mouth. It was even better than in his dreams! So much better than just using his hands! And Tristan tasted good and...
"Oh, Tristan, it was wonderful!" he said, dreamy, as they rested in Tristan's big bed.
"First time, huh?" Tristan said. "You barbarians don't do these things."
"That's why I was exiled..." Alion caressed Tristan's face. "But now I want to learn everything!"
"You're in good hands, my handsome barbarian," Tristan replied. "Us town noblemen are masters of perversions..."
***
"Why do you let him treat you like this?"
Alion glared at the young servant who had dared talk to him.
"Keep your place, Owain, you're only a servant," he snapped.
"I might only be a servant, but you're his bed toy and he most certainly respects me more than he does yo
u," Owain retorted.
"How dare you? He loves me!"
"In your dreams!"
"Shut up, Owain! I don't want to listen to your poison!"
Owain shrugged and left, but the seed of doubt was planted. Tristan was often quite violent and hurt Alion more than he cared to admit. The sexual games involved chains, whips, gags, orgies – and Tristan's tenderness had vanished almost immediately as he taught Alion how to be a submissive lover.
"You're hurting me, Tristan, why are you doing this to me?"
"Because you deserve it, stupid barbarian. And you like it – being punished because you feel guilty!"
Maybe some part of him really wanted to be punished, really felt guilty... but soon he reached the point where his body almost failed him, and he had to stop being abused by the nobleman.
He awoke in the young lord's bed with a moan and found Owain by his side.
"How are you feeling?" the young servant asked, worried.
"I'm a wreck," he admitted.
"Are you sure you want to be abused some more?"
"No." He glanced outside the window. It was plain daylight, Tristan must be out with his friends. He'd better leave before the contemptuous nobleman came back. "I'd better go. I'll sell my sword as a mercenary. I'm a warrior after all."
"I'll come with you!" Owain brightened.
"You? But you can't fight!" Alion protested.
"I'll be your squire! Please, let me be with you."
"Be with me... how?"
"How you wish." Owain blushed. "I love you, Alion."
Alion stared at him, incredulous.
Why not? He might be a prince of the tribes, but he wasn't much better than a servant of the civilized lands who was obviously smarter than him when it came to city noblemen. And if Owain loved him...
They packed and left together.
"Where should we go?" Owain asked.
"I don't know, anywhere, really. Let's stay on this side of the Ondan and look for a war. How about the wild lands?"
"No, I'm scared of the wild lands!" Owain protested.
"But I'll protect you," Alion assured him, amused.
He'd been stupid and blind. He'd lost months with a sadistic nobleman who didn't love him when he could have had a sweet servant who looked ready to die for him.
Male Lovers of Silvery Earth Volume 2 Page 14
