Blood Brothers

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

2932 Ross Clark Circle, #384

Dothan, AL 36301

Blood Brothers

Copyright © 2006 by Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

Cover by Anne Cain

ISBN: 1-59998-108-4

www.samhainpublishing.com

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Excerpt
Willow Bend
copyright © 2006 Ally Blue Excerpt
Taste This
copyright © 2006 Leigh Ellwood First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: May 2006

Blood Brothers

Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

This book would not have been possible without the audio/visual inspiration of some of our favorite Japanese entertainers Hiroyuki Sanada, Dir en Grey and Buck-Tick.

Blood Brothers

1577, Western Japan

“Kiyoshi-kun!” Sakurai lifted the bushel of rice, grunting under the weight. He steadied the heavy basket with one hand, wincing a little as the coarse weaving scratched the bare skin on his shoulder. The humid heat of summer made even the use of a light
kosode
unbearable and he trudged towards the house in nothing but the loincloth-like
fundoshi
wrapped around his waist.

He called for his friend again, scanning the field for any sign of him.

“Kiyoshi!” Of course, there was no reply. Kiyoshi rarely ever raised his voice, not even as a child.

Sakurai sighed as he came up to the flat open area behind the one room house they shared. As with the rest of their small village, the harsh times of the past few years had taken its toll on the wooden structure.

Heavy rains and harsh winters beat at the old house each year so the holes in the thatched roof were many and the walls groaned like an old man in pain whenever leaned on too roughly. He dropped the bushel of rice next to the side of the house and mopped his sweat-covered brow.

Kiyoshi was probably inside and feeling unwell again.

If he was sick, if he lost him too… No. Sakurai refused to think that way. There’d been too much sickness and death in their province for too many years. His best friend, closer to him than any natural brother could be, was fine. He was simply having one of his “spells”. That was all.

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Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

“
Otouto-chan
.” Sakurai stood in the doorway, blinking until his eyes adjusted from the late afternoon sunlight to the dimness of the house. He kicked off his
zori
sandals as he stepped up to the narrow wooden porch off to the side of the entryway and moved across the worn
tatami
mat inside. Kiyoshi lay curled in a tight ball under the window, facing away from the view of the rice field outside. “Look at you.” Sakurai clicked his tongue and knelt beside Kiyoshi. He brushed the sweaty tangles of hair out of Kiyoshi’s pale face, who looked so much younger than his nineteen years.

“Sakurai-kun?” Kiyoshi’s eyes fluttered open. “I was supposed to help you today… I’m sorry—”

Sakurai touched a finger to the younger man’s lips to silence him.

“It’s all right,” he said, moving his fingers to caress Kiyoshi’s cheek. “It’s the heat—it doesn’t agree with you,” he said emphatically, trying to convince himself of the fact. The alternative was to believe his dear one was sick with the same illness that had killed Kiyoshi’s mother, all those months back.

Kiyoshi nodded and sat up slowly. Some of the color rushed back to his soft cheeks and Sakurai pulled the blanket away from Kiyoshi’s shoulders. “You know better than to bundle up this way on a day like today.”

He let the heavy cloth drop and ran his hands over Kiyoshi’s arms and shoulders. The short sleeve
kosode
was soaked with perspiration and Sakurai reached up to the collar, slowly parting the tunic. Kiyoshi shivered as a warm breeze blew through the room and over his skin.

Sakurai let the material fall and settle around his friend’s small waist. He frowned as he touched Kiyoshi’s neck.

“You’ll give yourself a fever,” Sakurai whispered. The skin burned underneath his fingertips, and he sucked in his breath then slid his

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Blood Brothers

hand over his companion’s bare flesh, feeling the heat radiating off his body. Sakurai felt his own cheeks flush and his pulse quicken.

“Kiyoshi-kun,” he breathed. He leaned close, letting his lips brush over his friend’s collarbone, his tongue flicking out to taste the beads of sweat that formed on the skin. His hands glided across Kiyoshi’s chest and down past the waist, stopping only when the bundle of cloth impeded his wandering touch.

“You need to take better care.” Sakurai traced the side of Kiyoshi’s neck with his lips before covering his hot cheek with moist kisses. He tugged open the ties at the boy’s waist and slid his hand down the smooth abdomen. “Don’t you know how sad I’ll be if you leave me?”

“I know,” Kiyoshi muttered. “I’m sorry, Sakurai. I’m sorry for
everything
…”

Kiyoshi’s voice trailed off as his friend wet a cloth in a bucket of water and began to slowly bathe his flushed skin. “I-I don’t-don’t know why Mother was so mean to you. Our fathers were friends, it was only right he take you in when your mother died.”

He shivered when Sakurai moved the cloth lower and parted his knees. Kiyoshi trembled again when the cool dampness touched him
there
. “Maybe she was mad because you’re half-Chinese…” His words turned into a groan as his friend stroked the cloth over the hardening length pushing up beneath his abdomen.

“I think so,” Sakurai whispered.

The woman always had treated Sakurai poorly. If something broke or was lost, if a season yielded a bad crop, or if she simply disliked the look on his face, Sakurai received the blame and the beating that came with it.
“I don’t like that boy’s eyes,
” she would complain to Kiyoshi’s father.

“They’re so black they hide whatever bad thoughts lurk in them.
”

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Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

She criticized everything about him—the way he sometimes spoke in Chinese, his height, the inky blackness of his hair, even the way his full, bow-shaped lips always seemed to stay in a half-smile. From what Sakurai could remember of his own mother, he looked so very much like her. Perhaps that was the true reason why
Haha-ue
had hated him so much. Each time she saw Sakurai, she must have seen his mother’s face. When Sakurai first went to live with his adoptive parents, he wondered if
Haha-ue
was only bitter because he reminded her of the woman who had borne a son so much stronger and healthier than her own.

The week before Kiyoshi’s father died at the hand of bandits, he laid flowers on the grave of Sakurai’s mother. Though only a boy, Sakurai understood then that man had loved her. Once Kiyoshi’s father perished,
Haha-ue
forever more addressed Sakurai’s mother as
the whore,
her voice full of cruelty and jealousy. So many times
Haha-ue
accused the woman of having been a Chinese devil in the form of a seductress, tricking them into adopting the reprobate’s burdens—meaning Sakurai.

But in a village suffering so many hardships, as much as his adoptive mother loathed him, she wouldn’t turn him away. Sakurai was another son to help with the farming and keep the house standing after Kiyoshi’s father died. And of course, Sakurai wouldn’t run away. Not when he had his Kiyo-kun, his only friend in the world.

The sounds Kiyoshi made now as the cloth probed deeper between his legs sent a shiver of pleasure through Sakurai. He bit down on his lower lip to hold back the groan that tried to escape him and moved closer on his knees. A hand-width’s distance separated them, and he could feel the heat coming from Kiyoshi’s body.

“But don’t worry yourself about your
Haha-ue
now,” Sakurai whispered as he gently massaged the damp cloth over the taut sack

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Blood Brothers

beneath his dear one’s swollen cock. “
You’ve
always loved me, and that’s been enough.”

The material slipped from his hand. Flesh touched flesh. Sakurai wrapped his fingers around Kiyoshi’s firm cock, moaning under his breath as he felt the feverishly hot skin.

“I love you, Kiyoshi,” he breathed. “I love you so much.”

Kiyoshi gazed up into Sakurai’s face. He squirmed when his friend’s hand closed around his hard, aching organ. The last time they’d touched this way, Kiyoshi had been afraid. He’d collapsed on the field, tired and weak from the heat and overexertion. Sakurai carried him to the bamboo grove growing behind the house and laid him down in the shade. It seemed so natural to Kiyoshi then to receive a soft kiss from his dear friend on the cheek. But when Sakurai’s hand reached underneath Kiyoshi’s
kosode
and caressed the bare skin, Kiyoshi felt a rush of emotions and a tug in his most private places he’d never experienced before. Afraid, he’d pulled away.

But Kiyoshi didn’t pull away now. Closing his eyes, he leaned into the touch and sighed faintly. This time he welcomed the surge of emotions and the physical reaction his body gave. He understood where they came from now. He reached up and touched Sakurai’s handsome face. “I love you
.
” He moved his hand down atop Sakurai’s. The fever was leaving him drained…weak. If only he could feel better just for a while. “And I love it when you touch me. It makes me feel so good… Please do what you did before. Make me feel better,
Liu
.”

Kiyoshi used Sakurai’s given Chinese name and smiled at the look of joy on his friend’s face. It had never mattered to Kiyoshi that his childhood companion was only half-Japanese. They’d always been so close despite any hardship.

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Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

“Oh,
dai dai
,” Liu murmured, leaning his face into the caresses.
Dai-dai
was the elder boy’s pet name for Kiyoshi, a token of affection. It literally meant “little brother”, and Kiyoshi knew that to Liu the word represented the deep devotion they had for each other.

Kiyoshi gasped as Liu worked a thumb over the swelling head on his cock. He groaned again and Liu leaned closer still, kissing Kiyoshi’s brow and cheeks and chin. After softly murmuring the pet name once more, Liu devoured Kiyoshi’s lips with his own.

As the passion of their kiss increased, so did the rhythm of Liu’s strokes on Kiyoshi’s cock. The older boy reached out with his free hand, taking Kiyoshi’s and guiding the trembling fingers to his lap.

“Touch me too,” Liu pleaded softly. He encouraged Kiyoshi to explore the growing bulge the light
fundoshi
couldn’t conceal. “I promise this will feel just as good.”

Kiyoshi whimpered. Oh, this was like the last time, but no it was different—better. Kiyoshi wasn’t afraid as he’d been. He liked that strange ache between his legs and the feel of Liu’s mouth on his. He even liked the way Liu’s tongue parted his lips and slipped inside to stroke his own. Kiyoshi let his fingers tug loose Liu’s
fundoshi,
his touch becoming bolder as he closed his fingers around Liu’s hardening shaft and slid the skin back and forth.

Liu did the same to him only quicker. Kiyoshi stopped dead and stiffened as that sweet ache took him over. His entire body shook and he suddenly spilled into Liu’s hand. He was still shivering and breathing hard when Liu’s sticky, wet fingers slid down to rub his balls and then slipped further down.

When Liu’s finger pressed inside him, Kiyoshi gasped. But Liu kissed him again, whispered it was all right then pulled away. Lying back, he begged Kiyoshi to stroke him again.

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Blood Brothers

The excitement of what Liu had done helped to ease the effects of the lethargy that had plagued Kiyoshi all day. He got to his knees and watched as his hand worked along Liu’s hot, hard cock. He remembered waking in the night once to see Mother and Father, and he recalled how pleased Father was, so he did as Mother had done and bent forward, taking Liu into his mouth.

Stretched out and writhing on the
woven
grass mat, Liu gasped.

Kiyoshi’s feverishly hot mouth enveloped him, sucking and tugging on his tender foreskin. “
Dai-dai
!” he moaned. More cries worked their way up from the deepest recesses of his body, drawn out by the hungry motions of Kiyoshi’s lips and tongue. Liu’s balls tightened and his entire body shuddered with the rush of blood to his swelling cock.

Liu’s pulse thundered in his ears, his breath coming out in staggered heaves. He’d pleasured himself before, fantasizing it was Kiyoshi’s hand that drew out the gush of fluid erupting through his fingers and onto his clothing and surroundings. Any lustful sounds that threatened to escape his gasping lungs, he’d held back by biting down on his lips until they bled. But this was nothing like those imagined moments in the still of night and the sounds he made now passed freely over his parted lips.