Glimpses (13 page)

Alec hugged him back, but there was
hesitation in his voice as he said, “You need some sleep.”

“It’s all right.”

Alec rested his head on Seregil’s shoulder
for a moment, then took his hand and led him into the bed chamber
they’d shared so chastely.

Arna had banked the guest room hearth. Warmth
lingered in the air, and with it the scent of pine kindling and the
mingled perfume of carved cedar wood and sweet strewing herbs. The
night wind sighed softly in the chimney, making the tinkling embers
glow red under a thin pall of ash. Mice stirred restlessly in the
thatch over the rafters and a lonely cricket chirped from some
shadowed corner.

Alec came to a halt beside the bed, then took
him by the shoulders far more gently than he had at the pond and
kissed Seregil again in that firm, earnest way of his. Unskilled as
he was, there was a naked honesty to it that warmed even the
coldest, most shadowed reaches of Seregil’s battered heart.

“Talí.” It was the only thing Seregil could
think of that encompassed everything he felt right now.

Alec smiled. “You called me that by accident
the first time, remember?”

“Unthinking, perhaps, but no accident.”

Alec’s cheeks went crimson as he declared
softly, “You’re my talí, too.”

***

Something was going to happen tonight, Alec
knew; something that would probably change the way they looked at
each other forever. Seregil was his friend. Alec didn’t want that
to change, and yet he did.

They stood there for a moment in each other’s
arms. “What now?”

Seregil’s chuckle sent a tickling vibration
through his chest. “There’s nothing to be scared of.”

“I’m not scared!” It didn’t sound very
convincing, though, and he felt his face go red.

“You’re my friend, Alec, and my talí. You and
no other. If you don’t want this, it doesn’t change anything for
me.”

Alec tightened his arms around Seregil’s
waist. He could feel Seregil’s heart beating hard against his own.
Warm fingers caressed the back of his neck. Warm lips kissed his
forehead. Seregil said nothing but Alec knew he was waiting for an
answer.

He kissed Seregil and murmured, “What do we
do now?”

“Bed.” Seregil released him, then shucked off
his clothes. He was thinner than usual, thanks to his summer of
mourning, but still as beautiful in Alec’s eyes as ever. Then he
noticed with a pang of embarrassment that Seregil’s cock wasn’t
stiff in that patch of dark hair. Neither was his, for that matter.
“Something’s wrong.”

Seregil smile. “No, it’s not.”

Blushing furiously, Alec looked away and
began to undress, but when he was down to his long shirt Seregil
caught his hand and stopped him. “Lie down.”

Alec’s heart beat against his ribs as he
pulled back the quilts and slipped between the clean, sun freshened
sheets. It beat a little harder as Seregil climbed in beside
him.

Lifting Alec’s right arm out of the way,
Seregil slid under it to settle close beside him with his head on
Alec’s chest and his arm snug around Alec’s waist. Then he yawned
and Alec felt the tension leave his friend—his talí’s—body.
Something of the feeling of their morning embrace came back to him;
this felt easy and right. Heat settled in Alec’s belly as he
stroked Seregil’s silky brown hair and watched the shifting shadows
above the rafters, enjoying the soft rhythm of Seregil’s breath
against his chest through the thin material of his shirt. He’d
slept beside Seregil many times, but never like this.

After a few minutes Seregil looked up at him.
“I still see questions in your eyes.”

Alec hesitated, screwing up his courage to
finally voice his main concern. “Remember when I found you at that
green lantern brothel?”

Seregil grinned. “It was quite the memorable
moment.”

“Well—” This was as difficult as trying to
make himself jump from the tower of Kassarie’s keep! But this time
he managed it without being thrown. “It’s just—I’ve been thinking
of those murals.”

Seregil raised an amused eyebrow. “You want a
tavern board to choose from?”

“No! I just—I’m not so sure I want to do some
of those things. A lot of those things!”

“Forget all that.” Seregil smoothed a stray
strand of blond hair away from Alec’s cheek. “I think I know what
you’ll like tonight. And you can always say so when you don’t.”

Alec paused, then shifted away just enough to
pull off his shirt without elbowing Seregil in the face. Then he
kicked back the covers.

Seregil’s eyes widened, no doubt surprised at
this breach of Alec’s usual modesty. Then he leaned forward and
kissed Alec, sliding the tip of his tongue lightly across Alec’s
closed lips. Strange thing to do, but it felt surprisingly good, so
Alec did it back. This won him a hum of approval. He could feel the
long hardness of Seregil’s shaft against his hip now, and his own
against his belly.

Pulling back a little, he gasped, “Show
me.”

And Seregil, ever the willing teacher, did
so, slowly at first, with fingers, lips, and tongue, touching him
in ways that made Alec gasp and shiver. Seregil showed him
sensitive places he didn’t even know he had: the side of his neck,
the crook of an elbow, an ankle, behind his balls. Drowning in
sensation, he lay there, letting Seregil do what he wanted; this
was like nothing he’d ever felt, not even with Myrhichia. His cock
ached but Seregil didn’t touch it, even when Alec began to move
under his hands, trying to coax him there.

Seregil chuckled softly, then stretched out
beside him and kissed Alec’s right knee. Then just above it, and a
bit higher, and then a little higher, slowly working his way to the
edge of the small island of dark blond curls at the base of his
shaft. Alec’s breath quickened as Seregil swirled his tongue across
the sensitive skin between there and his hipbone. Myrhichia had
taken him in her mouth and pleasured him with her tongue. That had
been exciting and pleasurable, but it was all the more so when
Seregil did the same, and with skills rivaling those of the
courtesan. Stroking Seregil’s hair with shaking fingers, he was
half aware of his own whispered, incoherent pleas for release. But
Seregil stopped too soon. Far too soon.

“Not yet, talí,” Seregil said, tracing the
length of Alec’s shaft with his tongue one last time from root to
foreskin. He guided Alec up to sit with his back to Seregil’s chest
and began kissing and nipping at the back of his neck and across
his shoulders, all the while caressing his chest and belly, just a
few tantalizing inches from where Alec most wanted to be touched
again.

Seregil murmured something in Aurënfaie
against his skin.

“What?”

“My heart is yours forever.”

“So is mine—” Alec gasped as a thumb skimmed
his left nipple. “Yours, I mean.”

Seregil laughed softly, a deep, rich throaty
laugh, then licked Alec’s ear and teased the stiffened nipple again
between two fingers.

Alec felt a little faint. Ylinestra had been
domineering and had cheated with magic; Myrhichia had been sweet
and kind. For the first time now, Alec experienced the confluence
of love and sex and it was better than any magic.

Too good, in fact. When Seregil took Alec’s
cock in his hand and stroked it as he nipped at that place where
Alec’s neck met his shoulder, it was too much. Alec arched in his
arms, vision gone white in a long agony of pleasure, and came all
over his chest, belly, and Seregil’s hand. Mortified beyond words,
he weakly tried to struggle free, but Seregil held him tight.

“It’s all right, talí. I take it as a
compliment,” Seregil murmured against his cheek, then licked one
glistening finger, like it was coated with honey.

Alec felt a fresh spike of desire . He found
his discarded shirt and wiped away the mess. Then, twisting around
in the circle of his lover’s arms, he cradled Seregil’s balls in
one hand and ran his fingers up the length of his smooth, hard
length with the other, amazed at the weight of another man’s cock
in his hand. “Show me more.”

***

Seregil had never seen anyone look so
innocent and so wanton at the same time, but somehow Alec managed
it. That, and Alec’s amazingly sure touch, nearly undid him.
Pulling Alec down with him, Seregil whispered, “Touch me the way I
touched you.”

Alec had always been an apt pupil, and this
was no exception. Seregil swallowed something dangerously close to
a giggle as he thought, if only he was this quick learning sword
play!

Kneeling on the bed beside him, Alec ran his
hands over Seregil’s chest and sides. The tips of the fingers on
his right hand were slightly rough from pulling a bowstring.
Seregil shivered deliciously as those hands roamed further afield,
over his shoulders, down the insides of his thighs. He cursed
softly in delight as Alec traced the arch of his foot with his
tongue. Then he kissed him from throat to navel, soft blond hair
raising gooseflesh as it brushed Seregil’s skin, but stopped just
short of Seregil’s cock.

Hesitant, or revenge? Seregil wondered with
amusement. It soon proved to be neither as Alec licked the tip and
closed his hand around the shaft, stroking him in a perfect
rhythm.

All too quickly the ecstasy shook through
Seregil in waves, pulling a strangled snarl of pleasure from deep
in his chest as he came hard and long in Alec’s hand. Helplessly
undone, he laid there, chest heaving, as Alec lay down beside
him.

He found Alec’s hand and gripped it. “Thank
you.”

Alec grinned, looking rather proud of
himself.

Happy. Seregil felt so damn happy. The
despair and self pity of the night before seemed like a bad dream.
They lay there together for a while, listening to the night breeze
and the beating of each other’s hearts. When his head finally
stopped spinning, Seregil rolled on top of Alec and kissed his way
down the side of his lover’s neck. “Your turn.”

***

The night candle burned down to the socket
and guttered out before they fell, sated, against the bolsters,
sweat cooling on their skin. Alec yawned widely, eyelids already
heavy. “Sorry.”

Seregil gave him a fond smile. “Nothing to
apologize for, talí.” Turning on his side, he pulled Alec back
against his chest and kissed him on the back of the head.
“Everything was perfect. Go to sleep.”

Alec was, almost before Seregil had finished
speaking. But Seregil lay awake a little longer, thinking of all
the times they’d nearly lost each other. But Alec’s scent and heat
soothed away the dark thoughts.

“Forever, talí,” he vowed softly. “No one but
you.”

***

Something woke Seregil just before dawn. As
he lay there with Alec asleep beside him, the sense of happiness
was even stronger, like being filled with sunlight. He’d never felt
like this before. It took a moment to realize that it wasn’t only
his own emotions he was feeling. It was almost as if he could feel
a second heartbeat under his ribs.

Alec stirred beside him, then his eyes flew
open in obvious surprise. “Seregil?”

“You feel it, too?”

Alec sat up, one hand pressed to his chest,
just below his throat. “What is this? I feel—you!”

Laughing, Seregil pulled Alec down into his
arms, heart overflowing with shared joy. “The bond. The talímenios
bond. Our spirits are joined. Chypta Aura! I didn’t think I’d ever
experience it.”

“Really?”

Seregil felt a twinge of a disappointment not
his own. It was a little unnerving, really. This would take some
getting used to. “No, I didn’t mean it that way, talí. It’s just
that I never dared think you and I would end up this way.”

“Can you hear my thoughts?”