Rise: A Gay Fairy Tale (10 page)

“I’ve never…” He felt foolish and afraid.

But Jack only spread his legs wider. “Do it,” he repeated. “
Please
.”

Using his hand to help guide him, Rion pressed against Jack’s hole, inching his way into the incredible heat. Jack’s breath came in short pants, and he was so tight around Rion’s cock. Yet Jack still pushed back, urging him deeper.

Deeper he went. His muscles were still stiff and sore from being bound, and he fought to stay in control. Once the head was inside he rammed all the way, his hips jerking against Jack’s pale arse. They both cried out, and Rion struggled to hold himself in check as his bollocks tightened. He rested his forehead on the back of Jack’s neck, breathing heavily.

He was inside another person—a
man
. So many nights he’d dreamed of this, and he pressed a kiss to Jack’s wet skin, profoundly grateful. He gripped Jack’s hips and began driving in and out. They quickly found their rhythm, grunting as they strove together. Jack pushed back against him, arms wide on the table as he bent over, opening himself.

The clamping heat around Rion’s cock was better than he’d ever thought it could be, even in his most fevered imaginings. He leaned over and covered one of Jack’s hands with his own, threading their fingers together. He’d never felt such pleasure, but it was more than that.

He’d never felt so alive. So connected. He never wanted it to end.

But end it must, and he hung on by a mere thread as he thrust deeply into Jack. Their slick skin slapped together and Jack squeezed around him. Rion gasped, a strangled cry from his lips as he pumped his seed into Jack’s body, shuddering as the knot of pleasure that had been building unraveled in bursts of ecstasy.

Mine
.

He leaned against Jack’s heaving back, sucking in a breath. His legs trembled, and he reached down to pull himself out carefully before he collapsed altogether. Some of his seed dripped down Jack’s thighs, and he rubbed it onto Jack’s skin. When Jack turned in his arms, Rion realized with a guilty pang that he’d been focused only on his own pleasure.

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he sank to his knees, not caring about the hard stone. Jack’s eyebrows shot up, and he seemed about to say something when Rion opened his mouth for Jack’s cock, filling his mouth with it. He licked and sucked on the shaft, loving how it warm and alive it felt between his lips.

Groaning, Jack wound his fingers into Rion’s damp hair. “Oh yes. Like that. God.” He pushed with his hips, and Rion sucked ferociously, mimicking Jack’s earlier actions in the cell. His lips stretched over the shaft, nostrils flaring as saliva dripped down his chin. The noises he made as he pleasured Jack were obscene, and they stirred his blood.

He seemed to be doing all right, since Jack moaned and sighed, fingers tight in Rion’s hair and his eyes closed. When Jack tensed and pushed Rion’s head away, Rion sat back on his heels as Jack’s seed splattered his face. His tongue darted out to taste the cream, his cock twitching as he swallowed it.

Panting, Jack slid down to the floor with him. “Thank you,” he murmured.

The fire in the kitchen needed to be stoked, and the floor was hard, but they knelt there, holding each other tightly. Jack licked his own spendings from Rion’s cheek and then kissed him deeply, their tongues sharing the taste together. For a fleeting moment, Rion thought he could very well die happy now.

Chapter Seven

The fire crackled, drying their clothes where Rion spread them on the hearth. Jack watched from the warmth of the bed, eyes drawn down Rion’s broad back to his round arse. They’d bathed with a sage soap in a tub in the kitchen, and Rion’s skin still shone with the odd drop of water.

I shall wake soon on my pallet in the cottage. This can’t be true
. After so many years, yearning to meet a man he could make his own, a man who would not cringe away from Jack’s cursed hair, he rested in such a man’s bed.

And that man was the supposedly evil giant Jack had feared and loathed all his days. A man like him in so many ways. Alone, craving the lustful, strong touch of another. Perhaps it was fate they should find each other? Or luck? Jack had never been lucky, but whatever it was, he was
happy
. Such an odd sensation. He laughed.

Rion looked over sharply. “What amuses you?” He was on guard, suddenly defensive.

“Not you. Well, it is you. I was thinking of how content I feel here. I meant no offense. It’s just…unlikely. Is it not?”

Rion’s shoulders relaxed. “Indeed it is.” He paused. “I should probably toss you back in the cell, or down into the valley where you came from. Yet I find you most appealing in my bed.”

As he stroked his cock languidly, Jack pulled back the covers. “And I find I have no desire to take my leave.”

Eyes dark and glittering, Rion strode to the bed and covered Jack’s body with his own. They kissed with mouths open, their tongues meeting. The embers of desire low in Jack’s belly flared to life, and he tangled his legs with Rion’s, holding him close as they rubbed together. He’d imagined it, but never known he could feel so safe and comfortable in another’s arms. So free to be his true self.

And Rion had actually gone to his knees for him! Taken Jack in his mouth, and for the first time Jack had felt what it was to be pleasured that way. And oh—it was every bit as splendid as Jack had imagined over the years.

“You must be a siren,” Rion murmured, thrusting his cock against Jack’s belly. “A witch or warlock. The devil’s own device. For I find I cannot resist you.”

As if doused with ice water, Jack turned his face away and wriggled out from beneath Rion. He suddenly felt naked—not because he wasn’t wearing a stitch, but because his head was bare. He ran his hand through his damp hair roughly and curled onto his side.

Rion’s warmth pressed against Jack from behind, a tentative hand reaching over to caress his chest. “Forgive me. I meant no harm.”

“For so long…I believed what they said about me. My father abandoned us because of me. I thought they must be right.”

Rolling Jack back over, Rion kissed him softly. “I don’t understand.” He stroked Jack’s hair with the gentlest of touches. “Your hair is beautiful. Sent from above. It should be cherished, not hated. Not feared.” He skimmed his hand down Jack’s chest, teasing the red hair there. “So beautiful.” He traced Jack’s skin with his fingertips, sending a shiver down Jack’s spine.

“I’ve always kept it hidden as best I could, but everyone in the village knew. I thought that was why I was different. Why I crave a man’s touch and not a woman’s. I thought perhaps I was as wicked as they say.”

Rion trailed his hand lower, sliding his fingers into the thatch of hair between Jack’s legs. “Then we’re both wicked, and my hair’s dark as night.” He massaged Jack’s bollocks in his palm as he leaned down and sucked one of his nipples.

A gasp caught in Jack’s throat as he grew hard, and he stopped caring about anything else but his unquenchable need. “Oil?”

Rion’s weight lifted for a moment and then he was back, urging Jack’s legs apart. As his slippery finger pushed into Jack’s hole, Jack ignored the sting. He wanted Rion again despite it being too soon after so many years of chastity. He wanted Rion’s hot seed deep inside him once more.

“Like this?” Rion asked.

“Yes. Perfect.” Jack spread his thighs wider.

As he took in another of Rion’s fingers, he wondered what it would be like to fuck Rion, to stretch him open and feel him quiver from the inside out. But a memory flooded his mind, unbidden.
The force of Adair’s fist splitting his lip. The tang of coppery blood in his mouth as he’d begged forgiveness for the suggestion
.

“What is it?” Rion’s fingers went still.

“Nothing. Go on.” Jack lifted up his knee to his chest. “Please.”

Yet Rion still hesitated. “You looked pained. Is it too soon?”

For a moment, Jack considered telling the truth. Perhaps Rion would not think less of him? But the shame of how he’d allowed Adair to use him burned in his gut, and he thrust it from his mind.

“Not too soon.” He pulled Rion down for a long kiss. He loved the feel of Rion’s tongue against his, the softness of his lips, and the harsh rub of his beard, which had a few days growth. Jack reveled in Rion’s hard muscles and rough edges. He was so wonderfully…
male
.

When Rion urged him over, Jack went eagerly to his elbows and knees, offering himself. He felt truly desired, and not like nothing more than a willing hole, as he had with Adair. He and Rion were all grunts and groans as they coupled, their harsh breathing filling the air. Although Jack was tender, he held back nothing as Rion rocked into him. He squeezed with his inner muscles, making Rion gasp.

“Is it always like this? With others?”

“No.” Jack pushed back, moaning. “Only with you.”

“I don’t ever want to stop.” Rion groaned.

As Rion brushed against the swollen nub inside Jack that sent sparks of pleasure cartwheeling to the very tips of his toes, Jack cried out. “Yes! There.
Again
.”

Rion obliged, thrusting against the spot. Jack’s moans grew louder, and he reached down a hand for his cock, stroking it roughly as the ecstasy overwhelmed him. He came with a shout, milking himself as stars appeared before his eyes. Shuddering, he lowered his head to the mattress.

With a few more drives, Rion followed, pulsing his hot seed deep inside Jack. Jack felt wanted and powerful in a way he never had before. Rion caressed Jack’s shoulders, pressing little kisses down his spine as he pulled away. They both flopped down, chests heaving. Jack’s eyes grew heavy, and he seemed to fit into Rion’s arms as though he belonged there.

There was someone else in the room.

As Rion blinked, his heart skipped a beat and his limbs tensed. Not only in the room, but in his bed, nestled against him, snoring softly. In a rush, he remembered, and relaxed back against his pillow. Jack’s head was on Rion’s chest, and there was wetness against Rion’s skin where he drooled slightly.

Smiling to himself, Rion stroked Jack’s exquisite hair. For days they’d fucked and nuzzled together, mating like animals in heat. Even when they’d left Rion’s chamber, they’d eventually found themselves rutting together in passageways and on staircases. They took turns on their knees, sucking and licking and swallowing every drop. He’d bent Jack over every surface he could find.

He wondered what it would be to offer himself that way, but Jack seemed to have no interest, and eagerly spread himself at every opportunity. Rion gladly mounted him, of course. He’d never spilled so much seed, yet the sight of Jack’s pale, freckled skin, or his fiery hair, or secret smile, made Rion’s flesh swell without hesitation. And more than his cock, it was his heart that filled until he thought it might burst.

Jack stirred briefly, snuggling closer before returning to his gentle snores. Here in his bed, as the sun filled the room with its golden glow, Rion could scarcely believe he’d hated this man so fiercely. Had cursed him to the heavens and treated him as a mortal enemy. An Outsider.

If felt so natural now in each other’s arms, their mutual distrust and dislike disappearing as their bodies became one. But they’d done more than fuck—they’d talked. Settled in by the fire in Rion’s chamber, or at the table in the kitchen, they’d talked of the people in the valley, and Rion’s family. It hadn’t felt like a betrayal at all, but a blessing. His memories of his parents and siblings had grown faded and distant, and telling Jack about the castle when it had been filled with laughter and life returned his family to him in a way he hadn’t known possible.

He caressed Jack’s spine. Already, Rion could scarcely imagine being without him. The thought that this idyll might—and surely would—end sent ice to his core.  It wasn’t only the terror of going back to his lonely existence, but the fear of never again waking to Jack’s playful smile and tender kisses, or listening to him recount his favorite stories from the books he loved just as much as Rion did.

Jack lifted his head, blinking. “Rion?”

“Mmm?”

“I can hardly breathe you’re squeezing so tightly.”

Rion released his grip with a chuckle. “Apologies.”

Rolling atop him, Jack pressed their lips together. “Good morning.” Instead of crawling down Rion’s body to wake his cock with wet kisses as was his wont, Jack sat up, straddling Rion’s hips. “I’ve been wondering about something.”

“What’s that?”

“How do you get across the sea?”

The sleepy, pleasant haze evaporated. “Why?”

Jack caressed Rion’s chest. “I’m just curious. You’ve never mentioned it.”

Of course he hadn’t, as it was a secret only for Rion to know. Well, Rion and the wife he’d bring back from across the sea. Something he knew he could never do now. He’d never want a woman, and it wouldn’t be fair to her. He didn’t want anyone but Jack. Somehow he’d find a way to raise children and carry on the legacy. “It doesn’t matter. Does it?”