Arousing Family

by Emelia Andersen

  The boy did not deny it. He sank back, letting the water cover his shoulders. He stared back at Eirik with lidded eyes.

  "You stay away from my sisters," Eirik demanded huskily, drawing himself up to his full height, into the frozen air. "Evja's happily married with a daughter of her own, and Alfdis is just a child, you hear?"

  The light in the young man's eyes dimmed, but he did not shy away from Eirik's sudden hostility. He gazed at him expressionlessly, and then finally said, "I do not know your sisters, and have no intention of touching them."

  Eirik flushed. He made himself sit back, but was suddenly too warm. Shame crept over him. What had he been thinking, yelling at the boy?

  He'd been thinking of Alfdis, of course. Of Alfdis, and of Halkell.

  "I'm sorry," he offered awkwardly. "My mother—"

  "It's fine," the young man interrupted, equally stiffly. "Thank you for saving my life."

  Eirik grinned at him. "So now the hardest things to say are said. I'm Eirik."

  The boy hesitated, then gave him a tentative smile. "You can call me Kaer."

  "I can call you?" Eirik repeated wryly. "I'd rather have your real name."

  The boy's smile turned bitter. "I have many, most of which would have killed me today, if it hadn't been for you." He cocked one elegant ebony brow. "You could just call me Ljuflingur. I think I'd like to hear you say 'beloved' again."

  Arrogant little shit. "Okay, Kaer," Eirik gave in with a shrug. "If you won't tell me your real name, will you at least tell me why you were doing your best to freeze to death before a couple of child demons hacked you to pieces?"

  Kaer jerked to his feet. "Child demons?" he asked in alarm.

  "Relax." Eirik chuckled. "They disappeared when I killed them."

  Kaer sat back down, astonishment blanking his features and revealing the same unguarded beauty that oblivion had. "You killed them? By yourself?"

  Eirik wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted. "My axes helped. Why did they want to kill you?"

  Kaer traced idle circles on the surface of the water. "They're not really children."

  "I figured that out."

  "They imitate the forms of beings from your world. Subjects seldom survive the imitation, and some resist. A child's resistance is dealt with most easily."

  Eirik blanched. "So they were once children?" He thought of his ax wedged deeply into the boy's skull, and felt sick.

  Kaer shook his head. "They are monsters. What you killed were imitations, not corpses." He sighed. "They are flighty and ruthless, but they have a mile-wide cruel streak that makes them natural killers. They would have been hired to risk the trip to your world and make sure the job was finished."

  "By..." Eirik prompted.

  Kaer shrugged. "One of the families. A war is coming, and my death would be a blow to my own. It could have been any one of them."

  Eirik scowled. "A war is coming! You elves take no responsibility. In my world, we say 'this clan is stealing our livestock, and we will go to war to stop them', or 'the Law Speaker ruled against me, so I must go to war to defend my honor'." Men go to war, Kaer. I don't understand this talk of war coming on its own, like an uninvited guest."

  Kaer considered it gravely. "I don't know what you consider wars," he said finally. "But in my world, they make men act like something other than men. Perhaps it is because of the monsters whose aid we clamor after during such times. War brings atrocities, massacres, and evil. These are not things of men in times of peace."

  Eirik looked away from the boy's shining pale gaze. "If it's so awful, why do you talk like it's unavoidable?"

  "Because it is." Kaer's words were cool. "You should warn your family."

  Eirik reached across the small pool and grabbed the hulduman, digging his fingers into the smooth flesh of his arm. "My family," he grated, his voice deadly quiet, "is not to be involved."

  Kaer met his eyes and Eirik felt a sharp jolt as the tension between them sprang suddenly higher. "That was not a threat," Kaer said softly. "I only meant for you to be prepared, if the fighting spills over beyond the hidden paths. It usually does."

  Eirik was breathing heavily. "It won't," he insisted, angry at the disbelief shining in Kaer's eyes. He felt foolish towering over the boy and twisting his arm, but the thought of imitation children running through the villages with their ugly daggers made his stomach turn and his blood boil.

  "I will try to keep you out of it," Kaer went on. "The little monsters will have run back to their master with tales of the great human warrior who stole their prize. Their descriptions are unlikely to have any truth in them, though, to save their own pride." His lip twitched. "You will be nine feet tall, in their retelling, with four arms and as many axes. You'll have come on them unawares, attacking from behind and using your dirty human magic to shield my body from their weapons."

  Eirik grunted. "Don't make me regret saving you, Ljuflingur." He released the boy's arm, and felt a grudging guilt when Kaer drew it quickly back and massaged it, wincing. "Will they try again?" A protective determination hovered unspoken around the question.

  Kaer shrugged. "I could try changing my name," he said ruefully. A wicked smile touched his lips. "I could disappear from the hidden paths, into your world."

  Eirik snorted. "And leave behind a trail of weeping mothers and their half-huldu babies? I won't let you."

  Kaer looked genuinely stung, and Eirik instantly regretted the words. "I didn't mean it," he said quickly. "You can stay with me and my family for as long as you need."

  The hurt on Kaer's face changed to surprise. "Thank you, Eirik," he said slowly, in a tone that implied he understood how much that should mean to him. "But I'm afraid that would endanger your family." He shook his dark head. "I could never do that, even if it means going without my monster slayer."

  Eirik splashed a face full of water at him. "Don't tease," he said sternly. "I won't let them hurt you."

  Kaer wiped the water from his eyes and smiled. "Monster slayer, you are serious enough for the both of us." He splashed Eirik right back, with enough force to send a good amount of water up and over the edge of the pool. It sizzled where it touched snow. Eirik squeezed his eyes shut, held up his arms, and shouted his surrender until the onslaught stopped. Coughing, he wiped his face and warily cracked his eyes.

  Kaer's face was directly before his, close enough so that the clouds of their breath mingled.

  Eirik blinked, and then Kaer's lips were pressed gently against his own. The young man was standing in the middle of the pool and leaning forward, so that their bodies were not in contact except for their lips. Their kiss.

  Eirik parted his lips, whether in protest or welcome, he could never say, and suddenly Kaer's tongue was darting into his mouth, exploring eagerly.

  Still stunned, Eirik used his own tongue to trap Kaer's and force it back into his own mouth. But then he followed it in, and was suddenly kissing Kaer back with some force. He reached up and grasped Kaer's jaw with both hands, holding it in place while he licked and felt and sucked at his mouth. His cock jumped.

  Kaer moaned and leaned in closer, seeking to entangle their limbs, and Eirik broke the kiss off abruptly. "What?" he gasped.

  Kaer drew back to stand before him. He was, Eirik thought again, so beautiful. He had noted it earlier, but without desire. Desire rose in him now, hotter than the heat of the spring. He fought to clear his head.

  "What are you doing?"

  Kaer wet his lips. "I want you." The words were bald, honest, and threaded with visible lust. Eirik swallowed, hard. Kaer had a youth's body, sinewy and flat-stomached. His nipples stood out on his chest, small and hard. Glossy black hair was slicked against his cheeks, shoulders, back. The sculpted, harmonic angles of his face were dominated by glittering pale eyes that peered down at Eirik with all the intensity of a building storm. "I want you to take me."

  Eirik tore his eyes away. He looked out at the frozen, deserted landscape. The glacier streaked mountains glowe
d gold where the sun spread down their tips. "How old are you?" he rasped.

  Kaer chuckled. "Older than you."

  Eirik closed his eyes, not wanting to face the answer to his next question. "Are you enticing me a purpose, Ljuflingur?" In the stories, all the huldufolk were capable of seductive wiles and fiendish lures. Ljuflingur, though, could capture hearts, and Eirik had never heard of one denied the object of his or her fancy.

  Silence. When at last Eirik opened his eyes, he saw that Kaer had retreated to his side of the pool, where he stood with his back to Eirik.

  "Kaer?" Eirik ventured softly. "Kaer, I'm sorry. I didn't—"

  "Forget it," Kaer said sharply. He shook his head angrily, then raked a hand through his silky mane, gathering the black mass over one shoulder. He sank down into the water, as if to conceal the exposed stretch of his perfect back.

  Guilt washed over Eirik. He stood and moved towards Kaer, acutely aware—and horrified—that his erect phallus broke the surface of the water as he did so. He kept a safe distance and bent his knees to hide it, but put one hand on Kaer's bared shoulder. "Kaer, I'm sorry."

  Kaer turned, bitterness etched into his beautiful face. "Don't be," he whispered. "It's my fault. I didn't mean to—to force you." He gazed up at Eirik, looking desperately unhappy. "I can't help it."

  "It's not your fault," Eirik told him sharply. "It was a stupid thing to say."

  "Why?" Kaer wanted to know.

  "Because," Eirik said firmly, "I knew the answer. I thought I cared, but I realize now that I don't." He wiped the hair from Kaer's upturned face. "You are striking, and tempting, and surprisingly playful and generous. If your allure has anything to do with a ljuflingur's charm, I believe it is not ill-meant. I'm a grown man, Kaer, and claim my own desires. No-one's forcing anyone."

  Disbelief shaded Kaer's silver eyes. "Don't you see, Eirik, why I can never trust that?"

  Eirik took Kaer's hand and guided it down to his rock hard cock, which twitched and jerked on contact. "If you don't believe this," he said, almost losing his feet as Kaer's hand wrapped adeptly around his length, "believe this." He pushed the young man gently back and captured his mouth again. Laboring to be both gentle and passionate, he put all his trust and need into the kiss. He didn't pull back to look at Kaer until he stopped struggling.

  Eirik's heart contracted within his chest when he saw that the boy was smiling up at him with joy and lust and no trace of doubt. "I want to take you," Eirik told him roughly.

  "Prove it," Kaer whispered, and Eirik knew he believed him.

  He lifted the smaller man up out of the water to change places with him. Kaer shivered as the cold air caressed his skin, but he wrapped his legs around Eirik and pulled in to his embrace. Eirik felt Kaer's erection jab momentarily against his stomach, before he settled back down onto the hot rocks with Kaer straddling his lap. Kaer placed a hand to either side of Eirik's head on the pool edge, and leaned in for another kiss. As their lips met, Kaer began to gyrate his hips, rubbing his cock against Eirik's.

  Eirik moaned and sucked on Kaer's tongue. He was sure his cock had never been this hard before in his life. He reached under the water and grasped Kaer's hips, pulling the boy in as he thrust against him. Kaer's hands wrapped themselves in Eirik's cropped hair, grabbing fistfuls as his kisses traced the corner of Eirik's mouth, then his chin, then his neck and shoulders. Eirik gasped and threw his head back when Kaer pinched his nipples. Kaer ran his hands over Eirik's chest and shoulders, scooping hot water over every exposed spot. Eirik groaned loudly, too hot and too cold, shivering and sweating at once.

  Kaer's warm mouth closed over a nipple. Still grinding wantonly on Eirik's lap, he licked and sucked with abandon. He switched back and forth between nipples, building gradually from suckling to tugging at the sensitive nubs with his teeth. Without warning, he bit down hard. Eirik yelped and dashed water into the boy's face.

  "That hurt," he grated, but a laughing Kaer just silenced his complaints by covering Eirik's mouth with his own.

  Then the young man slipped back and off of Eirik's lap, sinking down into the clear water and letting his hands fall to Eirik's bare thighs. He grazed their lengths to the knee. Kaer traced his way back up more slowly, looking into Eirik's eyes the entire time, shifting tantalizingly to the inside of Eirik's thighs. Eirik's breath caught as dexterous fingers found his balls. Kaer fondled them playfully as he rose up again and nestled his face against Eirik's. His breath was hot on Eirik's ear as he whispered, "Huldufolk can't breathe underwater."

  Eirik didn't need another hint. He pushed himself up so that his naked buttocks sat on the rock rim of the little pool, his cock reaching for the clouded sky above. It strained and pulsed, unbelievable tight, as if it might fly away like a bird if only it pulled hard enough. The stone itself was warm, heated by its contact with the hotter rocks beneath the earth's surface, but the air was bitingly cold. Eirik registered this, then forgot it. "No teeth," he warned, and was rewarded by Kaer's smirk as he positioned himself, balancing his weight with his hands just above Eirik's knees. It made his heart ache to see Kaer so happy.

  In the next second, all thoughts fled his mind as Kaer bent forward gracefully to place a lingering kiss on the point where Eirik's cock met his balls. He felt the warm wetness of Kaer's tongue massage the tender area before traveling up the length of his cock, following the slightly protruding ridge along the underside from base to tip. The trail of wetness tingled in the winter air. Kaer swirled his tongue around the tip, and then licked his way back to Eirik's balls, which he also licked thoroughly. One by one, Kaer pulled his balls into his mouth and suckled gently. He was free with his saliva, leaving Eirik's balls dripping as Kaer returned his attention to the length of his cock. His tongue kissed and caressed every inch of it while Eirik watched, captivated by the sight of his cock stretched against the length of Kaer's pale, carved features. Only when it was thoroughly moistened with his spit did Kaer close his mouth around the tip and slide down around the whole of Eirik's erection with an astonishing swiftness. With a loud gasp, Eirik released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

  He could feel the tip of his cock pressed hard against the back of Kaer's throat. He tried to breathe, but the savage whines that tore from his own throat scared him. Kaer's lips, swollen and bruised from Eirik's rough kisses, remained clamped around Eirik's stiffness as they slid back up to the tip, and then sank all the way back down to the base.

  Slowly—agonizingly slowly—Kaer rocked his face back and forward. Eirik trembled with the effort of remaining still. He did not want to hurt the boy. The sun emerged from behind the clouds, suddenly, brushing Eirik's bare chest with a hint of warmth, and striking the waters of the little pool with a blinding sparkle.

  Silhouetted against the breathtaking island landscape, Kaer added a hand and then more speed, until he was sucking Eirik's cock for all he was worth. His fierce enthusiasm swept away the last of Eirik's control. Bracing himself with his widespread feet against some underwater rocks, he leaned forward and tangled both hands in Kaer's long hair, pulling the young man's head in closer and forcing it to match the rhythm of his restrained thrusts.

  Kaer moaned into his cock as if it were a harmonica, producing spine-tingling vibrations. His hands slipped from Eirik's thighs to his stomach, and he pressed hard against the muscles of Eirik's abs, seeking to control the pace and depth.

  Eirik viewed this as acceptance of whatever pace and depth he could get away with, and tested that limit. Always mindful to back off whenever Kaer's hands shoved into his stomach, he held the boy's head still and pumped with a rousing alacrity into his face, forcing the entire length of his cock in and out, over and over. Kaer fought back, seeking to maintain enough control so as to ply his skilled tongue against the invader in his mouth.

  It was a detectable battle.

  Finally, Kaer jerked his head free, turning to take great gulps of the cool air. He looked disheveled and feral and lovely. Eirik watched him with concern,
his erect cock swaying between them.

  "Kaer?" he asked, quiet but urgent. "Are you all right?"

  The boy nodded, surprising Eirik with a shy smile. Shyness was the last thing he expected from the intoxicating ljuflingur who had just done his best to swallow Eirik's entire cock. "I'm fine," Kaer said tentatively. "Just—just, that was... a lot."

  Eirik's concern swelled into a familiar, tender protectiveness, punctuated by stabbing pricks of desire. "Come here," he commanded, and gathered Kaer into his arms, ignoring the discomfort as his swollen cock was pressed between his stomach and Kaer's side. He hugged the young man close, relishing the feel of his hard body in the sunlight, and sought Kaer's mouth with his own. The boy tasted of fruiting rowan and pristine glacial rivers, and Eirik's own salted sweetness.

  Kaer twisted in his lap and ground their erections together. They rolled around the pool, taking turns being teasing and demanding, retreating and attacking. Their kissing bouts seemed to fortify Kaer's vigor, and his fingers soon danced under the water to stroke Eirik's aching cock. He pulled back, catching Eirik's gaze with his dazzling eyes, and licked his lips suggestively.

  Eirik had other ideas, though. "It's my turn," he told Kaer gruffly. He felt a stab of satisfaction as the silver eyes widened ever so slightly. Apparently the young man thought he was the only one with nerve and an imagination. "Arrogant little shit," he said fondly, earning a puzzled crinkle in the boy's kiss-bruised lips. He ignored it. "Are you warm enough to leave the pool?"

  Kaer threw his entire weight onto Eirik, dunking them both underwater. Eirik emerged, spluttering, to see Kaer's shapely white buttocks clambering from the pool. The boy stood and turned, gazing triumphantly at Eirik. "Now we both are," he declared. He put a hand on either hip and waited expectantly as Eirik climbed out after him. Sunlight struck the water dripping from his lean body, gleaming along every contour. His hair dangled in wet locks down to his waist, and his cock angled up towards his flat stomach.