by Toby Aden
Chapter Eight
“Mmm,” Yves groaned as he stretched, gradually waking up from his peaceful sleep.
Sprawled across Apollo’s chest, half on top of the other man, Yves turned his head slightly and glanced up to see Apollo still fast asleep. A dreamy smile flashed across Yves’s face, and he folded his hands atop Apollo’s rising and falling chest. He let his chin rest on his folded hands, getting comfortable as he stared at the sleeping feature of his newly claimed mate.
His mate was just as gorgeous asleep as awake. With his hair splayed all around him, enveloping his head and his features. Looking completely relaxed, Apollo appeared no more than thirty cycle. Yves could not comprehend how this being, who was so powerful and had been in existence long before several generations in his race, was his mate.
He was awed and humbled, but above all that, he saw into the man behind all that power at his command. He saw the man who had been overjoyed to find him, the man who took his duties and responsibilities seriously, but also the man who would always come back to him no matter what. Somehow, Yves felt complete. The restlessness that had always assaulted him was nowhere to be found.
For the first time, he felt as though he could lie like this for a very long while and never feel the itch to do something, to move, or even twitch a muscle. The feeling was glorious and extremely relaxing.
Unable to resist anymore, Yves reached out with one hand and began tracing across Apollo’s high cheekbones lightly. He didn’t want to wake the other man. He simply wanted to touch. He just wanted to touch till he got his fill, which he couldn’t even imagine getting anytime soon.
With the exception of his family, Yves had never had the craving or the imagination or even the thought of touching another being. He had never thought of getting close to that being or sharing his life and love with another person until he met Apollo. Then he felt as though he had been missing a lot, and he could not remember how he’d gone this long, lived to a hundred, without this amazing man by his side.
Apollo’s eyes fluttered open, and Yves froze, staring at the other man with his hands unmoving where they lay on the other man’s cheek. He saw recognition flow into Apollo’s gaze and then a smile flirt across his mate’s lips.
“Good morn.”
Yves blushed, instantly and painfully hard against Apollo’s thigh as the timbre of Apollo’s voice washed over him and images of what they had done the night before flash into his mind.
“Good morn to you,” Yves said, his voice low and all husky.
Apollo grinned and then wrapped his hands around Yves’s naked back, pulling the slimmer man down onto him and laying a devastating kiss on the surprise-slackened mouth. The kiss deepened then softened until they had to break away to take a deep breath in.
“Hmm. I love being mated,” Yves said on a contented sigh.
He flopped down back on top of Apollo, running his hand idly on the other man’s chest. He listened to the soothing sound of Apollo’s heartbeat, feeling more relaxed and happy.
“That feeling is entirely mutual, love.”
“I would love nothing more than to never leave this bed and spend all day with you.”
“Nothing says we can’t do it, either. But first, I must relieve myself,” Apollo said before pecking Yves on the lips and climbing out of bed.
Apollo padded to the bathroom, moving away with Yves tracing every movement the man made and his very attractive naked backside. Apollo soon came walking back into the bedroom moments later, unashamed in his birthday suit. A painting on the wall arrested his attention, and he paused the approached it, moving to stand directly in front of the artwork.
“I don’t think I took the time to see your room. This looks beautiful.”
Yves shifted till he was off the bed, pulling along with him the sheets to wrap around his body. He wasn’t quite as blatantly comfortable as Apollo. Yves went to stand beside his mate and the array of paintings littering his bedroom walls. He watched Apollo’s expression as the other man moved from one to the next, taking his time to examine each of the arts.
“Did you do this?” Apollo asked, staring at a very stunning likeness of himself. The work looked almost reverent, and it felt almost alive with every emotion, every bit of feeling almost real. He could not believe that this was how his mate saw him and he was beyond impressed.
Yves nodded, shy and uncertain but anxiously awaiting his mate’s verdict. “I did.”
“It’s…I-I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. It’s so breathtaking.” Apollo turned to regard his mate, lifted his hand, and traced the blush covering his mate’s cheeks. “Thank you. I love it, and you are unbelievably talented.”
Yves ducked his head with a shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips at the compliment. He had been afraid of Apollo noticing the painting and scared of what his reaction might be. To say that he was pleased by his mate’s compliment was a huge understatement.
“Is this the only one you made?”
Yves shook his head, embarrassed. “Not exactly.” He nodded toward a door on the right, and Apollo approached it, pulling the door open into a small room.
The room was more of a storage area with several lots of paintings arranged in rows and over the wall. Apollo thumbed through the paintings, seeing himself in several of them. He regarded Yves with a raised brow then without a word, continued browsing through the collections.
“Do you ever show these out?”
“Show them to whom?”
“Everyone, let whoever wants them to barter or purchase them see or just to show it to the public? Your gift is too beautiful to be locked up away, to not be showed to the whole world.”
“Oh, no, I do not do that. However, I do paint for those who wish to commission from me.”
“Good. I would hate to see your talent go to waste. You should have others appreciate it. The details, the beauty, the message, and sometimes, the hope it inspires,” Apollo said, flashing a smile at a stunned Yves.
Yves blushed. “I never quite thought of it in that way. Painting was always just a way for me to relieve my restlessness and depression. Whenever the emotions were too strong for me to withstand, it served as an outlet.”
Apollo paused from looking through the collections to glance at his mate. “I am glad you had such an outlet, but perhaps now, you will do this for the joy it brings you.”
“I would like that. Thank you for understanding me. For seeing what you do in my work.”
“You never have to thank me for that, youngling, and I speak but the truth.”
Yves smiled, and they gazed at each other, sharing a moment before they got back to browsing through the numerous collections.
They spent a whole week locked away in Yves’s bedroom, and they made mad, passionate love together. They talked, they laughed, and then they made love over and over again. One of those days spent huddled together, cocooned in their own world, Yves threw the question out completely from the blue.
“Tell me about your home.”
Apollo turned to regard his mate, surprised by the sudden turn of conversation. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything. What’s it like there?”
“Pretty much normal. Every different kind of creature lives there. We each have our own territory we rule over, our responsibilities we have to uphold.”
Apollo went into details, describing what his home world looked like to Yves. They talked for a long, long time, content to just lie in bed, holding each other and just talking.
“How do you prefer to spend our matingmoon?” Yves asked the other man, eager for when the two of them could leave to spend some time alone.
“How about I show you my world? We could spend a couple of months there if you wish it.”
“I would love nothing more.” Yves appeared thoughtful and then shook his head. “But I cannot flounce tradition. I must tour the other kingdoms. It is a must.”
“Then we spend some time in my world. I cannot a
bandon my responsibilities with my people for long. We must go back there to live, but we can spend our matingmoon getting you familiar and then come back for your tour. That way, you can visit your family at the end of the tour before leaving once more.”
Yves nodded. “That sounds like a good plan to me.”
Chapter Nine
Soon after they had relayed their good-byes to Yves’s family, Apollo and Yves had set off on their journey, ready to begin the new adventure set before them. Apollo opened a portal in the middle of the open field near the cottage he’d taken up as residence in the past two years he’d lived in the Fae land.
“Is this safe?” Yves asked, fear and curiosity driving him.
“Perfectly safe, youngling. I would never do anything to harm you. However, in order to cross into my world, we will need to go through the portal.”
Yves shook his head and took a step back. “I-I do not know.” He swallowed nervously. “Maybe we should do the tour first and then revisit this later? Maybe never?”
Apollo chuckled, sliding a hand around Yves’s waist to pull the other man flush against his body. “Do not fear, love. You will be fine. It will take all of a second, and you will not even feel it. I promise. Trust me?”
Yves bit his bottom lip, looking from Apollo to the shimmering light-filled portal before them and then back again to Apollo. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t trust me?” Apollo asked with a frown.
A matching frown appeared on Yves’s smooth face. “You know what I mean. Yes, I trust you but—”
“You fear the unknown.” Apollo nodded as though understanding Yves’s dilemma. “Come. Close your eyes.”
“Close my eyes? Why?”
“Just do it, Yves. Trust me, please.”
Yves stared at his mate for a while, searching for something in the other man’s eyes, and seeming to find it, he nodded and closed his eyes.
“Just follow my voice, youngling. Everything will be all right. I won’t let any harm come to you,” Apollo assured, leading Yves toward the portal.
Even though Yves felt like hesitating and pulling back, he moved when he was led, putting one foot after the other and following Apollo’s voice.
“That’s it. We are almost there. Just a little more and it will all be over.” Apollo continued talking, saying reassuring words to set Yves’s mind at ease.
Nodding at the other servants who escorted them, Apollo bid them enter with Yves’s luggage, before leading Yves into the portal after the servants.
There was a slight tingling in the air and all around Yves, but with his eyes closed, he continued listening to Apollo, trusting the other man to catch him should he fall. Not long after that did the tingling cease, and Apollo’s voice drifted over to him.
“We are here now, love. You can open your eyes.”
First one lid popped open, then the other, and then Yves’s mouth dropped open in amazement as they stood before the most magnificent home he had ever seen, both in beauty and everything. The trees surrounding the house were unlike any he had ever seen before, both in their height and their sizes. A very impressive waterfall, which appeared not so far from where they were, the different creatures flying in the air, and Yves could not get enough of looking.
“Goodness. This place is amazing!” Yves breathed in awe. Turning his head to glance all over, he tried to consume all the details in a few minutes.
While Yves had been distracted, Apollo had nodded to the servants, bidding them good-bye as they stepped through the portal back into their native world before sealing the portal shut. He then turned to regard his mate, appreciating the look of awe on his mate’s face.
Apollo had so badly wanted to show the beauty off to Yves, and now that the man was finally here to see where he’d live all his life, he felt like his life was coming together. He was proud to know that his mate found the place impressive and was curious about it.
Apollo watched Yves spin around, turning to take in everything all at once, and chuckled at the adorable antics. Stepping forward, he held the man’s face in place so that Yves had to look only at him. “Take your time, love. You can see everything soon but slowly. Don’t make yourself dizzy, mm?”
Yves blushed, ducked his head, and nodded.
Laughing, Apollo pulled the adorable man into his arms and placed a kiss on his head. “What would you like to do?”
“Explore,” Yves said, awe coloring his voice and expression. “Then paint everything. My fingers are just itching to get to work. So much inspiration.”
Yves was impressed by the sheer opulence of the place as well as the magnificence. He was also eager to explore everything, the home he would live in as well as the neighboring surroundings.
“Then explore we will.”
* * * *
“Sore?” Apollo asked as they dismounted from the horse they had ridden for the most part of the day while exploring.
“Very,” Yves said on a groan, and had Apollo not reached out to hold him, he would have slid into a puddle on the floor.
Apollo laughed, swinging Yves into his arms. “You’ll get used to it yet.”
Together, Apollo marched into the house, walking through the hallways until he reached their master bedroom. He carried Yves straight through to the bathroom and placed the other man on the floor close to the deep oval bathing pool. Apollo pulled his clothes off and then proceeded to do the same for Yves before carrying the other man into the pool and sinking into the cool water.
Yves hissed, then sighed, and let himself go. “Heavens, this feels so good.”
Apollo chuckled, amused by his mate’s antics. He poured water over his mate’s body, meticulously washing the other man until he was clean. He left Yves to float on the water and then began washing himself, all the while never taking his eyes off his mate.
He watched in fascination as the other man’s eyes slid closed and contentment slid over his features.
“I love you, Apollo. I wouldn’t even know where to begin explaining how much you mean to me and how much I really love you.”
The words had taken Apollo by surprise. Although he’d had an inkling that Yves might come to feel this way for him, hearing it made his heart beat so fast, and it felt exhilarating. He slid his hand into Yves’s hair and moaned, pulling Yves down into a kiss. The mane of fine, silky hair was divine in his hands, and the fading sun glinting against the orange-red locks mesmerized him so thoroughly. Wanting the full effect of the weight in his hand, Apollo broke the kiss, placing pecks on Yves’s cheeks as he meticulously pulled out all the decorations and pins holding Yves’s hair away from his face.
Apollo nuzzled Yves’s chin. “I love you, too, Yves. I waited a long time for you, and you surpass all my expectations. Like a breath of fresh air, washing into my life and giving it meaning.”
“I just…” Yves shook his head, an expression Apollo could not decipher crossing his face. “It just didn’t fully settle in when you told me who you were, you know. You’re you. And I’m me.”
“What do you mean, youngling?” Apollo asked with a frown.
“It’s…I can’t bring myself to see what you see in me…”
“I do not like you thinking…”
“Please let me finish, Apollo,” Yves scoffed and then shook his head. “Even saying your name feels…” Yves shook his head again, unable to describe or articulate his meaning. “You’re this powerful being, you know. I can’t even wrap my mind over just how long you’ve been in existence. About who you are. I’m nothing but a Fae, and even then, all my life, even though I’ve always felt that something was missing, I never thought it would be something of this magnitude.” Yves continuously swiped his hands through the water, following his movements with his eyes and refusing to stare at Apollo. “When I’m not feeling as though a piece of me was missing, I’m always overcome by this itchiness, this restlessness, this anxiety. What do you like about me? What’s so special about me that I should deign to attract your atte
ntion?”
Apollo pulled Yves until Yves was sitting on his lap in the water. With a thumb and forefinger, he pulled Yves’s chin up until the other man was staring straight at him. “My life was monotonous until you came along. I may be a god, but I’m still just a man. I have felt crippling loneliness, lost interest in the worlds all around me, found no appreciation in everything around me. You broke me out of my despair.” Placing a gentle, fleeting kiss on Yves’s lips, Apollo continued, “You are a gift, Yves. You’re my gift. You brought color back into my life. Everything I lost interest in, you made feel new. I now have a companion to keep me company throughout all the other centuries to come. I am no longer lonely. I now know what it means to love, to put the happiness of one other person before my own. Even when you are not with me, thoughts of you distract me, and you are all I need and ever will need. I never want you to doubt what you mean to me. I love every single thing about you, even your quirks. You are more precious to me than any other thing in this universe. I would not survive it should I lose you. Do you understand, youngling?”
Yves nodded. “I just—I just have so many doubts. Doubts that I alone would be enough for you. Doubts that you would end up disappointed in me and the fact that you call me a gift and say you’ve waited a long, long time for me makes me feel as though you would one day feel I am not what you need.”
“You will always be what I need, Yves. I love you just as you are, and nothing you do or say, do not do or not say would make me disappointed in you. I would never lie to you about this, and should you do something I do not like, I will let you know. However, it would not mean I am disappointed in you. There would never be another for me except you, and you are perfect just the way you are. We are perfect together, and you balance me out. If it takes reminding you every day to convince you about this fact, then I would be more than happy to convince you daily of my devotion to you and that you are perfect the way you are.”