History of Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  “And?”

  “What do you think, Ela?” Father asked, smiling, giving him, as the young King, something to grow on. Elakdon liked that, but in this case, it was irrelevant.

  “You have the necessary insight into humans and life and Ting. I don’t.”

  “I think he’s asking us to hide,” Dendon said. “I think he’s saying he’ll help us hide from his Church.”

  “We’re not hiding,” Elakdon stated, hating the idea, and he wanted to bury it at its conception.

  Father half-turned in his seat and watched King Harald talk to his wife and sometimes the man in cloth staying so close. Father didn’t say anything. He merely sat there, staring, leaning his head on his hand.

  “My King?” Randr whispered, then groaned.

  Elakdon’s cock stiffened, and a smile spread on his face.

  “Dendon, please get my Fountain, Styrk, and Trydon. We will retire to feed.”

  Randr groaned again and pulled Elakdon from his seat. “Will you be the center of our attention? Or are you bringing Trydon to keep me busy?”

  “I want to be the center so I can dose you and Foldon many times.”

  Randr purred, apparently liking that idea.

  Elakdon loved being the center of many Cubi’s lust at the same time. It made the energy move differently, and he ended up floating away in their lust and all those touches. Unlike last time, Elakdon knew for sure who had access to his body, and his cock bobbed in eagerness to play a game he’d thought about when hunger moved in on him, and he had to wait.

  The night that had sparked the reoccurring fantasy was when Father had surprise-dosed Elakdon. He’d done it to take Elakdon’s mind off the many negative thoughts. Having been dumped in the middle of many’s lust-filled focus, it had been riveting and worked as intended.

  Randr steered Elakdon from the main hall to the enclosure secured for them. Elakdon noticed two Guards finding their places at the entrance, and as Randr turned Elakdon in his arms to kiss him hungrily, Elakdon saw Foldon and Styrk hurrying toward them.

  In the back, Trydon came in from the outside, so Elakdon gave himself over to his lover, happy he had him for himself for a few moments. Randr was hungry, yet he fought for control, and it was easily felt in how he kissed Elakdon. He tried to keep his touches gentle and caring, yet his fighting his own urges made the energy less potent for Elakdon. Still, the way Elakdon had sprung the change on him, he didn’t want to talk to him about it before his insatiable and unreliable hunger had settled, which luckily shouldn’t take long with the strength of doses that he got.

  He also had a bit more healing to do, as his muscles still needed to get back to their former strength. Randr was strong enough to hold Elakdon tightly, but not yet strong enough to carry Elakdon if he wrapped his legs around Randr’s body.

  Randr stopped them at the foot of the huge makeshift bed, and with trembling hands, he began undressing Elakdon, the hunger so obviously trying to get the better of the Changeling. Elakdon admired his strength, and he felt special and loved since he knew that Randr still wanted to be in control when with Elakdon and not just give in to hunger and feed mindlessly on his lover.

  Elakdon didn’t understand the mentality behind it. He didn’t get how Randr could feel like he was taking advantage of Elakdon by giving in to the hunger and satisfying himself by feeding them both. It was a human thing, and Elakdon figured a man who had watched love or sexuality from the sideline his whole life had built up more inhibitions from picturing what it was like. Elakdon even thought that Randr might romanticize love to a point where he couldn’t incorporate something as physical as feeding without having to try to bridge the two. Mainly because sex to humans was often also loving.

  Elakdon would have to show Randr what he meant about making love the Cubi way one day, but he thought he had to wait until the sudden hunger pangs had gone completely.

  He needed Randr to let loose a bit, so he cupped his face and locked gaze with him. “Join them in feeding me at the same time. Styrk will lead and show you how.”

  “Do you like that better?”

  “The more you are feeding me, and on me, the more I let go. I can completely lose myself in the differences between your hungers, and it overloads me.”

  Styrk stepped close, his eyes dark pine green and his hand insistently caressing the curve of Elakdon’s ass. “Different hungers?”

  “All of you,” Elakdon said.

  Styrk grinned. “We should leave Guard Trydon in charge then.”

  “Of a feast?” He closed in and stepped up close to Randr. Elakdon liked that. He liked that someone found Randr attractive, too. Or at least craved the curve of his cock. “Then undress our Nol so his love can begin.”

  Elakdon smiled at Randr and caressed his face while Foldon, Styrk, and Trydon began undressing him. Randr’s gaze dropped to take in the sight of all that was revealed as the garments fell away. Elakdon loved the expression of a silent moan on his face.

  Once naked, Randr stepped in for a kiss full of self-control. But then he kissed his way across Elakdon’s jaw, down his throat, and across a collarbone.

  The first rush of excitement coursed through Elakdon’s body, and his dick jumped.

  Randr changed direction and kissed his way down Elakdon’s body, and then someone nibbled on an earlobe. Foldon, Elakdon guessed, closing his eyes to not see anymore.

  Hot breath and a beard tickled Elakdon’s groin. Randr.

  Their hunger and feeding energy began traveling Elakdon’s body as they all began touching him and manipulating his pleasure. Lips and a tongue lavished his cock, a mouth played with the expanse of his chest, and nimble fingers joined in, tweaking his nipples.

  Warmth caressed his neck and ears in turn, a tongue playing with his ear lobe. Everywhere else, hands caressed his torso, his thighs, and his ass.

  A finger slipped inside, and Elakdon focused on the sensation to guess who it was. Styrk, he guessed.

  He opened his eyes, but it couldn’t be. Trydon stood behind Elakdon, yet his arms were busy up top.

  Quickly, Elakdon closed his eyes because it was cheating at his own game if he was looking. He wanted to sail away in the rising intensity.

  When his body was lifted off the floor, he moaned loudly. He loved the trust he felt, and he loved feeling like he was something special when he shared himself that way. It was rare and beautiful to him.

  Someone took his hand, and he felt a stiff cock slide against the palm of his hand. He smiled and gently squeezed it before massaging the rigid member. The moan sounded like Foldon.

  Heat enveloped Elakdon’s cock, and he jerked in their arms, moaning louder. A grunt revealed Randr, and Elakdon rotated his hips, wanting to feel more of his lover’s mouth on him.

  A finger pushed into him insistently, yet this time, Elakdon had no way of guessing who that could be. He loved it, though, and a moan rolled over his lips.

  “What a sweet sound,” Styrk whispered.

  The finger pulled out, and two pushed in, Styrk’s breath hitching in Elakdon’s ear as the fingers pushed in deep, coaxing a loud groan from Elakdon. The increased sensation made him lose himself completely.

  Elakdon put his arms around Randr from behind and looked up into the sky. It was clear, every star was out, and the moon stood big and round, shining like silver.

  “Has other Changelings had the same adaptation problems that I have?”

  “Distinguishing sex and love?”

  Silence, so Elakdon hadn’t understood his lover’s problems as well as he’d thought. He hated that and turned Randr to face him.

  “I will learn the Cubi way, My King. I will rise to stand tall and proud among your people.”

  “What did I miss, Allon?”

  “Who?”

  “Cubi. Means lover.”

  Randr smiled, but it wasn’t fully genuine. “My mother was a woman any storm that could pull a roof off a house should be named after. She was a woman who loved her children fierce
ly, protected her personal honor and integrity to the day she died, and she stood by my father’s side in anything. He once told me that a love like hers made her a greater weapon at his side than any sword. Their love was epic.”

  “It sounds like it.”

  “My siblings and I rose a stone for them. Upon seeing what we were making, a spot in town was cleared for the stone. Their love touched more than us.”

  The tale and the tone in Randr’s voice warmed Elakdon, and he tried to picture them. He tried to picture Randr as a child, too. “I wish I could have met them.”

  “Me, too.”

  But something was still off. “What is it I miss? What is it that hurts you that I don’t understand?” Elakdon asked.

  Randr looked down. “It’s a human thing. With time I will get past it.”

  Elakdon stepped closer. “Tell me what I don’t understand, Randr. Tell me how I can make my poorly timed overflow of affection easier on you.”

  “They were best friends.”

  Elakdon didn’t understand. “Am I a bad friend to you?”

  Randr looked up, surprised. “No, My King.”

  “Please, tell me.”

  Randr closed his eye for a few seconds, then took Elakdon’s hands. “I always wished for what my mom and dad had.”

  “Love?”

  “Their kind of love.”

  Elakdon cocked his head, thinking he had an idea what Randr was missing. Faithfulness. If he expected that in sex, then things were going to be uphill. How long had he nourished that fantasy of two standing together through everything in life?

  “How old are you, love?”

  “Older than you,” Randr said, then snorted. “I was very surprised that you look your age. Most sons and daughters don’t, I’ve heard.”

  “And you? Do you look your age?”

  “How old do I look?”

  Elakdon chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t tell human age by sight.”

  “Then let me reveal that I am worn more on the outside than on the inside. I am thirty-seven.”

  Elakdon stared into his lover’s face, the pale light from the moon making him look old and haggard. How could a Royal of a people as vain as his own see right through that? He even found the scar sexy. But not in a human sexy way. It didn’t make his cock stand hard and drooling—it made him feel safe and special on a level completely different from everything he’d ever felt.

  He loved being the center of a gangbang like he just had, and he loved being lusted for by the Cubi around him when he walked through the Hall. Being at the center of Randr’s attention made it all fade, and it left room for a deep, inner peace. It left room for him to just be…him.

  “My body can never be only for you,” Elakdon said. “I was made to be for everyone.”

  Randr closed his eye and nodded, yet it seemed more in defeat than accepting a fact.

  “But there’s more to me.” Elakdon stepped closer. “You said so.”

  Randr looked up, trying for a smile.

  Elakdon stood flush against Randr and reached down for his hands. He then brought them up so that they stood mirrored, their palms touching. “Physically, we feed. Emotionally, we make love quite differently from humans. Physical pleasure can be a part of it, but just sitting with you, feeling calm and safe…” Elakdon looked at their hands, caressing Randr’s palm with ghost light touches. “The presence of someone making us feel whole is something special. To sit in silence and not feel alone is something special between two people.”

  “It could as easily describe a close friendship,” Randr said, his expression telling Elakdon he was missing the mark. But Elakdon was trying to explain the difference, and that was all he was failing in doing.

  “Your parents were friends.”

  “Based on love.”

  “In Cubi houses, we have three kinds of partners, and having one of each is considered being a rich person. We strive to have a pure friend, a pure pleasure relationship, and the rare one, a purely emotional relationship. But nothing is ever so sharply divided.”

  Randr looked at where their palms still touched lightly. “And I am the emotional relationship to you?”

  “Most definitely, Allon. You fulfill me in ways I’ve never experienced.”

  Randr chuckled. “At twenty-two, I had been madly in love three times.”

  “So have I, but never like this. I have never felt this calm.”

  “You said you wished I’d smile at you when you saw me across the room,” Randr whispered lovingly.

  Elakdon smiled, nodding. “And when you do, my heart flutters.”

  “When you’re near me, I feel…shy, torn.”

  “Why? Because of this?” Elakdon raised a hand and gently drew his fingers over the scar.

  “I was shy before that. I would have felt torn either way. I…I never thought love would find me.”

  “So you hold onto the image of your parents and the memory honored in your town?”

  “Yes. So I feel overwhelmed that the very King of the most beautiful people in the world loves me.”

  “Do you fear it?”

  “Your love? No. I fear losing it.”

  Elakdon smiled and stepped just a bit closer. He put his cheek against Randr’s scarred one, still gently touching Randr’s fingers with his own. “That’s why I brought you out here after feeding. It’s why I needed to be alone with you. Pleasure, I will take and give anywhere and at all times of the day. But this?” Elakdon rubbed his cheek against Randr’s so superficially that the physical contact was more a tease than a caress. “Intimacy is something we save for when we’re alone with someone special.”

  Randr gasped, the heat from his breath warming Elakdon’s ear. “You took me out here to finish alone?”

  “Yes.”

  Randr smiled and pulled Elakdon close, yet Elakdon needed to show him the monumental differences there could be between physical love and love of the heart, so he pulled back.

  Randr looked confused at being stopped.

  Elakdon took half a step back and raised his hands again. Randr finally followed suit, and they placed their hands palm to palm again. Elakdon slowly moved his fingers, feeling the strong hands against his own. When he looked up, Randr’s gaze was locked on him, his lips parted. He had that curious expression.

  “This is new to me,” Randr whispered, then looked at where his right hand touched Elakdon’s left hand. Their other hand dropped, and their entire focus ended up on the light physical contact they shared. It was all there was between them at that moment, yet the very air around them seemed saturated with intensity.

  “This is why it’s special,” Elakdon whispered. “No one can share feelings like this with us. No one can join in on a moment like this and gain from it. No one has this but us.”

  “Only the moon,” Randr whispered. “The moonlight makes you look like a silver god.”

  Elakdon closed his eyes, his heart filling up with the bliss of the moment. And the moment went on, time became fluent, and the only thing that took up his mind and heart was the tapping of their fingers meeting with no rhythm as they shared that moment of intense intimacy with only little physical contact.

  If this couldn’t make Randr see the difference between how love and pleasure or love and friendship could be viewed, Elakdon didn’t know how to let the man feel like the center of his world.

  A sob made Elakdon open his eyes, locking gazes with Randr. A tear rolled down Randr’s cheek. The reaction to recognizing that he’d succeeded in making Randr see how loved he was coursed through Elakdon like a lightning bolt, and he dosed from his mouth.

  Then he needed the closeness, so he pulled Randr close, not surprised at the strong grip or that they crashed to the ground in that tight embrace.

  “I see now,” Randr whispered. “I see what they can’t have from you because it's for me.”

  Elakdon tightened his grip around his lover, basking in the success of making Randr feel loved.

  Randr
took Elakdon’s wrist to guide his hand up. He then let go and placed his palm against Elakdon’s again. “Who knew a touch this light could feel like more than a kiss.”

  “It’s ours.”

  “And no one knows.”

  “Only one or two but us.”

  Randr pulled back, looking puzzled.

  “I am never alone.” Elakdon looked around. “Guards?”

  Within ten meters, two Guards stepped out from camouflage and the lean-to to keep their magic from shimmering.

  “Can I learn that?” Randr asked, staring agape.

  “It’s a question of strength. The stronger the Cubus, the stronger the ability to hide. With the doses you get from me, you will be able to, soon.”

  “Then I can be close to you without my less than attractive appearance becoming the focus.”

  Again, it hurt Elakdon to hear Randr talk like that, yet he knew Randr was right. Having him stay close and looking like that, people would always be looking at him and not focusing on Elakdon. Elakdon decided to make sure Randr rose fast so that he could hide because it was not just for Elakdon and the Kingdom, it was to aid Randr’s insecurities when being around a people so beautiful.

  “I will help you achieve it. I will help you hide close to me.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  A young human boy came in, small enough to easily make his way through the gathered Cubi and humans’ legs. He steered straight for King Harald and whispered something that made the King look at Elakdon with surprise on his face.

  Elakdon stood and stalked to him. “What is it?”

  “The boy tells of many Cubi arriving. Some with golden eyes?”

  Elakdon smiled. “The allies I told you about. I’m happy they didn’t get too lost.”

  Harald seemed appeased. “Shall we go receive them together?”

  “Let’s.” Elakdon followed Harald outside. In the distance, more than one hundred horses rode toward the enclosure of the King’s home.

  Elakdon missed Nil-Savadin. He missed her friendliness and her playful personality.

  “So many purple eyes.” Harald said. “If your sword didn’t hang next to mine, and had we not had drunk mead together in peace, I would be a worried man.”