by A. R. Moler
“A thousand years’ worth?”
“Yes. Bear in mind, there’s a fair amount of repetition,” Riadh said.
“Okay, that makes sense.” Dale began grinding the copal into a powder and mixing it and the salt into the alcohol. He lit the candle, whispering the words “Burning bright.” The flame blossomed from the wick. It felt ridiculously easy, and Dale stood there with his hand near the candle.
“I suspect the blocks that Summer said you had, aren’t there anymore.” Riadh laid his hand against Dale’s back.
“I don’t know whether to be thrilled or terrified.”
“Maybe a little of both.”
Dale gritted his teeth and slit the skin of his forearm with the knife. He held his arm over the bowl and allowed a few dozen drops of his blood to fall into the liquid. Riadh handed him a dish towel and Dale pressed it against his arm until the bleeding stopped.
It took another twenty minutes to circle the outside of the house, letting drops of liquid fall every couple of steps until he’d made a complete circuit. As he finished the path, he murmured “Around and around, this house be bound.” An invisible wash of energy thrummed into existence.
“Now do all the doors and windows,” Riadh said.
By the time Dale completed that, it felt like if he looked hard enough, he could see a faint shimmer enveloping the entire house. “Is it done?”
“Seems to be.”
“Good.” Dale heaved a deep breath. “I feel wiped.”
“Magic of this magnitude takes energy and focus. We should probably eat. I’ll cook.”
* * * *
After dinner, Dale relaxed on the sofa, TV turned on with the volume low. Riadh leaned against Dale’s shoulder, his fingers threaded through Dale’s. They had done this many times before but tonight it seemed oddly tense.
“Waiting for the other shoe to drop?” Dale asked.
“The past couple of days have been…”
“Hellish?”
“That’s a halfway adequate word.”
“It’s done. You’re safe. Damn, I feel like I keep saying that, and you have this look like you’re not sure if it’s true.”
“My life, my existence has changed quite a number of times before. I keep expecting…something new to blindside me,” Riadh admitted.
Dale put an arm around Riadh and hugged him close. “I’m sorry. I should have protected you better.”
“You didn’t know, and we thought the house was guarded well enough after the first break in. It’s not like we did nothing.”
“Still, I fucked up. I assumed, without enough intel, and that’s both stupid and careless.”
“It’s not your fault.” Riadh kissed Dale.
The kiss went on and on, and Dale slowly pushed Riadh flat on the sofa, sliding a hand under Riadh’s shirt to touch skin.
“Upstairs, where there’s a bed and lube would be better,” Dale said.
Riadh nodded and let Dale lead him up the stairs to the bedroom. Even though Dale had frequently had him remove his clothes the traditional way, it was disconcerting to know making them vanish was never going to be an option again.
Dale slowly pulled Riadh’s t-shirt off, and dropped it on the floor. “I want to make love to you.”
Riadh smiled. He’d gotten used to care and emotion with sex, and suddenly he stiffened. Memories.
“Babe? Riadh?” Dale touched Riadh’s cheek.
“I’m sorry. I just…He…”
Dale took Riadh’s hands. “Talk to me. I know that shit did things to you.”
“It would likely be better if you didn’t know.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” Dale pulled Riadh down to sit on the bed, and put his arms gently around his lover. “Either it was worse than I’m envisioning or it wasn’t. I need to face it and I think you do, too.”
“Henning delivered bad news to him while I was serving him dinner. He gutted me with a carving knife and watched me bleed out until I discorporated and went back to the box.” Riadh closed his eyes for a moment. “I’ve had it done before. It’s never pleasant.”
“God. What else?”
Riadh hesitated. He wasn’t required to tell, but that might not be a fabulous way to begin this change in their relationship. “I was ordered to take the shape of a woman.”
“Um, okay, why?”
“So that he could have sex with me, in a way that was optimal for him.”
Dale was quiet for a while, just holding Riadh, petting his arm. “He raped you.”
“I have had it done a number of times before. I doubt it will be…”
Dale cut him off. “Do not complete that sentence. It will never happen again. You will never have to let someone do that to you. If you want me to never touch you again, I won’t be happy but I’ll do it. You’re not bound. You’re human. Consent is yours to give or withhold.”
The pain in Dale’s words drew tears to Riadh’s eyes. “Sex with you is kind and caring and pleasurable. I love you. I want to be with you.”
“Maybe we should put this off for a while.”
“It’s my choice. I consent. I love you, Dale.”
Dale still looked awfully uncertain, so Riadh leaned in for a kiss and whispered, “I want to take your clothes off.” Dale nodded and let Riadh strip off his shirt, then he stood to make it easier for Riadh to remove the jeans.
As Riadh put Dale’s jeans and underwear off to the side, he gave Dale’s naked form a long look. Years in the military had given Dale visible muscle bulk. Scars on his shoulder told the tale of the injury that had ended his active service. His dick hung heavy and half aroused, and Riadh wondered if this was going to be one of those nights when performance was dubious and they’d spend the time using mouths and hands. He didn’t care. Anything that gave him the chance to be intimate with the man before him.
Riadh shed the rest of his own clothes and left them beside Dale’s. He stretched out on the bed and Dale lay down against him. Slowly, gently, they returned to the kissing and touching that had started downstairs.
Dale wound a leg around Riadh’s leg, holding him close, one hand skimming down Riadh’s hip and then stroked his cock. “Top me.” It was a low husky plea.
“I thought…”
“I need for you to be the one in control, otherwise I’m…just indulge me. I want to be sure.” Dale lifted his hand back to Riadh’s face and touched the man’s mouth.
“I love you.” Riadh pressed his lips to Dale’s fingertips.
Rolling onto his back, Dale pulled Riadh with him, so Riadh lay on top of his body. The position aligned them such that their cocks ground against each other’s. More kissing. More petting. Riadh wanted to be sure, too, sure that Dale trusted him enough. Gods…this was such an emotion tangled mess and yet he loved Dale so much.
Eventually Riadh reached for the lube that lay on the nightstand. Dale lifted his knees toward his chest. Riadh rubbed a slick finger across Dale’s opening, only gradually working it in. Dale tensed for a moment. It was unexpected. Riadh patiently waited for his lover to take a deep breath and relax. Riadh bent forward and licked up the length of Dale’s cock before fingering him deeper.
* * * *
He hadn’t let anyone do this since Colin. But if he was picking someone to give this level of trust to, it was Riadh.
Oh God, that was good. Dale groaned at the sensation of fingers penetrating him, sliding across intimate spots. He mumbled, “More.” Riadh added fingers and Dale writhed. Running his mouth along the inside of Dale’s thigh, he nipped lightly at the skin there. Dale reached out and put a hand on Riadh’s head. “Slow down.” Fingers slipped out and Dale blew out a slow breath.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t want to come from your fingers alone. I want you in me.”
Riadh tilted his head and gave Dale a thoughtful look. “I was going to say that I can offer you as many climaxes as you want but since I’m human now I don’t know if that’s true.”
<
br /> “How ‘bout we focus on here and now, and everything else we’ll figure out?”
“All right. Do you want more prep or…”
“No, do it, in part because I’m not sure if I can hold off again.”
Riadh squeezed more lube into his hand and slicked his cock. He knelt closer and thrust in slowly.
Judging from the way he clenched his teeth, and how his fingers tightened on Dale’s hip, he wasn’t too far from his own orgasm.
The pressure, the hint of a burn and the push against his prostate sent Dale hurtling so much closer to coming. He moaned. This was good and intense and…the next thrust damn near pushed him over the edge. Another and he was spurting come over his belly as ecstasy washed through him. Riadh canted his hips a couple more times and Dale could feel the pulsing liquid warmth as his lover spent inside him.
Riadh eased down on top of him, kissing him. Dale was still riding the tail end of the rush. He wrapped both arms around Riadh and held his lover. “I could have lost you,” he whispered. The vision of Riadh begging him to burn the box flitted through his head and he held onto Riadh that much tighter.
“It was…close.”
“Too close. I need to learn as much as possible. I need to make sure you’re never in that level of danger ever again. I love you, I want the next forty or fifty years with you. Does that sound crazy?”
“No, not at all. That sounds very human. I love you, too.”
THE END
ABOUT A.R. MOLER
A.R. Moler is a chemistry professor at a community college, a homeschooling mom, and an avid science fiction fan. She is a devotee of first hand research for her writing whenever possible and to this end has: learned to fire a handgun, been rappelling, ridden with both EMS and the police, flown a helicopter, bought a motorcycle, and learned to ride it. She has traveled to nearly all the places where her stories are set and taken hundreds of photos for documentation. She has been writing since her high school years, but only recently has become published. For more information, visit armoler.com.
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