by Pandora Pine
“Now, Davin thinks I’m your boy because I’m getting special treatment and was late to the stables.” Carter was practically screeching.
“You are mine. No one else will touch you,” Fionn said darkly.
“You’re such a caveman,” Carter yelled. He was secretly thrilled Fionn was so possessive. “You don’t understand.”
Carter was right, he didn’t understand, but he wanted to. He had hoped the extra sleep he allowed Carter had made a difference in how sore he was today. Carter had been sleeping so soundly when he rose, he didn’t have the heart to wake him. He should have known Davin and the others would be upset by Carter not being held to the same rigid standards they were held to. Fionn’s gut twisted on itself. The other thing he should’ve known was his constant barbs and mistrust would be upsetting.
Carter’s dark eyes were swimming in unshed tears he was sure Carter didn’t know were even there. He climbed back to his feet and took a step toward Carter. “Help me to understand,” he said gently, reaching out to cup Carter’s face.
Hot tears scalded down his cheeks to puddle on his blue tunic. “I’m scared, Fionn. This time and place are all new to me. My one chance to fit in here was my job in the stable. Do you see what you’ve done by making me stand apart from all of the other stable hands?” he cried before turning from a stunned Fionn and stomping off.
Fionn could only stand by and watch him go.
21
Dinner wasn’t the same without Carter’s bright smile. Fionn hadn’t seen him since their fight earlier. He was becoming more agitated the longer this argument went on.
“Still upset over your boy?” Donnall leaned close to ask. “In all the years we have been friends, you have never acted like this over a lover, man or woman.”
“Do not call him that,” Fionn fairly growled.
“Everyone is calling him that. I figured you approved.”
“I am angry because it has upset Carter, not because it is true.” He snorted at the confused look on his oldest friend’s face. “I taught him to ride yesterday and he was sore. I did not wake him when I left his bed this morning.”
“You are sleeping with him?” Donnall said, shocked. “Sharing a bed and actually sleeping?” he asked.
“Not that it is any of your concern, but yes. Davin accused him of getting special treatment because he is my boy,” Fionn sneered the last word like it tasted bad in his mouth.
“And that upset the foundling?” Donnall grabbed the pitcher of ale to refill both of their tankards.
Fionn raised an eyebrow. “His name is Carter and yes. He wants to fit in here and thinks he cannot do so if others think he receives special treatment.”
“So he wants to be treated like everyone else?” Donnall smiled before slugging down half of his ale in one swallow.
“It would seem so.” Fionn sighed. He had made such a muck of things with Carter.
“I would venture to say that is admirable of the lad. Shows he is not afraid of a little hard work.” Donnall drained his tankard and reached for pitcher.
“True. I had thought the same myself.” He reached for his tankard of ale and took a long drink, wiping his wet mouth with the back of his hand. “He is angry that I still accuse him of spying on us.”
“I thought we agreed you were going to stop that shite. It’s not like you to vacillate on a decision.”
Fionn frowned. “I did agree to stop that shite. Then Carter asked after my day. I am unused to people asking if my day was satisfactory.”
“And you thought that was an act of espionage?” Donnall asked, biting his lip.
“Yes. He was hurt. I continue to hurt him, yet he continues to…” Fionn sighed.
“To forgive you?” Donnall was grinning like a fool.
Fionn nodded sharply growing more uncomfortable by the moment over this topic of conversation. He and Donnall had shared everything over their long years of friendship, but even so, sharing his feelings still made his stomach feel as if it were filled with wriggling worms.
“Where is Carter now? Why does he not join us to sup?”
“I have not seen him since we fought,” he said quietly. Fionn stood abruptly, knocking his large chair over backward. He was halfway out the door when Donnall’s voice stopped him.
“If you really want him to be one of the men, you will send him outside to sleep with them.”
“Over my dead body!” Fionn shouted. The last thing he heard was Donnall’s roar of laughter.
22
Carter was hungry and miserable. He knew he should go down and share the evening meal, but he wasn’t strong enough to face Fionn.
He felt sick to his stomach the moment he turned and stomped away like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but by that point it was too late to turn around and go back. Worse, he had struck Fionn. True, there were moments when his stubborn warrior teased him and showed mistrust, but he had also taken Carter into his home and given him food and clothing. If not for Fionn, he would be alone and helpless to survive in this century.
Fresh tears began to flow down his cheeks. He batted them away angrily. What was wrong with him? He’d spent most of his life dreaming of spending time with Fionn and now that he was here, he was hiding in his bedroom. A knock at his door pulled him back to the present. “Who is it?” he asked.
“It is Fionn. May I enter?”
Carter opened the door to see him carrying a tray laden with more food than he could eat in a month. “What’s this?”
“It is your supper. I am told you did not break your fast until the noon meal and even then you did not take much.” Fionn walked to the small table at the side of the fireplace and set down the tray. “Please eat.” He pulled out one of the chairs for Carter.
Carter was confused. Why was Fionn bringing him dinner on a tray? And why wasn’t he mad at him? Carter did as he asked and sat in the chair.
Fionn pulled the table closer to Carter and took the opposite chair for himself.
“I’m sorry, Fionn,” he said around a mouthful of pheasant, “for acting like an arse earlier.”
Fionn nodded. “I am sorry as well for not waking you this morning and suspecting you of spying on me, repeatedly. It is obvious you are not of my world,” he said with a grin.
“Obvious, is it?” Carter slathered a thick piece of bread with butter and ate half of it with one ravenous bite.
“You cannot wield a sword, you cannot ride a horse and you throw a punch like a toddler girl.”
Carter burst out laughing. He had been in plenty of scrapes growing up and because of that, his father taught him how to defend himself. “You don’t grow up gay in South Boston and not know how to fight.”
“What is being happy to do with fighting?” Confusion was etched all over Fionn’s face.
“Gay means homosexual. That I like men,” Carter said quietly.
“You were struck because you favored men over women?” Fionn asked incredulously.
Carter nodded, ashamed. There had been many days he’d come home from school bloody, but proud in knowing he’d given as good as he got.
Fionn stood from his chair and pulled Carter into his arms, pressing soft kisses against his dark hair.
Carter held on tight, feeling safe in Fionn’s arms. He’d always had the acceptance of his family, Cadence especially, but it was nice being held by a man who shared his sexuality and understood his struggles.
“No one will hit you again,” he said solemnly. “I will not allow it.”
“Why doesn’t anyone here mind that the lord of the castle prefers men to women?” It was a question Carter had been meaning to ask but hadn’t worked up the courage to voice until now.
Fionn gave him a curious look. “No one cares who I take to my bed because it is of no consequence to my ability to protect the castle and my people. That kind of hatred toward others you experienced is why we have kept to Celtic gods and goddesses of old.”
Carter nodded. It still boggled his mind how mu
ch hatred existed over something that was no one’s business but his own. Pulling back from Fionn’s embrace, he looked up to see a stubborn look on his face. He had no doubt Fionn would keep him safe, but that wasn’t the point. He needed to keep Fionn safe. “I need to learn how to fight in order to survive. I want to learn how to properly throw a punch and how to wield a sword to defend myself and my people.”
His heart filled with pride at Carter’s words. “Your people?”
“You welcomed me into your home. You gave me shelter and food. I would like to stay, if you’ll still have me?” More than anything, he wanted to build a life here at Moone Castle with Fionn. Spending the last two nights falling asleep in Fionn’s arms was a dream come true. If he had his way, he’d spend every night for the rest of his life in Fionn’s arms, but first, he needed to save his stubborn warrior.
“Yes, princess, I will still have you.” Fionn leaned in to brush a kiss against his soft lips.
“I like it when you call me princess,” he admitted softly before kissing Fionn again.
“Finish eating. You will need your strength for what is to come.”
“How did you spend the rest of your day?” Fionn asked as Carter lay in his arms on the large fur rug in front of the fireplace. Between the two of them they managed to eat most of the food Fionn had brought with him.
“You mean after I stomped off like an angry toddler?”
Fionn’s answer was to pull Carter deeper into his chest. It hadn’t been easy watching Carter walk away from him. Never having been in a relationship before, he was unsure if he should let Carter go and sort himself out alone or if he should have run after him and made Carter listen to the reasons why he left his princess to sleep.
“I went to see Cerberus. He was mad at me.”
Fionn laughed and rolled Carter onto his back. “Horses do not get angry.”
“He snapped at me and if I’d been a second slower he would’ve bitten my hand off.” Carter pushed up to press a kiss against the warm hollow of Fionn’s neck. “I know you let me sleep late because I was sore from riding, but from now on please wake me when you get up. I hated waking up alone.”
“Did you miss me, princess?” He dipped his head to lick a stripe up Carter’s neck.
Carter slid his hands under Fionn’s tunic and over his lower back. His fingers moved over puckered skin and raised scars. Fionn’s expression darkened with each mark his fingers touched. “I did. My day went to hell without a good morning kiss from my stubborn warrior.”
Fionn was fighting the discomfort he felt over Carter tracing his scars and the desire his warm hands were stoking into a fast building fire. “I did kiss you good morn. It was not my fault you were too lost in your dreams to remember it.”
Carter’s finger slid past a deep, grooved scar over Fionn’s left shoulder blade and shivered.
Fionn jerked back like he had been burned. Not being from this time and place, would Carter find his scars repulsive?
“Wait.” Carter reached for him and missed as Fionn regained his feet and strode to the connecting door between their chambers. Carter scrambled back to his feet and ran to the door, staying his large hand on the knob.
“I shivered out of fear, not disgust,” he said softly, pressing a light kiss to the back of Fionn’s neck. He traced his other hand over Fionn’s left shoulder blade. “Only the thin bone of your shoulder stopped the weapon from piercing your heart.” Carter took a ragged breath, trying not to cry in front of the giant warrior for the second time that day. “I never would have met you if…”
Fionn sighed and rested his forehead against the heavy wooden door. He was not used to this level of intimacy with anyone. When he fumbled with lovers in the dark it was always from behind, his shirt on with his pants around his ankles. He was dressed and on his way moments after the last tremor of release shook his body.
“Aren’t scars symbols of bravery?”
“They are,” Fionn said with uncharacteristic quietness.
Carter pressed another kiss to the back of his neck. “They tell the story of your life,” he murmured. “Stay with me,” Carter urged. He wrapped his hands around Fionn’s hips and slipped his hands up the warm, furred skin of his stomach. The wiry hair tickled against his fingertips.
Carter’s hands were hot against his bare stomach. “You are truly not repulsed?” If Carter’s heavy erection digging into the back of his thigh was any indication, the answer was no, but he needed to be sure.
Carter brushed another kiss against his warm skin. “No, you silly, handsome, stubborn warrior.”
Fionn smiled and turned to face Carter. “Handsome, am I?”
Carter nodded, watching in fascination as Fionn hauled off his shirt.
Carter couldn’t help but stare as he took in Fionn’s bare chest up close. His pecks were well defined, sloping off his broad, thick shoulders. His arms were massive. Carter doubted he could wrap both hands around one bicep and touch the fingers of his other hand. “Did I say handsome?” he rasped. “I meant gorgeous.” He set his hands on Fionn’s bare shoulders, sliding them down over the crescent moon shaped freckle on his arm and down his chest before stopping to tweak his pebbled nipples. Carter dropped a kiss over Fionn’s pounding heart.
“Your turn.” Fionn smirked and pulled Carter’s shirt up and over his head. “Look at all those freckles.” He sighed, tracing a finger from one freckle to the next. “I could spend a week connecting the dots.” His eyes darkened with need.
Carter wasn’t as well-built. He had a slimmer build but was in good shape. Before his tumble through the looking glass, he ran five days a week and lifted weights to keep in shape.
Fionn’s long fingers went for the ties of his breeches. “I tire of sleeping with barriers between us. Strip,” Fionn commanded, sounding every bit the Lord he was.
“Yes, sir.” Carter tipped him a salute and eased his pants down his slim hips. His cock bobbed against his stomach. Carter looked up to see a fully naked Fionn standing in front of him. The light from the fireplace danced over his golden skin. He looked god-like, tall and strong. Fionn was larger than life.
Fionn gave his leaking cock a few slow tugs while Carter watched on, his eyes blown wide. Fionn strode to him, pulling Carter close and devouring his mouth in a searing kiss.
Carter’s hands slipped over Fionn’s hips and down over the hard twin globes of his ass. His hands kneaded the heavy muscles. Fionn’s cock, hard and heavy against his abdomen was leaving a trail of pre-come in its wake. He wanted to sink to his knees and suck Fionn off, but would wait to see what Fionn wanted from him.
Fionn pulled back from their kiss wanting nothing more than to set Carter on his hands and knees and pounded into him from behind. The look of desire warring with adoration on Carter’s face stopped him from doing just that. Instead, he lifted Carter up and dropped him onto the center of the soft mattress, his own body following to hover over him.
Carter was running his hands over the hard steel that was Fionn’s biceps. “So strong,” he murmured.
Fionn bent lower, capturing Carter’s full bottom lip with his teeth, while his right hand wrapped around both of their erections. Carter’s flesh was hot in his hand.
“Oh, fuck,” Carter muttered low, gripping Fionn’s arms tighter, his eyes rolling back in his head.
“Open your eyes, princess. I would see you when you find your bliss.”
Carter’s eyes popped open to stare at his lover. Fionn’s long hair curtained around their faces making the world they had created for themselves that much more intimate. Fionn’s large hand moved over their cocks with agonizing slowness.
Fionn wanted his hand to move faster and wanted to see his come splatter over Carter’s stomach, but he would keep the pace slow. Every move Fionn made was deliberate, to bring Carter closer and closer to the edge. This was so different for him, for the first time in his life he was more interested in someone else’s pleasure rather than his own.
“Feels s
o good,” Carter managed to whisper.
“Steel meeting steel,” Fionn mumbled, breaking eye contact with Carter to watch his hand move over their heated flesh.
Carter levered himself up on one elbow and pressed a kiss against Fionn’s heart before he sucked a bruise into the hot skin. When Carter pulled back, Fionn’s intense stare was locked on to his own eyes. Fionn’s eyes were so dark with passion, only a thin blue ring was visible.
“Mine,” Carter whispered, indicating the mark on his lover’s chest before looking up to meet his eyes again.
Carter’s show of possession was almost his undoing. He growled low in his throat, reaching for his last bit of control. Where he once could not have cared less about his partner’s satisfaction, he desperately wanted Carter to find his release before he sought his own.