by Pandora Pine
Carter yanked his pole backward like he had seen Fionn do and a larger fish flew out of the water onto the sandy bank. Carter stood frozen in the river watching Fionn chase it down. Just when Fionn thought he had it, the fish flopped in the other direction.
Fionn loved the sound of Carter’s laugh in the fresh evening air. He was going to hate what came next, they both would. Carter’s innocence was precious and Fionn hated the thought of Carter losing just a tiny bit of it. “Come here, Carter.”
Carter’s laughter died in his throat. Trudging out of the water and up the bank, he stood at Fionn’s side. Taking a deep breath, he knelt down beside him.
“Take your knife from its scabbard. Do you see where the gills end?” He looked up at Carter who was swallowing rapidly. Carter nodded. “That is where you will cut. Can you do this?”
Carter nodded again. “I can.” He rested his left hand on Fionn’s and held the knife poised over the fish.
“Thank you for doing us the honor of being our supper.” Fionn said solemnly as Carter made his cut. Fionn walked Carter through the rest of the cleaning and deemed them finished for the night.
“You should take a swim to clean up, while I prepare our dinner, Carter. You did well.” He dropped a kiss on Carter’s head and walked back to camp.
Carter took a hurried bath in the river. He needed to get back to Fionn to thank him for all that he had learned today. Carter admitted to himself a long time ago that he was unprepared to survive in Moone alone. Fionn was doing all he could to change that, to make Carter self-sufficient and stronger. Carter knew he had been abrasive about this when Fionn first brought it up and was a bit pissy today when he wasn’t getting his cock masterfully sucked. Carter pulled himself from the water and walked back to camp, naked and dripping.
“There you are, my heart, supper is almost ready.”
Carter kissed him, wet and sloppy, just the way Fionn liked it.
“You certainly are clean.” Fionn laughed. “Get dressed and we’ll eat.” He kissed Carter back and swatted his ass as he moved past.
“I must apologize to you, Carter.” Fionn said once they had sat down around the campfire to eat.
“No, you don’t. I need to apologize to you.”
Fionn looked puzzled. “Whatever for, Carter, you have done nothing that needs forgiving.”
Carter smiled at him. “Yes I have. I’ve been a complete dick about this whole thing. I knew a long time ago that I couldn’t survive here alone. It makes me sick to my stomach to think what would have happened to me that day if you hadn’t found me outside the gate of Moone Castle.”
Fionn’s face turned serious instantly. He had never said anything to Carter, but he had thought of that same thing himself. So many things could have gone wrong if Fionn hadn’t found him. He shivered and Carter clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“You taught me so much today, how to make camp, how to build a fire pit, how to gather the right kind of wood, how to snare, how to fish, how to clean the fish. Fionn, I can’t say thank you in enough ways for to you to understand how much today has meant to me.”
“You are most welcome, my heart. It was my pleasure, truly.” Fionn leaned forward to kiss Carter. “It is I, however who must beg your forgiveness.”
“What for?” Carter honestly had no idea what Fionn was talking about.
“For teasing you all day. I must admit it was quite enjoyable to see you all wound up and needy.”
“That didn’t sound like an apology, but then again, I’m not originally from here.” Carter laughed and Fionn joined him.
“I wanted nothing more than to spend the day lying in the soft grass enjoying your body, but I knew once we started, there would be no stopping. We needed to make camp and have a hot meal before the rain comes, and now that all of our work is done, we can spend the night curled up together listening to the sound of the rain patter on our tent.”
Shivering at Fionn’s words, Carter leaned into his side. “That sounds nice, but for listening to the rain patter on the tent. Fionn, there is no sign of rain coming.”
Leaning in to kiss Carter, Fionn was wearing a peculiar grin on his face.
“What?” Carter asked, pressing a kiss against the hollow of Fionn’s throat.
Fionn pointed to the sky and kept smiling.
Carter raised his eyes heavenward and saw the skies had turned leaden grey. No hint of blue sky was visible. “How did you know?” Carter asked, his words cut off by thunder rolling through the valley.
“We may want to move into the tent, princess.” Fionn stood and reached a hand down for Carter as lightning forked through the sky followed by a sharp crack of thunder.
Carter came easily to his feet, but instead of running for the tent, he kissed Fionn. Fat drops of rain plopped against his face and arms which were wrapped around Fionn’s neck holding him close.
“We are getting wet.”
“Don’t care.” Desire lit his dark eyes.
Fionn growled and pulled Carter’s hips closer to his own. His hot lips pressed against Carter’s while cold rain poured down on them.
Carter moaned into Fionn’s mouth when the heat of his erection pressed against Carter’s stomach. He took his arms from around his lover’s neck and dropped his hands to the ties of his breeches. Thunder crashed overhead while lightning streaked across the sky. Carter shuddered from the cold rain.
“Into the tent,” Fionn muttered, scooping Carter up into his arms and carrying him into the tent like a bride on her wedding night.
“My hero,” Carter sighed, snuggling closer to Fionn’s warm chest.
Fionn pressed a tender kiss to Carter’s cold forehead. “Undress. I do not want you catching a chill.” He deposited Carter onto the ground in the middle of the tent.
Carter shivered when he managed to pull off his sodden tunic.
“That is what you get for kissing me in the rain,” Fionn smirked.
“Have you ever been kissed in the rain before with mother nature’s elements battling all around you?”
Fionn shook his head. He had never been kissed the way Carter kissed him, wet or dry.
“So it was totally worth it then.” Carter grinned before turning to struggle out of his pants.
Fionn agreed it had been worth getting wet and having to fight his way free of his clothing. He grabbed the green wool blanket from their bed and wrapped it around Carter’s trembling shoulders, rubbing his hands along Carter’s arms to warm him up.
He grabbed a second blanket for himself and sat down in front of the tent flap. Carter, finally free of his pants dropped himself into Fionn’s lap.
“How did you know it was going to rain?” he snuggled closer to Fionn, slipping his cold hands into his lover’s warm blanket. His skin was still hot to the touch despite being out in the cold autumn rain.
Fionn pulled him closer against his chest, not liking how cold Carter’s hands were against his skin. He smiled against his cool hair. “I could smell the rain on the west wind.”
Carter smiled against the hollow of his throat before licking out to taste the raindrops freckling his skin.
“Does it rain with such force in your time and place?” Fionn asked quietly, not entirely comfortable discussing the future.
Carter nodded, not taking his tongue off Fionn’s skin. “This is amazing,” Carter whispered.
Fionn could see the wonder in Carter’s eyes as the storm raged outside the tent. He could hear the raindrops pounding on the canvas setting a frantic tattoo, like the way his heart beat when Carter kissed him. Jagged forks of lightning lit up the tent in hues of blue. The electricity in the air was hot and thick as it was between him and his foundling. He turned his eyes from the storm back to the man he held in his arms. It was amazing.
“Let me rub your back,” Carter said sweetly when Fionn returned from lighting a new fire now that the rain had stopped.
Fionn was torn. On one hand he wanted Carter’s hands on his skin. On the other hand,
it meant he would have an up close view of his scarred back.
Sensing his unease, Carter pressed a kiss to the crescent moon shaped birthmark on his shoulder. “I’ll make you feel so good,” he promised.
Fionn huffed his assent and rolled away from Carter to settle on his stomach.
Fionn’s skin was gorgeous illuminated by firelight. There wasn’t one part of his body Carter didn’t love and that included the marks on his back. He sat up and moved to straddle Fionn’s backside. He bent all the way forward to move his mass of blond hair over his right shoulder. Carter pressed a kiss against the smooth column of his neck. His fingers went to work against Fionn’s neck. He could feel the tension strung tight through his body. “Just relax,” he urged.
Fionn took a deep breath and tried to do as Carter asked.
After dinner most nights, Carter had heard members of Moone’s guard boasting about their battle scars. Tales of bravery were told and retold with comrades jumping in to add extra detail. Never in his time at the castle did he ever hear Fionn boast of the marks that crisscrossed his back.
Carter smoothed his hands down from Fionn’s tense neck to his more tense shoulders. He kneaded into the meat and Fionn grunted in response. “Am I hurting you?”
“No,” Fionn said quietly. In all the time they had spent together, Carter had shared so much about himself. What would it hurt to tell him the story of the marks on his back? He cleared his throat. “I was taken hostage when I was a lad.”
“What do you mean?” Carter kept his voice even and continued to work at the muscles in Fionn’s shoulders.
“Members of the O’Rourke clan took me as a hostage against my father.” He opened his eyes, focusing on the way the flames from the fire danced against the canvas of the tent and trying to will away visions of the past.
“How old were you?”
“I was but seven summers,” Fionn answered quietly. “I had been playing down by the banks of the Boyne River, a place my father had always forbade me from going alone, when it happened. Three men appeared out of nowhere and no matter how hard I fought, managed to tie me up and ride off with me.”
Carter traced a long, wicked looking scarred with his index finger. He felt Fionn shudder beneath his touch. He pressed his lips to the top of the raised mark and dropped a series of kisses down its length. “You were beaten?” Carter asked gently.
“Whipped.” Fionn had never before told anyone about his time in captivity, not even his father. His gut pitched and rolled as the words spilled from his mouth.
“So brave,” Carter murmured against the next scar before brushing kisses against the ruined flesh.
“I was a coward,” Fionn said, barely above a whisper. How could Carter ever love him now that his terrible secret was out?
“No. You were not,” Carter said brushing a kiss against the next mark on his back.
“I was. You don’t understand. O’Rourke kept asking for the gate password to Moone Castle. When I refused to answer, he whipped me. It got so bad that I could not stand the pain any longer and told my captor what he wanted to know.”
“Oh, Fionn.” Carter lay down on his back and wrapped his arms under Fionn’s chest.
“He whipped me harder for telling the truth and then dumped me out in the snow to live or die alone while he and his men rode to attack Moone.”
Carter burrowed closer to Fionn, hugging him tightly. “What happened?”
“The guards changed the password when I was taken. They were ready for the attack when it came. Once the skirmish ended, my father set out to find me. I was a mile away from the castle, crawling through the muck and snow. I never told him of my betrayal.”
“Is that protocol still in place today? Changing the password in the event of an abduction?”
Fionn was surprised Carter wasn’t trying to soothe his guilty conscience. “Yes,” he whispered.
“So if Jilly were taken and tortured you would consider her a traitor for divulging useless information?”
“No!” Fionn fairly roared, flipping himself over and sending Carter sprawling off his back.
“That’s my point, stubborn warrior. What you did was to save yourself.” Carter smiled and reached out for Fionn’s face, rubbing his thumb against Fionn’s bottom lip.
“It was selfish of me,” Fionn whispered, turning away from Carter.
“Saving the heir to Moone Castle was selfish?” Carter pressed a kiss against his lover’s pounding heart and moved to straddle his thighs. “You’re a hero. You’re my hero, Fionn. Everything that happened in our lives has been leading us to this moment.”
“What moment?” Fionn whispered.
Carter ducked his head and took a deep breath. “The moment I tell you I love you,” he said simply.
Fionn’s breath caught in his throat. He never before considered his actions twenty-three years ago to be heroic, but Carter did. That, plus Carter saying he loved him was overwhelming. “I love you too, my heart. I have all along.”
Carter burst out laughing, the tears he tried to keep at bay finally cascaded down his cheeks. “Even when you thought I was a spy?”
“Especially then.” Fionn’s eyes glowed with need. “My anger and my need for you were at constant war with each other.” Fionn pulled him down for a searing kiss. His tongue lashed against Carter’s lips until he opened up for him.”
Carter could feel the evidence of Fionn’s need digging into his stomach, hard and hot. He was just as hard and ready for Fionn.
Wrapping his legs around Carter’s, Fionn flipped them over so he was straddling Carter who had rolled over onto his back easily. “Stay,” he whispered, standing to strip out of his breeches.
Backlit by the fire, Fionn seemed larger than life, almost godlike.
Carter licked his lips and moved his hands to the ties of his breeches. He managed to wiggle his pants down his hips before taking them off his feet. His cock stood tall, leaking pre-come.
“The time has come for us to be joined as one.” He stepped forward, giving his cock a few slow pulls. “Roll over onto your knees, my heart.”
Carter bit his bottom lip and shook his head no. “I want to look deep into your eyes when you come inside me.”
Fionn frowned. He had never taken a lover face-to-face before. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that level of intimacy. He had also never told a partner he was in love with him before, so it seemed it was a day for new things. Instead of joining Carter on their bed, he went to his saddlebag and pulled out a small jar. He brought it back to the bed with him.
“What is that?”
Fionn removed the lid and dipped his fingers inside. “It is saddle grease. It will ease my way inside you.”
Carter nodded, grateful Fionn had thought to pack lube. He spread his legs wide, opening himself up to Fionn. Shuddering when Fionn brushed the lube against his hole, he reached out to grab Fionn’s shoulders when his first finger pushed inside.
“So tight, my heart,” Fionn murmured, mesmerized by the way his finger looked moving inside Carter’s body.
“It’s been a while.” Carter gasped when Finn added a second finger.
“We will fit together perfectly,” Fionn said, dipping his fingers back in the jar. He smoothed the viscous grease down his cock, moaning at the motion of his hand. Unable to wait any longer, he nudged the head of his cock against Carter’s entrance and pushed forward.
Carter gasped at Fionn’s invasion. He gritted his teeth and clenched Finn’s shoulders as his cock continue to breach his passage, sucking in a relieved breath when Finn finally bottomed out.
“Are you well, Carter?” he asked solicitously. It was the first time he had ever stopped to consider a lover’s comfort.
Carter nodded and slid his hands to cup Fionn’s face. “I’m good. You feel so good.”
“This binds our souls together for all eternity, my Anam cara.”
“Soulmates,” Carter whispered, instantly missing Fionn as he pulled away and almost ou
t of Carter’s body.
Fionn drew a shaky breath, trying to rein himself back under control. Carter’s tight passage in combination with his affirming them as soul friends almost tipped him over the edge.
“Please, Fionn, take me,” Carter panted. “I’ve waited so long to have you.”
Fionn’s eyes darkened, need pounded through his veins. He gripped Carter’s knees in either hand spreading his legs wide and slammed home.
Carter howled when his cock nudged his prostate. “Fuck, Fionn, more!”
Fionn obeyed, losing himself in the rhythm of their joining. He was pounding into Carter as hard as he dared, while his lover rose to meet each thrust. He wasn’t going to last long at this pace.