A Love Like Fire: High Fantasy M/M Romance (Juxtan Book 1)

by Tricia Owens

  Hadrian blinked. "How is that possible? This feels so good already."

  Caledon laughed with genuine delight. "Gods, Hadrian, you've a skill for stroking a man's ego. It’s no wonder I've fallen so hard for you."

  Hadrian's face registered the words at the same moment Caledon realized what he'd said. "You've fallen―"

  Caledon squeezed Hadrian's shaft, drawing a desperate moan from him. "Enough," Caledon whispered, shaky for reasons he did not want to think about. "Will you let me show you these things? Will you let me teach you the pleasure that you and I are able to find with each other?"

  If Hadrian still considered what the mercenary had said, he made no show of it. On his face now was only pure, untarnished desire.

  "Show me," he breathed. "I want to learn everything."

  Caledon smiled, joy and desire unfurling through his body. "Then up onto your knees, love."

  Hadrian gathered his shaking limbs beneath him and rose onto all fours. He trembled as Caledon soothed him with long, slow strokes up and down his spine.

  "You're doing fine, love. Just fine," he murmured, placing gentle kisses against the back of his shoulders. "It's going to become more intense from here, but I promise you that you'll enjoy it."

  "It's alright," Hadrian panted, his head concealed by the lush fall of his dark hair. "I know you won't hurt me."

  Caledon kissed his shoulder. “Thank you.”

  He reached up and ran his fingers through Hadrian's hair, letting the silky strands slip between the webbing. He gently massaged his bent head, earning a sensual groan. Caledon smiled and slid his hands down over the back of Hadrian's neck and began to knead the tight muscles there.

  "You need to relax, love," he murmured. "This is only going to feel good. Easy, now."

  "I'm sorry," Hadrian panted. "I'm trying..."

  "Shhh, don't apologize. Don't think about anything except how this feels. Forget your mind, Hadrian. Become your body. Feel what I'm doing to you. Enjoy it."

  After a moment of steady kneading, Caledon felt the muscles loosen beneath his hands. "That's it." He continued the massage lower, working out the tight knots of Hadrian's shoulders and once they were soft and warm, down along the muscles bracketing his spine.

  In the moonlight, Hadrian's skin glowed. Caledon's ministrations became less massaging and more caressing as he drifted down the tempting length of his body. At his hips, Caledon settled his palms over the creamy globes of Hadrian's buttocks and gently squeezed. Hadrian made a low sound and pushed back slightly. Caledon palmed the soft flesh, satisfying his need to mold Hadrian's buttocks to the shape of his hands. He spread the abundant flesh and glimpsed the tiny pink entrance his body yearned to breach. Caledon laughed quietly to himself at how his shaft jumped with excitement at the sight. I need to heed my own advice and calm down, he mused.

  Hadrian heard the laugh and lifted his head. Silver-gray eyes flashed over his shoulder. "What are you―what are you laughing about?"

  Even in the milky light, Caledon could see that his cheeks were flushed with arousal and mounting embarrassment.

  "Don't even think that I'm laughing at you," Caledon told him with quiet sternness. "I’m poking fun at myself. I have a fair bit of experience, Hadrian, and yet one look at you and I’m at risk of losing my control. I am ashamed at how green my body is acting."

  The gray eyes regarded him with sudden intent. "Is it so bad to be...green?"

  The question pinched Caledon's heart. He moved up over Hadrian's body, draping an arm around his waist while bracing the other against the straw. "Is it so bad that I get to be the first to show you pleasure?" he whispered into Hadrian’s ear. "Is it so bad that I get to be the first to hear you moan in desire, the first to brand my touch onto your skin...is that what you mean?" He felt Hadrian shiver beneath him. "Oh, no, Hadrian. Being green is good. Being green makes me hard." As proof, he rubbed himself against the curve of a buttock, letting Hadrian feel how true his words were.

  Hadrian let out a ragged sigh. "Keep going."

  Caledon dragged his tongue along the swell of a shoulder as he traced his fingers across Hadrian's chest, searching. He caught a tiny nipple and gently rolled it between his fingertips. Hadrian bucked beneath him, unconsciously rolling his hips in a way that left Caledon's mouth dry. Gods, but Hadrian was sensual without even knowing that he was. He was like a horse that yearned for the freedom of the open range and yet desired a strong hand to guide him there. Let it be me.

  Caledon played with the small nub of flesh, relishing the sounds Hadrian made. He found Hadrian's other nipple and played with it until it, too, was sensitive to just the tiniest of brushes of his fingertips. He began to kiss his way down Hadrian's back while dragging his fingers along his abdomen, until his fingers circled the indentation of Hadrian's navel. Caledon felt the inhalation of Hadrian’s breath more than he heard it.

  "I'm going to touch you," Caledon told him in a husky voice. "Would you like that?"

  Hadrian made a sound and Caledon knew that he must be biting his lip.

  "Would you like me to stroke that ache between your thighs?" he teased. "Do you remember how good it felt to have my hand wrapped around you, squeezing you, stroking you―"

  "Please!" Hadrian gasped, thrusting against air. "Please do it."

  Caledon couldn't help himself, aroused by the novelty of having someone so innocent beneath him. "Please, what, Hadrian? Say it."

  "T-touch me!"

  Caledon shut his eyes, thrilled by the spark of fire that ripped through his veins. "Hadrian, you're going to kill me before this is over," he said with a breathy laugh. "Let me return the favor."

  He curled his fingers about the hard heat between Hadrian's thighs, grinning into the darkness as Hadrian cried out, his head flying back.

  "Have you ever had anyone touch you this way?" Caledon asked as he stroked the velvety flesh in his palm.

  "N-never before you!" Hadrian gasped, twisting and writhing in and out of Caledon's hand as if he didn't know how to move. "Oh, gods, Caledon―it feels so good."

  "It gets better, love."

  He pumped Hadrian steadily, listening to his breathing become faster, more desperate. Caledon read the signs of his growing passion in the uncontrollable jerking of his hips, in the clenching of his fists in the blanket. His moans filled the otherwise silent night. Hadrian was so excited it stole Caledon's breath.

  "Don't fight it," Caledon told him, reaching down to cradle the twin globes behind the shaft he fisted. The added sensation made Hadrian release a desperate moan. "Why are you holding on?" he asked in a soft voice. "It's alright to let go. It's only you and me here. It's alright, Hadrian. Don't be afraid."

  "Caledon...please," Hadrian whimpered.

  Caledon didn't know what he was asking for. For him to stop? For him to continue? It could have been either. Caledon had never had anyone fight their desires this way. It was alarming and enflaming at the same time. His own cock grew harder at the visible and audible signs of Hadrian's resistance. Caledon couldn't stop himself from rubbing himself against a slender thigh.

  "What is it you want?" he asked the quaking body beneath him. "What do you need?"

  Hadrian shook his head frantically. He was so swollen in Caledon's hand that the mercenary knew it must be nearing pain. "Just...hold―"

  He didn't finish but Caledon understood. With a strong arm wrapped about Hadrian's waist, he lifted the younger man upright and held him against his chest. Hadrian collapsed back into his embrace, his head falling to the side so that his breath flashed across Caledon's collarbone.

  "I've got you," Caledon breathed, beginning to ache himself. "Just let go. I won't let you fall."

  With a broken cry, Hadrian arched against him, fingers digging painfully into the arm wrapped about his waist. Caledon breathed a sigh of relief as warmth dripped down his fingers and Hadrian became boneless within his arms. Hadrian made a sound very similar to a sob and dropped his head against Caledon's shoulder.


  Caledon's breath fanned his hair as he looked down at the spent man. "You fought that the entire time, you beautiful fool. I had no idea you’re such a deviant. Perhaps I'll tie you up next time, eh?" He grinned into the dazed gray eyes that looked up at him in confusion. "Never mind. I was joking."

  Hadrian shifted, his eyes clearing as Caledon's erection jabbed into the small of his back. "What about you?"

  "That was just the beginning," Caledon told him in a thickening voice. "Now comes the truly wild part." He kissed Hadrian's lips and murmured against the soft skin, "Back down, love. I want to show you something."

  Hadrian bent forward again. Caledon spent a moment admiring his sweat-sheened body with hands and eyes. Hadrian responded immediately to his touches, his skin sensitized and reacting to the slightest touch. He moaned softly as Caledon caressed him into hardness once again.

  "So beautiful," Caledon murmured, stroking him leisurely. With his free hand, he reached beneath the blanket and dug around in the straw. He grinned when he found the small pot of oil he had secreted there earlier. Arrogant? Perhaps. Willing to be caught unprepared? Never.

  Coating the tips of his fingers with the oil, he let his fingers float over the curves of Hadrian's hips. Hadrian was fully hard again and moving fitfully in Caledon's hand.

  "Eager like a colt," Caledon teased, earning him a dark look from over Hadrian's shoulder.

  "Don't compare me to livestock," Hadrian protested. "Even though you're about to...about to..."

  "Mount you," Caledon whispered huskily and felt his cock jolt at the shudder than ran the length of Hadrian’s spine.

  With a pounding heart, he traced the crease between Hadrian’s buttocks with his fingers. Watching him carefully, Caledon found the puckered entrance to his body and slowly circled it. Hadrian shifted restlessly, perturbed by the unfamiliar touch.

  "Relax," Caledon said as he rubbed his fingertip over the clenching muscle. "This will feel good. I promise you. But you must relax first, and let me in." Caledon picked up the speed of his strokes along Hadrian's shaft and used the distraction to push the tip of his finger inside. Hadrian clenched, but quickly eased. "There you go. Easy."

  "I don't know if I like this," Hadrian panted. "It feels odd." His body belied his words though, as it pushed back upon the invading digit.

  "It's going to feel damned good in a minute," Caledon assured him. "Just wait. I'll have you in a quivering puddle in no time."

  Hadrian laughed tensely. "And that's a good thing?"

  Caledon smiled as he twisted his finger, drawing a startled gasp from his young lover. "Oh, yes, Hadrian. That's a very good thing. You'll see."

  Caledon skillfully located and stroked that nub of pleasure inside him. Hadrian yelped and nearly bucked off of Caledon’s finger. Caledon caught him tighter about the waist, holding Hadrian steady as he explored the tight passage of his body, caressing that spot again and again.

  Hadrian whimpered and moaned as his arousal grew. Caledon felt the constricting muscles about his finger ease up and took that as a signal to go further. He carefully slid another finger inside and then another, pumping them into the loosening channel of Hadrian's body.

  "How does that feel?" he panted. He placed an openmouthed kiss against the back of Hadrian’s shoulder. "Do you like what I'm doing to you?"

  Hadrian whimpered. His arms shook as Caledon relentlessly stroked him, inside and out. "I can't...bear it," he gasped. "Don't stop."

  Caledon chuckled darkly. "What if I stopped only to place something larger here." He pressed down on Hadrian’s gland, making Hadrian sob and spread his legs wider still. "Something bigger, and harder, and hotter rubbing right over this." He nipped a pale shoulder. "Would you like that, love? Hmm?"

  Hadrian tore at the blanket. His body was slick and shiny with the force of his desire. Shudders rode the length of his body, the shivers transmitted to Caledon's chest and arms. Hadrian was close. He just needed a little push.

  "Would you like me to fill you up?" Caledon continued in a husky voice, his own hips starting to move with barely restrained need. "Push into you and ease that ache you have, Hadrian? I bet you ache. I bet it feels so good it hurts."

  Hadrian pushed himself backwards, impaling himself deeper on Caledon's fingers.

  "What do you want?" Caledon whispered. "Tell me."

  Hadrian panted. "You know what I want."

  "But I want to hear you ask me for it."

  Hadrian made a strangled sound of frustration. "You're being cruel!"

  Caledon grinned in the dark, pumping his hands steadily to push the other man closer to his limit. "I never said I was a nice man, love. Just tell me what you want. I want to hear your innocent mouth say the words. Tell me."

  "Unnh... Caledon―"

  He leaned forward to catch the whispered words. "Yes?"

  "―take me. Please."

  Caledon groaned, his cock too hard to deny its pleasure any longer. He removed his fingers from Hadrian’s body and quickly slicked his own cock with oil. So slowly it made him clench his teeth with the struggle, he pushed the head of his shaft past the tight ring of muscle. From somewhere far away he heard Hadrian give a small cry. Instinct prompted Caledon to stroke Hadrian’s erection. Hadrian jerked, inadvertently pushing the mercenary deeper into him. His body quaked as Caledon eased himself in to the root.

  Ah, gods, tight. Caledon could think of nothing else but the silken fist of Hadrian's body squeezing him, almost painfully. It was a tightness that Caledon knew from experience meant Hadrian hadn't fully accepted him. Sweating, his nerves stretched to the breaking point, Caledon nonetheless took the time to gently stroke the quivering body beneath him.

  "Easy, Hadrian, easy," he soothed in a rough voice. "I'm inside now. It won't become worse than this; it will only get better."

  "Caledon," the other whispered raggedly. Hadrian panted, his chest heaving. "I feel so full...I can't take so much."

  Caledon bit his tongue, his flesh swelling even more at the unintentionally erotic words. He pulled back slightly, letting himself ease from Hadrian's body. Then he slowly pushed back in. He angled himself purposefully and was rewarded for his efforts when Hadrian let out a long, low moan, his back arching like a cat's.

  Caledon grinned at the reaction. "Oh, yes, that's it. Show me that again, Hadrian."

  He slid out with the same maddening pace and eased back in. He almost laughed when Hadrian mimicked the same response as before. "Oh, you're beautiful," Caledon marveled. "Look at you."

  He began to thrust carefully now, making sure to strike that place of pleasure inside Hadrian's body with every stroke. Hadrian's moans turned into full-throated groans of pleasure. He twisted beneath Caledon, his cock stiff and weeping in the mercenary's hand. Caledon could not remember ever seeing anything so breathtaking―so carnal and yet so pure. Someone like Hadrian shouldn't exist and yet he did, and Caledon had been the first to find him. What have I done in my life, Caledon thought in amazement, to deserve this?

  Hadrian was a fiery heat. Every thrust was like pushing into a fire-warmed glove. Caledon drove in a little harder now, succumbing to his passion for the other man. The rougher strokes only stirred Hadrian to be more vocal, his moans echoing off the rafters. Caledon was in ecstasy.

  With a growl, he released Hadrian's erection and grabbed him about the hips. Hadrian's body accepted him completely now. Caledon stopped holding back, thrilled that Hadrian seemed to enjoy his lack of restraint. Hadrian’s elbows buckled, dumping his upper body to the blanket with only the mercenary's hands to hold him up. Caledon pumped into him furiously, grinding himself tight against the pale curve of buttocks to reach as deeply as he could.

  But it wasn't enough somehow, and he thought he knew what was missing. Hadrian let out a surprised yelp as Caledon expertly flipped him onto his back, never losing their intimate contact. Wide, gray eyes looked up in surprise from beneath a swirling mass of inky hair. With the moonlight pouring down from the opened window, Caledon cou
ld see the splash of rosy color that infused Hadrian's cheeks. Hadrian looked wild and wanton and in the process of being thoroughly tumbled. Caledon grinned. This was exactly what he wanted.

  He hooked a pale leg over one shoulder and leaned forward, driving himself deeper into the body pinned below. Hadrian’s eyes went impossibly wide. He reached up and cupped Caledon’s cheek.

  "Caledon…" Hadrian breathed, as though in wonder.

  The utterance of his name had never carried so much weight.

  A little afraid of what he was feeling, a little desperate, Caledon bore down on the body beneath him. He lifted Hadrian's leg higher and angled himself carefully. Hadrian let out a strangled cry, his head arching back against the blanket. Controlled by forces he couldn't name, Caledon leaned forward and muffled his cries with his mouth. Hadrian’s final moan tasted sweet like honey on Caledon’s tongue.

  Liquid heat spurted between their bodies just as Caledon’s own release ripped through him. It seemed to last forever, scouring him of the darkness that had clung to him for so long. And afterwards, he felt inexplicably light, as though he could fly. As though he already had…with Hadrian.

  "Caledon?"

  Trembling fingers stroked his sweat-dampened hair. Groaning, he carefully withdrew from Hadrian’s body and dropped to the blanket beside him.

  He turned his leaden head and found Hadrian gazing at him with almost drunken pleasure.

  Caledon smiled. "What is it, love?"

  "Is it―is it always like that? I had no idea."

  Caledon grinned ruefully. He turned his head to gaze up through the opening in the roof at the swathe of milky stars. "No, love. It's rarely like that. I can't explain why this was different." I don't want to.

  Hadrian gave a soft, disappointed, "Oh." Minutes passed in which their breathing eased and grew synchronized. Caledon threw a heavy leg across the top of Hadrian's thighs. His arm slid beneath the spill of Hadrian’s hair to pull him closer. Possessive!, a voice inside Caledon accused. He was too content to care.