by LM Brown
“But—”
Caspian placed his finger over Marin’s lips. “No arguments. If this is the last night we have together, I intend to spend it in your arms—not out here, stumbling around in the dark.”
Marin could see there was no way he would win this argument. Somewhat begrudgingly, he nodded his understanding and agreement.
They waited for Fabian to return, which he did a short while later, with an armful of weapons.
“I brought you a selection of different lengths and weights,” Fabian said as he placed them on the ground. “You should test them until you find ones that you’re comfortable with.”
“Thank you for this,” Caspian said as he clasped Fabian’s shoulder. “Please pass on our gratitude to Andaman when you see him, too.”
“You can thank me yourself,” Andaman said.
Marin spun around to see the god standing behind them.
“I thought about bringing you some armor,” Andaman said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it will help you in a battle of single combat.”
Caspian nodded. “Andaman is right. If you wear any protective gear, so can Urion, and when such items are made by the gods, they’re nearly impossible to penetrate. Only weapons made by the gods can do so and even then it is difficult.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Marin asked. “If I’m harder to kill, I mean.”
“Yes, but it means Urion would be harder to kill too. I think you’ll agree that we want this battle over with as soon as possible. The last thing any of us wants is to drag it out even longer.”
“Can he wear armor anyway?”
“Not if you don’t,” Caspian confirmed. “You either both wear it or you don’t. When a challenge of this kind is issued, there must be a level playing field. Now, come and try out one of the long swords.”
Marin studied the spread of weapons in front of him. “They all look the same.”
Caspian, Fabian and Andaman gave identical sighs of frustration.
“Sorry, but they do.” He picked up the nearest one and did a practice lunge. “It feels lighter than a trident.”
“They all are,” Andaman said. “That one is about in the middle of the weight range of the ones you have here. Is it good, or would you like to try one of the others? Remember, you’ll have the short sword as well.”
“Let me try with this one first,” Marin said.
Caspian picked up one of the other swords and they stepped away from the others.
“Ready?” he said.
Marin nodded and they set to work.
Fabian and Andaman both stayed to offer tips and to switch places with Caspian, so Marin could practice fighting people with different styles.
Once they agreed Marin had done enough to get by with the long sword, he chose a short one too. He was never going to master them by dawn, but he hoped he wouldn’t make a complete fool of himself.
“I think he’d do better to concentrate on the long sword alone,” Fabian suggested.
“No,” Andaman argued. “He needs at least basic training with them both or he’ll find Urion’s short sword in his gut within a matter of minutes.”
“I agree,” Caspian said. “Damn it? Why the fuck did he choose these instead of tridents?”
Marin assumed that was a rhetorical question, since Urion had made it very clear why he had chosen them at the time.
He checked the sky and figured they had at least another hour before they lost the light. He hoped it would be enough time.
Finally, Caspian called an end to their training. Andaman took the excess weapons back to his forge and wished Marin luck in the morning.
Fabian went home with Delwyn, who had stayed to watch after bringing them food when his lover hadn’t returned for their evening meal.
Caspian kept hold of one set of weapons and Marin held on to the ones he had decided on.
“I thought we weren’t going to practice any longer?” Marin asked. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind?”
“No, but I’ll warm up with you before the battle begins.”
Marin tried to quell his disappointment. He didn’t feel tired yet and there was so much he still had to learn.
“Come on,” Caspian said. “Let’s go home.”
“You aren’t going to carry me over your shoulder?” Marin asked with a teasing grin.
Caspian smirked back. “Well, you have a choice here. You can either walk with me and when we get back we’ll have sex. Or I can carry you like I threatened, but be far too tired for anything when we get back.”
Marin chuckled. “I think I’ll walk.”
“I thought you’d see it my way,” Caspian replied. “Now, come on. I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry for sex.”
“I was talking about food.”
“Sure you were,” teased Marin as he took Caspian’s hand and they headed home. He tried not to think that this might be their last night together.
* * * *
After dinner—a quick microwave dinner each, since neither of them was much use in the kitchen—Caspian took Marin upstairs.
“The swords stay down here,” Caspian said. “And we’re not going downstairs until the hour before dawn. Understood?”
Marin nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.
Caspian stood in front of him and pulled off his shirt. “You want to fuck me tonight?”
Marin shook his head and smiled. “I want to make love to you. If it’s our last night together, I want you to know how much I feel for you.”
“I already know,” Caspian replied. “So, what do you want to do?”
“I want to be inside you, but it won’t just be fucking tonight.” He held out his arms and Caspian came to meet him, toppling him backward onto the bed.
Marin laughed and rolled Caspian onto his back. Caspian chuckled as he ran his fingers down Marin’s bare thigh.
“I do love the fact that you mer are so opposed to clothing,” Caspian said.
Marin had been half hard most of the day. At times during their practice session, his erection had been almost painful, especially when he’d been up close against Caspian. He stroked his cock and stared into Caspian’s eyes, watching the rising lust in them.
“Do you want this inside you?” Marin asked.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“More than anything.”
“Would you beg for it?” Marin ran his finger over the tip and gathered the pearly drop of seed from the end. “For this?”
“Oh fuck.”
Marin rubbed his finger over Caspian’s lips. His lover licked up the cum before taking the finger into his mouth, sucking hard then releasing it with a pop.
“Get me ready,” Caspian said.
Marin scrambled across the bed to find the lube, accidentally elbowing Caspian in the process.
“Ow,” Caspian moaned. “How I miss being able to just produce things with a snap of my fingers.”
Marin chuckled. “Want me to kiss it better?”
Caspian patted him on the rump. “Just find the damn lube and get back over here.”
Marin rummaged through the drawer, wondering why the wretched stuff wasn’t right on the top, since goodness knew they used it often enough. “Found it,” he said as he spied it hidden at the back.
Caspian grabbed him halfway on his crawl back down the bed. “Come here and kiss me.”
Marin laughed and pressed his lips to Caspian’s. Any intention of keeping the kiss short and getting back to business soon flew from his mind. Caspian pushed his tongue into Marin’s mouth and gripped the back of his head, holding him in place.
Marin moved slightly to improve the angle, without breaking the kiss. He rubbed up against Caspian’s hip, slowly torturing himself with the increasing pressure to come.
Caspian’s cock nudged him and a frantic need washed over him. The only time he had ever felt such desire was during the mating season, in another life. Yet he couldn’t deny wh
at he wanted, no more than he could pretend he wasn’t hard and aching.
He broke their kiss and scooted down the bed. He dove on Caspian’s cock like a starving man, taking it into his mouth with a moan of pure want. He sucked desperately, craving the taste of his lover’s seed as he never had before.
Caspian cried out encouragement as memories of other times he had done this flooded his mind again. He knew every ridge of the member in his mouth. He knew exactly where to lick it and just how much Caspian could take before he spilled. With the knowledge from experience at the forefront of his mind, Marin pleasured Caspian with his mouth and tongue, eager for the moment his mouth would fill with the fluid he craved so desperately.
The moment Caspian climaxed, Marin’s own orgasm crashed over him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had come so hard just from sucking another man’s cock. No, he remembered all right. It had been during the mating seasons he had spent as Phoebus.
When he came to his senses, Caspian was panting at the other end of the bed.
“Fuck,” Marin mumbled. “That was something else.”
“I’ll say,” Caspian replied, still somewhat breathless. “You haven’t sucked me like that since…”
“Since I was Phoebus,” Marin finished. “I know. I don’t know what came over me. It’s very rare I come just from sucking off someone else—and never this hard.”
“You came too?”
“Yes. I guess we’re going to have to wait a while if you still want me to fuck you.”
“Don’t you want to do that?” Caspian asked.
“I thought I did, but now I’m not so sure.” Marin crawled back up the bed and snuggled against his lover. “I said I wanted to make love to you and I’m pretty sure I just did.”
“You did indeed.”
Marin sighed and ran his fingers over Caspian’s chest. “Have you ever heard of a mer’s mating trigger changing?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“I don’t know, maybe I’m being foolish.”
“I doubt that very much,” Caspian replied. “Why are you wondering about that? You know I’m happy for you to fuck me whenever you want, mating season or not.”
“I know.” Marin kissed Caspian’s chest. “Maybe it’s my memories of my life as Phoebus merging with the here and now.”
“But?”
“Just now, when I was sucking you, I felt the same as I do during the mating season—so desperate to come and knowing only your climax could trigger mine.”
Caspian chuckled. “That describes us most of the time, you realize?”
“Well, now that you mention it…” Marin laughed at Caspian’s observation. “Seriously though, I wonder if I have Phoebus’ trigger, as well as his memories.”
“You mean in addition to your own?”
“Yes. I guess we’ll find out next solstice.”
“Well, don’t worry about it,” Caspian said. “When the mating season comes around, you can do whatever you want to me, you know that. If your trigger has changed or if you have Phoebus’ trigger too, it won’t matter. I’m here for you.”
“Thank you.”
They lay still for a long time, just touching and being together. Neither of them even suggested the possibility that Marin might not be around for the next mating season.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Caspian nudged Marin awake. “Come on. You can’t be late.”
Marin grumbled as Caspian poked him in the ribs. “It can’t be morning already.”
“Not quite, but we need to be in the clearing by dawn, remember?”
Marin yawned. “Do we have time to shower?”
“Shower, yes,” Caspian replied. “But if you’re thinking about doing anything other than cleaning up, then no.”
“You should have woken me earlier,” Marin complained.
“I tried, but you were stubbornly sleepy. Besides, even if you could go a fourth round, I’m not sure I could. Go clean up and I’ll make you a quick breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You should still try to eat something.”
Caspian didn’t catch Marin’s mumbled comment, but he could make a pretty good guess as to what it was. He ignored him and headed down to the kitchen. He’d persuade Marin to eat something. He couldn’t fight Urion if he was weak and light-headed from lack of sustenance.
As it happened, it didn’t take long for Caspian to convince Marin to have breakfast. All he had to do was tell him that the quicker he ate, the sooner they would be able to go to the clearing to warm up.
As soon as Marin was finished, they headed out of the door. They were the first to arrive at the clearing. It was still dark, but as the pre-dawn light spread over the horizon, it was bright enough to see by.
They did some stretching and lunges and Caspian drilled Marin on the basics they had covered the previous day.
They hadn’t got through even half of what Caspian wanted before the others began to arrive. Fabian and Delwyn appeared first, followed by Jake and Kyle. Finn arrived shortly after his lovers, still eating breakfast.
Caspian was surprised to see Justin appear as well. The heir to the throne clasped Marin’s shoulder. “Justice will be served this day.”
Marin nodded and gave a small smile.
Medina was the second surprise witness. Although she had been instrumental in helping and seemed to genuinely care for Marin, Caspian had never known her to stand as a witness in such battles before. She wasn’t a goddess who liked getting her hands dirty or watching others doing so.
Urion and the other priests arrived with two minutes to spare. They were laughing and joking, as though this were some kind of game.
“Over-confidence is a weakness,” Caspian whispered in Marin’s ear. “Play to it, if you can.”
Marin nodded and stepped into the center of the clearing. Everyone else, except Urion, moved to the edge, staying outside the area that the arena would cover.
“Shall we get this over with?” Urion said as he swung his long sword in a wide arc. “I have a breakfast date, and it isn’t wise to keep a goddess waiting.”
Caspian wondered which goddess he was referring to. It couldn’t be Mariana, but there were plenty of others who would be happy to invite Urion into their bed. He didn’t care enough to ask.
The arena formed around the clearing and all Caspian could do was watch and hope that Marin came through this alive. He couldn’t lose him again. The thought was unbearable. For the first time in his life, he wished he were human-born, with a god to pray to. “Please don’t take him from me,” he whispered. “I won’t survive losing him a second time.”
Marin held the long sword, leaving the short one sheathed at his side. The feel of the weapon in his hand was still strange compared to a spear or a trident. Nearly as disconcerting was the short tunic and belt, the latter being essential to hold the short sword, and the former needed to make the belt more comfortable. Maybe he should have worn clothing during more of his practices, but he had never imagined he’d need it. He put the strangeness out of his mind and faced Urion.
Urion laughed as Marin approached him. He turned around to his fellow priests as he pointed at Marin. “Place your bets now on how long it will take me to teach this creature a lesson.”
“He won’t last ten minutes,” one of the priests shouted.
“I saw him practice with the guards,” another replied. “He’ll be lucky to last five.”
They all roared with laughter as they contemplated how long it would take him to die.
Urion joined them in their jollity. “Which weapon do you think will strike the killing blow? The long or the short?”
His question prompted another round of betting and laughing.
Marin wished he would just get on with it, but he told himself to remember Caspian’s advice. While Urion was playing to the crowd, over-confident and arrogant, he wouldn’t be concentrating on the fight.
Finally, one of the priests declared th
at all bets were final and Urion returned his attention to Marin. He gave him a flamboyant, sweeping bow.
Marin offered him an abrupt nod in return.
“He can’t even bow properly,” Urion called. “Let’s hope he at least knows how to die.”
Urion swung around at a speed Marin hadn’t anticipated, swinging his long sword in a wide arc. Marin barely dodged the blow.
He cursed himself. He had to make sure he was ready for the next one.
After the initial strike, Urion swung at Marin with rapid speed. He countered the blows with, if not ease, competence at least. Urion moved around a lot, dancing this way and that, while still playing to the crowd. Marin hoped he tired himself out quickly.
In between poking fun at his lack of fighting style, Urion also managed to slip in a few jibes about his taste in men. His insults about Caspian bothered Marin far more than the ones directed at him.
“You do realize you’re only the latest in a long line of many men he’s fucked?” Urion asked. “You’re nothing special. Just another willing body to warm his bed.”
Marin jabbed at Urion with his sword, but he easily stepped out of his reach.
“Did I hit a nerve?” Urion sneered. “For someone who is supposedly avenging the death of his lover, you seem awfully touchy about Caspian. Still, I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“What can’t be helped?” Marin asked, even as he silently scolded himself for rising to the bait.
“You’re mer,” Urion said. “Everyone knows you’re all sex-crazed and ready to spread your legs for anyone who asks. Tell me, Marin, which of them fucked you better—Calder or Caspian?”
Marin screamed and charged at Urion, heedless of the sword which swiped at his arm, drawing a thin line of blood where the edge of the blade caught him. Dimly he realized that if he had called the fight to first blood he would have lost, and it would all be over now.
Urion quickly regained his balance and pushed Marin back.
“You aren’t the first mer he’s had,” Urion continued. “He had as many of those as he had Atlanteans. You don’t think you’re anything special to him, do you?”
Marin growled and swung his blade with as much force as he could. “You talk too much.”