by J B Black
Pulling a map from his bag, Castor quickly handed it to Radek. “Take him and go. Ronan will get you to Fannar.”
“No!” Silvius lunged forward, but Castor blocked him, allowing Theron and Radek to escape as the forest god wailed, “Darling! Darling! You can’t reject me! You were made to be my bride!”
“He has the right to refuse!” Castor reminded the god, fighting to hold him back, but Silvius was too strong. He threw him back, sending him almost over the edge into the gold, but he crawled back, racing from the cavern.
Already, Radek faded to a red dot on the horizon, vanishing behind clouds and mountains. Silvius cried out, wailing and weeping as he threw out his magic, but the ring which Castor gave Theron protected Radek as long as the two were in contact.
Perhaps it was cowardly, but Castor left the forest god to his scene, quickly descending the mountain. When he reached the village once more without incident, he rented a bed at the inn as he had once planned. Tomorrow, he would decide how to avoid the Black Forest and contact Ronan to make sure everything went smoothly, but for now, he warded himself, double-checked that he was hidden from sight and tracking, and went to bed.
Chapter Six
Exhausted, Castor sunk into a dreamless sleep. He floated in the dark, listening to the rush of the water hitting the shore before sinking deeper still. However, at some point in the night, he drifted from the emptiness to settle against furs. With a soft sigh, he turned, wrapping an arm around Nasi’s waist as he curled and pressed his chest against the taller man’s back. His lips pressed against his fated mate’s naked back. He licked, nuzzling aside wavy locks of black hair to suck marks into the scarred skin. Blades claimed the skin before Castor could, but the soft gasps from his lover’s lips eased the ache.
“Missed you,” Castor murmured though it hadn’t been terribly long since they had last spoken.
Nasi arched, and his ass rocked back against the warlock’s throbbing cock. “Shouldn’t you wake up and take care of that?”
“Why?” Castor hummed. Rutting his hips forward, he moaned when Nasi gasped and shivered. “We could take care of each other.”
“Castor…”
Though he wanted to continue, the warlock stilled. “I’d rather ignore it and stay with you then jerk off.”
Turning in his mate’s arms, Nasi slid his hands down Castor’s chest toward his throbbing member. “I could...I could help you.”
“I don’t need it. I don’t want you to do something you aren’t comfortable doing,” the warlock told him, but he did not resist when a strong hand wrapped around his cock.
The fingers which dragged up and down his aching length had more experience with swords than another man’s cock, and sleepy as the warlock was, he could see the furrowed brow and lips pursed in concentration as his mate focused on pleasuring him. Rocking his hips into the touch, Castor pushed aside the concern around his heart that his mate preferred women. If Nasi’s experience entirely focused on women, his reluctance and - worse - his lack of arousal whenever their kissing became more passionate made sense. However, their courtship would suffer as a result.
Cupping Nasi’s face in his hands, Castor pulled the taller man into a kiss. He tasted so sweet. Ambrosia - gold and thick and alluring had nothing on the black-haired man’s lips. When their tongues entwined, his hands slid down the other man’s muscular chest. Though the loop of fingers around his cock slowed, Castor rocked his hips lazily. The warlock massaged the firm muscle of Nasi’s chest. His thumbs brushed back and forth across rosy buds, pinching them when his mate moaned into their kiss.
Castor kept up his insistent and careful caresses until he couldn’t hold back any longer. One hand lowered, scraping nails over his fated love’s muscular abdomen. If it weren’t for the heat of their kiss, the warlock might have held his breath, but his fears shattered into relief when his hand wrapped around his mate’s hardening member.
“Castor,” Nasi moaned.
He broke their kiss, arching into the warlock’s touch. His quicksilver eyes widened. Something soft and uncertain colored his pale features, and pushing the startled warrior onto his back, Castor sunk between those muscular thighs he adored to press a kiss against the plush, uncut head of his mate’s cock.
“Beautiful,” the blond whispered. “You’re so beautiful for me, Nasi.”
At his name, the black-haired man shivered. He pressed his knuckles of one hand against his lips as he cried out. Tears lined his long dark lashes, and as Castor licked from balls to tip, he couldn’t help but smile at the pale pink which painted his lover’s cheeks. When the warlock swallowed him down, Nasi knotted his fingers in Castor’s straw blond hair, moaning as if he had never had a mouth about his cock before. Considering how Nasi refused to give specifics on how long he had been cursed, perhaps it was just that he had not felt wet heat about his manhood in so long, but either way, the weight of his mate’s cock - thick and hard and wanting for the first time - had his own length desperate to spill.
“Please,” the black-haired man begged, shaking but still holding back. “Please, Castor! I want - nhnnn, ah! I want to please you too!”
With a pop, Castor slid off his mate’s cock. “Do you?” When Nasi nodded, the warlock climbed over him, settling with on all fours over his mate. His cock hung heavy above his love’s head, and leaning forward, he fondled the taller man’s balls as he prompted, “Do with me what you will.”
The first tentative touch to his throbbing member almost overwhelmed the warlock, but he held fast, focusing on pleasuring his mate. Each panting breath puffed hot gasps of air across his aching cock, and when lips brushed the tip, it was everything he could do not to come all over Nasi’s face. He yearned to mark the man beneath him. To paint his skin with kisses and seed until the black-haired man lay a mess. Yearned to claim him, mark him, dominate him until the warrior’s nipples peaked - raw and sore as seed dripped from his sweet pink entrance.
However, he managed to hold back. Sucking on Nasi’s cock, he ignored the way his body trembled as lips wrapped around his own manhood. Inexperienced, the black-haired man desperately tried to keep up, but the more aroused he became, the more he used his hands, jerking messily as if he didn’t care if the warlock came across his skin.
“C-Castor, I’m going to - ahhh! I’m going to come,” Nasi forewarned, and swallowing him to the hilt, the warlock gulped down each drop.
When his mate laid limply beneath him, Castor rose. “You okay, beautiful?”
Nasi groaned, grabbing the warlock’s thighs. “You didn’t come.”
“That’s fine. I’m normally the one -” before the blond could finish his thought, Nasi angled his head and opened his mouth, taking the tip of the blond’s cock into his mouth. “Fuck! Nasi!”
Flushed pink, the man popped up, allowing Castor to turn to face him, but before the warlock could fully retreat, Nasi held him by the back of his thighs. “You can thrust. I can take it.”
“Nasi, you don’t have to push yourself,” Castor whispered, brushing his thumb over the other’s plush bottom lip.
But determined quicksilver eyes honed on him. “I want to do this.”
Unable to resist, Castor nodded, rising and guiding his cock into the black-haired man’s mouth. With strong hands on the back of his thighs sliding up to hold his ass, Nasi took him in inch by inch, and when the warlock’s cock brushed against the back of the man’s throat, he moaned. The humming vibrated around Castor’s cock. It took everything for the warlock not to thrust forward, rutting into the wet heat. Nasi, however, pulled him forward, swallowing him down to the hilt. Tears painted the black-haired man’s lashes, but his gaze clouded so beautifully with lust. Bracing himself, Castor allowed Nasi to guide him faster and faster in and out. Pleasure contorted his features, and he squirmed so wantonly.
“You’re so beautiful,” Castor moaned, petting the other’s dark hair. “Taking me so well...”
Nasi only moaned. His hands slid down Castor’s legs, a
nd he submitted slowly, letting the warlock take over the pace. As he rutted forward and enjoyed the wet heat, the warlock glanced back, smirking when he saw Nasi’s cock hardening once more. Pre-cum dripped from the tip. His muscular legs spread, and Castor desperately wanted to pull out of Nasi’s mouth and explore what lay between.
The thought of thrusting into the virgin tightness of Nasi’s ass drove Castor to near madness. Thrusting deep into his fated mate’s mouth, Castor came, pouring his hot thick seed into his lover’s throat, forcing him to swallow it down. Pulling back, the warlock fell onto the furs beside Nasi. Panting, the pair laid side by side.
“That…” Castor rolled over to wrap an arm around Nasi’s chest, “..was amazing.”
Nasi hummed softly, but when the warlock’s hand slid down his chest toward his half-hard cock, the black-haired man caught the hand. “I’m good.”
“But you’re hard.”
Nasi turned his face, pressing a chaste kiss to the blond’s lips. “I’m happy laying here with you.”
The warlock’s heart swelled at the sweet expression on his fated mate’s face. Nuzzling their cheeks together, Castor hummed softly, content to trace scars he couldn’t see clearly and hold tightly to the warmth of his lover’s sated body.
When he awoke in the bed at the inn, his trousers stuck uncomfortably. Still, Castor smiled. The taste of his mate remained on his tongue, and the wanton flush which painted pale features pink had him toying with the idea of staying in bed to enjoy some further reflection, but hope drew him from the bed and into the baths. The road called. He had a mate to find.
Chapter Seven
Rumors found their way to Castor’s ears from across the continent - from across the world. Royals who were cursed found him. Even though Fannar made a reputation as an all-powering immovable force, Castor’s determination found him called in more often than not. People hated dealing with Fannar’s coldness - the demands he made took far more than the blond warlock, and the few times when he had had no choice but to call Fannar in, the embarrassment and frustrated wondering if the same would be true when he found his mate forced Castor to train hard, study more, and push further than his magic seemed to want to go. He had every intention of being the only one responsible for freeing Nasi. Nothing would get in his way. No power in the universe could stop him.
So he found his way from curse to curse, and if he held fast to hope and avoided alcohol, his secrets belonged to himself. Wasn’t hope better?
Sailing to a remote island to face a garden of cursed men, Castor held fast to the side of the ship. His eyes held to the horizon. Soon, he would be forced to row himself ashore. None of the men on the ship wished to help him. Dozens of men went to their doom on this cursed island with its unknowable beast. Of them, only one escaped, telling legends of a creature who turned men to stone. They called him Medusa and as her garden of men grew, they had all been warriors, and hadn’t Nasi been one too?
“It doesn’t sound safe,” the black-haired man had said, but he refused to provide specifics - and perhaps that was part of the curse, but the warlock didn’t believe that to be true. “Maybe you shouldn't go.”
“I won’t go if you can honestly tell me you aren’t on that island,” Castor retorted.
Frowning, Nasi said, “I am not on that island.”
“See, I don’t believe you.”
Shaking his head, the other man huffed, glaring with those beautiful quicksilver eyes, and Castor couldn’t bear to argue, so he drew him close and kissed away his complaints until they lay curled around each other once more.
“Dragon!” a voice screamed. One of the crew raced out of the deck, wailing and pointing to a spot of red in the sky that flew closer and closer to the ship. “Dragon approaching starboard!”
Panic ensued. They raced about, clearing the upper deck, but as the red dragon reached them, he transformed into a man and glided down to land beside the warlock. Though tanner than when they two had last met, Radek looked mostly the same.
“Warlock Castor! I thought I spotted you,” the red dragon grinned, puffing up his broad chest.
Glancing to the panicked sailors, the warlock did his best to mime that everything was fine as he responded, “Radek, right?”
“Yes! Thank you again for your help with Theron. Your friend, Ronan, was very helpful,” Radek told him, sitting on the edge of the ship.
“Did you meet Fannar?”
The dragon shook his head. “Theron didn’t actually cut the cord when I last saw him.” With a sigh, he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t understand it, frankly. Cursing your own mate! That’s despicable.”
“Well, the ring I gave him should hide him, so if he has time to think it over. It is a complicated decision,” Castor replied though he personally agreed. The warlock couldn’t ever imagine wanting someone like Silvius but to each their own.
Radek laughed - bright and too loud, but the captain of the ship and his crew played at piracy in their off time, so though they kept a wary eye on the two, the sailors returned to their work.
Slapping the warlock on the back, the dragon grinned. “I was headed toward the other continent when I saw you. What are you doing?”
“Cursed island. Bunch of stone men.”
“Huh, sounds dangerous,” Radek hummed softly, tilting his head up to stare at the sky. “Need help?”
Immediately, Castor’s gut screamed no. He wanted to be the one to save Nasi, but he also needed to live long enough to undo whatever curse trapped his mate. If the rumors were true, Medusa had power unlike any sort of creature Castor had ever faced. Calling the details vague undersold the absolute dearth of information on what she was and how her powers worked. Having a dragon to back him up could be the difference between survival and becoming a stone statue stuck in her menagerie.
“What do you know about Medusa?” the warlock asked.
Castor hadn’t been looking forward to rowing ashore. If Medusa had any strategic sense, the beaches which could most easily be approached would be the most well guarded, so flying over the island from above with heavy spellwork to keep them invisible, the warlock studied the island below. Spells intersected the island. An entire web of curses marked the coast. Men caught by Medusa. However, a wider spell fell over them all, and as he studied the intricate spellwork, his eyes caught on a single figure moving on the island.
At first, he thought it was the creature, but all his senses screamed she was human, and when a second presence came into view, he recognized the coiled tail. It was a naga. Both were female, and from the way the naga curled, cuddling and nuzzling the human, Castor had no doubt the woman was her mate.
“Radek...do another circle,” the warlock called, and as the dragon looped around, Castor focused on the pair.
Naga - like dragons and gods - were known to be extremely protective of their mates. More often than not, violent behavior from them came from concern for their mate, and if the woman were pregnant or if there was a nest nearby, Medusa’s behavior became far more understandable; however, that didn’t explain the curses. Some naga had magic. The stone statues suggested power unlike anything Castor had heard a naga capable of, and not all of it seemed to stem from the same individual. The stone statues belonged to one, but a spell surrounding the island and another on the naga herself belonged to someone else.
“Her mate’s pregnant,” Radek announced before Castor could tell for himself. “I don’t feel comfortable going after a nesting pair.”
“I’d have to agree, but something doesn’t feel right,” the warlock retorted, and reaching out to the magic around the island, he peeled apart the spell.
Immediately, the webwork of magic came alive. Down below, the naga pushed her mate back into the keep before rushing toward the beach closest to the section of spellwork where the warlock touched.
“There! Now!” Castor urged, pointing toward the ruins.
Radek hesitated. “That’s their nest...I’m not so sure…”
“Her mate isn’t under whatever spell is affecting the island and the rest. We won’t be able to talk to Medusa, but her mate might know what’s going on,” Castor urged, and despite his obvious uncomfortableness with the situation, Radek swooped low, and when he drew close, the warlock jumped from his back. “Excuse me?” he called. “Ma’am - I come in peace. My name is Castor. I’m a warlock hired to break curses -”
Tapping echoed from the building, and a very pregnant woman emerged. One hand cradled her round belly while the other held a thin staff. Her eyes were fogged, leaving no doubt that she was blind. “Curse-breaker? Thank the gods. My wife - a god cursed her.”
“Any details you can give me, quickly please. I don’t want to be here when your mate returns,” Castor urged as Radek stared out, watching the surrounding area for any sign of an oncoming feral naga.
“A god attacked my wife at the temple where she once served, so the goddess blessed her to give her the strength to stop him and men like him. Medusa - she saved me when my betrothed attempted to kill me, and we made this island to protect women,” the blind woman explained. “But the curse blocked women from entering the island via the magic Medusa set up. They can’t come here to take shelter, and men come in droves to try to kill her. She’s also changed. Whenever anyone enters the island, she loses her mind.”
“Castor...she’s coming. I can hear her,” Radek said, and at his voice, the woman startled, stepping further back into the keep.
Undoubtedly, the scent of her fear - even as short lived as it was at the sound of a second voice - wound the naga even further. Radek grabbed the warlock, taking to the sky before Medusa arrived. They looped around the island, and testing the curse, Castor confirmed that the spell drew warriors to the island and prevented women entry. Whichever god had done so had been thorough, but whatever goddess favored Medusa had been cleverer still. Breaking the spell would be difficult, but Medusa’s mate had already done the heavy lifting.