by Kate Roman
Roy was standing just outside the cave, staring out over the veldt. He turned at Ash’s approach.
Ash stared at Roy hungrily. “I won’t hate you. I couldn’t ever hate you. Just tell me what you mean.”
“Don’t go back,” Roy said simply. “Don’t go to England. I have no right to ask it of you—and God knows, I’ve nothing to offer you instead—but I’m asking anyhow. You’re the only good thing left in this whole world, and…I want you. So I’m asking. Stay, Ash. Stay with me.”
Ash’s heart filled.
“Just think about it.” Roy’s voice cracked. “Please, think about it before you—”
Ash took a deep breath, fighting down his own emotions. “I don’t want to go back. I thought you didn’t want me to stay. I want to be with you so much.”
Roy caught Ash into a crushing hug, kissing him roughly. Ash returned the kiss, tearing frantically at Roy’s shirt.
Roy fell back against the rock at the cave’s entrance, breathing hard. “You’re sure? You’re really sure?”
Ash stared at Roy hungrily. Roy was gaunt from the fever, and there was a new vulnerability in his eyes. Something rose in Ash, something raw and possessive and wild. Mine.
With a guttural growl, Ash moved in. He tore Roy’s shirt off, unmindful of the rending fabric, then tugged his pants down. He looked for a long moment; Roy, splayed back against rock, head back, blue eyes wild.
His.
Ash kissed Roy once, openmouthed and possessive, then dropped to his knees. Roy was hard, his full, fat cock inches from Ash’s face. Ash slid one hand between Roy’s legs. He cupped the heavy balls and licked delicately at the underside of Roy’s swollen dick.
Roy shouted, scrabbling at the rock for support. Ash growled back, his own cock straining in his pants, and took Roy in his mouth.
Roy pumped his hips once, and Ash welcomed the movement. He could feel Roy holding back, but this was no time for gentleness. Ash looked up into Roy’s eyes and felt the passion, untamed and true, arc between them.
With a strangled cry, Roy buried his fingers in Ash’s hair, and Ash started to suck in earnest. Roy’s hips moved in response, slow and shallow, but as Ash sped up, Roy thrust deeper, faster.
Slick precum filled Ash’s mouth, and he shifted his grip to Roy’s hips, driving Roy faster. His own need was growing, and suddenly he could stand it no more.
Ash pulled back with a feral snarl and frantically got his pants open. Roy made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and Ash went back to work.
Roy’s rod slid in his mouth as his own cock slid in his hand. Ash matched stroke for stroke, pushing them both faster, muffling his whimpers around Roy’s member.
Roy thrust back, panting desperately, arching back against the wall. He was close, so close—Ash could feel his own seed rising. Then Roy grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him upright.
Ash would have protested, but Roy claimed his mouth, rough and hungry but somehow tender. Ash fell into the kiss as Roy took his own cock in hand. “Wanted to see you,” Roy said hoarsely and started to stroke.
Ash matched him, breathing ragged and uneven. He wanted to hold back, but it was too much—Roy so close, so ready, the connection between them too strong. It filled his mind, and just as Ash knew he couldn’t hold it any longer, Roy came with a roar.
Ash roared back, feeling his own orgasm through every fiber of his being.
Chapter Eleven
“I meant what I said about taking you to the Zambezi, you know,” Roy said softly. They’d spent the morning in bed, and now the sun was high, and it was too hot to do more than lie around.
They were both naked, sprawled on their bed on the flat rock. Despite the heat, Ash had his head pillowed on Roy’s shoulder, unwilling to give up the closeness he’d so nearly lost.
“Anywhere except Victoria Falls,” Ash said sleepily.
“Well, the Falls themselves are pretty.” Roy’s lips brushed Ash’s, soft and full of promise. “But I for one will make sure you never see that DC.”
“I’m in favor of that.” Ash kissed him back.
“Lots of places to take you. So much to show you.” Roy kissed Ash again, sliding a hand down his spine.
Ash leaned forward, kissing Roy and pushing him onto his back. Roy chuckled softly, then groaned as Ash licked his way down between the dark curls on Roy’s chest.
A tremor went through Roy as Ash nipped lightly at Roy’s nipple, biting gently, then soothing with his tongue.
Roy groaned, arching, and Ash slid farther down his body, determined to taste every ridge of muscle, every inch of Roy’s uncovered skin. Roy was hard already, and Ash surveyed his fat cock with hungry anticipation, then bent his head.
Slowly, Ash mouthed his way along the shaft, licking and kissing, savoring every moan and every squirm of his lover beneath him. And then at last he found Roy’s crown, tongue caressing the velvet skin, seeking the sensitive slit and the taste he longed for.
Roy cried out, his hands grasping at Ash, pulling him closer, and Ash moved willingly, swinging around so that Roy could touch Ash’s aching cock and balls while his mouth still slowly explored Roy’s member. Roy’s hands rubbed over Ash’s thighs, over his ass, then slid between his legs, and Ash gasped as Roy took hold of his cock with a firm, commanding grip.
Ash struggled to maintain his concentration as Roy stroked him. His body tingled with the dual pleasure of Roy’s hand sending electric currents up his spine and the delicious throb of Roy’s cock in his mouth. He moaned softly, trying to use his tongue the way Roy had done earlier on him, teasing at his lover’s slit before taking him as deep as he could.
The flex of Roy’s hips and his deep, feral groans told Ash he was achieving his aim, and he renewed his efforts. He swirled his tongue around Roy’s crown and was rewarded with a surge of slick and salty precum, a sweet and welcome explosion on his tongue. Ash moaned again, thrusting his cock into Roy’s hand, feeling an exquisite tickle as his lover’s fingers ran up and down the crack of his ass.
He took Roy as deep as he could, lips stretching around the thick shaft, the spongy tip pushing against his tongue then sliding deeper. Roy was flexing, crying out, and Ash thought nothing had ever been better than this: Roy’s cock and Roy’s hands, the fingers wetly teasing against his asshole.
A moment later, Ash realized how mistaken he was.
The touch on his pucker changed from tickling, teasing circles to a gentle pressure, and Ash released Roy’s cock to groan in wondering, needing ecstasy. Roy’s finger pushed past his rim, circling slowly, and Ash was helpless, waves of desire rolling over and through him, his body aching in a way it never had before. Aching for Roy.
Ash dropped his head onto Roy’s thigh and spread his legs wider. As the new sensation built and built, he pushed his ass back against Roy’s hand, wanting more.
Roy pushed in deeper, and Ash cried out, an explosion of pleasure shaking his whole body. He whimpered as Roy pulled back, then did it again, finding Ash’s pleasure spot over and over. Ash clawed helplessly at Roy’s leg.
Gradually Roy’s movements slowed, and he withdrew his seeking finger. Ash raised his head, trembling, and looked over his shoulder at Roy. “Why did you stop?” he whispered, voice shaking.
Without answering, Roy shifted position, moving to kneel next to Ash. One hand still rested, warm and flat, on Ash’s ass cheek, thumb rubbing softly at Ash’s pucker. With his other hand, Roy grasped his own cock, running it slowly up and down his length.
Quivering at the thrilling stimulation of his hole, Ash watched Roy stroke himself for a moment. His eyes widened as he understood the feelings that were rushing through his body. The longing he felt was for Roy inside him; the ache in his passage was his body’s request for Roy to take him, fill him up. Make him his.
Ash raised his gaze to his lover’s face. “Yes. Yes.” His limbs shook with desire, his body on fire with need.
Roy bent close and kissed Ash’s mouth. He moved agai
n, positioning himself between Ash’s spread legs.
Then Roy was exploring Ash’s entrance again, fingers slick with saliva, and Ash was opening, pushing back against Roy’s hand, desperate for the feeling of Roy deep inside him, touching him again.
Roy’s fingers probed their way into his passage, stoking his desire. Ash spread his legs farther, moaning, trying to open himself wider and pull Roy deeper, faster. His body throbbed with this new ache, this new need that went so deep he shook with the urgency of having it filled. “Please. Take me. Take me, Roy.”
Roy growled and slid his fingers out. Ash’s groan of loss quickly became a whine of need as he felt Roy’s cock against his entrance. The cockhead thrust against his ring, sliding across the tight muscle. Roy pushed harder, and Ash groaned as Roy’s cock stretched his hole.
Roy was inside him.
The thought was nearly overwhelming, and Ash sobbed. Roy stayed still, giving Ash time, his hands on Ash’s ass, gently squeezing.
Ash dropped his shoulders to the blankets as his shaking arms gave way; the movement rolled his hips, opening his passage wider. Roy’s cock slid in a little farther, and Ash felt the desperate, beautiful ache starting again, deep inside him. He moaned.
Roy’s grip on his hips tightened, and slowly he pushed forward, all the way in. Ash bucked against the hands that held him steady, in the grip of feelings he’d never before experienced. Then Roy’s hips were hard against his ass, and Roy was leaning forward, covering him with his body, wrapping his arms around his chest.
Ash moaned again. The thrill of Roy’s skin against his, Roy’s hands roaming his body, Roy’s cock sending pulses of pure ecstasy to his brain… His body quivered uncontrollably as electrifying waves rolled over and through him. And then Roy was moving inside him, each thrust an explosion of sensation, and Ash cried out in wordless, exquisite delight as rushes of pleasure stronger than anything he’d ever experienced ripped through his body.
Roy shouted in completion, and Ash let himself float on the waves of sensation, safely anchored by Roy’s body around him, over him.
“Ash,” Roy whispered in his ear, and Ash managed a breathy whimper in response. Then Roy was moving, his cock sliding out of Ash, cool air flowing over Ash’s skin where Roy’s warmth had been.
Aftershocks still rocked Ash’s body, and the thought of lying alone, separate from Roy after what had gone before, was almost terrifying. But before he could summon his voice to call Roy’s name, Roy was against him again, gathering him into his arms and pulling him close.
Ash felt the blanket pulled over his back, held firmly in place by Roy’s strong arms. Ash burrowed his head against Roy’s chest and closed his eyes. “Don’t go,” he muttered, very low.
Roy’s lips were soft on his hair. “Not going anywhere. Never leaving you. Never.”
Ash relaxed into Roy’s arms. He slid one arm around his lover, holding on tight, and gave in to sleep.
* * * *
Roy was loath to admit it, but even though the fever was gone, the weakness remained. He had sufficient experience of malaria in himself and in others to know there was nothing to do now but wait for his strength to return. Overdoing it would simply lead to another, more severe bout of fever, and that was the last thing he was prepared to put himself or Ash through.
They stayed close to camp, hunting when the opportunity arose. Most of the game had become wary and avoided the ridge that housed their cave, but there was a small colony of dassies, something like short-eared, tailless rabbits, that lived on the slopes not far away.
They were shy creatures, but by waiting motionless until they were out on the rocks foraging in the sparse vegetation, Roy had gotten a couple with the slingshot. Walking slowly over to retrieve the carcasses, he reflected it was about all he was fit for.
Ash had trekked to the higher ridges for more pumpkin, assuring Roy he’d be fine. Roy couldn’t help but fear for his safety, but he had to admit Ash had so far proved himself both smart and capable out here on the veldt. Still, Roy reflected, too much of that thinking could get a man killed.
Roy slung the two dassies over his shoulder and started the slow walk back to camp.
There was no sign of Ash at the cave, but then he’d hardly be back before the sun was high, Roy figured. Even later, if he chose to wait out the heat.
Roy sat down to skin out his kill, keeping his hands busy as he dressed the smaller of the two beasts to roast and cut away the meat from the other to stew. They were running low on supplies, and Roy wondered how soon they could risk returning to the compound in the lowlands. He needed a decent kill, like a buffalo or one of the bigger antelope, as well as the time and tools to smoke and dry the meat. But Ash’s father and uncle remained a threat. The veldt could be a very small place indeed. Gerald Haywood was a vindictive, vengeful man, and Roy had every reason to suppose Ash’s father was the same. If Ash’s whereabouts were suspected, the consequences would be dire.
Mambokadzi’s village was a day’s journey, Roy calculated, allowing for the frequent rest stops he’d still need. If anyone knew what was happening upon the veldt, it was the old Karanga wisewoman. Whatever Haywood was up to, she’d know.
The thought had barely taken shape in Roy’s mind when a harsh screech rent the sky. A heavy black shape swooped and dived at something on the trail. Roy stood up for a closer look, shading his eyes with his hand.
The Bateleur screamed again then floated on the downdraft, coming to rest on the rock that guarded the cave door. She tipped her head to one side, regarding Roy with intelligent green eyes and uttered a raucous cry.
“Onai! What were you doing up there?”
Roy glanced up the trail, just in time to see Ash’s head appear cautiously from behind a boulder, followed by the rest of him. He dusted himself off, then started down, glancing upward from time to time.
Roy looked at the bird reproachfully. “Onai!”
Onai stared a moment then glided down from her perch, lifted a large chunk of dassie meat from the stew pot and took off. She shot high into the air, shrieking with what Roy could have sworn was laughter.
“We get the message!” Roy shouted after the bird. “Tell Mambokadzi we’ll come tomorrow!”
Ash arrived back at the cave a few minutes later. “Do you think she came to get us?” he asked without preamble, scanning the clear and empty skies.
“I imagine so.” Roy shrugged. “It was definitely Onai. No other Bateleur I’ve ever seen has green eyes.”
“Really? What does that mean?”
“The natives say she has the devil in her. My college professor would have called it a species anomaly due to inbreeding or out-crossing or some such.” Roy stared back up at the sky. “I say Mambokadzi knows things she cannot know and sees things she cannot see. And that bird’s the same. I don’t believe in witchcraft or magic, but there are things I’ve seen that defy science.”
“Like a storm so fierce it made a lion from a boy,” Ash said musingly. “And a mother who went looking for him.”
Roy looked over at Ash and watched him stare up at the sky. “Ash. Tell me about your mother.”
“Leave it.” Ash ducked his head, swallowing hard.
But Roy couldn’t. Too many strange things had happened since Ash Haywood had entered his life, and deep inside, he knew Mambokadzi’s story was the key. The storm had done its job and given the boy a lion’s soul. “Did Mambokadzi know your mother? How… Has your family been to Africa before?”
“Leave it alone. It was just a story.”
“Mambokadzi’s stories have a way of coming true. Come on, Ash, tell me what you know about your mother.”
“My mother wasn’t African!” Ash leaped to his feet, eyes blazing. “There is no way she knew Mambokadzi! And she never saw a lion, do you hear me?”
“Ash—”
“No, Roy, perhaps my father, for once in his miserable life, has been right: there was bad blood in my mother. And I must constantly fight to keep what she
gave me hidden away! But I have no more to do with lions or a thunderstorm than I do with King George himself!”
Roy rocked back on his heels, staring at Ash in shock. Since his arrival, Ash had been courteous and polite, almost to the point of stiffness at times. Roy had tasted the passion beneath the surface, but now he saw his lover aroused in anger for the first time.
As much as Roy hated to see Ash upset, the part of him that had been to war knew Ash needed this release. He stood up, meeting the challenge in Ash’s fiery gaze. “However that may be, it seems Mambokadzi knows of your mother. I don’t know what that means, Ash. But I know that denying it won’t help.”
Ash’s shoulders slumped, and all the fight went out of him in a rush. He looked, for a moment, both haunted and afraid; then he spun on his heel and went into the cave. It took all Roy’s self-control to sit down on a nearby rock instead of following.
Several minutes later, Ash emerged again, pale but composed. “I shall have to ask you to excuse my outburst,” he said without preamble. “I believe I must have been tired from my trek today.”
Roy stood and went to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Tired or not, it’s okay to hurt. It’s okay to let go.”
Ash nodded shakily. “My mother died when I was very young. I really don’t know anything else. I certainly never saw or heard of Mambokadzi while my mother was alive.” He took a deep breath. “I only wish that were still true.”
“She’s a strange old woman, but you don’t need to fear her.” Roy pulled Ash into his arms. “I find that however cryptic her utterances, in the end, things she takes an interest in work out.”
“Then I shall counsel myself to be glad that she takes an interest in me,” Ash said wryly.
“Ask her about your mother tomorrow.”
Ash ran a hand over his face then pulled back a little. “I don’t know what it all means,” he admitted in a low voice. “I’m scared of what the answer might be.”
“Scared? What do you mean?”
Ash shrugged, then leaned in for a kiss. “The witch, the lions…even you. This land is so strange, Roy.”