Amity Cove - part 4

Halfway through their stay, with the moonlight shining through the window by their bed and Cailan contentedly laying with half his body across Jarek’s chest, he spoke a thought that had been in the back of his mind ever since his father had blessed his betrothal.

“Jarek?”

“Mm?” the man murmured in response, his eyes closed as his fingers ran up and down Cailan’s spine.

“When we return to the palace, what will I do?”

“What do you mean?” Jarek asked sleepily.

“Well, before…” he swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat.  “I was a concubine.  That was my…job.  That’s not who I am now though.”

“No, it’s not,” Jarek agreed softly.

“Will I have a role, a purpose, when we go back to the palace; or, well, am I still going to be seen as I was before?”

“You will never be seen as you once were,” Jarek promised, his voice quiet but resolute.  “You will be seen as my husband and a member of the royal household.”

“But what will I do?” Cailan questioned.

“I think that’s something we’ll need to discuss the details of with Alaric,” Jarek told him.  “But initially I think much of your time will be taken up with studies and training.”

Cailan turned his head enough to see Jarek’s face.  “Studies and training?  In what?”

“You have a lot to learn about your new kingdom, petling.  I had you studying its history and economy before when you first arrived.  There is still more of that to learn, including traditions, beliefs, ceremonies, even geography.  It’s important for you to learn these things because you will be included in family decisions and bi-annual governmental meetings.”

“I will?”

Jarek nodded.  The entire royal family is always included in those gatherings.  My parents will come in twice a year for those meetings, and Queen Kesla—although not born as a royal—has married into the family and always has thoughts and wisdom to add, just like you will.”

Those words pleased Cailan greatly, and he could readily admit that he liked the challenge of all he was going to be expected and allowed to learn.

“Will you be giving me books and primers to study like before?” he asked.

“Yes, but there is too much for you to learn on your own.  We should consider a tutor to assist you,” he paused thoughtfully, “or perhaps Sem if he would have the time.”

“Sem?”

“Mmhm, Sem is the gifted researcher in the family.  You remember that Alaric assigned him the task of finding the Caribbie caves that you said Berring’s Prince Killian mentioned, right?”

Cailan nodded his head against Jarek’s chest.

“Sem’s mind absorbs information and remembers it extremely accurately.  He works closely with Teague, the palace Recorder of Events and Keeper of Historical Records.  Both are fountains of information.  Sem doesn’t have any experience in teaching, but the two of you might work well together, particularly since Sem has the experience of being both a Cylandrean and a royal.”

“Can’t you teach me all these things?” Cailan asked, knowing he’d preferred Jarek’s tutoring over Sem’s, even though he did like Jarek’s little brother.

“I will teach you much,” Jarek concurred, “but most of my time is taken up with my duties as military head.  I cannot push those duties to the side, but that will be part of your education as well.  I want you to learn and train with my men in battle skills.  You have spent your life as a warrior, and you are accomplished in your abilities.  I want to build on them and teach you things you may not have learned in Arten.”

Cailan sat up eagerly.  “You will let me be a soldier?”

“Petling, you are a soldier.  I’ve seen the way you take pride in that position, and I know it’s important to you.  It’s important to me too.  I would hope that the days of war and battle are over for a long while, but I am not naïve enough to believe it’s permanent.  Should a time of battle arise, you and I will stand together.”

Cailan attacked Jarek’s mouth in a kiss full of excitement and gratitude; a kiss that Jarek quickly turned passionate, but when his fingers slid to Cailan’s crease and began to push inside, he felt the smaller man’s body tense more than normal.  He removed his hand and studied Cailan’s face, which had lines of strain around his eyes.

“You’re too sore,” Jarek stated in realization.

“No, I….” he stopped when Jarek raised an eyebrow and frowned at him.  “Maybe,” he conceded.

“Cailan, I’ve told you that sometimes it will be necessary to rest this muscle.  There is no shame in letting me know it hurts you.”

“It’s usually ok once we’re actually in the midst of it,” Cailan debated.

Jarek shook his head.  “No, that is the heat of the moment talking, and yes, I know there is pleasure involved, but when the pleasure fades, you should not be in such pain.  A little ache and soreness, yes; but not anything that should make you tense as you just did.”

“But….”

Cailan couldn’t continue because Jarek cut him off with a pressing kiss.  “I know what I’m talking about, petling.  I have experienced it.”

Cailan’s eyes blinked in surprise.  “You have been penetrated?”

“I have.”

Cailan’s expression darkened.  “By who?”

His jealousy was clear and Jarek tried to temper his answer for the young prince’s sake.  “I have told you that I had lovers in the past.  My first was when I was eighteen with a fellow soldier in my unit.  We were both inexperienced and did not know how to take things as gently as we should.  Neither of us much enjoyed the action of penetration because of the pain involved, nor how to make it better after the fact.”  He kissed Cailan’s mouth as he saw the young man’s eyes darken further.  “Do not be jealous or angry, petling.  It’s my past experiences that help me know how to make things good for you—as long as you don’t hide your responses from me, or lie to me about what you do and don’t enjoy.”

Cailan didn’t look overly mollified.  “Was he the only one?”

Jarek shook his head.  “There was one other several years later.  He had more patience than my first, and made it better.  It can be enjoyable for me, although I prefer to be the one doing the penetrating.”

Cailan was still atop Jarek, but he turned his face away, looking troubled and hurt, which made Jarek’s heart ache. 

“Petling?”

“I hadn’t considered your past much before, but I don’t like that others have known you as I do.”

“My prince, no one knows me as you do,” Jarek insisted.  “I have shared things with you that no one else has touched.  You are the only man who will ever share my personal bed.  You are the only one besides my father who knows the contents of the keeper he gave me.”  He touched Cailan’s chest.  “You are the only one who shares my mark.  Only you.”

The words helped, especially the reminder of the new mark that adorned his chest, but it didn’t take away the wish that no one else had shared Jarek’s body.  He settled his head on Jarek’s muscular chest and listened to the beat of the man’s heart, wishing he could have been the only one to ever intimately know his spouse.

Jarek’s hands combed through Cailan’s hair is a soothing motion.  They were quiet for several minutes, and Cailan was starting to slip into sleep when Jarek spoke into the peacefulness of the room.

“There is something I have never allowed with a lover, my petling,” he said in a hushed voice.

Cailan shifted and raised his head to be able to see the sincerity in his husband’s face.  “What is it?”

“I have never been on the bottom.”

Lines of confusion appeared between Cailan’s eyes as his face scrunched up.  “But you said….”

“That I had been penetrated,” Jarek interrupted.  “But I never allowed a lover to be above me when doing so.  I have been above them or side by side, but I have never permitted anyone to put me on my back when being intimate with them.”

Cailan thought back to his interactions with Jarek and realized the man was speaking the truth.  He allowed Cailan on top of him if they were just kissing or touching or holding each other, but when they were actually in the moment, Jarek was never on his back.

“Why?” the younger prince asked curiously.

“Control.  Pride.  At the root of things, I think it’s because I do not trust the vulnerability of being in a position that allows someone to hold me down while using my body in such a way.”

The younger man understood that.  As a husband, with the choice to give himself to his partner, it had been easier to allow the intimacy of penetration.  However, when he’d been a concubine, there had been true fear and distrust in the prospect of laying still and simply letting his body be used.  He could understand Jarek’s reluctance, and he told his husband that.

“That makes sense.  It’s hard to be that vulnerable, even if you do trust the other person.”

Jarek’s look revealed affection and love.  “Yes, and it’s another reason I have such respect for you, little love.  You’ve entrusted me with that vulnerability.”  He caressed Cailan’s face.  “And I want to do the same for you.”

“What?”

“You’ve given me all of yourself, petling.  I want to do the same for you.  I trust you.”

“Really?”

Jarek nodded.

“But you know I’ve never topped in any way before.  What if I can’t do it right?”

Jarek grinned.  “You’re a fast learner, and I may be on the bottom, but you can be certain I’ll let you know what I do and don’t like.”

“Are you sure?”

Jarek rolled his eyes before cupping the back of Cailan’s neck and pulling the man down into a deep and hungry kiss.  He could feel the young prince’s erection growing against him, just the result he was hoping for.  He spread his legs, letting Cailan slide in-between them, and slowly grinding their centers together.

Before long they were both panting and excited.  Jarek ran his hands down Cailan’s back and then cupped his backside and pressed the smaller man against him.  Cailan groaned at the added pressure.

“Don’t lose yourself yet, petling.  You need to prepare me.”

Cailan almost asked what he meant by that, but then quickly understood what Jarek referred to.  Hesitantly, he moved a hand between them, stroking Jarek’s length several times before letting his hand slide lower, feeling the warmth of the man’s crease, and then the pucker of skin hidden in it.

Even just rubbing it, the area felt tight, and Cailan worried about doing harm to his beloved. 

“Push one in, petling.  It’s ok,” Jarek encouraged, his voice having gone deeper with arousal. 

Cailan obeyed, pressing with his pointer finger until it slid into the tight heat.  Jarek didn’t flinch.  He actually shifted slightly and forced Cailan’s finger in further.

“Yes, in and out.  Get me ready,” Jarek guided.

Cailan slowly moved his finger, amazed at the tightness that gripped him.

“Another,” Jarek directed.

Cailan pressed a second finger in and was able to feel the stretch of the muscles.  It was strange to feel the way they seemed to suck him in yet want to push him out at the same time.

Looking at Jarek’s face, he saw that the two fingers brought a bit more discomfort than just one.  He thrust them in and out even slower and asked, “Are you ok?”

Jarek lifted his head and Cailan mirrored his action, letting their mouths meet in a kiss.  “I am, petling,” he murmured.  “It has just been a very long time since I have felt this.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Cailan offered.

“I know, but I want to…for you.”  He wiggled and spread his legs a bit more.  “Press in deeper and feel me.”

Cailan did so and his fingers brushed a small bump.  The light touch made Jarek jerk and groan, and Cailan immediately pulled his fingers out.  “Did I hurt you?!”

Jarek shook his head.  “No, no,” he panted.  “Remember that spot I touch in you.  You felt mine.”

“Oh.  It was good?”

“Very good, little love.  Do it again.”

Cailan slid his fingers inside with a little more confidence and sought out the small bump.  When he found it, Jarek’s hips jerked again, making Cailan smile.  The younger prince began steadily moving his fingers and brushing against Jarek’s spot, mesmerized at the mixed look of discomfort yet enjoyment on his husband’s face.

They were both perspiring and panting after a few minutes, and Jarek slid himself further down on the mattress and reached between them, grasping Cailan’s hardness and stroking it firmly.  Cailan whimpered in pleasure.

“I’m ready for you, love.  Use the cream on us and I’ll let you in.”

Hands shaking in arousal, Cailan reached for the pot of cream and spread it around and into Jarek first.  He then rubbed it generously over himself, his breaths coming out a little harder at the pleasure of touch on his sensitive skin.

When he leaned over Jarek and pressed the tip of himself at the puckered skin, he met the older man’s eyes and froze.  The love and trust in the blue depths was clear and sincere, and the two of them just stared at each other for several long moments. 

“Master, I love you,” Cailan breathed out, his inner submission almost feeling stronger despite their physical positioning.  He lowered his head to nuzzle at Jarek’s neck, their shimmering silver and black hair blending beautifully together.  “My beloved.”

“I love you too, my petling…my gift,” Jarek replied.

Cailan almost didn’t realize he had started to press in, so caught up in the moment, until the heat of his lover’s passage enveloped the tip of him.  He groaned into Jarek’s neck and began to push harder, but the bigger man’s hands on his hips stopped him.

“Slowly, little love,” the man requested.  “Draw it out for both our pleasures.”

Cailan gentled his movement, doing as Jarek asked despite the urge to just push inside.  He didn’t want to hurt this precious man, and he soon understood how the slowness was pleasurable to him as well.  Each millimeter of his length was able to enjoy the gradual slide into Jarek’s heat.  The slickness of the cream helped him enter smoothly, but Cailan was also able to appreciate the velvet feeling of Jarek’s inner walls.  When he bottomed out, he sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Wow,” he murmured.

Jarek hummed low in his throat in approval.

Not able to stop himself, Cailan began to thrust; just little prods at first, but when he found an angle that allowed him to brush against Jarek’s inner bump, his thrusts became longer and deeper.

He whimpered at the extreme pleasure of the friction and heat surrounding him, and reveled in the gasps and muted groans Jarek offered up in return.

“Touch me, petling,” Jarek gasped out as he lifted his hips and moved with Cailan’s thrusts.  “I’m close.”

Cailan did as he said, matching his strokes on Jarek’s length with the rhythm he’d established below.  He could feel beads of moisture dripping down his backbone, and Jarek’s hair was damp around his face as the heat of arousal and intensity of feeling spread throughout their bodies.  Then he felt the unimaginable decadence of Jarek’s passage tightening wonderfully around him as the older man’s hardness spilled his release.

It was too much for Cailan to resist and his body answered in kind, emptying itself so fast and hard that Cailan yelled out in pleasure and didn’t even try to stop the extra hard thrusts and jerks that his body demanded of him.

Weak and blissed out, Cailan crumbled atop Jarek’s torso as his softening erection slipped free of the wonderful heat it had known.  He felt his body shifted to the mattress and whimpered gratefully when his husband’s hot skin blanketed him and soft lips left loving kisses all over his face and throat.

          He fell asleep like that, completely satiated and feeling idyllic with all around him.