Page 26 of Rubbing One Out

“You loved him,” Ben said, wondering why there was a pang in his chest as he said it. “Did he love you?”

Dae’s lips thinned. “I thought so. We met at a lakeside festival when I was with my father. He had a stall selling leather goods and was one of the Lord Regent’s favourite leather smiths. Aether took a fancy to a leather bracelet and stopped to convince the Lord to purchase it.” Dae smiled at his memory. “I’d been aware of him for many years. He was my greatest fantasy. We got to chatting and arranged a meeting that evening by the lake. I was confused. Why would a Master Regent and heir to the Kingdom want to involve himself with someone like me?” Dae paused. “I went anyway, and it soon became clear he wanted to be more than friends. I didn’t resist, and soon meetings by the lake became a way of life for us.”

“You became lovers.” Ben placed his empty teacup on the side table, fascinated by the story. “Was it not permitted?”

Dae shrugged. “Same-sex relationships are the norm where I’m from. We’re pansexual, and choose the person, not the gender. That wasn’t the issue. The problem was that Aether had chosen a local boy beneath his station to dally with. He had to hide me from his parents.” He grimaced as he cradled his cup in his hands. “His mother, Lady Brinil, suspected something was up and had Aether followed. It wasn’t long before I was marched from my home under Regent Guard and taken to Ishvar, the Regent’s dwelling. I suppose humans would call it a palace.”

“What happened to you?” Ben asked. “Were they the ones who banished you to the lamp?”

Dae snorted, his face hard. “Yes, after they’d beaten me senseless. Any hope I had of redemption or rescue was cruelly quashed with every flick of the whip, every beat of the ivory cane, and every punch of a metalled fist. Aether let it happen.” He swallowed and Ben reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Dae reached up and laid his hand over Ben’s as if seeking comfort. “My beautiful Aether stood by with his red-rimmed, tearful eyes, watching me being beaten and tormented into admitting I’d seduced and entranced the heir to the kingdom by nefarious means.”

“He was scared,” Ben said quietly. “Afraid of his parents. Why else would he do that if he professed to love you?”

Dae blew out a breath. “I suppose in hindsight that’s probably true.” His tone turned bitter. “But when you’re lying bleeding in a puddle of your fluids on the floor, it’s not easy to accept. His mother had insisted on the punishment. Lord Dhimrin had not been as disposed towards it, but she insisted.”

He swallowed. “I refused to give them the satisfaction of admitting to any wrongdoing, much to my families’ dismay. Then Lady Brinil came up with the plan to imprison me for life in Calado’r—in the lamp.”

Ben gasped in horror. “For the crime of loving someone? That’s inhuman.”

Dae nodded. “It was only the entreaties of my father, Madeaus, that stopped my eternal descent. As I said, he was a favourite of Lord Dhimrin. Strangely, Lady Mage Elicia was on my side and convinced them to reduce it to ten years with a promise never to see Aether again.”

He sighed. “The Lady Mage is Lord Dhimrin’s sister, and he holds her in high regard. She was strangely supportive of my predicament and I was lucky and grateful to have in her such a powerful ally.” His eyes closed, his face drawn. “It was the pain of knowing Aether did nothing to help me, especially after all our passionate protestations of love, that hurt the most. The physical pain I could deal with.” He sighed. “I miss my family, especially my sister. We were always close. I haven’t seen them in five of our years, and I won’t get to see them for another five until my sentence is served.”

There was silence while Ben digested the story and Dae no doubt reflected on the painful memories of his past. Finally, Ben stood and motioned to Dae to scoot over so he could sit next to him. Tenderly, he cupped Dae’s cheeks in his hands. Dae’s sad gaze cut Ben to the core.

“What happened to you was terrible,” Ben muttered. “Those bastards treated you abominably. You didn’t deserve any of it. I’m not happy to learn you were taken from your family and your home. There might not be any happy ending to this story, but I’m glad you appeared in my life. I only hope that for the short time you’re here, you can enjoy yourself. I promise I’ll do my best to get you home—well, to Calado’r—as soon as I can. If that’s what you want.”

Dae’s gaze softened, and he gave a slight nod. “Thank you. I appreciate your kindness. I won’t be chasing you for your wishes. I’m quite enjoying it here.” He paused. “With you.”

Ben lost his breath, but before he could find it, Dae’s lips on his stole any semblance of rational thought. The kiss was tender to begin with, but soon evolved into something more urgent with the slick pressure of tongue. Ben’s hands slid beneath Dae’s shirt, finding warm, fragranced skin.

“Is this okay?” he murmured against Dae’s lips.

Dae chuckled sultrily as he gripped Ben’s tee-shirt, pulling it over Ben’s head. “This is meant to happen, Ben. You’re making one of my wishes come true.”

***

Ben had no idea how they came to be naked in Dae’s plush, satin-lined bed—perhaps Dae cast a damn spell on him—and Dae was sprawled across his body feasting on one of his nipples. Dae’s tongue lapped at the sensitive nub and Ben’s dick was loving the action.

“Holy shit,” Ben gasped as Dae bit lightly into his pecs and then trailed his tongue across to Ben’s armpit. “I don’t even remember how we got to this stage.”

Dae looked up, his wicked gaze focusing on Ben, his purple eyes smoky. “You don’t remember begging me to take you to bed so we could fuck?”

Ben’s dick jumped at the thought. He hazily remembered saying something like that while Dae turned his insides to jelly with lazy strokes to Ben’s cock. “Maybe. I, erm, I need to tell you something though before we go any further. I’m not into, you know…” Ben wasn’t sure how to address the topic without being too blunt. “Bottoming or topping. Is that a problem?”

He watched Dae pause his exploration of Ben’s navel and look up. “Azizam, there are plenty of ways to be intimate without being inside one another. I’m glad you told me, though.” He winked. “We can get…creative.”

Dae climbed up Ben and straddled him across his groin. He leaned forward, and bestowed a soft kiss on him, rocking above him as he did so. Ben gasped as Dae’s cock brushed his, harder then harder still until the two of them were moaning loudly.

“See?” Dae said, in between his sexy panting. He smiled wickedly and kept up his momentum. “This feels good too. I love the feeling of your cock on mine.” He groaned louder and buried his face in Ben’s chest. “Oh God, you are so fucking sexy. You’re going to make me come so damned hard.” He gave one last gasp, then shuddered and Ben’s groin and belly grew wet and warm.

The pleasure of Dae’s orgasm and the low moans coming from his flushed throat triggered Ben’s climax and soon he too was spilling all over himself and his lover. He gripped Dae’s firm cheeks as his body surrendered to the pleasure.

Dae chuckled hoarsely and lifted himself off Ben to roll over and lie on his back. His lithe body relaxed and he lay sprawled in a delightful show of decadence. There was nothing Ben wanted more to see than the beautiful naked front of Dae’s body.

He waited for his breathing to return to normal, then rolled onto his side and trailed his fingers across the mess on Dae’s stomach. Then he sucked their combined spend off his fingers.