“Well,” Hamish mumbled around a piece of bread he had produced from a ball of cloth tucked into his belt pouch. “We can rule out any bears from this direction. I’ve nae seen a single sign.”
Darshan grunted as he poked around the bushes huddled beneath a gnarled pine. After being warned of the danger they posed, he rather wanted to see one up close. Just for a moment, as irrational as he knew that desire to be. Anjali would be so jealous. He didn’t get many chances to tease his twin, and most of them were too cruel to consider. Letting her know he had seen a Tirglasian bear up close would ruffle her feathers for a month and she would be begging their father to let her travel here by the end of it.
“Dar?”
Blinking, he lifted his head to find Hamish looming over him, concern creasing his features. Darshan straightened slightly, the nape of his neck tingling although he could discern no immediate threat. “Is everything all right?” The hum of a shield not quite formed ran through his body and vibrated the air.
“That’s what I was going to ask you. You’ve been staring into that bush for a while now.” He frowned and reshuffled his load of branches and twigs. “Have you nae heard a word I said?”
He released his hold on the half-formed barrier with a sigh. No danger, just a man concerned he hadn’t been heard. “Something about bears?” His thoughts might’ve wandered a touch, but it couldn’t have been for too long.
The expression on Hamish’s face spoke of it being the wrong answer well before the man opened his mouth. “That was several sentences back. I was asking if last night was what you’d call one of these dates of yours?”
Darshan chuckled. “Not like any date I have had.” Unlike the men who attempted to woo his sister, few sought anything more than a few hours of pleasure and, occasionally, a little favour. He’d be stretching to call any of that a date. “But the ones in our folktales tend to start out that way… generally just before the lord’s lover vanishes under mysterious circumstances. And thus begins the saga of adventure and battles leading to a glorious culmination and much rejoicing.”
“Would you have counted it as one?”
“Perhaps,” Darshan replied as he resumed poking around the bush, spying a short length of tree branch tangled within the budding leaves. He certainly wouldn’t shirk at the idea of spending more time passively consuming food in such company, the ocean view had been a bonus. A shame we had to leave.
“And now?” The words might have been muffled by the rustle of leaves and crack of dead twigs, but the wariness in his lover’s voice was thick enough to taste.
“If you wanted it to be.” Darshan surfaced with his haul. He slid the piece into the bundle tucked snugly beneath his arm. “Although, I believe it is typically more intimate than this.”
The forest echoed with the clunk and clatter of wood hitting the ground. His lover pressed close, scooping Darshan into his arms, then up against a tree before Darshan could think to react. The wood that’d been tucked neatly under his arm tumbled to the forest floor, the tip of one branch scraping his shin on the way down.
Hamish hovered over Darshan, one muscular arm corralling him either side. “You mean like this?”
He barely heard the words over the rhythmic beat of his pulse marching in his ears. His mind blanked terribly. The hissing pain of the injury and the soothing warmth of his healing magic clashed with the jumbled knot in his stomach.
Nevertheless, Darshan found himself biting his lip even as a small groan of acquiescence escaped his throat.
His lover bent to kiss him. Soft skin whispered against his own, feather-light and nothing more.
Still, his body shuddered. Darshan grabbed for the man, his legs embarrassingly weak. With his fingers full of the man’s overcoat, he hauled himself up to deepen the kiss, parting his lips just slightly.
Hamish moaned, pressing harder against Darshan’s mouth, but not taking the unspoken invitation. Firm hands fell on Darshan’s hips, lifting him until his toes barely touched the ground. Their hips met clumsily, the force slamming Darshan’s back against the tree.
With a low guttural sound that was half pain, half desire, Darshan took possession of his lover’s mouth, greedily deepening the kiss. His hands twitched, longing to traverse the expanse of chest and shoulders before him, but to release his handhold risked a rather painful slide down the tree trunk.
Darshan opted to abandon the forest floor completely, wrapping his legs around Hamish’s waist to grind against him, his thoughts bent only towards chasing pleasure. His lover thrust chaotically in response. Each movement crushed Darshan against the tree, but he no longer cared.
Their lips parted far sooner than he would’ve liked, both gasping for air. Darshan tipped his head back, resting it on the tree.
“You ken,” Hamish murmured, humour huffing out with his trembling breath. “For someone who speaks about control so much, you give it up quick enough.”
Heat flooded his face. Few back home would knowingly entertain the idea of playing anything but the submissive for their vris Mhanek. Fewer still actually restrained him with any intent. And none turned his limbs to water with a rather straightforward kiss.
Gods, was that would it took to get him off now? Simplicity? Clumsy innocence?
He squirmed against the tree, looking for a way to wriggle out of this position. Just when had Hamish pinned him so tightly against the trunk that he could do nothing but grind against the man? And, if he wasn’t mistaken, his lover was rather enjoying Darshan’s bid for freedom.
Far from innocent, I see. That was a mild relief. He would certainly need to work on not falling apart every time his lover touched him though, especially if he was to have Hamish join him in Minamist. It would be all too easy for the Crystal Court to
