The journey itself, is freedom
by Ainzfern
13
The bedroom was warm, the lights softly dimmed and upon the bed in the middle of the room, amidst a deep white drift of kicked-down covers and rumpled sheets two naked figures lay twined up with each other, their hushed sounds of pleasure and murmurs of affection softly filling the air around them. They were beautiful together; for all that they were physically disparate. Both were pale skinned with dark hair, yet there the similarity ended. One was built tall and strong, long-limbed and powerful in form, broad through the shoulders and lean through the hips, his mass of dark hair flowing down his back in a thick curtain of cobalt blue, shimmering like a starling's wing in the soft light of the bedroom. His face was flawless, the features perfect in their symmetry and proportion. At first glance such a countenance might seem haughty, even intimidating; yet the expression upon this face was on of open affection and deep and abiding contentment, softening what could have so easily appeared cold and distant into something quite beautiful and warm.
Pressed up close to him, moving with him, was the other occupant within the room. Smaller of stature, slightly built and sleekly muscled, this undeniably gorgeous young creature had a body which had indeed been built for pleasure. His skin was warm and smooth, delightful to touch and sensitive to the lightest stimulation. His breathtakingly lovely face was flushed with pleasure, his full lips parted over hid rapid breathing. His warm brown eyes, windows to the gentle soul within, stared up at the larger man leaning over him with absolute trust, and complete adoration.
They were Companions, Esra and the Sapphire Elite, Laron Tak. They were mates. And right now, in this safe haven, this intensely private moment, they were also becoming lovers.
With a gentle whisper, a low voiced entreaty, Laron eased one hand up between Esra's legs, stroking up the satin-soft skin of his young mate's inner thighs. He smiled, nodding his encouragement as Esra parted his legs, allowing Laron access to that most private of places. Touching Esra now more intimately than he ever had before, the Elite carefully breached the sensitive opening hidden between the firm cheeks of Esra's buttocks with two elegant and well-slicked fingers. He soothed and stroked, hushing Esra gently when the ex-Pet arched and winced at the inevitable sting of the incursion after being so long untouched in that tender place. Laron was patient and thoughtful, coaxing tight muscles to relax, kissing away the tiny frown that creased Esra's brow, keeping at it until he felt the tension leave the slender body lying half underneath him, heard Esra's breathing relax and deepen once more.
"You are beautiful, Esra," Laron murmured, reveling in the feeling of touching Esra like this, in the delightful sensation of the heat and the slickness of the tight channel he was so carefully preparing, of the cleave and the cling, the smooth pliancy of strong muscles around his slowly thrusting fingers. "From the first moment I saw you... I knew I would never really be able to look away again."
Esra lifted one slightly trembling hand, stroking his fingers down the length of Laron's well muscled torso. "I love you, Laron," he said with simple and endearing honestly, "and I'm so glad that you love me."
Laron's heart gave an almost painful little jolt. Leaning down, carefully easing his fingers free of Esra's body, he caught that soft mouth with his in a lingering and tender kiss. "How could I not?" he breathed between the softest brushes of soft lips over warm skin. "How could I not, Esra?"
Sighing softly, Esra shifted under him, parting his legs and lifting his pelvis up, easing Laron into the cradle of his thighs. As Laron closed his eyes and breathed deeply, working on controlling his body's reactions, he felt one of Esra's hands reach down to take hold of his turgid erection, guiding the head of the his cock to rest against the entrance to Esra's body, well slicked and waiting.
Laron opened his eyes, meeting his mate's gaze steadily. "You're ready?"
"I am," Esra smiled at him and, to Laron, he was simply unutterably gorgeous. He wanted him, this, so terribly badly. More than he would ever have imagined only a few short years ago.
But...
Laron hesitated, his breathing deepening, a note of concern still sounding in his mind. "It's going to hurt you, isn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes," the younger man's smile didn't falter for a second, and his gentle voice was oddly matter of fact. "But only for a little while... and only until I get used to it again."
"Esra—" Laron broke off with a low groan of pleasure when Esra's hand shifted, gripping his shaft confidently before beginning to stroke, milking him firmly, sending sweet sharp spikes of sensation pulsing sweetly through his loins.
"Please, Laron," Esra panted softly, lifting into him, those surprisingly strong legs twining up around his back, pulling him in close. "Please..."
And in all honesty, Laron could no more deny that soft appeal than he could deny his own lungs oxygen, so he steadied and shifted his weight, lined up and slowly thrust, pushing into the sweet tight warmth of his mate's body with a strangled sound of almost pained pleasure. The heat was incredible, the slick smooth channel of muscle around his aching erection simply one of the most amazingly sensual, and earthily sexual things he had ever experienced. But he also heard Esra's sharp intake of breath and his soft involuntary cry of discomfort. He felt the tension fill his mate's limbs and he winced in sympathy, gathering the slighter man close and rising up onto his elbows to look down into his eyes. "Esra?" he breathed deeply, stilling his movements. "Do you need me to—?"
"No," Esra had scrunched his eyes shut, panting harshly as he quite obviously struggled to accommodate the sheer size of the Elite, to cope with the deep stretch and burn of penetration. "No, don't pull out, just... Can you keep still for a moment?"
Nodding, once more closing his eyes as he laid his head down upon Esra's smooth white shoulder, Laron stroked the palm of his hand down Esra's side. "Of course I can," he murmured, consciously relaxing his body, his breathing, "I can wait for as long as you need."
In actual fact, it really didn't take that long for Esra to relax into it. A few moments at most. Breathing deeply, arching his back a little more to improve the angle, Esra settled with a deep sigh, curling the fingers of one hand around the back of Laron's neck. Holding on. He lifted his face, pressed his lips to the Elite's ear and whispered. "Now... Please."
Laron began to move, slow, deep, thrusting into his mate's body with gratitude and a profoundly physical sense of joy. He rose up once more onto his strong forearms, looking down into Esra's face, seeing the flush across those smooth cheeks, noting the dazed haze of pleasure in those soft brown eyes. Relief filled him at the knowledge that his mate was now enjoying the coupling and he began to move with a touch more vigor, letting the passion within him rise up a little more. The very intimacy, the feeling of giving pleasure as well as receiving it, satisfied the Sapphire on a level that was more than just sexual. It had been worth the wait, his pleasure-soaked mind acknowledged.
Oh, had it ever been worth the wait...
He reared up and back onto his haunches, slipping his hands behind Esra's knees and pushing the ex-Pet's legs further up over his heaving chest; the change in position allowing the Elite to increase the depth of his strokes. Esra cried out again, this time in a voice husky with need and pleasure, as he moved with the deeper penetration. Laron's hot gaze raked down Esra's body, focusing at the point where they were joined, the sight of his cock sliding in and out of that undeniably gorgeous ass sending a sudden powerful jolt of lust raging through his thighs and belly. When Esra began to touch himself, one slender hand reaching down to stroke rapidly over his twitching shaft, Laron knew he was lost.
With a soft groan of delight, he let go of his splintering control and welcomed his climax as a man would welcome water in a dessert... as the end of a drought, the beginning of renewal. As the sweet white pleasure seared though his loins, pooling with almost painful intensity into his balls before pulsing from his cock in a series of deep sullen pulses, Laron gripped Esra's slim hips with both hands, pushing in deeply and holding himself there, coming long and hard into his mate's body.
He felt Esra's heated flesh quiver around him, heard the younger man's helpless beautiful cries of relief and fulfillment and he felt a deep sense of satisfaction, as pleased for his Companion's pleasure as he was for his own.
As his orgasm slowly faded, Laron eased his own legs back, once more stretching out fully over his mate and gathering him close while they rode out the final sweet shimmers of climax together. In the breathless aftermath, he rolled to one side, his arms still tightly around Esra's warm sweat-slicked body. He smiled, feeling deep contentment, both physically and emotionally, flooding through his body as he pressed kiss after kiss to Esra's beautifully flushed face. He kept at it, with almost whimsical high humor filling his chest, until Esra began to laugh; trying to wriggle away while he objected, between helpless chuckles, that Laron was smothering him to death.
With one last sound kiss to that soft mouth, Laron did indeed lie back, settling Esra into the crook of his arm while he lazily trailed his fingers over his mate's smooth sweat dewed skin. As they lay together for a few moments, while their skin cooled and their breathing slowed, Laron sighed deeply; the profoundly contented sigh of a man who had just come incredibly hard and was damn-well glad about the whole thing.
Beside him, Esra shifted a little, sliding one arm across Laron's chest, getting more comfortable as the post-coital lassitude relaxed them both completely. "So," the young man's voice was husky and low, the very sound of it shooting a tiny dart of renewed interest through Laron's loins. "What did you think?"
"Exquisite." Laron dipped his head and pressed his face into Esra's soft brown hair. "Absolutely exquisite, Esra. Every bit of it."
"It was, wasn't it?" Esra nodded, his smooth cheek rubbing against Laron's shoulder. "And so different from how it felt when I was a Pet."
"Oh?" With a mild frown of curiosity, Laron let his fingers drift up to stroke gently through Esra's hair, over and over. "How so, dear-heart?"
Esra laughed again, fond and soft, at the use of his nick-name. "Well... as a Pet, having sex was something I did because I was supposed to. But, as your Companion, sex becomes something I want to do," he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down seriously into Laron's eyes. "I get to choose, do you know what I mean? I choose to give this part of myself to you, because I love you; because being with you like this is just so perfect."
Carefully, Laron rolled over, pulling Esra partly underneath him. Lifting up on his strong forearms, he smiled down into Esra's face. "It was rather perfect, wasn't it?" he drifted his fingers over Esra's cheek bone, stoking softly. "Although... I did cause you pain at first, didn't I?"
"Only a little bit," Esra admitted with a reassuring smile, "and only because it's been such a long time. But you were so careful. That really helped."
"Hmm," Laron arched a doubtful brow at him.
"Seriously," Esra insisted. "I'm not sore at all now."
"You're sure?"
"I am."
Laron leaned down and kissed that sweet mouth once more, rocking his hips in a slow and sensual rhythm and smiling against those soft warm lips when he heard Esra gasp in surprise.
"You're hard again?" Esra's eyes widened.
"Well, Elites are a fairly resilient race," Laron lifted one broad shoulder, his rich mouth curving up into a decidedly wicked little grin. "Can you handle one more time, Esra?"
Esra flashed a grin that was at least as delightfully sinful as his mate's was. "Ohhh... I think I can manage, yes."
"Positive?"
Esra shot him a little look that well and truly answered that question... along with any others the Sapphire might have cared to ask. He chuckled, a deep and pleasant sound even to his own ears, as he moved his body over Esra's once more.
"In that case," Laron slipped his arms under Esra's shoulders, his hands cradling his mate's head, "if you would care to spread those rather lovely legs of yours..?"
With a soft sigh of acquiescence and adoration, Esra did exactly that, his arms lifting up to hold Laron tightly as the Elite, with great care and a not inconsiderable amount of genuine delight, once again slid slowly and deliciously into the wonderfully tight slick heat of his Companion's, his lover's, undeniably beautiful body.
"How is that?" Raoul leaned forward slightly over Katze's sleek back and stroked the heels of his hands firmly up either side of his spine.
Under his naked thighs, Katze purred like a sunning lion. "Ohh'sgreat..." he sighed happily. "You have talented hands."
"And you have significant knots in your back," Raoul shook his head.
"Well, it's been a long day," Katze rolled over underneath his impromptu masseur and smiled up happily into the Elite's beautiful eyes. He ran his hands slowly up Raoul's thighs and curled his fingers around his lean hips.
Raoul's lazy smile grew slightly wicked. "You must learn to relax more, Katze."
"Any suggestions?"
Raoul rocked his hips slightly, drawing a soft moan from the supine form under him. "One or two, I will admit."
Katze laughed softly and rubbed his thumbs over Raoul's hipbones, back and forth, slow and soothing. "Come down here," Katze tugged on him.
Bending down over his lover, Raoul braced his hands on either side of Katze's head and kissed him long and hard. He smiled against that full mouth when he felt Katze's hands clamp over his backside, squeezing firmly. "Katze?" he murmured.
"Mmm?"
"What is this fascination you appear to have developed with my backside?"
"What do you mean?"
"Whenever we are naked, it invariably draws your hands like some manner of magnet."
"Huh..." Katze grinned up unrepentantly. "So it does." He squeezed again for emphasis.
Raoul shuddered slightly. "Utterly hopeless." Giving up any pretenses of disapproval, he bit down gently on Katze's lower lip, sucking on it for a moment before pulling back to smile down at him again, noting with pleasure the near helpless haze of desire that smoldered in those golden eyes.
Raoul watched in a kind of intense absorption as his pale hands stroked over Katze's smooth skin. He found the contrast of their shape, their differences, incredibly arousing. All this warmth, all this trust... Raoul felt a kind of wonder rise up in his chest as he looked down at his Companion. Given freely to him simply because Katze loved him. To Raoul Am... An Elite who had once hurt and frightened this very mongrel who now formed the foundation of his existence.
Raoul adored him.
His one regret now was that they hadn't started sooner.
"Relax for me," Raoul efficiently slicked his fingers and shifted slightly so that he could dip his hand down between Katze's thighs, seeking and finding his most intimate opening, stroking over it with gentle fingers. "Relax," he whispered again.
Katze's breathing grew slow and measured in response to that soft command. Raoul smiled tenderly down at his calm and expectant lover as his fingers gently worked inside of him, stretching and stroking within snug satin heat, softly scissoring, ensuring that there would be no discomfort.
Slowly, with the utmost care and restraint, Raoul lifted Katze's hips onto his thighs and eased his cock into that relaxed body. Biting down on his lower lip, he tilted his head back with a tiny grimace of control, resisting against the urge to thrust in hard. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Raoul slid home, buried to the hilt in an incredible tightness and an almost searing heat. Both men released slow sighs of satisfaction as Raoul leaned forward and looked deeply into Katze's striking eyes.
Katze smiled at him. He was beautiful.
Slowly at first, then with deepening thrusts, Raoul began to rock into that welcoming heat. The sensation was exquisite. Smooth hot satin that gripped him so tightly. Raoul rolled his hips into each inward thrust, angling himself so that the head of his shaft rubbed over that sullen little sweet spot within Katze's passage; exulting in the soft groan that his mongrel vented each time Raoul hit it just right, adoring the glorious expression of almost pained pleasure that crossed Katze's sweat dampened face.
Raoul kept his pace steady, fucking Katze with slow sweet strokes, drawing out the moment for as long as he could. "Katze..." he grated, a light sweat breaking out over his face, his neck, his chest. "...The feel of you..."
In reply Katze simply grabbed Raoul's hips firmly, guiding his movements, urging him to change the pace, to go faster, harder.
With permission granted, albeit silently, Raoul drew himself up and began to thrust into Katze with powerful intensity. Low sounds of helpless pleasure were torn from his throat as he rode deep and hard, plunging himself into his lover. He felt Katze's fingers biting into his ass as he used the leverage to rise up and meet him, pushing his pelvis up into each of Raoul's driving down strokes.
He felt the quivering of Katze's flesh, saw the sudden tension cross his face and he knew his lover was close. Exerting what little control he had over himself, Raoul grasped Katze's erection and milked him firmly, stroking him with the rhythm of his own surging hips.
Katze's body gave a powerful shudder and he arched back sharply, coming in long deep pulses, spurting out the hot evidence of his climax in smooth arcs across the sweat slicked skin of his trembling belly. The sight, the sweet sound, of Katze's peak was all Raoul could take. He had one final instant of fleeting awareness to brace himself with a deep breath before he was engulfed by the furious fire of his orgasm. With his head flung back, the tendons in his neck corded and tight, he shuddered again and again. He twisted helplessly though his climax, spilling himself deep into his mate in powerful, wrenching bursts. It was bliss. It was love. It was everything...
He came back to reality slowly, finding himself cradled in Katze's arms, the soothing touch of the redhead's fingers massaging the back of his scalp in gentle circular motions. Propping himself up on one elbow, he smiled down into Katze's sated face, lifting one hand and pushing a few sweat dampened strands of hair back off his mongrel's brow. "Do you feel better, Katze?" he rested one hand on Katze's chest, just over his heart. "Within yourself, I mean."
Almost somberly, Katze nodded. "I do." He huffed a rueful little laugh. "Things are back in perspective."
"This pleases me," Raoul settled down beside his mate, taking Katze's hand and twining their fingers together. "Life is so much more congenial, I feel, when you are content."
And it was quite true, Raoul reflected wearily as he slipped into a light post-coital doze. When Katze felt better, he felt better.
That was just the way things were now.
It was late. The world was peaceful and quiet and, nestled safely in the circle of his arms, Laron Tak's young mate slumbered within the deep repose of the seriously sated.
Gazing down through the soft moonlight that shone in through the window of the bedroom, Laron lifted one hand and gently touched Esra's face. It was a feather-light caress, just barely enough to gauge the warmth of that soft skin, Laron being mindful of waking his slumbering Companion. As he lay there looking at that beautiful young face, a mix of emotions washed through his chest. Complex and powerful, these were elemental feelings. Enhanced by the physical intimacy that they had just shared, Laron felt the bond with his Companion tightening and strengthening in response. Unbreakable now, were the ties between them. Laron simply knew that, and on a level so fundamentally deep that he could almost classify it as instinct. This young man, so trusting and relaxed in his arms, had now become to sum total of his personal happiness and fulfillment. Laron would kill to defend him, die to protect him. He no longer even bothered to question it.
As those thoughts solidified in his mind, Laron felt another less intimate resolve hardening anew.
Kyle Li be damned. Laron was not going to be poisoned by one man's bigotry, no matter how powerful he was. Laron had dreams and he was going to realize them. He was going to be successful beyond any Sapphire in the history of Amoi. He was going to be the first of his caste to achieve departmental leadership and there was no way in hell that he was going to do that without his mate at his side.
Exactly how he was going to achieve his goals, he was not entirely sure. For now, he had sufficient funds invested to maintain his household and this meant that he had time to work on his contacts, to obtain a role in a different department and to try to find at least one member of the upper-Elite castes who was not an 'old and dear acquaintance' of Kyle's.
It was a concerning situation for him, Laron was more than willing to admit that. But, at the same time, he also had to admit that Esra had been absolutely correct about the value of sharing his troubles openly with his mate.
Because, in spite of those quite reasonable concerns about their future, Laron did feel better.
The journey itself... – chapter 12 << >> The journey itself... – chapter 14