Sacrati

Chapter Seven #2

“Come soak,” Theos said, and he led the way to the big tub.

It was crowded, and there were several invitations for Finnvid to sit on various laps, which turned into a competition, which turned into wrestling and splashing.

Finnvid might not have seen the staring, but he’d have to be blind and deaf not to notice all this.

Theos sighed. He’d made a ridiculous decision to keep the boy, and now he needed to tolerate the fuss until the excitement subsided and the men found something else to be stupid about.

“You,” he said, reaching down and hauling on the arm of one of the younger combatants.

“You and your friends—out of the tub. You’re clean enough. ”

The youngster narrowed his eyes, and Theos anticipated spit in his food or maybe grime on his laundry, but the child clearly wasn’t ready for open rebellion yet.

Which was almost too bad, because Theos would have liked to vent some tension by knocking an insolent recruit around a little.

Instead, he glared until the boy and his friends climbed out, then nudged Finnvid’s shoulder.

The Elkati jerked away as if the touch burned, and Theos sighed again.

“Get in. There’s a bench about halfway down inside the tub.

You see where everyone’s sitting? Step on that. ”

The boy reluctantly did as he was told, and Theos then stepped into the tub himself.

One of the men in the tub was older, not Sacrati but a veteran of many campaigns. Theos had fought with him in three different valleys, and they’d always gotten along, so he nodded a greeting. The man said, “I heard you were planning to rent him out. Put my name on the list.”

Theos shouldn’t have wanted to punch his comrade in the face. “I’m keeping him to myself for a while,” he replied as evenly as he could. “But when I get tired of him, I’ll let you know.”

Other offers started coming in then, some joking, some serious, and Theos realized that he was not going to have a long, relaxing soak in the tubs that evening. “Scrub clean,” he told Finnvid. “There’s soap here, and use those brushes.”

The boy sat still, maybe trying to figure out a way to drown himself in the steaming water.

Theos grabbed one of the brushes and whacked Finnvid on the head with it.

“Hey. Let’s go.” He tossed a chunk of soap at the boy.

“The faster you do it, the faster you can get your clothes on and get out of here.”

That was a good incentive, apparently, since the boy got to work.

Theos had only needed a rinse to get the caked mud off him, so he had some time to waste while he waited for Finnvid to finish.

He tried to keep his eyes to himself, but it was somewhat difficult when everyone else in the room was staring in one direction. So, okay, maybe he snuck a few peeks.

The boy needed more muscle. He was thin from insufficient food, which Theos tried not to feel guilty over, and also from growing too fast up and not enough out.

But more food and lots of exercise would have him in good condition; he probably would have been able to make it as a soldier, if he’d been given the chance.

Well, he would have if his attitude hadn’t gotten in the way, which seemed pretty unlikely, really.

Now that the boy had begun his task, he was meticulous, scrubbing his entire body as if preparing for his initiation ritual.

His hair became several shades lighter after he lathered it up and rinsed it out, and Theos’s hand twitched with eagerness to touch it.

Instead, he flicked Finnvid’s shoulder. “Ready to rinse? Then you can shave, and we can get out of here.”

Finnvid didn’t reply immediately. He stared at the far wall, the ceiling, anywhere but at Theos or the other men.

“You’re going to have to get out of the tub eventually,” Theos said. “If you’re waiting for a time when no one else is around, you’re going to dissolve into the water and be washed down the drain.”

“That sounds fine,” Finnvid finally muttered.

Theos snorted. “Not fine with me. I have things to do tonight, so I’m leaving. You can come with me or you can take your chances here on your own.”

Another successful threat; Finnvid turned and reached for a towel. But in his attempt to keep as much of himself underwater as possible, he ended up crouching on the submerged bench, stretching forward, his ass bobbing out from the water at just the right height for . . .

Theos gripped the edges of the tub with one hand and used the other to yank Finnvid back. “No towels yet,” he said when he’d regained control of his voice. “You’re not clean until you’re rinsed.”

“I have to walk over there naked?”

“You making a fuss is what’s getting everyone interested.

” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was probably a factor.

By the sword, if Theos hadn’t known Finnvid was an uninterested virgin, he’d have shifted over behind him while he was reaching for the towel, slid inside, fucked him senseless, and then this obsession would be finished with.

The boy would have gone back to being an annoying military problem.

But Theos wasn’t that lucky. So he pulled himself out of the water, ignoring the demands of his body, and stared pointedly down at Finnvid. “Let’s go.”

The boy seemed as if he was going to refuse, but finally stood, his hands cupped protectively around . . .

Theos laughed, a welcome release. “You like the attention, do you?” If Finnvid had been Torian, Theos would have given him a half hug, maybe slapped playfully at the boy’s erection, and they both would have laughed at the uncontrollable urges their bodies sometimes inflicted on them.

In this case, though, he just shook his head.

“Don’t be stupid. At your age you’re probably getting hard if a butterfly flaps its wings near your cock.

The flowing of the water feels good, that’s all.

” Theos gestured to his own half-hard cock and decided not to mention that it hadn’t been an issue until Finnvid reached for his towel.

“Come rinse, and then you can wrap up. Not that it’s going to hide that.

” Theos wished he could take a moment to appreciate the boy’s beauty, but instead he headed for the rinse water.

“I guess you can use my razor to shave. I don’t really know how all this works; am I supposed to buy you everything for yourself?

I know I have to pay for your food.” He tried to keep up the inane blather, trying to help Finnvid relax .

. . trying to keep his own mind away from Finnvid’s cock, and wondering if it would feel different under Theos’s tongue than a Torian cock.

He tossed a towel to the Elkati and led the way to the mirrors.

Shaving oil, razor. Theos tried not to think about anything else, and wished he hadn’t shaved that afternoon so he could have something to do as he waited.

He couldn’t have shaved anyway, though, not with Finnvid holding the only razor in his strong, long-fingered hand.

Those fingers that would feel just right . . .

Theos turned away. Tagan, a young Sacrati, was beside him, fresh from rinsing off the same mud Theos had just lost, his curious gaze on Finnvid’s oiled face.

“Not him,” Theos grunted as he stepped toward the man. “But me.”

There was no argument. They kissed as they moved, hot bites and shared gasps, and they only made it a few steps away from the shaving mirrors before they dropped their towels and reached down together to grasp each other’s cocks.

“Not saving yourself for your bedwarmer?” Tagan murmured as he tightened his grip.

“I’ve got enough to go around.” Theos dropped to his knees and took the man in his mouth. It should always be this simple, this easy.

“Elkati!” Tagan called. “You, bedwarmer!” Theos turned his eyes to see Finnvid staring at them. “Toss me the oil.”

After a stunned moment, Finnvid complied, and the Sacrati caught it and passed it down to Theos. “Oil me while you suck. Then fuck me.”

Aye, this was how it should be. Theos didn’t argue with the instructions, and he didn’t waste much time prepping his partner, either. After covering the basics, he rose to his feet, lined up, and couldn’t keep himself from looking at Finnvid as he buried himself in the Sacrati’s ass.

And he kept looking as he fucked. Finnvid’s face was rosy with heat and his beautiful blush, and he’d stopped shaving with half his skin still covered in beard.

He stared at Theos, and Theos stared back, then slowly, carefully, reached around to find Tagan’s cock with his hand.

He nodded, just the hint of a suggestion, and watched as Finnvid’s hand tentatively lowered.

Theos almost froze; he was captivated by what might be about to happen.

But then Tagan grunted something and rocked back into Theos.

That broke the spell, and Finnvid’s hand jerked away from his cock. Stupid Elkati.

Theos closed his eyes. He let the vision replay behind his lids, the way Finnvid’s blush had spread all down his chest, the way his hand had trembled.

The way he’d stared before finally turning away.

Theos imagined himself driving into Finnvid’s pale, eager ass, imagined the way the muscles would tighten around him, and his orgasm came fast, sweeping over him like a spring avalanche.

He was dimly aware of Tagan arching and swearing as he found his own release, but it wasn’t important to him.

By the time Theos had recovered, Finnvid was trying to shave again.

His hand was trembling dangerously and his chest rose in quick, shallow breaths, but he seemed to be back in his own world.

And Theos didn’t think it was a happy world, at least not right then.

Damn it, what was wrong with these Elkatis?

Why did they have to make something so simple into something so complicated?

Tagan straightened up and turned with a sly smile to say, “Everyone said you were crazy, taking on the trouble of a bedwarmer when you could have any ass in the barracks. But maybe you had your reasons.”

Theos snorted agreement, then made his way over to the running water for another rinse.

He kept a subtle eye on Finnvid, noting that he didn’t move the whole time Theos was away.

The boy just stood there, so tense he was almost shaking.

It wasn’t Theos’s fault Elkatis were strange about sex. Why was he feeling guilty about this?

He strolled back to Finnvid. “Finish shaving,” he said gently. “And stop thinking so much. You followed the Elkati rules when you were in Elkat, but now you’re Torian. Things are different here. You should relax and let yourself enjoy it.”

“I doubt they’d agree with that in Elkat,” the boy said softly.

Theos bit his tongue. Probably not the best time to remind the boy that he wouldn’t be going back to Elkat, not until it was part of the Empire and learning new rules.

“They’re there; you’re here. Two different worlds.

Keep them separate.” He waited while Finnvid appeared to think about that idea, then added, “And finish shaving. You don’t want to walk around with half a beard. ”

Finnvid didn’t obey immediately, but when he did pick up the razor, his hand was steady and he finished his job without incident.

Theos took it as a victory. “You can rinse off if you want,” he offered. “Then put those clothes on. We’ll get dinner, and I’ll explain to the kitchen that they’ll have to bill me for your expenses.”

“I thought I didn’t get to eat or drink until I answered your questions.”

Theos had forgotten about that. He shrugged.

“I’m losing interest in your little secrets, to be honest.” An orgasm had helped calm his mind, as it always did.

“I’m tired of worrying over your nonsense.

The Elkati military is weak and poorly trained.

The Torian Empire will take your valley whenever we choose to.

There’s nothing you can do to stop it, so I don’t need to get involved. ”

Now he was speaking to himself more than to Finnvid.

“I jumped in where I shouldn’t have, and now I’m stuck paying for and protecting a sneaking, lying, pain-in-the-ass ‘bedwarmer’ who acts like it’s the end of the world when he almost jerks himself off.

When the captain finds time to talk to me, I’ll tell him what I think and he may or may not want you and your men tortured until you spill the truth.

If that doesn’t happen, you’ve got roughly five months to make yourself useful at my expense.

If you haven’t found a way to earn your keep by the time the snow goes, I’ll send you out on the first slave train, and you can go east and see how much they care about your Elkati ideas of ‘unnatural.’”

By the sword, he’d talked himself out of his postcoital ease and into a bad mood. “So, aye, go ahead. Eat all you want to. Get yourself nice and fat, if you like, so you’ll be warm for the winter. I don’t care.”

He stepped away and scowled at the still Elkati in front of him.

“And already I take back some of those words. I do care what you do, because I’m hungry and I want to eat.

You can get your clothes on and come with me to the dining hall, or you can stay here by yourself. If you’re coming with me, hurry up.”

Finnvid hurried. And Theos stared at the door, wishing he could go through it on his own, without dragging Finnvid’s turmoil along with him.