Chapter Twenty-Nine #3
He’d taken over like the Summus he was meant to be.
“Yes,” both he and Kinan agreed readily.
Further tests proved that the stronger they made the shield, the more difficult it was for Kinan to get through. He could still pass, but he described it like a sensation of more and more pressure.
Then they tried with Molun, who could create a shield of both water and air, and it became more difficult still.
Finally, Brannal created a full shield with all four elements blocking all the elements—and Kinan was actually rebuffed.
He stepped back, startled, with an expression of surprise.
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I actually feel that!”
“Did it feel solid?” Brannal asked. “Like normal?”
“Yes.” Kinan made a face. “I think so, anyway. It’s been a long time since I actually felt anything solid that wasn’t me.”
Cormal remembered how Kinan had told him that since he never disturbed anything on the ground, he assumed he wasn’t quite touching it.
“Could you push through if you tried harder?” Brannal asked.
“Maybe just try pushing with your hands,” Perian said hastily. “No need to walk face first into the shield.”
Kinan approached the shield more cautiously this time, reaching out carefully and laying just his fingertips against it to start.
He smiled faintly at the evident impact.
He started to push harder, and then harder still, until his body was angled, and it was clear he was pushing with all his weight, his hands flat against the shield.
Suddenly, his hands started to sink in.
Only then Kinan said, “I feel a little—”
His body… flickered, coming in and out of view. Trill and Yannoma gasped. In an instant, the shield was gone, and Kinan dropped to the floor. Cormal rushed to him, Perian on his heels.
“Kinan, are you all right?” Cormal demanded.
Kinan looked washed out and exhausted. Cormal cursed himself for getting so excited with these tests that he hadn’t considered the most important thing, which was obviously Kinan’s health.
“I’m all right,” Kinan said, but he sounded labored and not at all like everything was fine.
Perian had an expression of concentration on his face, and Trill had come to sit on Kinan’s other side. It was clear they were both trying to give him energy. But Trill made a face.
“I don’t know how to direct the energy if I’m not touching someone.”
“It was my understanding that touch was necessary,” Yannoma said.
Perian was still focused, and from the way Kinan was becoming more solid-looking, it was working. Cormal could have melted into the floor in relief.
“I’m all right,” Kinan repeated, thankfully sounding a little better.
He reached out and patted Cormal’s leg. And they both froze as Kinan’s hand made contact with Cormal’s trousers.
Their eyes flew to one another, and then Cormal reached out and laid his hand over Kinan’s.
For the first time since Kinan was sixteen, Cormal could feel him.
They quickly realized that it was only the part that had been immersed in the shield; soon after his wrists, Kinan became intangible once more.
Tears had begun to slide down Kinan’s face.
“I can feel you,” he said as he dissolved into sobs.
Cormal clutched at those hands, doing his best to soothe the man with words and touch on those precious inches of skin.
“I’m right here. We’re going to figure this out. I promise, Kinan, we’re going to figure this out.”
Cormal had no idea of what the actual next steps would be. It had become obvious that it was dangerous to Kinan, and they needed to proceed with caution.
But they really did have hope now.
Kinan was clutching at Cormal like he was afraid Cormal would leave. Cormal wasn’t going anywhere.
“I think that’s enough for today,” Brannal said.
He was crouched with Perian, who Cormal realized belatedly was swaying a little. He’d clearly given Kinan a lot of energy.
“Yeah, I think we’d better go lie down,” Cormal agreed. “Kee?”
Kinan allowed himself to be led. Cormal absently said goodnight to everyone else as they left the room. A few minutes later, Kinan climbed into bed with Cormal, the two of them still touching.
“Are you all right?” Cormal asked, though that was probably a stupid question.
“I don’t know what I feel,” Kinan said, staring down at their clasped hands, still clutched too tight. “It’s amazing. I didn’t really think it was going to happen, you know? But it also took a lot of effort, and at the end, it felt… not good.”
It sure hadn’t looked good to Cormal either.
“But it’s still more than we’ve done before,” Cormal pointed out. “Think how much we’ve discovered in a short time thanks to Perian and your friends.”
Kinan blew out a breath. “That’s true.” He was silent for a moment, and then he corrected, “Our friends.”
Cormal was beginning to think that might be true again, so he agreed softly, “Our friends.”
They lay there for a few minutes, their grasp finally loosening so they could run their fingers over one another.
“I never realized how sensitive my hands were,” Kinan whispered.
Cormal felt the same, and he’d had the use of them for his entire life.
Kinan bit his lip.
“What?” Cormal asked.
Kinan’s eyes darted to his and then away again.
Cormal’s fingers tightened briefly on Kinan’s, loving that he could actually do that.
“What?” he asked again.
Kinan cleared his throat, still not looking at Cormal. “Can I… touch you?”
For a moment, Cormal didn’t understand, since they’d been touching one another since the moment they’d realized they could.
Ah.
He almost laughed, but he didn’t want to be misunderstood. Voice low, he said, “Kinan, you can touch me anywhere you want.”
Kinan’s eyes flew to his. “It’s not weird?”
“It’s not weird at all,” Cormal confirmed smoothly.
It was a little weird, but that was completely overshadowed by the fact that it was Kinan, able to touch Cormal for the first time since they’d started this relationship. Cormal could already feel himself responding to the idea of Kinan getting his hands on him.
Kinan still looked uncertain, so Cormal took matters into his own hands—ha!—and undid his trousers, stripping out of them, his underclothes, and then his shirt as well.
Kinan stared at his cock very fixedly. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before, but Cormal knew this was different.
Swallowing visibly, Kinan reached out with a hand that trembled, like Cormal was a wild animal who was maybe going to bite. Cormal did his best to breathe calmly and let Kinan experiment.
Slowly, so slowly, Kinan ran one finger up the length of Cormal’s cock. Cormal shuddered. Kinan’s eyes flew to his face, and whatever he saw there, he apparently liked, because his whole body relaxed, and his touch became more certain, although he was still using his fingers to tease.
Cormal hadn’t thought anything as simple as this could feel so amazing, just scant fingertips brushing over his highly sensitive skin. It took more work than he expected to keep his hips from thrusting up to try to chase after the incredible touch.
Kinan traced the head of Cormal’s cock, stroked down the vein on the underside, and ran his fingers over what felt like every inch of Cormal’s skin, like he wanted to learn his cock by touch alone.
Cormal was quivering by the end of it, cock achingly hard, pre-come leaking from the tip. So then, of course, Kinan had to smear the liquid around, wrap his hand around Cormal’s length, and stroke up the length of him.
Cormal tried to stifle his moans, but Kinan said, “Let me hear you, please,” and so Cormal let all the noises fall from his lips, begging for more but also not wanting this sweet torture to end.
Kinan used his other hand to fondle Cormal’s balls, and Cormal managed to gasp out a warning that he wasn’t going to last long. Kinan just pumped faster. With a cry, Cormal climaxed, muscles tensing, cock spurting. Kinan pumped him through it, gaze avid and hungry.
“Oh, wow,” he said.
Feeling sated and lethargic in the best possible way, Cormal nevertheless managed to urge, “You, too.”
Kinan tugged out his own erection, and it only took a handful of thrusts before he was coming, though his spend disappeared before it could touch Cormal, just like it always had.
They managed to clean Cormal up with a towel—because of course Perian’s bedrooms had plenty of towels for clean-up—and then curled up together as best they could, hands clasped again, because that was something they could do now.
In the morning, they found the ability had already faded, and they could no longer touch.