16. STEAM
STEAM
Rhalyf tipped his head back and let the water run over his face.
His eyes closed as hot, steamy liquid flowed over his body washing the smell of barbeque and sweat away.
The barbecue was delicious! But he didn’t want to wear it, especially if he and Finley were going to have a very good time the rest of the evening.
He frowned as a rush of cold air swirled around his legs as the door to the bathroom opened.
“Finley, is everything all right?”
He cracked open his eyelids. He’d thought that Finley would be well taken care of with The Dark Gift to read, but perhaps he’d seen something from the balcony that had alarmed him.
But when he looked towards the door, expecting to see a hand or the back of Finley’s head–gods forbid the young man look at his naked body–he was completely shocked.
Finley was there. But he was staring right at Rhalyf’s naked body and he was naked too.
“Everything’s fine, but I just thought…” Here, Finley’s head lowered and he looked up at Rhalyf rather fawn-like through his dark lashes. “I just thought we should bathe together. I mean… Why wait to begin?”
Rhalyf blinked, but then a slow wolfish smile crossed his lips. He lifted his arms and pressed them against the sides of the shower, which helped expose every single inch of his–self-admittedly–lovely form. “Why wait indeed? I am all for getting a start on the fun part of the evening.”
Finley, thankfully, did not say anything about why he hadn’t found the earlier part of the evening fun as well.
After all, hearing about the fall of his Uncle Lysanthir or the equally gutting deaths of Declan’s two mothers couldn’t ever be described as fun.
Nor had his uncle’s disturbingly friendly and warm conversation with him and Haera been fun either.
All three things had been revealing, to be sure.
It had also been transforming in some ways over how he saw Vex, Declan and their whole family.
He’d be pondering all of these things for some time and he would likely find new revelations as he played it back as he’d attempted to do with the murder of Seith and Leisha.
But this time there would be no Vex to pants him.
He didn’t think so.
But Finley was sauntering–attempting to saunter–through the steam released by the shower towards him.
The young man’s body was long and lean. Lovely muscles moving under peaches and cream colored skin.
His nipples were a deeper rose, which already had Rhalyf’s mouth watering.
He could almost feel the softness of that flesh on his tongue until that hard nub would form.
Golden curls surrounded a similarly rose colored cock.
It was lovely. Perfectly proportioned and plump. Finley was already partially erect.
So was he, honestly!
Who wouldn’t be with such a pretty, eager young man offering himself? And his heart beat a little harder at the thought that Finley had never done this before. But he felt safe enough to be bold with Rhalyf. Now that was a good sign.
He noticed that Finley’s hands were tentatively stretched out before him a little bit. Of course, they were! Finley didn’t have his glasses on. He likely couldn’t see a thing.
He reached out and grasped one of those questing hands. Finley gratefully clutched his guiding hand and was led into Rhalyf’s personal space. The water splashed down over him and Finley let out an appreciative sigh. He blinked owlishly around the two of them then squinted up at the shower head.
“This is modern plumbing,” Finley pointed out.
Rhalyf laughed self-consciously. “Yes, well, I did have something similar before we came to Earth, but I have to admit that humans do know their bathrooms.”
“And kitchens,” Finley nodded. “We’re excellent at those.”
“And food made in those kitchens,” Rhalyf agreed, thinking of not only the barbecue but Declan’s excellent breakfast, too.
“We have our moments,” Finley blinked up at him.
Rhalyf framed Finley’s handsome face with both hands, his thumbs placed by Finley’s eyes. “May I cast a spell on you?”
Finley’s eyebrows rose in excitement. “Yes, what kind of spell?”
“Let’s see if you can figure it out,” Rhalyf said and murmured the spell under his breath. Power surged through his thumbs into Finley’s eyes.
Finley blinked rapidly and gasped. “What–what did you do? Ohhhhhh…”
The young man stared around them, slowly panning the room before looking up at the arched ceiling and then back down to Rhalyf’s face.
“Well?” Rhalyf asked, a little too eagerly, but he had to admit to himself that he loved Finley’s reactions to his use of magic.
“I can see! I mean I can see normally, but this–this! Every thing is so clear? Is it permanent?” Finley stared at him with parted pink lips and wide blue eyes.
“It can be.”
“Do it!”
“Ah, right now?”
“Oh, you can’t?” Finley’s lower lip pushed out almost in a pout.
“Well, I can but it takes a little more preparation and I would want to be sure I fixed things just so and–”
“And we’re naked. In a shower. Ready to have sex.” Finley gave a nod with each of the things he listed out. “It is not a prime moment.”
“No, but I will do it. I promise,” he said. “But–”
“After?” Finley asked.
“After,” he agreed.
“I would say I should learn it myself through The Dark Gift, but most of the spells are towards animation and as for healing the self… Well, that doesn’t appear to be the focus of this magic,” Finley admitted.
“You’re already getting quite deep into the book,” Rhalyf murmured as he stroked his hands over Finley’s shoulders.
“What’s amazing is that I’ll read a page and then find that there are yet more things to discover on it. Layers upon layers of understanding. As I master one thing, I am given the next step and–”
Finley spoke on with great enthusiasm for what he was discovering and Rhalyf found he had no desire to silence him with a kiss.
Finley’s love of magic matched his own. His openness was thrilling.
In Kindreth society, no one would speak so fully about what they were learning.
Of course, Rhalyf couldn’t learn Finley’s type of death magic, but he sensed, again, just like with Finley coming to him, naked and eager, that it was because Finley trusted him.
And maybe Finley wasn’t the only one. He had asked the young man, after all, to come with him if he was banished from the Aravae Empire.
That had been… bold of him.
Part of him knew it was insane to ask.
They’d known each other but a few days. Why would Finley give up his whole life–his world, his family, his friends, his dreams–to go into the sunless Under Dark?
Most creatures spent their time there wishing to get out.
But here he was urging Finley to dive head in.
And Finley had looked like he was considering it.
Trust was a drug.
And he tried not to think of how he was going to break that appearance of trust with Aquilan tomorrow. Some would say he was showing ultimate trust by admitting who he really was, but he would have to show Aquilan how it had not been there all this time.
But that was tomorrow’s problem.
“How do we start this?” Finley asked with an open tilt of his head.
“Start… ah, lovemaking?” Rhalyf intuited.
A nod. “I figured coming in here naked was a good first step, but do we kiss? Touch each other? Both? Where is okay to touch? Does the radius of where is okay increase over time? I would imagine it would depend on preferences and where we were at the moment.”
“Kissing is always a lovely way to start.” Rhalyf’s right thumb smoothed over Finley’s no longer pouting lower lip and leaned down to lightly give him a peck.
“Touching is also a definite yes.” He guided Finley’s left hand to his chest, directly above his nipple.
Finley’s fingers flexed against his skin.
“We can really do anything so long as both people wish for it.”
“How do we know if the other person wishes it? Do we ask before we do anything?” Finley moved his hand tentatively over Rhalyf’s chest, seemingly fascinated by the valley between his two pectoral muscles and the hollow at the base of his throat.
“That is one way. And some would say it is the only way to ensure consent, but I think there’s something in between. We say what we would most like to do and anything we do not want at the beginning,” he said. “Personally, I’m up for most anything.”
Finley let out a soft huff of laughter. “That’s quite sensible. I don’t know why I thought the Kindreth would not be about consent, but–”
“When most people carry weapons in their bodies… Well, you have to be careful,” Rhalyf flashed a fangy smile.
Finley didn’t notice as his eyes were, once more, on Lament. One hand dropped down towards it. He looked back up at Rhalyf.
“You want to touch my Blood Tattoos?” Rhalyf asked.
“Yes, but what I really want to do is suck you off,” Finley answered almost primly while Rhalyf nearly swallowed his tongue.
“Oh?” He asked, his voice a little too tight and high to be normal. “I mean, of course!”
His cock was very into this idea. It had jerked at Finley’s words. It had jerked again when his mind offered him the image of Finley on his knees, a drip of pearlescent cum on his chin, and those very wide, blue eyes gazing up at him with wonder.
“I am aware that there are dangers when a novice takes your cock into his mouth,” Finley continued.
“Mmmm.” Did he sound agreeable? Erudite about the subject? Eager as fuck? Because he was definitely that last thing.
“But I have researched this extensively,” Finley said regarding his plumping cock with no desire nor dismay, but almost a clinical interest that had Rhalyf squirming with desire. “Now reading about something and doing that thing are, of course, two very different things. As Declan has always said–”
“We don’t need to bring my cousin into this,” he said, his voice rough with need.
Another nod. “It appears my desire matches yours.”
“Yes.” A faint yes. A strangled yes. But he had gotten it out.