A Swithin Spin: A Princely Passion (16 page)

“What do you mean by unnatural?”

“Well…” Antal hesitated. “How much has Markis taught you?”

“I know how to connect to the comet to heal, but I’ve never tried it.” Kilan at least sounded a little apologetic. “Markis told me it requires a lot of effort, and that’s why we have to keep it a secret.” Kilan’s expression became defensive. “I’m not an idiot. I do realize that if this were public knowledge, more people than we could possibly heal would come from miles around, even from other places. It would result in chaos. I know Markis healed you, so I didn’t have to worry about keeping it secret from you.”

“It’s not that,” Antal explained. “It’s that it tends to heal the type of injuries caused by the unscrupulous. Injuries caused by weapons, poisoning.” He shrugged. “I would have thought a sprained ankle, no matter how bad, was more of a natural injury. According to the little information Markis told me, the comet would consider it an injury that would heal in its own good time, so it wouldn’t bother helping.”

Kilan sat quietly. At last he said, “I knew that. Markis told me. Of course he did. I just…wasn’t thinking. I just…forgot. I felt” -- he laughed softly -- “responsible for your injury and fed my need into the comet.” He sounded a little shocked and astonished by the revelation. His gaze turned studious. He held out a hand, fingers hovering a little above Antal’s skin. Antal looked at the hand, waiting for Kilan to touch him, but he didn’t. When next he spoke, Kilan’s voice had taken on a lighter, slightly dreamy tone, ponderous.

“I can still feel the spark in you. As someone who can touch the power, I can feel that Markis has touched you with it. It’s as if the comet
knows
you in some way. It…
wanted
you healed, and I just suddenly knew I could do it.” He gazed around the cavern as if searching. “I’m not sure why. This place…” His voice contained wonderment. “The power is easier to access here. It’s as if here, it
wants
me to connect with it.” Kilan stared back at him with an equal measure of fascination and shock in his eyes. “You said it was as if your vision flew across the clearing. You suddenly knew I was there?”

Antal nodded.

“Markis has said things about the comet behaving like that for him. Maybe because he healed you, and maybe if the power is easy to access here, that’s why you sensed me. But if that…”

It finally occurred to Antal where Kilan’s thoughts were leading. If the prince found the power easier to access here, then maybe the comet was close by. It couldn’t be, but if the statue was part of the comet, no wonder the legend spoke of Lewi being everywhere, a part of every emotion and physical act of love. The comet had sentience; he’d heard Markis and Kilan both say that. They didn’t know why, but both had spoken of the comet’s awareness. “The statue.” Antal breathed out the words, hardly daring to give the idea voice. “You don’t suppose…” He let the words trail away as Kilan shrugged. That shrug seemed a little too nonchalant under the circumstances, but he felt certain Kilan was just as stunned.

“If that’s actually part of the comet, wouldn’t we know it?” His voice full of wonder, Kilan turned his head as if he could stare up through several tons of rock to the surface.

Antal stared at his ankle. He couldn’t decide what he found more disturbing -- the idea that the power had worked within him or that he might have had sex with part of the actual comet.

Chapter Ten

“So the thing we were talking about before I healed you,” Kilan murmured. They had taken a while to settle down, finally giving in to fatigue. Kilan hadn’t said a word about what had happened previously. Kilan felt and Antal certainly seemed a little staggered by the idea of the statue being the comet. Kilan felt equally astounded by his having healed Antal so easily that he’d let everything else slip away. Even so, their sleep was intermittent, interrupted by swirling thoughts regarding the comet, and at least on Kilan’s part, sex. They had been kissing and caressing, hadn’t they? Finally, Kilan could stand it no longer. Now he waited for what was only a few seconds but felt like an eternity for Antal to answer.

“So you do want to have sex?” Merriment warmed Antal’s voice.

“It would pass the time,” Kilan suggested. With luck, that would also indicate that he wasn’t interested in anything serious, which he wasn’t…not really, and at least it would make it seem as if he didn’t care when…

When Antal breaks your heart as he’s bound to do.

Kilan closed his eyes. No no no. One’s heart couldn’t break when all you wanted was --

“So you just want a little entertainment? Nothing that carries on as soon as morning comes?” Antal spoke, practically finishing Kilan’s thoughts.

He didn’t know if he’d go so far as to say that, but yes, that was along the right lines at least and sounded uncomplicated. “I’m not sure. I mean, we could, once we get back to the city, anytime we felt like it. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“In that case, now that my ankle is up to cooperating, yes. Of course, maybe that’s why you healed my ankle.”

Stifling his dissent, Kilan hesitated. The thought that Antal didn’t really mean that, and then the thought that he did, went through Kilan’s mind as fast as it came. Even so, was he ready for this? He hadn’t truly believed Antal would want even one night with him. Now they lay here
discussing
it as if everyone talked about sex instead of actually
doing
it. Nothing seemed normal about this situation. He’d let go of the light earlier, plunging them once more into darkness. He considered reaching for it again, but Antal had already moved, pushing him back against the ground. Much to Kilan’s surprise, he went down. The blanket lay in a heap beside them and then…then there was only the heat of Antal’s mouth against his, plundering. Kilan accepted the intrusion, and then tried to respond in kind, with more force, pushing and shoving his tongue up, seeking the cavern of Antal’s mouth. Antal evaded him. Frowning, unable to see, only feel, Kilan still gazed up into the darkness above him, guessing where Antal’s face must be. If they were going to do this, there had to be more than…
this
, but even as he thought it, Kilan wondered why. An impersonal fuck was exactly what he’d wanted…didn’t he?

“We should be naked,” Antal said, and Kilan at once fumbled with the fastenings at his waist even as he felt Antal rear back, no doubt to shed the jacket. Yes! He wanted this. Hard and quick. That would be perfect. Hands reached down to help him, easing his frantic movements. For some reason that made both his emotions and desire peak. Kilan chose to concentrate on the sex. By the comet, he so wanted to spill his cock out into Antal’s questing hands. He wanted Antal to grasp him. Antal denied his wishes.

“Wha…” He didn’t get to finish the question. Antal pressed him back, pushing up his tunic as he did so. High,
higher
, pushing, lifting the garment, and then Kilan dipped his head, wriggling his shoulders, helping Antal assist him out of it. He expected Antal to do he knew not what -- kiss him, fondle him -- but when cold distance continued to separate them, Kilan tuned in to his hearing. From sound alone, he deduced that Antal rummaged in the pack. He must be searching for the lubricant. Kilan caught his hand, and yes, he could feel the small jar in Antal’s grasp.

“I’ll do that for you,” he told the darkness.

“You’ll prepare yourself? How accommodating.”

Kilan frowned. For a moment, Antal’s meaning escaped him. He was more taken with the way Antal spoke. He didn’t like the level of control in the other man’s tone, or rather he
liked
it but feared it more than he could ever have anticipated. He found that suggestion of supremacy almost worse than the idea that his emotions were caught up in what they were doing. When Antal’s words finally made sense, Kilan almost laughed. The idea that he only found it a
little
amusing shocked him to silence. Antal couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t mean… How had Antal made such a mistake? How to explain it? He forgot all about fearing his emotional state and began worrying about something else entirely. “Um… I usually…”

Antal bent over him. Their shared heat combined with the cold air to raise goose bumps. He whispered, the heat of his breath playing into Kilan’s ear, choking off the air in Kilan’s throat. “You what? You usually get to act like royalty? You usually get to take? You usually have grateful little orifices begging for a princely prick?”

“It isn’t like that,” Kilan protested. To his dismay, he experienced a shocking onset of tears. He didn’t know why he cared what Antal thought of him, but he just did. “Stop saying those things. If you’re annoyed with me, fine. Say so. We can discuss it or argue about it, but stop saying things like that.” He tensed, ready to fight off the other man even if he wondered whether he sounded childish. His erection wilted. Above him, Antal hesitated.

“All right, maybe I spoke in order to taunt you, but you can hardly blame me.” That voice sounded gentle, even a little apologetic. Kilan felt glad to hear it, but this emotional upheaval was too much.

“Maybe not, but…” What could he say? He
had
spied on Antal. “Accuse me of what I really did to you, not of being conceited and arrogant.”

“You are, a little.”

He didn’t know whether to argue with that, for this time Antal sounded more like his normal self: amused.

“Are we going to have sex or not?” Kilan complained, at the same time thinking his cock would need a little encouragement. It amazed him to realize how much he cared what Antal thought of him, especially at a time when he was so close to having sex with him.

“If you’ll stop playing the virgin.”

“But I --”

Antal kissed him, silencing him. In the meantime, his hands were busy, lifting, pushing Kilan’s legs open, up, back toward his chest so that his legs naturally parted, falling out to the sides while Antal insinuated himself between the prince’s thighs. Although all this affected him physically, Kilan struggled against the kiss. When he managed to fight his way clear, he protested. “This doesn’t feel natural. This isn’t what I had in mind. I thought I was going to --”

“Oh no.” Kilan could tell Antal was shaking his head, because the drape of his hair brushed against Kilan’s chest. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it my way.”

Antal wasn’t sure if Kilan called the light intentionally or some part of him just needed the comfort, but a glowing nimbus surrounded them. Once their sight adjusted, they stared at each other. Antal liked what he saw; the threat of a smile tugged his lips to one side. He didn’t want to smile; he wanted Kilan to realize he was in earnest.

Although not usually one to be this demanding, something about Kilan’s attitude just called to that part of his nature. Kilan had come here wanting to penetrate him. He didn’t know why, but he’d known of Kilan’s interest. He just hadn’t taken time to consider it, his mind too full of other concerns and his body disinclined toward sex. Well, the statue had changed that. A few days ago, he’d experienced a fleeting willingness for someone to penetrate him. The statue had fulfilled that desire. Now he wanted to sink his cock into someplace tight, someplace hot. Kilan was perfect. Antal was naked, chilled, had suffered the pain of an injury, felt hungry and more than a little peeved at the prince. The uncertain look in Kilan’s eyes proved most satisfying.

“I can’t… I don’t… I mean…” Kilan suddenly looked and sounded younger than his years. Antal raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never…”

Antal blinked, the realization of what Kilan was saying hitting him like a slap. He asked the truth of that with his gaze, the skin around his eyes tightening in a small questioning frown. “You’re trying to tell me you
are
a virgin?”

Kilan’s flushed. “I’ve been with women and men. Just not… I’ve always…” Words apparently failed him.

“Ah,” Antal murmured, the fiendish part of his nature coming to the fore. “So you really did think you’d get to come here and be the one doing the fucking.” He couldn’t have sworn to it, but he felt certain Kilan’s blush deepened. He loved it.

“Do you have to put it like that? I just thought --”

“You just thought you’d be the one penetrating. You’d be the one
dominating
.” Antal laced his voice with disapproval, although he didn’t mean it. He grinned.

“Well…yes. Not the way you say it. I didn’t have some despicable plan.”

“So you won’t mind,” Antal said softly, “if I substitute your plan with one of my own?”

Kilan opened his mouth, perhaps to argue, and without giving him a chance, Antal slipped a hand between them and touched him where the prince claimed to never have been penetrated. He deliberately kept his touch light, caressing, gently circling. Kilan gasped, his breath hitching, his eyes closing, his body jerking. Antal tried to keep his grin from spreading. Kilan hadn’t been lying. The way Kilan reacted anyone would think he was torturing him.

“You’re truly never been touched here before?” Antal knew he failed to keep his wonderment and delight from his voice. Kilan’s eyes shot open at the remark. The younger man stared up at him, his eyes wide, his gaze a tad crazed.

Antal took the opportunity to grease his fingers. He proceeded to make another circular motion against Kilan’s most intimate flesh. Kilan whimpered. Oh, that whimper was priceless!

Kilan’s gaze flicked over Antal’s face, and only then did Antal realize how wild he must look himself. “You want this, Kilan?” he whispered. “You want this, then it happens my way. I won’t hurt you,” he stressed, capturing Kilan’s gaze with his own at the same moment that he pressed a finger home.

Kilan’s eyes widened in shock and then narrowed. His mouth gaped, but Antal knew how to locate the right spot that would silence any complaint.

Oh by the… By the what? Oh yes, the comet. Oh by the comet, that was…

Actually, that wasn’t at all as he’d imagined. It felt nice. Better than nice.

Liar.

Fine. It felt bloody fabulous, but oh…

Kilan turned his face to the side. He tried to draw on the comet and experienced a wave of panic when it refused to respond. When he considered he shouldn’t be willing to use the comet against Antal, that he didn’t want to hurt him, gratitude that the comet eluded him washed in to drown his alarm. That finger moved inside him, tickling, teasing.