The King and the Criminal: Chapter 2

It was not a comfortable silence.

Tash felt his nerves pulled taut as he and Firae walked across the soft grass toward the wooded path on the outskirts of Kurt and Blaine's garden. He tried to think of something, anything to say, but he was utterly at a loss. He didn't even know what his King wanted from him. Not really.

Tash definitely knew what he wanted, but he wasn't sure that what he wanted was something Firae could offer. He chewed his lip for a moment before sighing deeply and turning to Firae, not even sure what he was going to say, but feeling like he needed to say something.

Before he could even start to speak, however, Firae took his hand and gave it a gentle tug.

"Come on," Firae said. "There's this really pretty spot I found."

Tash allowed himself to be led onto a tiny, overgrown trail that branched off almost invisibly from the main path. They navigated across rocks and roots, their comfort in nature wired into them as surely as it had been for their ancestors. They moved light and sure-footed and quiet through the forest, and Firae did not let go of Tash's hand.

They finally reached a clearing filled with soft, sweet music. A wood nymph was bathing herself on the far bank of the small, clear pond in the middle of the clearing, and she stopped singing only long enough to eye them critically before going back to her ministrations and ignoring them completely. The remnants of a low stone wall bordered the clearing, and Firae tugged Tash toward it.

Tash stared at Firae as they sat down side by side on the wall, but Firae's attention was on their clasped hands. He began stroking his thumb across the back of Tash's hand just like he had on that night, and Tash felt his breath hitch at the way the tiny movement sent a jolt of sensation straight to his chest.

Firae looked up and met Tash's eyes, and the intensity there was too much, far too much, and Tash knew what he wanted, knew it in every fiber of his being, but he couldn't because Firae was his King and it would be more that impertinent, and he just couldn't.

Firae reached up to cup Tash's cheek gently with his free hand, his eyes searching and more open than Tash had ever seen them.

"What is it that scares you?" Firae asked softly.

"All of it," Tash whispered, and couldn't stop his voice from shaking.

Firae's eyes darted to Tash's lips for the briefest of moments before returning to meet Tash's intense gaze.

"But what scares you the most?" Firae searched Tash's eyes hard, willing him to name it. To slightly ease the burden that Firae carried, because Firae knew that at this stage all advances had to come from him. It was too socially ingrained in them to do otherwise. But he needed to hear Tash say it, because Firae couldn't bear that kind of rejection again.

Tash willed himself to hold Firae's stare as he spoke. "I...I can't just be a royal consort. I mean, I could, but not...not for you."

"Why?"

Tash couldn't keep his eyes from casting down to his lap as he blushed slightly. "Firae..."

"Tash, just...please."

Tash glanced back up and was startled to see that Firae actually looked scared, and it suddenly hit Tash just how much power the King was offering him in that moment.

"Because it wouldn't be enough," Tash finally answered.

Firae inhaled sharply and moved toward him, and before Tash could even properly consider what he'd allowed himself to say out loud, be was being kissed so spectacularly that he almost lost his balance.

It took a moment for Tash to respond, a tiny window, but broad enough for doubts to stir in Firae's mind. He started to pull back on instinct but then he felt Tash's hand in his hair, and Tash turned his head to deepen the kiss and he was there. It took almost no time for the rest of the world to sink below their conscious awareness, and the connection they shared flowed through their veins and squeezed at their hearts and made them sigh and melt into one another even more.

The nymph continued to sing at the edge of the pond, her clear, reedlike voice dancing across the gentle breeze. Blossoms broke free from the trees around them and swirled through the air, and it was all so fresh and green and it was spring, and twilight was beginning to settle in around them and Tash was dizzy with it all and a little bit panicked, because he could already feel himself starting to fall in love.

Tash pulled back and Firae gazed at him, eyes glassy and cheeks flushed.

"Firae..." his voice shook, even on a whisper. It was as if they were in a too-perfect bubble, and it all felt as fragile as pixie wings. Tash swallowed. "Are...are you sure?"

"About you?" Firae asked softly, brushing a strand of Tash's hair out of his eyes. "It's probably one of the few things I am sure of these days."

"I...Firae, if we're going to do this, it can't just be...I can't...I need to know. How far are you willing to take this?"

Firae continued to stare at him with soft eyes, stroking Tash's cheek with the pads of his fingers. Tash closed his eyes and sighed.

"You really are beautiful, do you know that?" Firae murmured. Tash opened his eyes, brow furrowed. Before he could respond, Firae brushed his index finger over Tash's lips and continued. "I could look at you all day, Tash, really. But I wouldn't step outside of convention and tradition and expectation for just a pretty face." Firae sighed and his smile turned bittersweet. "Being with me...you lose the luxury of just letting things happen naturally to some degree. But you seem to know that already. And...I want it all, Tash. Marriage. Children. Several children, if I'm honest." Tash's eyes went so wide at this that Firae threw his head back and laughed. "Well, you wanted to know how far I'm willing to take this. Now you know."

Tash moved his mouth, but couldn't seem to produce any sound. After a couple of tries, he finally managed, "You would want marriage and children...with me?"

Firae bit his lip and cast his eyes to the ground, and gods, was he actually blushing? Tash had certainly never seen him do that before.

"I...I'm not trying to put pressure on you. We can just...see where it goes at first. But I want you to know that that is what I'm looking for in a relationship. And I feel...very strongly about you, Tash."

Tash couldn't fight back the tears in his eyes. "This doesn't make sense," he croaked.

Firae looked at him with surprise.

"It doesn't make sense," Tash continued, his voice stronger and louder. "Firae, did Kurt really hurt you so much that you – why would you want me? You...you know what I've done."

Firae frowned. "Married men are off limits. Everyone knows that."

Tash shook his head. "I don't mean that. I...I mean...well, you know what I was doing in Villalu. The kind of company I was keeping. The line of work I was in. What I did to human men. What I almost did to Blaine."

Tash didn't even realize that he had been drawing in on himself as he spoke, arms wrapped tightly around the front of his body, until Firae reached over to rub his arm gently, pulling Tash's hand into his own and lacing their fingers together.

"I know," he said. "But you know it was wrong and you can't change the past. And I can't judge you on what you did to survive in Villalu."

Tash glared at him, anger rising in his throat at Firae's serene acceptance of Tash's past.

"Firae, I didn't have to rape men under compulsion to survive! I didn't need to help sell and transport slaves! I made those choices because I...because..."

Firae simply looked at him, his expression unreadable.

"Because I'm a terrible person," he finished miserably. "And you deserve better than me. Far better."

"There is no such thing as better than you," Firae said, raising Tash's hand to his lips to kiss the back of it.

Tash choked back a loud sob, clutching Firae's hand for all it was worth. He couldn't speak, so he didn't try.

"Tash, your actions were horrible, I won't insult you by denying that. But your situation was horrible too. And we...the Royal caste crafted the non-interference doctrine. The Royal caste didn't simply outlaw human pets, we cut ourselves off from humans entirely. We didn't teach our children how to interact with them. Tash, you are one of the most educated elves I know, and I don't imagine that even you were taught to regard humans as people."

Tash looked up nervously, allowing his eyes to meet Firae's.

"And that is my burden, Tash. You may have hurt some individuals, but I have been complicit in destroying the lives of thousands. If Kurt had never come back, I would never have even spared a thought for the horrors that have been happening in Villalu. And it was never a matter of survival for me. I could have confronted the situation at any time. I simply chose not to."

Firae's eyes were pained. It felt like a knife to Tash's heart to see it.

"There is so much blood on my hands, Tash, I could bathe in it," Firae admitted, his voice catching and his breath shuddering. He closed his eyes and swallowed.

"Firae," Tash said softly, and hearing Tash speak his name seemed to bring Firae back to himself slightly. He opened his eyes.

"I don't believe that the changes you have been making are all Kurt's doing. I think you would have come to it on your own if it hadn't been for him, when the time was right."

Firae laughed bitterly. "And when would that be? On my death bed, perhaps?"

Tash took Firae's free hand in his, and brought both hands to his lips, kissing each of Firae's knuckles softly. "I know that being a great King is very important to you," Tash said. "But I know that being a great person holds even more importance. No matter how much power you hold over others, your ego doesn't overshadow your heart. And that's why I lo- that's why I feel the way I do about you." Tash's mouth tugged itself into a slight smirk. "Your majesty," he added for good measure.

Firae pulled Tash into his arms and held him tight. "Don't ever think that you're not good enough for me," he whispered into Tash's hair. "After everything you've been through...to come through it and be the man that you are...you're incredible, Tash. And you really don't need to call me your majesty."

Tash laughed softly, wrapped in Firae's solid warmth.

The sky was fully dark and the nymph had long since ceased her singing and wandered home.

They held each other a little longer.

When they reached Kurt and Blaine's home, the lamps were lit outside the front door. Tash paused, preparing to knock, but Firae simply threw the door open and strode inside.

Tash was fairly certain that Firae had never before encountered a building that he could not simply walk into at his leisure.

Once inside, however, it quickly became clear that neither one of them knew what they were doing. Tash bit his lip and looked nervously at Firae, who didn't look any more confident than Tash felt. Before either of them could think of what to say, however, they heard the muffled sounds of unmistakable activity from the bedroom upstairs.

Tash rolled his eyes. "My gods, do they ever stop?" he muttered. Firae chuckled softly. He looked at Tash and arched an eyebrow, then proceeded to re-open the front door and slam it closed with a loud bang.

The noises from upstairs ceased, and then there was conversation and shuffling and before long Kurt was skipping down the stairs to greet them wearing only a thin blue shift, his skin flushed and his hair a tangled mess.

"You're back!" He said happily, bouncing slightly as he reached the floor. "So. How was your walk?"

Firae gave Kurt a pointed look. His tone was so lascivious that he almost sounded like he was channeling Puck.

"It was lovely," Tash said firmly. Firae cast him a fond look and nodded in agreement.

Kurt smiled. "Well. It's far too late to fly back to Cloudlen. You'll both have to stay here. Blaine and I have the guest chamber all set up for you."

Firae flushed slightly, and averted his eyes from Tash. "Um," he managed to say.

"Oh," Kurt said, his eyes widening in mock-innocence. "We do just have the one extra room – that's all right, isn't it?"

There was no objective way to tell which man standing before him was blushing harder.

"Kurt," Blaine said fondly, descending the stairs and wrapping his arms around his husband from behind. Kurt leaned back into the embrace.

Blaine gave their two guests a compassionate smile. "There are also extra linens in the sitting room. The sofa is quite comfortable too, if Tash would prefer to sleep there."

Kurt scowled.

"I...um..." Tash muttered.

"How about this," Blaine said, kissing the tip of Kurt's ear softly. "Kurt and I are going back to bed. The spare linens are in the chest beside the sofa. The guest room will comfortably accommodate either one or two. Sleep wherever you like."

"Thank you, Blaine," Firae said with a relieved smile. Blaine pulled a reluctant Kurt up the stairs behind him, pausing to whisper something in his ear halfway up. Whatever Blaine whispered seemed to erase Kurt's reluctance entirely, and suddenly Tash and Firae were once again very much alone.

"I...I can take the sofa," Tash murmured.

"Only if you want to," Firae answered quickly. "Or...I could take the sofa and you could have the bed."

Tash couldn't hide his surprise.

"What?" Firae asked defensively.

"Firae, have you ever in your life slept on a sofa before?"

Firae tried to look offended but couldn't quite manage it. "No," he admitted. "But I'd do it for you."

Tash smiled shyly. He pulled Firae to him and kissed him softly. "Or," he breathed, "we could go with Kurt's original suggestion. But only if you want to."

Firae pulled back just far enough to look deeply into Tash's eyes.

"I want to," he said.

Neither of them were entirely sure when they started kissing.

But it was very apparent that they were lying against soft sheets on Blaine and Kurt's guest bed, and they had probably been there for at least an hour. It was also clear that Firae had started to unlace Tash's tunic, and Tash's hands had found their way down to the muscular curve of Firae's ass and begun rhythmically kneading.

Firae pulled Tash's tunic off and began kissing his way down Tash's neck, pausing above the faint scar on his chest where the marriage tattoo used to be. The notion of panicking crossed Tash's mind briefly, but before he could even start Firae was pressing the softest kiss imaginable to the scar. He glanced up, met Tash's eyes, and said "you're perfect."

Tash wanted to argue, but his nipple was suddenly in Firae's mouth and all coherent thought dissolved until he was nothing but a puddle of sensation.

Firae ran his hands and mouth reverently down Tash's body, tasting and stroking the smooth golden skin, running his hands across the firm muscles of his arms and chest.

"I've wanted to taste you for so long," Firae murmured, pausing at the waistband of Tash's trousers very briefly before pulling at the lacing there.

"Wait," Tash breathed. Firae paused and looked up at him nervously. "I...I want to touch you too, Firae. I want to see you. I want to see you without having to pretend I'm not looking."

Firae laughed as he removed his own tunic. "So I'm not the only one with a wandering eye at the baths, then."

Tash sat up and smirked. "Your majesty, when you are present, everyone is looking at you."

Tash caught Firae's lips against his and gently shifted their bodies. He lay Firae on his back and hovered over him, taking in his dark eyes and naked chest.

"Don't call me that," whispered Firae. His tone was sheepish rather than accusatory.

"What, your majesty?"

Firae grimaced, looking, in that moment, so very young.

"That's not why they look at you, you know. Well, perhaps in some cases it is, but even if you weren't King everyone would still look at you."

"Even you?"

Tash raised his eyebrows and made a tiny, heartbroken sound. "Firae."

Tash leaned in to kiss Firae soft, slow and lingering. He pulled back from the kiss and watched Firae as his eyelids fluttered open. "If you'd have been Common Caste – maybe even Spirit or Circle – I would have pursued this much sooner," Tash said firmly. "It is you I care about, Firae, not your power."

Firae inhaled sharply, the tremor unmistakable. Tash gently took the King's face between his palms.

"It's..." Firae searched Tash's face, "I...I don't think anyone has ever wanted me before." Tash make a noise of disbelief.

"No, I don't mean...what I mean, Tash, is that no one has ever wanted me before. Just me. Not the Child King of the Eastern Border Lands, not Gira's son, not a...a high-status fuck. Just..."

"Just Firae," Tash supplied. Firae bit his lip and nodded slightly, his face still cradled in Tash's hands.

"Well, I want you Firae. I want all of you, and I don't want to share you. And I hope you know that I am more than prepared to deal with any pretty boys that bat their eyelashes at you." Tash leaned in close, so close that the tips of their noses brushed together. "I'm the jealous type, Firae. And you know exactly what I'm capable of."

Firae's eyes darkened at the words, and he trembled beneath Tash. "I'm yours," he whispered, his voice shaking with need.

Tash surged toward him, kissing Firae hard and desperate and intense. Firae dug his fingers into Tash's hair and pulled him even closer. Tash hovered above him on his knees until Firae threw his legs up, wrapping them around Tash's waist and pulling their hips together. They gasped into one another's mouths as their groins made contact for the first time.

Tash lowered himself onto Firae and began to rock his hips, kissing his way down the King's throat and groaning at the sensation.

"Tash," Firae whispered, his lips tickling the shell of Tash's ear. "Please. I want...I want to feel you inside me."

Tash pulled his head back to look Firae in the eye. There wasn't even the slightest hint of hesitation there.

He silently thanked Kurt for the bouquet of freshly picked red flowers that had been placed rather pointedly on the bedside table.

They made short work of their trousers, and when Firae finally lay naked before him, Tash simply sat back and stared. He had seen Firae naked before, but he'd never seen him hard. Tash was fairly certain that he'd never before seen such a mouth-watering sight.

Firae was staring at Tash as well in open wonderment. "Gods, Tash, you're gorg-ahhh!"Firae abandoned his attempt to speak and let his head fall back against the pillows as Tash took him into his mouth.

Tash relaxed his throat and allowed his tongue to wind around Firae's cock as he slowly bobbed his head, and nothing existed in that moment but the taste of Firae, the thick, velvety contours of him against Tash's lips, the sounds of pleasure he was making, his hands in Tash's hair.

Tash placed his hands firmly on Firae's hips as they began to jerk slightly, speeding up and increasing his suction.

"Tash...please...close..I..I...gods...want you...want you to..." Firae was barely coherent, but the underlying message was clear enough. Tash pulled off of Firae and looked down at him. His chest was heaving and his eyes were nearly black with desire.

Tentatively, Tash reached for one of the flowers. He gave Firae a nervous smile. "Are you...?"

Firae returned the smile. "Yes." His voice was rough. "Absolutely."

Tash didn't work Firae open immediately, instead drizzling him with a thin trickle of flower-oil, making swirling patterns of sensation across his chest and stomach. He drizzled Firae's cock and gave it a few slow pumps before Firae whimpered and grabbed him around the wrist. Their eyes met, and they didn't need any words.

They were ready. There was no turning back, and this could make everything in their lives more difficult. It would definitely make things more complicated. But they both knew that this was it. Once they made love, they would belong to one another.

And there was nothing that either of them wanted more.

Firae touched Tash's cheek gently. "Kiss me," he murmured. Tash slicked his fingers with oil and leaned in to kiss Firae slow and soft as he began to run his fingertips lightly across Firae's entrance.

Firae moaned and spread his legs wide, arching into the touch. He gasped as Tash's fingers slid inside of him, one by one, and gave a cry that sounded almost like a sustained musical note when Tash found that heavenly spot inside of him. Tash simply gazed at Firae between kisses, struck by how beautiful he looked awash with pleasure.

Firae hooked his hands around the back of Tash's neck as Tash moved his fingers out of Firae's body, bracing himself on his arms and staring down at him.

"All right?" Tash breathed.

"All right," Firae answered, smiling against Tash's lips as they kissed once more.

Tash entered him slowly, gently, his face buried in the crook of Firae's neck as he cursed under his breath at the magnitude of pleasure rippling through him.

They were close, so close, their chests flush and their hips slotted together like they were made to be connected. They spent a moment, heavy and warm and overwhelming, just exactly like that. Not moving. Not speaking. Their eyes met and they both fought back proclamations of love. It wasn't time for that. Not yet.

But soon. Soon.

Tash began to move, his eyes rolling back in his head at the tight perfect warmth of Firae's body around him. Firae gave a soft moan in response, angling his hips up to engulf Tash's cock more completely. They continued to move together slowly, Firae wrapping his legs around Tash's waist, Tash changing his angle slightly with each thrust until Firae gave a particularly loud and broken moan, indicating that Tash had found his target.

They sped up their movements as they found their rhythm, but they didn't let it turn too fast or too rough. They savored each other, rolling their hips together and exchanging small, sporadic kisses. Firae ran his hands up and down Tash's back, loving the feel of the flexing muscles there, his heels digging into the firm flesh of Tash's ass.

They were lost in one another's bodies. All the hesitation and the insecurity had been pointless, because this was right. This was perfect. They belonged together in every single way, and nothing that stood in their way was real because this was real. Just this.

Always this.

When Tash settled his weight onto one arm, bringing the other between them to grasp Firae's cock tightly, Firae nearly sobbed with pleasure. He began whispering Tash's name fervently, as if in prayer, clutching at the flesh of his back and writhing beneath him.

Tash rolled his hips hard in just the right way, hitting the pleasure-spot inside Firae as he rubbed the pad of his thumb into the underside of Firae's cock. Firae screamed, arching his back hard and throwing his head back, the tendons of his neck straining.

Tash couldn't look away. He couldn't imagine anything in the world that could possibly be sexier than watching Firae fall apart like this, completely overwhelmed with pleasure and mindlessly desperate for even more. Tash slowed his movements and switched to a pace that was slow, hard and methodical, hitting roughly against Firae's pleasure-spot on every thrust while he pumped him with his hand. Firae squirmed and bucked until he was coming hard, and the sight of Firae coming, coupled with the feeling of his muscles contracting as he did so was entirely too much for Tash. He came harder than he had ever imagined coming, and didn't even realize that he was screaming Firae's name until his voice stopped working and he fell on top of him breathlessly.

They lay like that, panting and messy and tangled, for several minutes before Tash could bring himself to get up and find something to clean them off. Firae remained a boneless puddle on the bed.

Tash climbed back in beside him and Firae sighed deeply, turning to snuggle up against him.

They kissed and smiled and sighed and held each other close, fighting sleep so that they could stay in this moment, linger here for as long as physically possible.

"Kurt is going to be so smug in the morning," Tash finally grumbled. Firae laughed softly.

"Yes, I suppose he will be. We weren't exactly quiet, were we?"

"No. I'm not sorry, though. First of all, I've had to overhear he and Blaine more than enough times for this lifetime and the next, and secondly, I...I liked hearing you."

Firae smiled. "I liked hearing you too."

"I like knowing that I can make you feel that good."

"You make me feel amazing."

"You are amazing."

Firae leaned in and kissed Tash thoroughly before settling against him with his head on Tash's chest. He listened to the steady, soothing beat of Tash's heart and let his eyes slide closed. He felt himself begin to drift out of consciousness until Tash's voice cut through the haze and pulled him back.

"Hmmm?" Firae asked sleepily.

Tash chuckled softly, brushing a loose strand of hair from Firae's forehead. "I was just asking...well, earlier you said..."

"What?" Firae prodded after a moment, giving Tash's nipple a light pinch.

"Well, I was just wondering...exactly how many children would constitute several?

Firae gave a snort of laughter. He wrapped a hand around Tash's bicep, and for the first time that he could remember, he felt valued and important in a way that had nothing to do with his political stature. For the first time that he could remember, he felt like he was first in someone's heart.

"Well," he said, burrowing into Tash's embrace and loving the way that Tash responded, wrapping him up tight and safe in his arms. "How many do you think you could handle?"