They approached the next village with apprehension.

After much debate, they had finally decided to veer off course a bit in the hopes of throwing Dronyen off their trail. They would have preferred not to stop at all, but the horses needed reshoeing, and they needed some items that Kurt couldn't simply produce from the earth with a flick of his wrist.

Neither Kurt nor Blaine knew exactly where they stood now with regard to Dronyen. He had clearly known where they were headed, and by now word may have gotten back to him about Kurt's newfound power.

And the fact that Kurt was staying with Blaine by choice.

And the fact that Kurt was willing to kill to defend him.

When they arrived in L'auvi, they received what had become the standard reaction; Kurt was a point of fascination, but not to an unusual degree, and Blaine was simply regarded as a passer-through with money to spend, which generally accorded him a degree of cool politeness.

The change in their dynamic had undeniably affected their ability to play the master-and-slave roles that their presence required. Blaine wondered briefly if they could just go ahead and drop the charade, as Kurt pretty much had the power to tear apart anyone who looked at them wrong.

Kurt smiled at the obvious pride Blaine took in his power, but shook his head no.

"It will be different when we reach the border towns, Blaine. No one would dare parade a Sidhe slave anywhere close to the Faerie Lands, but we're still too far east right now. We would just attract even more attention to ourselves than we already are."

Blaine felt a sickly mix of pleasure and guilt to hear that they were still reasonably far from the border towns. It meant that Kurt would have to suffer the indignity of pretending to be Blaine's property even longer.

It also meant that he and Kurt would be together all that time, sleeping together every night, holding and kissing and caressing each other until Blaine thought his heart might burst.

When they reached the market downtown, Blaine immediately ran for the first dairy stall he saw, and Kurt laughed lightly. Blaine had stopped eating flesh, had traded away every bit of dried meat and fish he had, when he realized that it bothered Kurt. Kurt had never asked him to do it, but he was touched by the action nonetheless.

Blaine, however, was not about to give up milk and cheese and eggs, and he bounced giddily at any opportunity to enjoy them.

Blaine was guzzling a bottle of milk in an almost obscene fashion when another stall caught Kurt's eye.

"Master, may I...?" Kurt asked, eyes averted, tone demure.

Blaine tried hard to disguise his wince before waving him off dismissively and barking out a gruff "just stay where I can see you."

Kurt went over to the stall, eyes raking across the wares before him.

He picked up the beautifully crafted set of panpipes that had first caught his eye.

He wanted so badly to try them out, but the merchant behind the table had fixed him with a suspicious glare, and looked like the sort to scream about not being able to sell pipes that had been covered in elf spit, rather than the sort to try to take Kurt to bed in exchange for them.

Not that the two sorts never overlapped.

Just as he was sure the merchant was going to demand that he put the pipes down, Kurt heard a whisper behind him.

"Do you play?"

He turned to Blaine and nodded shyly. Blaine smiled and took the instrument from his hand.

Kurt watched as Blaine went and talked to the merchant, returning with not only Kurt's pipes, but a long-necked lute as well.

"We should play together," Blaine said softly, as they walked further into the market. "It would be nice. I've been too long without music."

Kurt smiled and wanted to hold his hand and kiss him. But it would appear unseemly, so he settled for "accidentally" brushing his hand against Blaine's thigh. Blaine responded with a gentle smirk and a raised eyebrow, which only made Kurt want to do more than hold his hand and kiss him.

"How long will it be until the horses are ready?" He whispered to Blaine.

Blaine licked his lips. "Too long," he replied.

They found an inn.

"This is absurd," Kurt mumbled between kisses, as Blaine pulled him toward the bed. "The horses will be ready in a couple of hours, and you shouldn't spend your money on-"

"Our money, Kurt. And there's plenty. I stole it from Dronyen. I can't think of anything better to spend it on." Blaine pulled Kurt flush against him and licked his ear slowly, from rounded lobe to pointed tip.

"Can you?" he breathed huskily into the moistened flesh of Kurt's ear.

Kurt swallowed hard. "N-no, I suppose not."

Kurt moved to sit on the edge of the bed and unlace his boots. When he had finished, he stood back up and unlaced the top of his tunic, and then slid it over his head. Blushing slightly, he caught Blaine's eye before nervously working at his belt and pulling down his trousers and undershorts together.

Blaine watched, mesmerized, until Kurt was naked before him. And then he heard himself let out a faint whimper.

Kurt smiled, then bit his lip and averted his gaze slightly. It took a moment for Blaine to realize that Kurt was probably feeling a bit vulnerable while Blaine stood there fully clothed, so Blaine quickly proceeded to remedy the situation.

Kurt did seem to relax once Blaine was naked too, and he reached his hand toward him, fingers lightly touching Blaine's stomach.

"Blaine is it all right if I...?" Kurt asked, trailing his fingertips very, very slowly down.

Blaine opened his mouth to say yes, but when all he could manage was a sort of strangled squeak, he simply nodded emphatically instead.

Kurt reached down and cupped Blaine's hard length very gently, and Blaine fell against him with a moan.

"Blaine," Kurt murmured, "You feel so...I want to..."

"Anything," Blaine groaned. Anything you want, Kurt. Please just...God, I just want you."

Kurt kissed him, still just holding his cock, tracing its contours with his thumb.

"I want us...I want to make love with you, Blaine. Can we...I mean is it all right if we do that?"

Blaine was utterly distracted by the slender fingers and wandering thumb on his erection. He was, however, mentally present enough to find it odd that Kurt really didn't know the answer to that question.

"Kurt, I...yes, I..." Blaine took a deep breath. He was not looking forward to this next part.

He gently moved Kurt's hand away from him, bringing it to his lips to kiss his knuckle.

"I'm sorry, I just really can't have a conversation with you while you're doing that."

Kurt looked a bit sheepish. "Oh."

Blaine smiled. "Not that I'm complaining. It felt really nice." He took Kurt's hand and sat down on the bed, Kurt following his lead.

"Kurt, of course that's all right. That's better than all right. Did you really think I'd say no?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. I..."

Blaine looked at him with concern.

"Kurt, did you want to be the one to make love to me? Is that it? Because I'm very much all right with that."

Kurt shook his head and looked at his hands.

"No, Blaine, I...no. I want you to...I want you to."

"That works very well for me too, Kurt. I told you, anything you want."

"It's just...it doesn't mean I liked it. Before, when...I don't want you to think...oh, Gods, Blaine."

Kurt sighed. Blaine took his hand.

After a moment, Kurt looked back at him.

"Blaine, you've...you've had men fuck you, haven't you?" He said the word quickly, pushing it out and then scuttling away from it as if it scared him.

Blaine nodded. "Yes I have."

"And you...you like that?"

"I do."

"It feels good?"

"It can. When it's done properly, it feels fantastic."

Kurt started to cry. Blaine pulled him into a hug.

"Gods, I'm pathetic! What is wrong with me, Blaine?"

"Nothing," Blaine murmured. "You're perfect."

"Blaine, it...well, the physical act of it was done to me so many times that I feel like I should never want it again. I feel like there must be something very wrong with me for wanting it. But...I just...I need to see what it can be. What it should be. Does that make any sense at all? Am I just a filthy-"

"It makes a lot of sense, Kurt," Blaine said, cutting him off quickly. "And please don't ever use words like that to talk about yourself. It breaks my heart."

Kurt pulled back and smiled at him, looking a little embarrassed. Blaine smoothed the tears away from Kurt's cheeks with his thumbs and kissed him very, very softly.

"Kurt, I'm honored," he whispered, "to be the first man to make love to you. I'm the luckiest man in the world."

Kurt sighed happily, and leaned back in for another kiss.

They let this kiss gather heat, and Kurt pushed Blaine back onto the bed, shifting with him until they were lying across it properly, with Kurt on top of Blaine.

Blaine ran his hands up and down Kurt's sides, over the perfect roundness of his ass, down the backs of his thighs. His skin felt so incredible, like silk and rose petals and mist somehow made warm and solid.

And Blaine decided that this was the most important thing he was ever going to do. Because he was going to do everything he could to make this absolutely amazing for Kurt. To show Kurt that being made love to was completely different from being taken by force in every way that actually mattered.

Because Kurt had been incredibly, indescribably brave when he asked Blaine to show him. And Blaine couldn't bear to let him down.

Blaine rested his hands on Kurt's lower back, and gently stilled the grinding that had inevitably started.

"Kurt...I may need to go down to the dining room to get some...um...oil or something, for..."

Kurt lifted his head and gave a smile that couldn't be described as anything other than impish.

"I've got something better," he said.

He climbed off of Blaine and went over to the dresser, where a jug of water had been laid out along with drinking glasses and a wide, shallow bowl for washing. Kurt poured a bit of water into the bowl, then he dipped the tips of his fingers into the water, producing a soft golden glow. He pulled his fingers away and the water continued to glow, seemingly of its own volition, and then a tiny green shoot popped up. It continued to grow and unfurl quickly, until it was a tiny shrub with white-gold branches and pale green leaves and six very oversized and very odd-looking crimson flowers springing forth from it.

Kurt looked immensely pleased with himself.

He plucked one of the flowers gently from the shrub and brought it over to Blaine. Blaine sat up on the bed and peered at it curiously. It was definitely a flower, but the petals were tightly closed, their pointed tips twisting together into a sort of spiral. Kurt placed it in Blaine's palm and began to carefully unwind the tips of the petals until they suddenly sprang open. Inside, the bottoms of the petals seemed to grow into a smooth wall of plant flesh, creating a cup which held glistening liquid. A delicious and utterly alien scent drifted up; sweet and floral but somehow pleasantly sharp at the same time.

Kurt dipped his fore and middle finger into the liquid, and then held them to Blaine's mouth.

"taste," he said softly.

Blaine took Kurt's fingers into his mouth and sucked gently, finding the taste intriguing and not at all unpleasant. The consistency was very similar to the plant oils he was familiar with, and it tasted tart and fresh and almost effervescent, making his tongue tingle.

In fact, it seemed to be making his entire mouth tingle.

Kurt laughed softly at his expression, dipping his fingers back into the flower. Kurt trailed the liquid over his own lips, and then leaned in to kiss Blaine.

And...wow.

It was as if the kiss were ten kisses all at once. Every part of his mouth was pulsing with sensation, and when Kurt's tongue found its way into his mouth, Blaine groaned loudly and fell back against the pillows, pulling Kurt down on top of him.

Kurt managed to catch the flower before it fell from Blaine's hand, placing it on the nightstand before returning his full attention to the man beneath him.

And for a few moments, Blaine forgot all about making love. Because this, this was possibly the most incredible sensation he'd ever felt. The wetness of Kurt's mouth, the soft, plump lips slicked with oil, the talented tongue, slightly longer and narrower than a human tongue – Blaine had never felt any of it like this before. It was almost too much to bear.

Kurt finally pulled away breathlessly, smiling down at him.

"Kurt, what is that?"

The name was not one Blaine could ever fathom pronouncing, which he assumed meant it was a plant from Faerie Country. "It heightens sensation and is highly prized by lovers."

"I can see why," Blaine murmured, and then Kurt's words actually sunk in.

Highly prized by lovers.

Which meant...

"Oh my God," Blaine groaned, his entire body spasming at the idea of being inside of Kurt with that spread all over them.

Blaine's lips were still tingling with sensation. He pulled Kurt's lips back against his own, and gripped him around the waist, moving them until Kurt was lying on his back.

Blaine paused to coat his fingers in oil from the flower, and then moved his hand between Kurt's legs.

He nudged Kurt's legs apart gently, and then let his fingers slide across that delicious spot behind his testicles, between his cheeks, across his already pulsing entrance.

Kurt gasped sharply, and Blaine paused.

"Keep going?" Blaine asked. "Or...?"

Kurt stared at him through eyes like a storm-tossed sea. "Keep going," he whispered, his voice rough.

Blaine continued moving his fingers, Kurt continuing to gasp at the intensity of feeling.

And Blaine was finding this pretty incredible too, because his fingers were so unbelievably sensitive from the oil, and he could feel every nuance of the hot, tender flesh against them, and Kurt looked simply delicious with his head thrown back, his eyes half-lidded, his lips parted and his back arched, emitting breathy moans that were driving Blaine absolutely insane.

Blaine removed his fingers briefly, dipping back into the flower for more.

When he brought his fingers back to their previous station, he began to tease Kurt's entrance, circling gently and then more firmly before slowly pushing a finger inside.

Kurt tensed. "Oh!"

Blaine paused, both to let Kurt adjust and to give him an opportunity to change his mind.

Kurt relaxed around him, and Blaine began to move his finger, overwhelmed by the tight heat and the texture surrounding it. He moved a second finger inside when Kurt seemed ready, pausing again until Kurt relaxed before moving it both with and against the other, gently stretching.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Kurt breathed.

"Getting you ready," Blaine said, not liking the look of confusion on Kurt's face.

"Hmmm," Kurt murmured, sounding intrigued.

Blaine did not want to cry. He did not want to make Kurt cry. But the thought that no one had ever done this for him before...something so simple, so easy, just to lessen the pain...

No. Now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to make Kurt feel good. Now was the time to make Kurt feel incredible.

Blaine began searching. Sidhe physiology seemed similar enough to that of human men, so it would be nothing short of a cruel joke if Kurt didn't have-

"OH, GODS, BLAINE!"

Well. It appeared he did.

Blaine began stroking the nub, Kurt crying out in pleasure as he writhed against him. Kurt didn't even tense up slightly when Blaine slipped a third finger inside of him, stroking in and out, spreading his fingers and letting them wiggle.

And now Blaine knew that they were getting close to the final act. Because Kurt was thrusting against him, and Kurt's cock was hard and thick and had turned the color of wild violets, and it was leaking.

Blaine licked a stripe down the length of it, and Kurt cried out. Blaine paused at the base for a quick nuzzle, because Kurt's sparse pubic hair was as soft as down, and Blaine had never felt anything like it.

"Blaine," Kurt whimpered. "I...please. I want you. I want all of you."

Blaine didn't need to be told twice.

He moved his fingers out of Kurt, and shifted himself back so that he was sitting against the headboard. Kurt looked up at him bemusedly.

"I think...this position might be nice. If you want to try it."

He pulled Kurt up and maneuvered him so that he was straddling Blaine's lap.

Kurt smiled, looking excited. "All right."

And then Kurt reached over and picked up the flower, and he drizzled most of the remaining oil over Blaine's length. Blaine stopped him before he used it all, because he wanted to save some for Kurt as well.

Kurt began to pump Blaine slowly with his hand, and Blaine almost choked at the excess of pleasure. God, he hoped he could last long enough to make Kurt come.

Kurt moved up onto his knees, hovering above Blaine. Their eyes locked, and Blaine couldn't help but say "I love you" before kissing Kurt and lining himself up, and then Kurt finally allowed himself to sink down on top of him.

There were no words. Simply no words.

Blaine clutched Kurt to him, gasping for air, because this was Kurt, and this felt fantastic, but even more than that, the sheer excess of sensation was almost more than he could physically take.

Kurt made a noise that was both soft and gut-deep, and it brought Blaine back, his face falling against Kurt's neck, and his hands moving to Kurt's hips, and he began to guide him in a steady rhythm, slow at first because they needed to make this last, thrusting up into him each time he slid down.

"Kurt," Blaine whispered. "Kurt, you feel amazing. You feel amazing."

Blaine moved his knees up behind Kurt, feet flat against the mattress, shifting his body until Kurt gave the strangled yelp of pleasure that suggested Blaine had hit the spot he was looking for.

And then they began to move faster.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and worked his hips up and down, moaning and gasping and occasionally breathing Blaine's name into his ear.

And Blaine reached over to the flower, managing to control his hand just enough to pour what remained of the liquid over Kurt's erection. He began to stroke Kurt in time to his upward thrusts, and Kurt cried out, moving his hands to clutch at Blaine's shoulders and letting his forehead fall against Blaine's neck.

Kurt was shuddering, and it wasn't until he felt the wetness against his neck that Blaine realized he was sobbing.

"Kurt..." Blaine said softly, stilling the hand on Kurt's length and bringing it up to Kurt's face.

Kurt shook his head and looked in Blaine's eyes.

"No..." he whispered shakily, giving Blaine a moist smile. "They're good tears, Blaine. Good tears."

Kurt leaned in to kiss him, guiding Blaine's hand back down to his cock, and they sped up their movements again, Kurt crying harder and making sounds of intense pleasure all at once, kissing Blaine over and over, the fingers of one hand digging into his curls while the other clutched at his back.

And Blaine held onto Kurt's hip with one hand, stroking him with the other, and God, he wanted to come, the only thing he could imagine was how unbelievably close he was, but he couldn't let go, not until Kurt did...

And then Kurt did. He tensed around Blaine, his entire body going rigid, pulling Blaine's hair without even meaning to, and screaming out Blaine's name.

Blaine's name.

That was what did it for Blaine; just hearing Kurt call out like that, just knowing that when Kurt utterly lost control and surrendered to pleasure, that he was the thought in Kurt's mind and the word on his lips.

Blaine let go. He came so hard he thought he might lose consciousness. He came so hard he was half-convinced he might never be able to come again. And he called out Kurt's name, because that was the only thought in his mind, and the only word he wanted on his lips.

Kurt's arms were wrapped around him, and his face was buried in Blaine's neck, and his tears were slowly subsiding.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt as well, and just held him.

He wanted Kurt to be the first to speak.

Finally, Kurt sat up fully, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and looking down at Blaine with an expression of overwhelming sweetness.

"Thank you," he whispered. "That...that changed my life, Blaine." And it was clear that he was perfectly serious.

"It changed mine too," Blaine said, because it really, really did.

They kissed, and then Kurt carefully climbed off of Blaine, letting out a small gasp as Blaine slipped out of him.

Blaine was gazing at him with a look of pure euphoria, and trailed a finger across the sticky residue on Kurt's chest without even really thinking about it. He brought the finger to his lips to taste.

His eyes went wide.

"Kurt! Oh, my – that's delicious! I've never tasted – it's like ambrosia!"

Unable to contain himself, Blaine leapt at Kurt, sliding him onto his back and lapping hungrily at his stomach and chest, while Kurt giggled uncontrollably.

"You're never tasting mine," Blaine mumbled against him. "Never. It's disgusting. You...God, everything about you is just so...incredible."

Kurt let his hands fall against the back of Blaine's head, and he sighed and smiled happily at the ceiling.

They stayed at the inn that night. After dinner, Kurt played his pipes and Blaine played his lute, and they fell into easy melodies with one another, finding songs they were surprised to know in common and songs from deep in childhood that they laced together into something new. Blaine sang, and Kurt was surprised and impressed at the fine, clear timbre of his voice.

They lay beside each other, enjoying the comfort and novelty of a bed to sleep in, touching each other gently, feeling none of the urgency from earlier that day. Just comfort. Just bliss. Blaine gazed at Kurt with heavy eyes, smiling.

"I love you," he murmured sleepily, while Kurt stroked his cheek tenderly and watched his breath become slow and even, his features lovely and delicate in the pale moonlight.

Kurt couldn't sleep. He waited for Blaine to drift off, and then walked over to the window, looking out over the village with his arms wrapped around himself. He began to cry, placing his hand firmly over his mouth so as not to wake Blaine. He let his forehead slowly fall against the window pane.

"I love you too," he whispered, and began to cry harder.

Because this was bad.

This was very, very bad.