Life's One Blessing (The Witcher fanfic)

Chapter 10: Our tender meat

What began as a graceless crash of mouths changed into something passionate when Geralt's body realized that the horrible compulsion was gone. His mind only caught up when Jaskier took his first full draw of breath since Geralt had thrown him on the ground.

Geralt's relief curdled when his eyes fell on Jaskier's throat and the dark fingerprints that showed how close Geralt had become in killing him. He flung himself off Jaskier with a hoarse grunt.

Jaskier's face crumpled. "Right. I'll just get my things and go." His voice sounded wrecked.

"Go? But you kissed me."

"I thought I was going to die. I didn't want to die without—" Jaskier's face flushed. "I'm sorry I forced it on you. I'll just..." he made a jerky motion toward the direction of the road.

Geralt scrambled to Jaskier on his knees, reached for him, and stopped.

"Jaskier... I almost killed you."

"It wasn't your fault. It was the curse. Good job," Jaskier said and his voice cracked, "good job breaking it."

"I didn't break it, you did." 

"I did?"

"True love's kiss," Geralt said, still hardly believing it, but it was the only thing that made sense.

Jaskier's eyes widened in panic. "That's real? I thought it was a fairy tale." Jaskier groaned. "Oh, gods. I... of course, I care for you, you're my friend, and... and maybe more. Oh, gods. You only started wooing me, it's too soon. It can't be—"

"Jaskier," Geralt said and cupped Jaskier's face with both of his hands to stop him rambling. "It only works if it's mutual."

Jaskier rocked, his eyes becoming huge, bright blue pools when Geralt's words hit him. "What did you say?"

"I love you too."

Jaskier gasped and flung himself into Geralt's arms hard enough to topple them both back on the ground. Their kisses were at first desperate from years of yearning released at last but grew gradually slower and deeper when each realized the other was not going anywhere.

"If it wasn't clear, I love you too," were Jaskier's first words when he had calmed down enough to pull back from the kiss. By then Geralt had flipped them around so that Jaskier lay comfortably on top of Geralt.

"Hmm," Geralt hummed, the terrible guilt and regret easing off. "So, what changed?"

"Changed?"

"You said you needed time to think. But before I left, you said it had been long enough." Geralt's hands couldn't stop touching Jaskier. They smoothed his hair, then down his back, and up again to cup the back of his head. Jaskier pressed into the touch like a cat wanting to be petted and Geralt obliged.

"I did."

"Jaskier, it was five days."

"I thought very fast." Jaskier was looking down at Geralt with delight and still some disbelief. 

Geralt snorted.

"I meant what I said, but... then I thought... I followed you for years, Geralt. Decades. I wrote song after song about you, your silver hair, your noble bearing, your rock-hard muscles, your golden eyes, your silver hair..."

"You said 'silver hair' twice," Geralt said, a small smile curling at his lips.

"I have had an enormous shock and a wonderful surprise and I cannot be held accountable for my words," Jaskier proclaimed grandly. "Anyway... you were being really sweet, with your wooing, and presents, and the flirting. The flirting, Geralt! And I just thought that it was a very silly thing to do to waste even more time, now that you finally were on the same page as me."