Into the Heart of the Storm [slash]

Part Three

"No, please." Aileas' voice was faint and a bit breathless, completely different to his usual cool tone, and he himself was surprised by it the most.

 Captain Lorcan's hand stopped and hovered above the eye patch. "Do you think I'll be disgusted?" he asked softly.

That was a good question. If the other man might indeed be appalled, the general would have a legitimate way out of this strange arrangement. The other question was if he really wanted a way out. He had given his word, and he was not a man to back out of a promise for any reason.

The captain took his lack of answer as permission to go on and carefully pulled off the eye patch. Aileas saw no flicker of disgust or even pity in the other man's gaze, just the strangely tender fire he had watched burning there the whole evening.

Nevertheless, he felt somehow naked and exposed now, something he hadn't felt at all when he had undressed earlier. Absolutely no one ever saw him without the eye patch.

With a soft smile, Captain Lorcan leaned down and kissed the scar where Aileas' right eye had been. His lips felt incredibly hot, and although the touch was feather-light, Aileas felt the surrounding skin tingle.

The captain pulled back to study Aileas' face again. He seemed to wait for something. Permission, perhaps?

"Go on," the general whispered. He still had no idea how he felt about this, and his mind was more confused than it had ever been. Planning battles, attacking the enemy, leading solders – those were the things Aileas knew how to do. Before he had gotten command over the entire Idrisan army, he had spent all his time learning and reading books about history and military strategies, hoping to be at least an advisor to his admired older brother. But fate had other plans, and now he could put his knowledge to actual use.

However, on his way from a studious, scholarly youth to a celebrated war hero, Aileas hadn't found the time and energy to become an expert on intimate acts. And since his injury, he had all but excluded the very idea of anyone ever finding him attractive again. The stigma of being the pretty, girlish princeling was gone, luckily, so it had been for the best, and he hadn't spent a thought on it again.

Until now.

Aileas' clear train of thoughts became murky as Lorcan obeyed the order and let his hands wander further down. They were rough and calloused as the general's own, but their touch was as careful and tender as it had been when the captain had calmed the injured stallion.

Still, the general tried to stay detached from the things happening to him. He just had to remind himself that this was a simple gesture of gratitude he granted Captain Lorcan, nothing more. It was just the same as giving the man a nice estate or a fine horse.

Suddenly, Aileas drew a sharp breath as the captain's fingers ghosted from his hips to his arousal. When had he become aroused in the first place? Was his body truly this treacherous to react that swiftly to a stranger's touch?

Captain Lorcan was satisfied by this, however, his smile clearly betraying his feelings. He really seemed to stay true to his words about the general enjoying their encounter as well. It would have been far easier if the captain wouldn't pay such attention and just went about his business so this would be over soon.

Or would it? Aileas had all but ordered Lorcan to seduce him; there was no way around it. And now, the captain was doing just that…

Once again, Aileas felt soft kisses on his neck and chest, like butterflies landing on his skin. As hot lips found a nipple, however, the feather-light sensation changed into a sharp pang of heat racing through Aileas' entire body. He shuddered involuntarily.