Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:56:47 +0000
From: Michael Offutt <kavrik@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapter Six of "Black Dragon Rising" - Gay Science Fiction

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                                    *****

                                 Chapter Six

      I've a hangover, but it isn't bad. Morning does arrive to finds me
tired and disheveled, yes.  However, I'm soothed by the fact that my head
is currently pressed against Talen's smooth chest.  Truthfully, there's no
better place to be in all the world than resting in the crevasse of his
muscular pecs, or drinking in his perfect features.

      My eyes blink open, and I see Angelaria gazing at me with a most
curious expression. I realize the blanket's fallen on the floor, and we're
both naked (not that she seems to mind).

      "So this is where you got to last night? I woke up and was the only
one in bed," she states.

      Next to me Talen yawns and kisses my hair. Then he plays with one of
my nipples, pinching it delicately between thumb and forefinger. "Good
morning," he whispers before scooping up the blanket to wrap around our
intertwined bodies.

      I clutch at it, more because I'm afraid of what I saw last night and
not because it's cold. But that's not what I tell her. "Thank you," I say
to Talen. "I was chilly."

      "Coulda fooled me," he whispers. I don't even have to look at him to
see he's grinning at me. A second later he's fondling my balls with his
fingers. "You give off so much heat it's like sleeping with a furnace."

      "Oh...you..." I utter. "Sometimes you're incorrigible." But I don't
stop him from caressing me. I actually reach down with my own fingers and
carefully guide his hand over my cock and move it back and forth until he
understands THIS is what I need you to do; NOT that other thing.

      She shrugs her shoulders. "So why did you leave the bed then?"

      Talen lifts the one arm that's free and arches his back. "Don't look
at me," he utters mid- stretch. "I followed him out here."

      "Kian?"

      "Huh?" I ask, eyes drifting lazily in the feel of my boyfriend's
fingers sliding to and fro atop my foreskin. I turn to Talen, kiss him on
the lips, and say, "Please wet your fingers a little."

      He nods and spits in his palm; then goes back to jacking me. I spread
my legs in pleasure, roll my toes under the blanket, and just watch the
tent formed by my cock jump up and down with each of his foot long
strokes. Talen does it slow and steady. It's just the way I like it.

      "Rub my head with your thumb," I beg into his ear.

      Talen does so. I feel his slippery touch sliding over my glans and
watch the flannel as the bump where his thumb happens to be moves back and
forth.

      "That feels so fucking good," I whisper. The tingle almost makes me
jump.

      "Just lay back, boyfriend," he responds.

      I do so and he places butterfly kisses on my eyelids. I feel so warm
and safe in his arms, and because of that, I'm expecting a huge load when
it comes time. I've no doubt I'll probably soak through the flannel throw
as if it's rice paper.

      It's awfully dark in here," Angelaria says at last.

      She wanders over to the window and reaches for the blanket I hung
there last night and tears it down. Then she gazes out at the clear
morning; it gleams brilliantly off the snow. Behind her I pull on my lower
lip, trying desperately not to make a sound. But you can hear the "fap fap
fap" of Talen's hand despite my attempts to muffle it. I also can't stop
myself from panting. Talen turns my face toward his mouth and muffles each
breath that escapes my lips with desperate urgency. When I cum in his palm
an indeterminate time later, he's all but smothering me with his kisses to
suppress my moans. It's a last ditch effort to preserve the serenity of our
morning.

      "What do you want for breakfast?" Angelaria asks from a stool at the
window. She sips from a porcelain mug.

      Sweat cools on my skin.

      I blink realizing I didn't even see her move the stool. Nor did I see
her sit down or even brew some coffee. But somehow she did all that while I
lost complete track of time.

      "I-I'm not hungry," I say, trying to sit up. My back slips against
Talen's damp torso. "We should be on our way very soon."

      Talen's hand emerges from under the blanket; it's dripping with my
ropy semen. He laps it up slowly, all the while saying "mm mm...that tastes
delicious." He goes back for more as the stuff that's left inside my shaft
is slowly finding its way out, squeezed like nectar from a firm fruit. And
as I predicted, the afghan we used last night now has a coin-sized wet spot
toward the center.

      Lovely. I think our attempts at being quiet though might have worked?
Angelaria gives us no sign that we ruined her morning with a little dick
play. I roll the blanket to one side. "I've to piss and then dress."

      "Don't be silly," Talen says. His fingers are clean but shiny. "We've
got plenty of food here, and for once, I want to have pancakes instead of
fish. Besides, we haven't had morning sex yet."  Angelaria walks into the
kitchen, and I watch her fire up the ovens and collect pots and pans. "And
you haven't even said good morning to me," Talen complains. "If we don't
have sex, then you're obligated to deliver at least two duties of love."

      "Two duties?"

      "Isn't a boyfriend at least obligated to say two things every
morning? I love you and how was your sleep?"

      I grin and kiss him tenderly. My softening dick is still long enough
that it brushes his shoulder as I bend at the waist and straddle the chair
we slept in. "I love you more than my own life," I tell him, "and I know
how you slept last night."

      He ruffles my hair. "All work and no play make Kian a dull boy," he
declares as I head off toward the bedroom to find my armor pieces. As it
turns out, they're scattered across the room, including one piece that got
either kicked or thrown into the hallway during the rush to get me
undressed last night. When I'm completely kitted out, I return and keep my
eyes to the window, half expecting a monstrous face to appear there,
sneering at me from the outside.

      I carry with me some of Talen's armor. His leg greaves, codpiece, and
boots. I'll let him get his own breastplate and pauldrons. He looks so
beautiful lying their naked that I stare at him a moment. I grab a stool to
sit on and he holds up his foot for me to slide his metal boots on. I don't
do it immediately, but wash them first with my tongue. It makes him clench
the upholstery with tight fingers each time I stroke him like that and he
murmurs in pleasure. I lick between his toes and clean his arches. Once his
feet are dripping with my spit, I slide the pretty things one at a time
into his boots.

      That pretty much ends the fun as he quickly takes over, fastening his
greaves and tightening the straps. The codpiece goes on last. I feel a
sadness as if my favorite toy has been put away for the day.

      I hear a noise at the window, and I know I can't disguise my
fright. My face has probably drained of all color.

      "What's got you so spooked?" Talen asks.

      "I saw something, last night," I say. "Out on the lake beyond those
trees over yonder. It was a huge creature, about twice my height and with
long arms covered in shaggy fur. It was completely black, and had
glistening tentacles protruding from its body. I think it was looking for
something on the lake. You know...kind of searching...and I saw it break a
hole in the ice"

      He rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "You're kidding, right?"

      "I'm not pulling your leg. I saw what I saw."

      Angelaria walks in, having donned a blue-spotted apron. She looks odd
wearing ONLY that and nothing else. "Breakfast will be ready in a few
minutes. Why don't you two go and wash up."

      "Wash up? I'm clean," I say.

      She shakes her head. "No...licking doesn't count. Grab some water;
wash behind your ears and other places that you'll be using to touch your
food with."

      Talen stands up and stretches. His bony back pops twice, and he lets
out a sigh that borders on exquisitely beautiful. We walk into the hallway
holding hands and search for the lavatory. It's at the end of the hall, and
there's a well for fresh water. I pull up the bucket and empty it into a
porcelain basin. I wash my face and hands then stand by the door while he
does the same. I start telling my story again and this time, I don't skimp
on any details. I maybe even embellish some by exaggerating details that I
think I saw.

      When I finish, he stares at me strangely, partially in disbelief and
partially from a hangover.

      We join Angelaria for our morning meal.

      She's outdone herself with roasted sausages, potatoes, and some old
bread she found in the larder. I think it can't get any better when she
brings us fried eggs.  It's all delicious, and both Talen and I clean our
plates.

      Afterwards, she goes and puts her clothes on. When she returns, I
recite the tale using the details I left out the first time. I've to admit,
it's fun being the one that's telling the story instead of listening to
it. But I begin to wonder if what I'd seen was real or if I'd dreamed
it. Talen uses this time to finish donning his armor and to hunt around for
food stores we can stuff into our packs.  Angelaria's spellbound by my
tale, which is quite a different reaction from Talen's. By the time I'm
done, she's white as a ghost and trembling; it's like she's freezing cold
and without a fire. She stares at me as if I'M the horror.

      "Do you believe me?" I ask her.

      She nods and indicates that we should leave. It's quite the different
tune from the cheeriness we all felt at sunrise. "I don't feel comfortable
staying here another night."

      "Now what's got into you?" Talen asks. "He's just telling stories,
and he embellishes them with lies to get a rise out of you. Kian, I love
you but you drank way too much last night to recall all that."

      Angelaria says, "You may be right, and it may be nothing. I just
don't want to take any chances right now when we've got options." She grabs
her pack and heads out the door into the bright wintry morning.  The snow's
deep and the chill's bitter as frozen steel. It's a cold that stings your
skin like a hundred hornets and has no chance of being softened by layers
of insulating wool. I pull my cloak tighter around me and contemplate
lowering my visor, but then I can't talk to Angelaria without sounding
synthetic.

      I look at Talen and say, "They weren't all lies," and then speed off
after her.

      He shrugs and closes the door behind us.

      "Angelaria," I say, "level with us." When she doesn't stop, I grab
her by the hand. "What was it that I saw?"

      She stops, her eyes scanning the trees and the surrounding
mountains. "I'm not one to jump to conclusions. Let's take a look at the
lake first" she says quietly. "I want to see what's there before I say
anything."

      "All right," I reply.

      Talen nods, but I can see for the first time that he's a little
scared too. His fear's easy to detect. It jumps out at you in those lovely
emotion-filled eyes of his. I start heading off into the snow, making a
jump, here and there to avoid ditches and scale fences. The entire time,
the wind blows icy, bitter, and frosty.

      I step onto the ice; it seems thin and entirely unstable. My
companions bravely follow in my wake. Every so often, I hear it groan under
my light weight. I imagine an entire sheet breaking loose and plunging me
into a wet grave. It's unsettling, but I proceed forward, measuring my
footsteps carefully. I hope my hundred and fifty pounds won't go crashing
through, but if it does I want my fate to serve as a warning to the others
so that they know to go no farther.

      "It was right here," I say after about five minutes. I point at the
ice. "This is where I saw it standing last night."

      Talen lowers himself to the ice, brushing the snow away with his
hand.  Suddenly, he falls back and lands on his palms, swearing. The ice
around his fingers starts to crack, and he struggles to his feet. Angelaria
gasps and turns her head, mahogany hair trailing in the frigid wind.

      I look at the ice and see eyes staring back at me.  Dozens of human
eyes...bodies...their pasty white faces watching us with mouths
open. "Gods!" I exclaim.

      I reach over and grab Talen by the hand and scoop him up, cognizant
that the cracks are spreading under our boots.  Angelaria can't move. She's
standing there transfixed and shaking, looking at the ice and paralyzed by
terror.

      "Come on!" I shout at her. "We can't help them."

      That snaps her out of it, and together we run off of the lake and
into the woods on the western end of the village.

                                    *****

I shall post Chapter Seven next week. Please check out my picture of Talen
on my website.