USUAL DISCLAIMER

"THE LAST CAESAR" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.

THE LAST CAESAR By Andrej Koymasky © 2020
Ended writing on December 2nd 2005
Translated by the Author
English text kindly reviewed by Talo Segura
CHAPTER 4
MUTUAL DISCOVERY

Orestes, after declaring the dissolution of Julius Nepos' rule, was undecided about what to do. Some of his advisers urged him to take the imperial crown and proclaim himself emperor. But this seemed to him a rash move: the emperor of the East, he knew well since he had also been ambassador to that court in the past, would never have agreed to recognize a barbarian, however Romanized and «patrician», as emperor of the West.

Others suggested he find some Roman, perhaps somehow distantly related to previous legitimate emperors or a prestigious senator and place him on the throne, under his control, to create what would be the umpteenth «puppet emperor». But even this did not convince him completely. How many puppets Ricimer had killed because they tried to escape him?

The «magister militum» was a cautious and astute person. He knew he had all the real power in his hands, but he knew just as well that he could not exercise it without having on his side at least a semblance of legality. Already the fact that Julius Nepos had escaped taking with him all the symbols of royalty, and from Dalmatia continued to proclaim himself the only legitimate emperor, created a problem. The support of his own army, composed of Heruli, Sciri, and Torcilingi, while granting him some strength, could not by itself guarantee him sufficiently the possibility of imposing his will.

The Senate, in Rome, had no longer any effective authority, yet its word still had a moral ascendancy. Having it on his side or against could help to tip the scales one way or the other. Ensconced in Ravenna, Orestes continued to wonder what he should do.

These problems did not in the slightest touch either his son Romulus, kept in the dark about his father's politics, let alone Helvius, for whom the affairs were fine whoever was on the throne, whoever commanded in Ravenna.

Cimon had convinced Helvius not to «rent» Icenius, whom he had fallen in love with, for «services» to the nobles.

"Nice purchase you made me do, if we cannot get money from him!" Helvius told him, with irony.

"I promised you that I'll repay you, did I not ? I'm going to earn enough coins myself, I am sure, and therefore make you money. But you have to leave him for me. Moreover, Icenius does all the jobs here at home: it has never been as clean and tidy as it is now! What are you complaining about?"

Helvius, perhaps because he was falling in love with his «slave» boy and therefore understood the feeling of his collaborator, eventually gave in to Cimon's request. After all, he was really earning quite well thanks to the work of the other boys. And the Greek, so as to repay Helvius for the money he had lent, kept hardly anything for himself.

Cimon knew Helvius very well, and the fact that he had managed to convince him so easily to leave him Icenius, in addition to the fact that he went a little too often to the pine grove of Classis to «swim», combined with a special joy and light in his eyes, made it clear to him that perhaps even his friend and boss was in love.

So he asked him one evening, "What's his name?"

"Who?"

"Come on! Do you think I did not notice anything? Do I know him?"

"But, who?"

"The one who has stolen your heart..."

"Ah. Is it so visible? No, you do not know him."

"How old is he? What's his job? Is he cute? Well, if you've lost your mind over him... he could even be a raven yet you will see him like a peacock!"

"He's beautiful like a flower... He's sixteen, he's a slave..." Helvius said with dreamy eyes.

"Buy him, then."

"He's not for sale and they keep an eye on him... I cannot even propose to help him escape..."

"Oh, no, of course... it's too dangerous... You meet in Classis, right?"

"What's that, are you spying on me? Don't you have better things to do? "

"But no! It's that you go a little too often to... swim. But tell me, does his heart burn for you too?"

"He never told me, but... his eyes whisper it to me, every time."

"Oh, my friend is becoming a poet! Ah, love, love!"

"Look who's talking! And you, then? You who no longer earns a bronze axis because of your Icenius!"

The two continued to peck amicably, with good humour and cheerfulness in the way of those who harbour feelings of love in the heart.

"But how did you meet him?" Cimon asked.

"I went to swim, I saw him, I won his heart!"

"Just like Julius Caesar!" the Greek chuckled.

"What does Caesar have to do with it ?"

"Veni, Vidi, Vici! I came, I saw, I conquered! Right? "

Helvius nodded, smiling. Then he said, "Now I have to prepare myself for a visit to an important villa... Probably I can make it a good night tonight."

In the meantime Romulus, having dined in his sumptuous triclinium with his mother, since by now the high-ranking women were commonly admitted to the meals with the men, and with the house's elders, retired to his room. It was hot, , so he took off all his fine clothes, and looked out the window overlooking the back garden, staring at the sky starburst in which the «septem triones», the seven oxen, continued tirelessly to plough the fields of the sky.

He stood there for hours, motionless, thinking back to the strong and handsome young man who had kidnapped his heart... in addition to taking his virginity. He would have liked to have him there with him, to make love on his bed, instead of on the carpet of grass between the pinewood and the beach. He was so immersed in his thoughts he did not see the dark figure emerging from his secret passage, slip silently, close to the wall, then disappear inside the villa.

He was about to go to bed, when a slight noise from inside his room made him start: who could have entered his room in the middle of the night, without knocking, without asking permission? He flattened himself behind the curtain of the window, pulled it to one side, becoming invisible.

He saw a shadow enter, then stop. The little light projected by the only oil lamp resting on a chest, did not allow him to distinguish who it was, yet his heart lost a beat when he believed he recognized in the silhouette of the intruder his «Apollon».

He noticed that he had a bag in his hand, and that he was putting away items that he took here and there... "A thief..." he said to himself. Then the agile form moved to another part of the room and the flame of the light lightened his face: now he had no more doubts, it was "him"!

Thus he went out from behind the curtain and called him in a low voice.

Helvius froze, recognized him, quickly hid the bag behind the cabinet that he was about to open.

"What are you doing here... in the middle of the night?" Romulus asked him in a warm voice, approaching him slowly.

Helvius had recovered: "I'm here for you, my flower! I missed you too much..." he whispered starting to get excited when he saw the boy completely naked.

"I missed you too... I was just thinking about you..." the boy told him, coming up to him and caressing his arm. "But how did you get in? Did the sentries fall asleep?"

Helvius smiled: "I used the hole you opened in the wall..."

"Come to my bed... let's make love..." Romulus whispered, taking him by the hand and drawing him towards the bed.

"Your bed? Here? But are you not... a slave?" Helvius asked him in amazement, "Is this not the room of Romulus, the son of Orestes?"

"The same one that is in front of you, the same one that loves you... Slave of this villa... and of your love... Come... I want you in me..."

"I... here... you... if anyone comes..."

"Not at this time: bar the door and come to me... let's make love... are you not here for this?"

"Yes... but I did not know that you... you did not tell me that you are..."

"Does it change something? Do you not care for me anymore, now? Am I not the same boy whom you caught, that virgin? Do you not love me anymore, just because I'm Romulus and not Hyacinthus?"

"Yes... yes, I love you, my flower" Helvius said, moved.

Quickly he returned to the door, closed it and blocked it by silently sliding the bar into the iron brackets.

Romulus had stretched out and looked at him with eyes full of desire. In the faint light of the lamp, Helvius approached the bed, admiring the beautiful form of the boy, quickly he got rid of his clothes and climbed on top of him, holding him in his arms and legs and kissing him with passion.

"Are you happy I'm here?" he asked him.

"I will be even more happy when you take me... when I feel you inside me... when you take me to Olympus with you, my sun!"

They caressed, kissed for a long time, until Helvius took the slender legs of his boyfriend and placed them on his strong shoulders, so finally he could plunge himself inside the boy. Romulus accompanied his descent into him with a subdued "ohhhh" full of joy.

Helvius put his arms under the boy's back and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him into himself so he would not slip away at every vigorous thrust. The hands of Romulus roamed across the broad chest of the young man, slid along his narrow hips, resting on his tense, hollow belly. He enjoyed the unexpected, vigorous union.

"You're happy?" Helvius asked him with a radiant smile.

"Yes, I love you..."

"Me too, my flower!" he muttered excitedly and bent to kiss him, continuing to push inside him and massage his prostate giving him maximum pleasure.

Their tongues played incessantly, first one then the other sucking gently on his companion, and Romulus bucked his pelvis slightly to accentuate his man's pleasure, moaning at the intensity of what Helvius was making him feel.

The young man stopped, so as not to reach the peak of an orgasm too fast and took his lips from the boy's.

"Do you love me, even if I'm a plebeian?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Do you love me, even if I'm a patrician?" asked the boy with a sweet smile.

"For me, you are only my flower..."

"And you, for me, are only my sun..."

Helvius resumed moving in him with tender passion.

Romulus' smile accentuated: "I'm all yours..." he whispered, moved by the intensity of what he was feeling.

"No... I'm all yours." Helvius corrected him tenderly.

By competing to give each other pleasure, they climbed the paths of ecstasy together until they reached its highest peak when Helvius began to spread the seed of his love into him, and Romulus gushed the essence of life.

"I love you..." the young man murmured, feeling happy.

"I love you..." the boy gently told him.

Helvius stroked his hair, took his face in his hands, on which hung a happy smile, and bent down to kiss him. Their tongues played lightly like butterflies, fluttering on the flower of their beloved's lips.

"You have to go before the house wakes up..." Romulus whispered regretfully.

"Unfortunately..." he replied, getting out of bed and starting to get dressed.

Romulus, languidly lying on the bed, watched him move, agile, slender, and so beautiful.

"Be prudent..." he told him.

"Sure. See you soon, my flower." the young man answered with a tender smile and slid the bar away from the door to exit.

"Do you not forget something?" Romulus asked him, coming down from the bed with a mischievous smile.

"Yes, this..." Helvius answered, taking him in his arms and kissing him again with passionate tenderness.

"Sure... and that?" the boy asked, pointing to the sack sticking out from behind the cabinet.

"Ah... that... I do not care anymore." the young thief answered, slightly embarrassed.

"But if you came on purpose to get... that stuff!" Romulus told him sweetly, to make him understand that he did not care that he had told him a lie.

"I..." Helvius murmured, embarrassed, "I did not know... I would not have stolen anything, if I had imagined..."

"You stole my heart, I offered you my virginity... What do you want me to care if you take away some of my objects?"

"You... are not angry with me? Are you not disappointed to know, now, that I am a thief?"

"If I were... I would not have welcomed you into my bed, don't you think? And if you also take away some of my objects, you gave me your love, which is worth much more..."

"It's not... it's not an exchange... So you make me feel like a prostitute... like one of my boys, like I was in the past..." the young man murmured a little shamefully, feeling that he had to reveal himself completely to the boy he loved.

"It's not an exchange, it's not a payment... Accept what you've got... like a gift from me. You gave me something, every time we met... the little bell, the spinning top... I've never given you anything... but now I can."

"They were small things... not as precious as... like those in the bag."

"But they were given with the heart... as are those you have in that bag."

"How can you still love me, now that you know about me... that you know I'm a thief and a pimp of boys?"

"And you, how can you still love me, now that you know I'm the son of Orestes? I'm not your flower anymore, maybe? Are you not my sun anymore?" he asked, caressing his cheek.

"Will you still want me here with you? Will you still come to bathe with me at the pinewood? And make love?"

"You must not doubt it - just be prudent, my beloved..."

"You too, my hyacinth..."

"Please, take your sack... with my gifts."

"I will never touch anything here in your house again..."

"I hope that's not true."

"What?" Helvius asked him, a little surprised.

"I hope... that you will touch... me!" he answered with a slight smile, mischievous and sweet at the same time.

A tender smile crossed the young man's face: "How could I ever give up my beautiful fragrant flower?"

"And how could I live, if my sun did not shine for me anymore? But go now, please..."

"I'll be back..."

"Be prudent, my love... but do come back, please!"

"I'll be back, of course!" Helvius reassured him, and taking his sack, slipped out of the room.

Romulus returned to the window. After awhile he saw him walk back the way he had come and disappear in the corner where the hole was, between the bushes. He stood watching a little longer, hoping not to hear the sentries' alarm, satisfied his lover was safe, he went back to lie on the bed, feeling happy.

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 5


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