This Strange World Needs A Kicking! – Ch. 4
By Laura S. Fox
Copyright © 2021 Laura S. Fox
All Rights Reserved
Gay Romance
Intended for Mature Audiences Only
This story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong
language and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
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Chapter Four – You Put A Spell On Me
Milo wrapped his arms
around him. The desire in his eyes was unmistakable. Sebastian was rightfully
annoyed. His prisoners could take the initiative only if he allowed them to. It
appeared as if Milo, a mere scholar, considered himself on the same level with
a prince to take such liberties.
"Did I tell you that you
could embrace me?" he asked.
Milo grinned. "No, but
you kissed me already, so I don't see how a hug could be worse."
Yes, the kiss. Sebastian
remembered it clearly. He looked at Milo's lips. They were full and soft and
enticing him to give in to his weakness. But weren't they supposed to complete
their quest of going on a date and eating hamburgers first?
Milo stopped smiling as
Sebastian shifted against him. Their bodies were rubbing against each other,
leaving enough room for pleasant sensations. Sebastian recognized the
unmistakable signs of his arousal growing.
"Your mom is home. Your
sister, too," Milo whispered. "Maybe we shouldn't --"
Sebastian kept his breath
for a moment. No, the weakness was too much. He pressed Milo into the bed and
kissed him hard. Milo responded by hugging him closer.
Well, the place appeared
to have thin walls, and there was also the inconvenience of having delicate
royal ears close by. Sebastian indulged in the other's mouth only for a few
moments more.
"Let us handle the quest
first," he said and stood up stiffly.
"Quest?"
"The date."
"Oh, right."
Sebastian walked over to
the closet and looked inside. Thin short-sleeved shirts in dark colors and
bottoms that matched were the only things in there. They hardly qualified as
armor, but maybe the quest needed them to use their wits more than their
strength. After all, Milo didn't wear any armor, either.
He picked two garments
without hesitating too much, as they all appeared to be the same, and began
shedding off the uniform.
"Wow, I know I've seen
you naked before, but you really are comfortable in showing me everything,"
Milo said.
Sebastian turned toward
the young man, who was now looking at him with hooded eyes. He looked down at
his own body and grimaced. "This body hardly warrants such a reaction from
you." He could taste Milo's arousal if he did as little as close his
eyes.
"You look fine to me."
Well, he didn't miss any
limbs, and while he appeared underfed, he was not overly thin. Aesthetics-wise,
he would give this body a pass. "I suppose more food would serve."
Milo laughed and looked
away. "Then it's good that I'm taking you to Mandy's."
He finished dressing and
walked out of the room with Milo. Tani was waiting
for him and barring the way. "Weren't you going to look at the dishwasher for
half an hour?"
"An hour and a half.
Please, do it in my stead."
Tani
snorted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, right." She looked around and then opened
her palm. "Pay me."
"I don't have any coins."
"Paper will do," Tani said brightly.
Milo dug into his pocket
and took out a folded paper. "Is it okay if I bribe your sister?"
Sebastian shrugged. "It
is your paper to do as you wish with it."
He couldn't understand
how Tani could accept a simple paper sheet instead of
gold or silver coins. Maybe she wasn't a very clever girl, and Milo knew
that.
"Let's go," Milo said
after giving Tani the folded paper. He grabbed
Sebastian by the shoulders.
"Are you guys an item now
or what?" Tani asked.
Milo stuck his tongue at
her. "Not telling."
"OMG! You totally are!
You're making kissy-kissy faces at each other!"
"Tani,
leave the boys alone," the mother intervened. "Take care and don't stay up too
late. You still have to study. Your graduation is not that far off," she
warned.
Graduation? Was that
another quest? He would have to ask his phone many questions.
"I'll make sure to return
him in one piece and not too late, Mrs. Martin," Milo said cheerfully.
So the mother was Mrs.
Martin. That was one thing he didn't have to ask his phone.
***
Kai grunted as he was
made to meet the ground, butt first, by one of the
skilled knights in his retinue. It was his fault for having his head in the
clouds, and his body couldn't compensate entirely for his lack of
awareness.
"Your
Majesty," the knight said breathlessly as he jumped off his horse and hurried
to him. "I apologize for throwing you off! Please forgive me!"
Kai pushed himself up.
"No sweat, man. I wasn't paying attention. Let's do that again."
His current body had many
wonderful perks, it seemed, among which the fact that he didn't feel as much
pain as ordinary people.
"I will make sure not to
throw all my strength behind it this time," the knight pleaded.
"Oh, you make sure you
do, or I'll get mad," Kai said playfully. As the hero of the realm, he couldn't
allow others to cut him any slack.
Once he began paying
attention, he outsmarted all the knights on the jousting grounds, much to his
delight. It was a good boost of confidence to overpower everyone like that.
"So, are you tired
already?" he called.
"No, Your
Majesty!" The knights shouted as one.
These guys needed to
learn a bit about life-work balance.
"Well, I'm done here.
You're free for the day. But don't forget about tomorrow. Dragons, caves, all
that."
He turned on his heels,
ignoring the flabbergasted knights he was leaving behind. All this time, Conrad
had stayed there, judging him with his eyes. As soon as Kai began to move, he
was on his heels again.
"I hope you're not
getting any weird ideas," Kai said as he threw a look back at Conrad. "I'm
hungry, and I don't know where Pepin is. I'm only supposed to eat his cooking."
He was surprised when
Conrad grabbed the reins of his horse and guiding them both in the opposite
direction of the castle.
"What are you doing? You
know very well that I can kick your ass." Not that he wanted to do it, but
Conrad was annoying.
Conrad said nothing until
they were at a fair distance from the jousting ground and everyone's earshot.
He dismounted and then offered Kai his hand.
For a moment, Kai closed
his eyes. I could ignore him and leave.
But I suppose that will make me a coward, and Prince Sebastian appears to be
the complete opposite of a coward. What can he do to me? I can just send him
flying, like before.
He accepted Conrad's hand
and dismounted, too.
"Well?" he asked.
Conrad began to unbutton
his coat, his eyes never leaving Kai.
Kai groaned. "What are
you doing?"
Conrad threw his coat on
the ground, offering Kai the unimpeded view of a strong perfect torso. "You
were quite explicit in your requirements, Your Majesty," he said through his
teeth.
"I changed my mind," Kai
said with a forced grin.
Conrad seemed completely
deaf as he continued to shed his clothes.
"Don't," Kai said and
covered his eyes as Conrad pushed down his pants.
Maybe the guy was an
exhibitionist. Kai didn't uncover his eyes and put his free hand in front to
make sure that Conrad wasn't getting too close. "Stay away, I'm warning you. I
can shoot ice from my eyes."
"Then you must be keeping
them covered for a reason," Conrad said.
Kai walked back and
grunted when his back hit a large tree. He uncovered his eyes only to find
Conrad close. Really close.
"You said," Conrad said
slowly, "that you require satisfaction at least three times every day."
Kai groaned. Prince Sebastian, you damned manwhore!
He was still debating how
to deal with Conrad when the other glued himself to him and plastered his lips
against his neck.
"Oh," Kai barely managed.
His eyelids began getting heavier. That wasn't unpleasant at all. Conrad
flicked his tongue around, making him shudder as pleasure shot through him head
to toes. It was...
Kai pushed Conrad away.
"All right. Okay. This isn't working. Down, boy," he ordered Conrad.
"I'm not a dog," Conrad
protested and looked at him with the same hurt eyes from before.
There was no way to
please this guy. He got pushed away, he got mad. He got told he could leave, he
took offense.
"Then why are you licking
things you shouldn't lick?"
"Do you want me to bite?"
Kai pinched the bridge of
his nose. "No," he said quietly. "I want you to stop licking and biting. And
kissing."
"Which means," Conrad
said in a pensive tone, "that there is only one thing left. You should have
said so."
Kai put his hands up to
keep Conrad away. "Stay there. I'd hate to turn you into a popsicle,
but you're pushing it, man."
"Pop... what?"
"You know." Kai began to
gesticulate. "A block of ice or something."
Finally, Conrad stopped.
"What did I do to displease you?"
"You just keep wanting to
hump me," Kai shot back. "I'm not in the mood."
"Ah, you're not in the
mood," Conrad said slowly like he was trying to understand what Kai meant by
that.
"Don't you find it
embarrassing? At least a little?" Kai asked. "I mean, everybody knows that we –
whatever. Isn't this... thing something you don't want?"
Conrad frowned and
blinked a few times. "If you're talking about your men, all I heard was how
they would all like to share your bed. If only so that they don't have to fear
you so much anymore. How little they know," he added with bitterness.
"Crazy BL plot," Kai
murmured under his breath. "Yeah, okay, but you're... a knight, right?
"A prince," Conrad said
heatedly.
"A prince, of course. You
don't want to be a concubine, right?"
"I don't." Conrad crossed
his arms. He was still distractingly naked, and Kai had a hard time keeping his
head up so that he didn't look down by accident. "No matter how coveted the
position is."
"Yeah, I bet," Kai said
to himself. "But, for you, it's like a disgrace, right?"
Conrad stared at him with
hurt eyes. "Yes," he said quietly.
Right. Conrad must have
been an enemy. Prince Sebastian was walking a thin line getting an enemy to
serve as his bed partner. He probably thought that he was overpowered enough
not to have to worry about anything.
"Is there really nowhere
in the world you could go?" Kai asked.
"No," Conrad said
directly. "And if you send me away, it is as good as a death sentence. There is
no place left in the world for a vanquished prince."
Hmm, that was a difficult
situation, indeed. "Then how about this? You play your role in front of
everyone else, and I don't send you away. But we don't do any more..." Kai
trailed off and just made a vague gesture with his hands.
Conrad watched him with
incredulous eyes. "If that truly is your wish, release me from the bond."
"Hmm, what bond?"
"This." Conrad touched
his chest, and thin lines the color of blue ice appeared and shone
softly.
"What does that do?" Kai
asked.
"Don't you know it better
than me? The less I please you, the tighter these vines of ice will curl around
my heart."
"Ah, so it's ice magic.
Then it should be easy," Kai said.
He looked at the fine ice
lines and focused. They began to shine brighter. Conrad gasped and grabbed his
chest.
"Oh, shit, sorry," Kai
hurried to say and looked away. All right, so that wasn't working. How was he
supposed to undo that? He would have to ask Pepin later.
"Is it a slow or a quick
death you have in store for me?" Conrad asked in a pained voice.
"Neither. Trust me," Kai
said. "I'll figure out how to undo that bond. Then you'll be free."
"I don't see how I can
believe you." The pain had forced Conrad on his knees, and Kai felt terribly
guilty.
"Well, you should
because, you see, I'm a nice guy, no matter how weird that might sound to you."
Kai offered Conrad his arm to help him to his feet.
"Each time I fail to
please you, you only make it worse. You're not nice, Prince Sebastian," Conrad
said heatedly.
"Damn. So you have to,
um, please me, so that your heart doesn't freeze or something?"
Being so overpowered had
its downsides, for sure, Kai thought.
"All right. I'll let you
kiss me once. Will that make it better?"
He was crazy for even
suggesting a thing like that, but what was he to do? He couldn't watch Conrad
getting a heart attack or something.
Now Conrad seemed
reluctant to do what he was told. He was probably fearing that he was getting
himself into another trap.
"Damn you, BL author,"
Kai said, grabbed Conrad's cheeks, and kissed him once.
Conrad lost his balance
for a second and then stared at him with unhidden surprise.
"Any better?"
If he did it fast enough,
it didn't count, right? And he could just think of something else. Kai pulled
Conrad to him again. This time, when they kissed, Conrad grabbed him and pushed
him to the ground.
Think of something else, think of something
else...
Conrad pushed one thigh
between his legs, forcing them open. Great, not he could practically feel... Why
on earth was he humping himself against Conrad's leg? It was all great when his
body had quick reactions while knights in heavy armor dashed toward him with
all kinds of dangerous weapons, but not so much when it was reacting to this!
"All right, all right,
just stop. Feeling any better?"
Conrad was breathing heavily,
and his eyes were hazy. He was a handsome dude, but Kai wasn't going to play
into that crazy BL plot. All he had to do was keep Conrad alive until he
figured out how to get rid of that bond. And for now, he was sure he had done
enough.
"You want me, too,"
Conrad said in a raspy voice. "I can feel you."
Kai had a very distinct
idea of what Conrad meant by that, but it was all that body's fault and not
his. "And, unfortunately, I can feel you, too." The dude's tool was lengthening
against his leg. That was totally weird. "I'll handle the thing with the bond.
Now, get off me."
Conrad stared at him for
a moment with burning eyes. Little by little, the flame in them dimmed. He
stood up abruptly and began dressing up with brusque moves.
"You know, you might have
an anger problem," Kai suggested as he got to his feet. "Maybe you should take
the day off, ride around, I don't know, do stuff you like."
Conrad turned toward him
with lightning speed and thunder in his eyes. Yeah, totally an anger problem.
"How can you be so cold? Last night --" He stopped and turned toward his horse.
"Well, you know, ice
magic, ice prince, cold. It's all natural," Kai justified himself. "And could
you forget about last night? It was a..." – how did people say in movies? –
"...mistake."
"A mistake?" Conrad
stared at him again like he was saying unfathomable things. "You kept asking me
to --"
"Hush, zip it, shut up,"
Kai said quickly and cut the air with one arm. "I don't want to hear about it."
Conrad cocked his head to
one side and narrowed his eyes. "Are you ashamed of your weakness? People say
you call it that."
"Weakness?" Ah, right.
Pepin had said something about it. Prince Sebastian's – apparently notorious –
weakness for handsome men. "No, I'm not ashamed. Because I have no weaknesses.
Whatever you're talking about, it's gone. Poof. Like that."
"You're different from
last night. How can you call it a mistake? Five times --"
"Five times?!" Kai
covered his face. Prince Sebastian was a shameless bastard.
"Five times you told me
that you would never let me go, that if I kept it like that, you would see no
reason to get rid of me."
Oh, phew. Not that kind
of five times. "Ah, well, people change."
"Overnight?"
"Yes. Hey, do you believe
in ice magic? You know, the stuff that comes out of my eyes."
Conrad touched his chest
and grimaced in pain. Kai made himself little. "Yes, I do believe in it."
"Then it should be easy
to believe in people changing overnight." Pleased with his logic, Kai mounted
his horse. "And stop following me. Go have some fun, whatever you think that
is. And eat and drink as much as you want." What could people around there do
to enjoy themselves? It wasn't like they had internet and video games. "It's on
my tab, I suppose."
"Fine," Conrad said in a
strained voice. "I'll see you tonight, then."
Well, that had been taken
care of quite swiftly. Now, he needed to find Pepin.
"You don't have to hide
whenever you feel like using Conrad, you know?" He heard a voice from behind.
Kai closed his eyes. "Do
you master teleportation, Pepin?"
"What magic is that, Your
Majesty?"
His servant appeared from
behind the tree like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to
eavesdrop on his master's trysts.
"Never mind. Now, I'm so
hungry I could eat a horse."
Pepin pursed his lips.
"If you wanted horse, you should have let me know in advance. And because of
you and your ideas, I had little time to cook properly."
"Eww,
I don't want horse, what the hell?" Kai put his hands over the horse's ears and
looked into his humid eyes. "Don't worry, in this house, we don't eat our
horses."
"We do," Pepin
contradicted him.
Kai scoffed. "Could you
please stop saying stuff like that in front of him?" He gestured with his chin
toward the horse.
Pepin shrugged and
disappeared behind the tree, only to reappear with a basket.
"Are we having a picnic?"
Pepin said nothing as he
lay a blanket on the ground and then the basket. He started taking out all
kinds of little pots and plates and arranging them on the blanket in an orderly
fashion.
"We totally are," Kai
said and grinned. He could barely wait to see what Pepin had prepared.
He knelt on the blanket
and watched Pepin displaying the tasty foods.
"I heard everything,"
Pepin said accusingly.
Kai took one plate with
finger foods from the servant and began stuffing his face. It wasn't like him
to be hungry, but ever since he had gotten here, he suddenly felt what hunger
was. "It's not nice to eavesdrop," he said while munching loudly.
"You kissed him," Pepin
continued, ignoring him.
"Well, I did," Kai admitted.
"Why?"
"Because he has an ice
magic spell that squeezes his heart if I don't kiss him," Kai said
matter-of-factly. He barely put down the empty plate that Pepin supplied him
with another. Ah, right. He had to ask the servant about it. "How do I remove
that bond?"
Pepin blinked and
frowned. "You don't recall?"
"I don't. I'm only human.
I forget things," Kai said defensively.
"But I cannot help you,"
Pepin said. "Your magic is your secret. You've never shared it with anyone."
"Not even you? We grew up
together, right?"
Pepin nodded, all the
while staring at him. "The Ice Goddess always took you with her to teach you.
No one was allowed to witness your training."
"Ah, damn it," Kai
moaned. "Where can I find the Ice Goddess?"
Pepin looked at him with
wide eyes. "That's also a secret," he said as if Kai should have known that.
Well, surely, Sebastian
had to know, but, unfortunately, Kai didn't get his memories along with his
body, so that was a bummer.
"I'll have to find her so
that I can remove the bond on Conrad," he said.
"Does that mean that you
will have to sleep with him again?" Pepin asked anxiously.
"Hopefully, some kisses
will do," Kai let his intentions known.
Pepin crossed his arms
and pouted.
"Come on, Pepin, I can't
just let the guy die or something," Kai said.
"Then will you kiss me
just the same as you kiss him?" Pepin asked.
"Do you have a bond on
your heart that could kill you?"
"No."
"Well, then, you just got
your answer. Ah, stop pouting. I won't fall for the same trick a second time. I
know you're not going to cry."
Pepin was scrunching his
nose, but then his features relaxed, and he grinned. "It was worth a try. You
won't last long without kissing me, I'm sure."
Well, as long as it was
only kissing... what was he thinking? Kai shook his head. He wanted to be in
character, but only as long as he didn't end up torturing people or doing
naughty things with dudes.
***
Sebastian observed Milo
and began to imitate his gestures. He took place across from him at a square
table and looked around. The tavern was clean, and it smelled of food.
A woman in an apron came
to them. "What will you boys have?"
"Hi, we're going to have
two hamburgers, fries on the side, and extra ketchup. And two large sodas,"
Milo said and smiled.
As the woman walked away,
Sebastian continued to take in his surroundings. No one was wearing armor, and
most travelers wore the same thin fabric as they did.
"Are there other people
on a date here?" he asked, curious of how quests were handled in this realm.
Milo looked around. "Could
be. I don't know. So, you didn't read my texts, huh?"
"No, I didn't get the
chance. I should inform you that I don't find cheese an interesting topic."
Milo blinked and grinned.
"You're particularly funny today. I don't think cheese is interesting, either."
"Good, then maybe you
should think of writing about other things."
"Look," Milo said and
reached for his hand across the table. Sebastian allowed the touch. By what he
could tell, other people held hands, too. It was probably a custom. "I know I was
the one to spring the question on you, and you should be the more surprised of
us two, but, damn, I'm so... ah, I don't have words. My heart is full."
"Full," Sebastian
repeated slowly.
Milo linked their fingers
together. "Yeah." He looked down sheepishly and laughed. "I mean, we've been
here before, and we did so many things together, but tonight is different,
right?"
That wasn't far from the
truth, but Sebastian could tell that Milo was thinking of something else. He
seemed to be very emotional. That was always an annoyance. But he had a
good-looking body and a handsome face, and, for now, Sebastian could see Milo's
uses.
The woman interrupted
them by placing plates in front of them. Sebastian looked at Milo, waiting for
him to eat first so that he could imitate him. The wench hadn't brought them
any utensils, although she had bothered to offer them some paper tissues that
had to serve as napkins.
He proceeded as Milo and
bit from the bun filled with meat. Sebastian stopped for a moment. It was meat,
but even Pepin would be hard-pressed to make it so intensely flavorful. It was
almost on the point of being too much, but Sebastian decided to give it a try
and began chewing slowly.
"If you can't finish it,
it's okay," Milo said.
Prince Kai might not have
had an appetite, but Sebastian needed to keep his strength up. "I will finish
it," he said sternly.
He took the high glass
placed by the server on his side of the table. There was a bent stick in it.
For what purpose, he was unsure. He observed the bubbles; was it champagne?
Since they were going on a quest, they were probably having a feast, although,
again, the presence of a single course was disappointing.
He stole a glance at Milo
and noticed how he sipped from his glass through that stick. He did the
same.
"Oh," he said and put
back the glass. It was definitely more bubbly than champagne. And much sweeter.
"This champagne has an odd flavor," he commented.
Milo laughed. "Is that a
hint that I should have made things a bit more special?"
"No, no, that is
completely fine," Sebastian said politely. "When will we kiss?"
That was the purpose of
their quest, according to Milo.
The young man blushed to
the tip of his ears. "As soon as you finish that." He pointed at Sebastian's
food.
"Of course." If it was a rite
he had to complete, he didn't mind it. The food was tolerable, although
extremely flavorful. Sebastian took a delicate bite from his bun.
"You know, it's like I
see you in a different light today," Milo said softly.
Sebastian had been with
enough men to know that Milo was showing signs of being infatuated. That meant
that the kissing part would go flawlessly.
TBC
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