Two weeks went by, and although Liam was a little more intimate in his touch, giving Cailan gentle kisses to his lips and letting his hands slide over his waist, nothing much happened between them. Cailan might have wondered if Liam had forgotten their discussion or simply changed his mind, but he knew him too well for that. Cailan waited.
Finally, Liam had three days off, and the smile edged with anticipation he gave Cailan when he returned to the tent was enough to tell Cailan that it was time. “Pack some clothes. I’ve rented us a room in town for a few days.”
“A room?” Cailan asked, already retrieving his travel bag.
“The nicest the town has to offer. I wanted to take you to dinner, too, but…”
Cailan glanced up. “Was there nowhere suitable?”
“To take you?” Liam let out a quiet huff of joyless laughter. “Certainly not.”
Cailan frowned. He didn’t know how to take that. Why would he be an issue, regardless of the establishment? They had dined out before.
“Taking you to a place where you would be expected to kneel on the floor to eat would ruin the romance of things a little,” Liam explained. “I want this to be nice for you. For both of us.”
“I don’t mind kneeling as long as it’s by your side.”
“I’ll admit I don’t hate it either, darling, but it hardly suits the mood of the occasion.”
“No, of course. I just didn’t want you to forgo a nice dinner for my sake.”
“I wanted you to be able to sit at a table and partake in a nice dinner.” Liam shook his head. “Nevermind. I’m sure we can order food to the room.”
Cailan offered him a smile. “I’m never disappointed to have more time alone with you.”
Liam returned the smile. “Mm. Maybe that’s nicer than a dinner out. Are you done packing?”
“I think so. Should I bring a book?”
“Only if you plan to get bored of me.”
Cailan buttoned up his bag. “Then I’m ready.”
There was a carriage already waiting for them outside. Liam helped Cailan up into it and they sat side by side with Cailan’s hand clasped in Liam’s lap. Cailan’s heart was already hammering with anticipation, though he knew there was still a ways yet to their journey before anything would happen.
“Your hand is sweaty,” Liam commented.
Cailan ducked his head. “Sorry.”
Liam shook his head. “You don’t normally sweat. Are you nervous?”
“I’m… yes, maybe. A little. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
“I don’t want you to be scared.”
“I’m not afraid. I promise. I trust you, Liam. I want this.”
“Perhaps I’m a little scared. I imagine this is how parents feel, though perhaps that’s a strange angle to take when the matter we’re discussing is sex. But in a broader sense, it’s similar. I have absolute responsibility for you and your wellbeing.”
Cailan squeezed Liam’s hand. “I’m not fragile, Liam. I love that you care for me, but I won’t break or lose my love for you if you make a single mistake.”
“Goodness knows I’ve made many before.”
“You’ve had to learn your own definition of perfection. Most people wouldn’t consider the things you call mistakes to be such.”
Liam inclined his head, acknowledging the point. “It was a cruel situation to put us both in when we were still just boys, though I’m glad it happened. Who knows whose hands you would have ended up in if not mine. Who knows what kind of person I’d be today if not for you.”
“Your heart was full of goodness from the first day we met. You would have been fine.”
“I’m glad fate didn’t let me find out.” He offered Cailan a soft smile. “How could I live without my own heart?”
Cailan ducked his head as a smile overtook his face. “Some would say this romance is wasted on me.”
“I would say it would be a waste to deny it to myself. I don’t feel this way for any other.”
“I’m sorry I doubted you. You’ve given me no reason to.”
“I gave you every reason to. If a man swore his devotion to his wife, but he hadn’t consummated the marriage yet and took others to his bed, it wouldn’t matter how sweet his words were. Nobody would blame her for doubting his sincerity.”
“I’m not your wife. The expectations aren’t the same.”
“The expectations are what we make them. What you give me, Cailan, is more than you can compel someone to give by force or obligation. You cannot make anyone love you. That can only be earnt.”
“And you have done that.”
Liam lifted Cailan’s hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “And I intend to continue to tonight.”
The inn they were staying at in the nearby town was relatively small and unassuming. It served the purpose of providing a place for high ranking military guests who felt they were too good for tents to stay while they were visiting the camp and little more.
Cailan didn’t mind, of course. All he cared about was the privacy of solid walls and Liam’s undivided attention.
And, of course, the large, comfortable looking bed that took up a decent portion of the modestly sized room. They would be spending much of the next few days in it, or at least Cailan hoped so.
Liam’s arm wrapped around Cailan’s waist from behind and he rested his chin on Cailan’s shoulder. “I’d have taken you somewhere fancier, but I don’t think either of us are keen on delaying this until I’m able to get enough time off to travel.”
Cailan turned in Liam’s arms so that he could press himself against his chest. “No, it’s perfect. It has everything we need.”
Liam combed his fingers through Cailan’s hair. “And a few things we don’t. It has running water. A bathtub. Would you like to take a bath together?”
“That sounds wonderful.”
“This way, then,” Liam said as he took Cailan’s hand and led him to a room on the opposite side of the bed.
The bath in Liam’s childhood home had been designed for a single person to bathe in and nothing more. Cailan hadn’t used it as it had seemed wasteful when he could clean himself using magic.
This bathtub was clearly designed to be a shared experience. It was significantly larger, square in shape, and it even had a ledge to sit back and relax on that would be below the water once the bath was full.
Liam put the plug in and started running the water. Such a large tub would take several minutes to fill.
“Now, let’s get you out of those clothes, shall we?” Liam suggested. “I must admit, I’m quite looking forward to getting a proper look at you.”
“You’ve seen me naked before.”
“You’ve changed within my view, but I’m a gentleman. I didn’t look.”
“No, I suppose I didn’t take the opportunity to get a proper look at you when I could have, either. I’ve seen you shirtless, but not…” Cailan dug his teeth into his lip and glanced away. “Well, I didn’t look.”
“Well, I suspect there will be more to look at now, anyway,” Liam said as he undid the sash on Cailan’s robe.
It took Cailan a moment to get his meaning, but when he did, he dropped his head, his face flushing, but a smile tugged at his lips. Liam was rarely crude, at least not in front of Cailan. He supposed he really didn’t know what Liam was like with those he was intimately involved with.
Liam helped Cailan pull his robe off over his head, leaving him in only his underwear, then removed his own shirt far more swiftly. He’d filled out over these last few years, lost the softness of youth and replaced it with muscle. Cailan trailed his fingers down the centre of Liam’s chest, not quite sure what was expected of him.
He wasn’t sure what the expectations were in many ways. He had learnt about sex from books and theoretical instruction from his teachers when he had been thirteen with the expectation that he would put those lessons to use within months, as soon as he had a master. By this point, that knowledge had faded.
Was he supposed to be aroused by this point? He was, and he wasn’t sure he could change that, but perhaps it was undignified to be this eager. Was he supposed to initiate touch of his own, or should he let Liam be entirely in control of things?
The one thing he did remember was that all the things they were taught were merely a starting point. If their master wanted something counter to what they had been trained to do, their preferences took priority. But… he didn’t know what Liam wanted. He knew him as he knew his own self in many ways, but this was fresh territory.
“You’re nervous,” Liam observed as he hooked his thumb under the band of Cailan’s underwear and dragged it across his stomach.
“A little,” Cailan admitted.
“Are you afraid this will hurt or be unpleasant in some way, or are you worried about your performance?”
“The latter, of course.” Cailan offered him a raw, honest smile. He was getting too deep in his own head and he knew it. “I trust you unconditionally, but I don’t know what I’m doing and I feel like I ought to. I am a Companion, after all.”
Liam shook his head. “You were thirteen when you were given to me, and that was considered normal. I was expected to take your virginity immediately. No thirteen year old virgin, no matter how thorough his instruction, is a master of sex. It’s conceptually absurd. Whatever expectations they set for you, I recommend forgetting them.”
Cailan wanted to ask what Liam expected of him, but if he were honest with himself, he already knew. All Liam cared about was making this good for Cailan. Maybe in the future, when this was no longer a new experience for Cailan, that would change. But not today.
Cailan reached a tentative hand out towards Liam’s belt, flicking questioning eyes up at him. Liam nodded his permission, and Cailan carefully undid the buckle and slid the belt open, then started on the buttons on Liam’s pants.
Liam’s arousal was noticeable by this point, which was encouraging. Cailan’s deepest fear had been that he would fail to stir any interest in Liam. Despite Liam’s reassurance, he couldn’t help but worry he was lacking in some way. He was pretty, even beautiful, and he knew that, but if that wasn’t the kind of man Liam found attractive…
But Liam had assured him that wasn’t the case, and Liam’s body was reaffirming that. Cailan needed to stop worrying.
Liam helped get his pants the rest of the way off, and his underwear with them, and then there was his cock, standing tall. Living in a military camp in a shared tent meant Cailan had seen plenty of men naked before, but he had never seen another man hard. Cailan dropped to his knees.
Cailan took hold of the base of Liam’s cock and wrapped his mouth around its head, gently exploring its shape with his mouth. He had never done this before, of course, and hardly remembered his instruction on the matter. Keep your teeth out of the way. He remembered that part.
Liam was already struggling to keep his breathing slow and even. His fingers combed into Cailan’s hair and stayed there, the way his fingertips pressed against Cailan’s scalp revealing the tension in his body. Despite Cailan’s inexperience, the effect this was having on Liam was undeniable.
Cailan could feel his own cock throbbing with arousal against the confines of his underwear as he ran his tongue over the head of Liam’s cock, sampling its salty taste, but he ignored it. He tried to take Liam deeper into his mouth, and then abruptly pulled back, gagging, destroying any illusion that he knew what he was doing.
“Sorry,” he said as Liam crouched down to rub at his back.
Liam let out a quiet huff of laughter and shook his head. “You took me by surprise. I was expecting a shy virgin.”
“Would you prefer I be less… forward?”
“What do you think the answer to that question is?”
Cailan dropped his head and took a moment to clear his head. “I think… you want me to be me.”
“Mmhm.”
“I’m not sure what me is.”
“I know, love.”
“You seemed to like what I was doing, even if I wasn’t very good at it. I liked that you liked it, though I’m sure you’ve had better.”
“Just seeing you drop to your knees and reach for my cock was almost too much for my self control. No amount of skill can rival what the way I feel for you does to me.”
“Oh.”
Liam smiled. “Now, why don’t we get the rest of your clothes off? That bath is almost done running.”
Cailan returned the smile, nodded, and they both stood.
Liam’s warm hand pressed down against Cailan’s cock through his underwear, giving it a single firm, slow stroke upwards. He then placed his hands on Cailan’s hips and slid them downward, dragging his underwear with them.
“You’re beautiful,” Liam murmured before any insecurities had a chance to start stirring in Cailan’s mind, his hand reaching out and encircling Cailan’s cock.
Cailan stepped in closer and rested his forehead against Liam’s shoulder, fighting the urge to squirm and only halfway succeeding. Did everyone feel like they could barely contain themselves from the first touch of another, or was Cailan just particularly sensitive because he never touched himself?
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