“I was thinking that I want to taste you, but then I thought of what that would make me, according to people at home.”
Theos rolled onto his side, easing Finnvid onto his back, and propped his head on one elbow while his hand moved to Finnvid’s waistband. “Don’t think about them,” Theos suggested. He leaned down and kissed Finnvid, deep and powerful and sweet. “Think about me.”
And that was what Finnvid did. When Theos teased his fingers beneath Finnvid’s waistband and looked a question at him, Finnvid nodded, then pulled away to squirm out of his loose trousers. They’d often been naked together. He’d seen Theos hard more times than he could count, and while less frequently, Theos had seen Finnvid in the same state. This was nothing new.
But as he turned back to Theos and surrendered into a kiss, he knew everything was new. Everything was changing. And hewantedit that way.
He let himself get lost in the sensations. Theos’s soft lips, his strong tongue, the rough skin of his hand as he wrapped it around Finnvid’s aching cock. The smell of their arousal, the warmth of their bodies, the sounds of their breathing and their murmured words. When Finnvid gathered enough courage to reach for Theos again, they set a matching rhythm, slow and gentle until the end. Then their bodies arched and thrust in shared ecstasy, and afterward they relaxed together, still touching and kissing. Theos rolled over onto his back, his strong arms bringing Finnvid along until he was sprawled on top of the larger man’s warm body.
“Did I mention that I’m feeling better today?” Theos asked between kisses. “Still not perfect, maybe, but definitely better.”
“No,” Finnvid disagreed. “I think you’re very sick. Very weak. You need to stay here longer. Maybe forever. With me.”
Theos’s smile was a little sad. “You’ll get tired of eating so much butter.”
“I’m already tired of butter. But I’m not tired ofyou.”
“Not yet, maybe. But give it time.” Theos didn’t seem upset by the idea, and Finnvid was reminded again that this encounter was only special forhim. For Theos, it was just an enjoyable way to spend his time while stuck in a snow den. Certainly a better distraction than actuallytalkingto an ornery Elkati.
Yet, no sooner had Finnvid thought that than Theos said, “It’s just you in your family? Your mother only had two children?” He frowned, then said, “Yourfatheronly had two children? And he was theking?”
“I suppose he may have had others,” Finnvid admitted. “He and my mother weren’t a love match, they were just good partners. There may have been children elsewhere.”
“May have been? You don’t know?”
“Well, no. It’s not the sort of thing he’d have bragged about. They’re . . .” Finnvid searched for the Torian word. “What do you call . . . well . . . I guessallof your children are born out of marriage. They’reallillegitimate, technically. So maybe you don’t have a special word for them?”
“For children whose parents aren’t mated for life? You have a word for that?”
“It’s an insult.” Finnvid frowned. He shifted a little, so less of his weight was on Theos’s body. “Ridiculous, really, but . . . it’s an insult. I might have half brothers or sisters out there, and they’re considered less than . . . not just less thanme, but less than most people, just because their parents weren’t married.”
Theos was quiet for a while. Then he laced his fingers through Finnvid’s and said, “The world is strange.”
That was a bit more philosophical than Finnvid had been expecting, but it set his brain in motion. He leaned up so he could see Theos’s face clearly and said, “Okay, say there’s a perfect world. Say . . . say we found a whole new valley, one that’s normally cut off by glaciers. But there’s a really warm few years and the glaciers melt so we can move in. It’s beautiful, with forests and fields and lots of water and game. And we get to choose people to go live there, and we can set it up however we want. And it’s going to refreeze after we get there, so we don’t have to worry about being attacked or defending ourselves. What would it be like?”
Theos was quiet for long enough that Finnvid began to feel stupid. The Sacrati was a man of action. He didn’t play stupid make-believe games, didn’t spend his time watching trees or bugs or dreaming of perfect worlds.
But when Theos finally spoke, Finnvid realized that the man hadn’t been scoffing; he’d been thinking. “It’s cut offfor sure? No chance of the glacier melting again?”
“No chance,” Finnvid said quickly. “There’s a rockslide, as well.”
“I probably shouldn’t go, then.” Theos didn’t sound sad, exactly. Just resigned. “You don’t need soldiers, and that’s all I can do.”
“No. It’s all you’ve learned to do so far, but it’s not all youcando! You can learn something else. You can . . . raise goats.”
“Goats?”
“Somebody has to.”
“The women will.”
“And the men will just sit around and do nothing? No, the women don’t like the sound ofthat. They say you need to learn a trade.”
“I think they should mind their manners. If they want my valuable services . . .” and Theos grabbed himself to demonstrate just what service he was talking about, “they need to spoil me. They shouldbring megoats. I think . . . two goats for a really good night. Five goats guarantees a baby.”
“Thisis your perfect world?” Finnvid was torn between being amused and appalled.
“No.” Theos paused. “In my perfect world, they’d bring me chickens, and cattle. Oh, andpigs. I don’t like goat much. And I guess if it’s really perfect, they wouldn’t bring me the animals, they’d bring me food, already cooked.”
