"Yeah, right there, honey. Right there."
Pleased, Lian worked at loosening Nevair until his lover shouted for Lian to get on with it.
"Sorry for being considerate," Lian teased.
"Good, now fuck me," Nevair demanded.
Lian scolded his lover. "Such language; for shame."
Nevair whined. "Please."
Unable to resist a bit of begging, Lian slid inside. After pressing through the ring of tight muscles, Lian sighed. "You feel amazing."
"Oh, do that again," Nevair said, his voice filled with wonder.
"Found the spot?" Lian asked.
"Yes, right there." Nevair sighed, relaxing around him.
Balancing his weight on his left hand, Lian wrapped his right around Nevair's shaft. He spread his thighs so he wouldn't tumble on his face or fall on Nevair. Good thing practice made for perfect. Their lovemaking, hard, fast, and full of desperation, broke Lian's heart. He knew he couldn't leave Nevair, but he worried he'd end up doing so anyway. Pressing kisses between Nevair's shoulder blades he tried to imprint his love into Nevair's skin, to somehow let Nevair absorb Lian's devotion. He wanted to give Nevair one final, happy memory for tomorrow after he died.
* * * *
The morning came bright, cheery, and much too soon. Nevair whimpered when Lian tried to move out of his arms. Before he could say anything, the door swung open and the guards from yesterday returned.
"I'm sorry to say it's time," the guard on the right said.
"Just give us a minute to say goodbye. I'll be out in a moment."
Both nodded and closed the door quietly behind them.
"I don't want you to go," Nevair whispered. "I tried to get the council to intervene but they refused and questioned my faith."
Lian brushed Nevair's hair back from his face. The council was obviously run by bastards who didn't deserve the Pontifex.
"Listen." Lian waited until Nevair opened his eyes and faced him. "I don't want you to come. I don't want your last sight of me to be all burned up. Promise me you'll stay here."
"No!" Nevair sat up. "If you're going to do this, the least I can do is go with you."
"I don't want that in your memory. Please stay." Tears threatened to spill over. Lian's hands shook as he gripped Nevair's arms. "Please."
Nevair kissed him hard on the lips. "I would give you anything except for that."
Lian sobbed against Nevair's shoulder. It took him an embarrassingly long time to stop his tears. Nevair rubbed his back while he cried.
"Sorry," Lian sniffled. "I guess I ruined the stoic hero thing I was going for."
Nevair kissed Lian's cheek. "You'll always be a hero to me."
"That's so sappy," Lian said, grinning. He hadn't thought anything could make him smile. He should've known his mate could. Lian slid out of bed. "Come help me be pretty." If he were going to go out in a fiery ball, he'd damn well look good.
Nevair mustered a smile, a half-hearted one, but he tried.
He pulled out Lian's favorite shirt and pants from the bag. "I chose these. I thought the shirt would look good with your eyes."
Strange that Nevair would pick the clothes he expected Lian to run away in. It had an odd sort of finality involved as if, even leaving, Nevair wanted Lian to look his best.
Lian took the clothes without a word and dressed quickly. Any other day he would've showered first but he wanted to smell like Nevair, to know his skin still held traces of his lover's DNA.
