Yakusoku.

Chapter 5

It wasn’t tears that really came, but the relief of confiding in his best friend’s arms. When Chester’s parents died, Cless was there. When the world hurt him, Cless was there. When his heart broke, Cless was there.

“How did it…start?” Cless asked softly, releasing him from his grasp.

Reaching over by the lakeshore to brandish his bow and quiver Chester stopped. “With the…girl?” he questioned.

Cless nodded.

“Like this.” Placing his hunting gear to the side, Chester leaned over the water, gazing at his reflection. “Went out to hunt. Saw some birds scatter behind the church. Thought maybe a boar scared them. So I went to look and …”

“Jen and Pennington were…” Cless continued, kneeling beside him.

“…There.” Chester’s voice came a breadth above the birds singing and fish splashing. Eyes half shut, his vision wandered rapidly, betraying an inner tension. “Maybe he caught me…watching, got mad, starting talking. Didn’t want him to think I was…”

Gay. So you met the girl and did it, Cless reflected silently. Shifting behind Chester, Cless embraced him tightly. “It’s alright,” he murmured gently.

Pulled back, Chester sunk deep into Cless’s thighs. “But…”

“Enough.” Trying to silence him, Cless felt Chester fall further back.

His head tilted up against Cless’s shoulder. Inclining forward, Cless’s cheek brushed the Chester’s. At the touch of Chester’s skin, smooth as porcelain, soft as velvet, a shiver shot up his spine.

His senses now afire, Cless could hardly think. All you wanted was acceptance. All you got was hurt. But it’s okay now. You’re here, safe with me, Chester.

“Cless…” Lids half closed, dreams drifted in Chester’s eyes.

“It’s okay,” Cless whispered fervently. Leaning over Chester, his face loomed a hair’s breadth above his.

The out breath Cless exhaled, Chester inhaled, breathing in fully. Cless’s life force in that breath filled Chester’s lungs, permeating his blood carried to every cell of his being. Pain from heartache lifted, dissolved by the life force within, Cless’s deepest love.

“No one else will hurt you,” Cless said firmly, his conviction mirrored in emotion Chester’s pools reflected back.

Trust him…that inner voice uttered in Chester’s conscious, the same one that spoke to him on the road outside Totus. But I’ve been burned…

“Chester, I promise.” The strength of Cless’s words was absorbed in Chester’s heart.

All right, Cless, I’ll try. He hesitated. I mean, I will.

Swallowing all doubt, he titled his chin up feeling his lips consume Cless’s. Melting into Chester, Cless’s arms slid under. Encircled tightly, Chester squeezed back, his hands tangled in Cless’s honey colored hair. Thick clumps gathered between his fingers, as he yanked off Cless’s bandana.

Surprised, Cless grinned lunging down.

Grinning back, Chester pushed hard. Coiled like a spring his arms hurled up. In a flash Cless flew off. Like a predator on pray Chester pinned him below. “Got ya.” Mischief played in his voice.

“Think so?” Ensnared beneath, Cless lay boldly, arms above his head, chin thrown back to expose his pale neck.

The sight made Chester’s most intimate self ache where his thighs straddled Cless’s. A low rumble reverberated in the back of his throat, guttural as he spoke, “Cless, I can’t take it.”

“Me too,” Cless uttered, his breath raspy, heavy like Chester’s for he felt is own ache throbbing under his friend’s. His hands stretched out, Cless tenderly brushed Chester’s flushed cheeks.

Bending over, Chester trailed sweet kisses along Cless’s jaw line from ear to ear, nibbling on each lobe. Cless gasped at the sensation of teeth and lips grazing, grabbing Chester’s hair. His fingers sank far into fine blue strands. Weaving deeper, a few tuffs tumbled free, then entire locks cascading over his shoulders. The white scarf tying back hair came undone in the wind. Twisting around, it lifted his hair to the sky.

Sky and hair blending from Cless’s visage below, Chester form seemed to merge with it above. Transformed into a spirit of the sky, Chester lost Cless in a dream. Enchanted and ardent at once, Cless reached up, face buried in Chester’s neck. Wanting to feel his skin on Cless’s, Chester tugged hard on his shirt collar.

Draping below his neck, Cless glimpsed of his friend’s bare chest. Catching Cless’s reaction, Chester clasped his wrists. Cless blinked, watching as Chester tugged each glove off his hands, then his own. To his surprise, Chester’s bare hands guided Cless’s to his waist. Their naked tips slid under the Chester’s belt and up. Roaming free his touch absorbed the silky texture of skin and tautness of firm muscle.

He’s gotten so strong, Cless gasped, admiring Chester’s body, just as his own reacted in time, his desire firming even more.

“I’ll help you,” Chester whispered breathlessly, his face aglow with ardor.

His breathing rapid, heart pounding, Chester ripped off his tunic strewn aside. Positioned above his elbows, his wrists pushed up, lifting off his undershirt inch by tantalizing inch.

Oh god, Cless swore, feeling his arousal’s full intensity. He’s gorgeous…

Without a logical thought, his sight burned a path up Chester’s stomach and pectorals, followed by his fingers, their brush so light Chester’s body tingled. Bent over Cless, he slipped off the upper half of his bodysuit above his head in one swift motion. Cless gasped, back arched slightly from Chester baring down. Chester kissed him slowly, deeply, the flesh of his lips melding into Cless with each kiss he gave.

The lovemaking I always wanted, not got, I give you… Chester thought, letting his teeth graze along each nub, then kissing, feeling them go firm.

Maybe it is friendship? He mused, his kisses dancing down Cless’s stomach.

Or brotherhood? Running a hand below, he cupped Cless’s intimate desire. Or love?

Please Chester, don’t look at me, not there… In the throes of passion, Cless hated this sudden discomfort. Feeling vulnerable, he shut his eyes, wanting to cry. It shouldn’t be… like this.

Instead, a strong arm suddenly swept under, lifting him off his back. He found himself on Chester’s lap, his face nuzzled to his warm muscular chest. Crooning his head over Cless, their eyes locked instantly into each other’s very souls. Aware of Chester’s free hand maneuvering down, Cless’s focus remained within his friend’s captive gaze. The tingle of the touch on Cless’s stomach seemed to pass, then returned in a wave flowing below.

Lids falling half closed, Chester’s eyes softened a gentle blue melting any fear. He felt a protective hand, its grasp warm and strong around the pulse of his flesh not from his heart, but most intimate physical self.

“Chester…” Cless averted his visage.

“Cless, look at me,” Chester said softly.

Just as Cless did that calmness washed over. Lowering his supportive arm, Chester lay him back down. Taking Cless’s hand, he guided it above his own impending desire. Eyes almost closed, he quietly removed any last restraints, pants down to their knees. Embracing the other’s intimacy, they showed how they felt through touch.

With each wave sweeping through, Cless sank further within, in both pleasure and emotion. Thoughts expressed in dreams suddenly came to mind. He didn’t know why, only that their closeness brought it out. “Chester…”

He heard Chester’s breath rise and fall from its core. “Yea?”

“Do you…” Hesitation, as pressure mounted within. “…Love me?”

A pause came. Waves brought them closer, cascading toward each other. As the final swell rolled over, its crest rising higher and higher, their eyes met in eternity. Cless’s stormy pools, the soft gray of a distant ocean, melded into Chester’s, the clear cloudless sky. As the sky and ocean collapsed, in the primeval merging of their oneness, Chester whispered, “Yes, Cless, I love you,” in his ear.

TBC