Reading Material

Enjoy!

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Light flickered erratically from an oil lamp in the corner of the dimly lit room, casting flickering shadows over the furniture that was arranged strategically about the living space.

Shades of blue, ranging from pale duck-egg to the deepest sapphire swathed the walls in moving streams, the fire light giving the swathes of material the impression they were being blown by a non-existent wind. Cushioned cream chairs, set around a hearth in which a fire was flickering lowly, appeared pale orange, contrasting to the walls with their rich, silken decorations.

Had the room’s single occupant looked up, the entire image of the room would have made him feel quite seasick.

However, engrossed as he was in the book he was reading, it seems it would prove not to be a problem. Or rather it was…the content of the book was probably far more sickening than any illusionary image flickering firelight could create.

The figure shifted slightly in his armchair, frowning as he straightened up to lean forward and stoke the fire and remove his long grey-blue cape. He dropped it to the floor, as if trying to swathe it as much as the walls were. Settling back into his chair, he pulled a strand of deep-metallic blue hair behind his slightly pointed ear irritably. Green eyes widened a fraction as he read the text in front of him and he lifted a slender white finger to coral lips to run along his lower lip.

Boots, gauntlets and an obscenely large ‘Swallow’ – this particular individual’s weapon of choice – lay scattered on the floor about his feet. He seemed intent on increasing the pile when he unlatched his armour, pulling it off without ever letting his eyes leave the line of text it was currently scanning.

The figure shifted again a moment later, crossing his legs leisurely as he turned the page over to continue reading.

So absorbed in his reading was he that he didn’t notice the heavy mahogany door opening slowly, much less the light that spilled across his page, highlighting the small black print. The figure behind the door slid inside the twilit room, glancing back into the corridor to check for anyone watching him as he entered. Apparently convinced there was no-one he shut the door behind him noiselessly, toe-ing white boots off on the plush carpet, leaving them beside the door. With the task complete, he looked up to the person he was looking for and, noticing he was absorbed in reading, crept forwards, smirking.

Loitering behind the other man now, he leant over slightly, getting a closer look at the text, brushing a dark auburn fringe out of garnet eyes. They narrowed a fraction as he read the words on the page, widening when their meaning became clear to him and he straightened, staring at the back of the other man’s head incredulously at his choice of reading material. Pursing his lips, he leant back down letting his arms rest lightly on the back of the chair, making sure not to touch the other or put enough pressure on it for him to notice.

He waited silently for a moment, until the blue-haired man shifted and turned the page, waiting for him to settle down and begin reading again. When he did so, the new arrival licked his lips slowly and leaned in silently to the other’s ear, dropping his voice to a sultry, husky whisper as he began to recite:

‘She gasped as she fell against his rippled, muscular chest, into the hard cushions of his well defined pectorals. His strong manly arms, as thick around as her entire waist crushed her against his fabulous body in a powerfully passionate embrace as he slipped one hand beneath the open collar of her dress to her heaving…’

“Kratos!”

The man in the chair spun as the silken words poured into his ears and he craned his head to look up at the male standing over him, an amused smirk playing across chiselled features. He himself was almost flushing with the embarrassment of being caught of guard. Almost. But 4000 years did wonders for learning how to control yourself.

“So this is the kind of thing you read nowadays, Yuan? Badly written pornographic women’s novels?”

Yuan glared and attempted to snap the book shut, when Kratos fingers slid between the pages, stopping him, wincing slightly as the pages slapped them.

“It was only out of casual interest. I can’t believe women actually read this rubbish.”

“It’s only a fantasy for them,” Kratos shrugged “Men look at pornographic images, women read them.”

“Do they have no better alternative?”

“Have you seen some of the dregs of specimens some women have to marry? Besides there’s no harm in it.”

“Except when they meet men like the characters in these books. Men like you.”

“Maybe so but I, at least, wouldn’t do such a thing. Tethe’alla’s chosen on the other hand…”

“Ah yes, ever lending his ‘services’ to the women who marry the dregs of the gene pool.”

“So very generous of him.” Kratos sniped, pulling the book from Yuan’s hands and flicking it open, lifting an eyebrow at the passages below what he had just read out.

“Where….did you get this?”

“It was in Yggdrasill’s library.”

“You really want to joke about that here?”

“Who says I’m joking?”

The taller man snorted, straightening up and letting his eyes wander back down to the book.

“They seem to have the right idea at least…”

“Hmm? Is that what you came here for?” Yuan asked, lifting an eyebrow as he looked up to the other man.

“Well…” Kratos leant down onto the back of the chair again, the leather-bound book hitting the floor. “It has been a while…” his breath blew softly against Yuan’s face and the half-elf shifted forwards.

“Is that all I am to you?”

“You should know the answer to that by now, Yuan.”

Calloused, slender fingers reached forwards to skim an alabaster cheek. Emerald eyes fluttered shut in response and the seated man gave a gentle sigh at the confident touch.

“I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to…but it has been a while since we’ve shared any sort of …” he searched for the right word “…affection and that’s all I want to give to you.”

Green eyes flicked open.

“Does that work on women?”

“Probably…”

“Well then as I’ve been a woman by reading this already,” he gestured to the book on the floor “I guess I better conform to the rest of the role hadn’t I?”

A low, rarely heard chuckle, rumbled from Kratos throat as he leant forwards and captured the other man’s lips for the briefest of moments.

“You know you’ve just signed yourself into your role in tonight’s activities?”

The half-elf looked confused for a moment, before he understood what Kratos meant and he grinned wickedly. “It’ll make a change from normal.”

A gloved hand swatted at his head playfully before sliding through satiny, blue locks to tangle in the strands, pulling the other man forwards into a kiss.

Lips pressed firmly as Yuan straightened himself, shuffling forwards in his chair to press himself against Kratos, feeling the chair between them block access to the other man’s lower body. If he hadn’t been preoccupied with the feeling of Kratos’ slick tongue requesting permission to enter his mouth, he’d have pulled away to complain.

His own hands had found their way onto Kratos’ body now, one clutching at a white clad forearm, the other sliding into a wide collar to grip softly at his neck, tangling in the coarse auburn strands at the base of his skull.

Yuan lost track of time as their tongues danced, swiping across each other to explore each other’s mouths once more, twisting together in the wet heat. The half-elf’s fingers left the white sleeve, stroking across his jaw instead, following the clean lines up to his ear before trailing down again. Beneath calloused fingertips he could feel the muscles of the man’s face relax, age no doubt melting from his features as he lost himself in the increasingly heated kiss.

Eventually, he felt Kratos pull away from his mouth, gasping for breath slightly after the long kiss and then a second later his lips were falling against the tip of Yuan’s ever-so-slightly pointed ear, tongue flicking out to trace the outermost curve. Wet lips trailed down soft flesh, following onto the hard lines of Yuan’s jaw, before slipping down onto his neck.cSinew flexed beneath smooth skin in response to Kratos’ attentions as Yuan tipped his head back, allowing better access to the subtle curves of his neck. Those lips continued to ghost down his neck, pressing more heavily, caressing more passionately as they went, until they met the white collar of Yuan’s shirt.

Kratos’ hands were at it immediately, pulling on white laces to loosen and open the collar so that he could continue trailing kisses down to his collarbone.

Yuan grinned a little as Kratos met cloth again a moment later, his hands sliding under the hem of his shirt to run his hands up a wonderfully taut abdomen. The plains and dips of rippled abdomen slid beneath gloved palms as the older seraph hitched the shirt up pulling it over his lover’s head to reveal the beautifully pale body below.

Licking his lips at his handiwork, Kratos pulled back for a moment, removing his gloves with his teeth as Yuan looked on and laughed softly at the display until Kratos returned to caressing him.

He found his own hands reaching for the hooks that slotted into the metal plate at Kratos’ collarbone, beginning to undo the complicated outfit. He would’ve wondered, not for the first time, exactly what the man thought he was doing, wearing such an awkward outfit when he was planning to seduce someone…but on the other hand, the thought of that body, bound tightly in leather was too much to resist. He moaned deeply in the back of his throat as Kratos’ finger ran down the central aisle of his stomach to circle his navel.

His hands trembled as they ran to each of the tacks that held strips of leather together, undoing them from his torso before travelling to his upper arms and then skimming down to his thighs. With each joining point undone he returned his hands to the other man’s torso, sliding them beneath the leather strapping and purple material to slide it from his shoulders.

Kratos slid his arms out of his sleeves as Yuan pulled the top layer of his outfit away, returning to lacing them through long blue hair, letting one glide down to the barrette to loosen it. He practically purred with contentment as he saw Yuan’s hair fall free, reach down to his waist like a frozen pane of the ocean…so sleek, so smooth, so blue.

Slim fingers ran beneath the hem of his navy blue turtleneck that he wore beneath the complicated outfit and he let out a breath as Yuan bent to the level of skin that he was gradually uncovering, grazing it first with lips, then with teeth, giving his body firm nips as he travelled higher up. He stopped at the prominent lines of collarbones, letting Kratos free his arms from his sleeves again and guiding the skin-tight material over his head, messing that already stylishly unkempt look the seraph tried so…little to achieve.

With both men bare to the waist they straightened for a moment to kiss again, lips locking as hot, flushing skin of chest and abdomen met and rubbed together.

Kratos could feel the sweat gathering on his skin as his temperature soared to a searing level, he felt it slide free in droplets as Yuan pulled away from his mouth and trailed his own back down his body again. His hands slid round to his back, down onto his buttocks, gripping firmly as he arched his back to lick at the other man’s navel.

He watched the muscles in the lithe back shift and ripple as he bent, shoulder blades and spine becoming prominent as that cascade of hair was swept to the side by his own calloused hands. They returned to the flesh a moment later, seemingly of their own desire and he ran his hands heavily down Yuan’s back, feeling those muscles shift, the flesh grow hot as sweat tried to cool it. Peaks and furrows of bone, muscle and sinew glided beneath his palms, flawless to his touch save for the faint white line of a scar the half-elf had gained millennia ago.

Yuan’s tongue was pressing lower now, running down the path the sharp lines his groin muscles created, stopping when he reached the dark blue barrier of Kratos’ pants. Pulling away, Yuan ran a hand down over rough fabric of his trousers, scraping fingertips against the prominent swelling.

It was only then that Kratos noticed just how hard he’d grown under his lover’s treatment, lost in the sensations of his lips as he had been and the beauty of his bare body as it had been exposed to him.

Emerald eyes stared up at him, taking in his reactions, amusement flickering through serene, yet passionate depths and just the heat of his unwavering gaze made the fractionally older man cup his partner’s jaw and draw him up to face him. Lips met again, gently this time as Kratos backed away, wrapping arms about his partner’s waist, lifting him over the back of the chair.

Long legs wrapped about his own waist as soon as the azure-haired seraph was free of the chair and he grinned, nuzzling into the pale neck as hands grasped his shoulders.

He took a step back, intending to make for the bed when his bare foot landed on the long since forgotten about book, and it shot from under his foot at the pressure. He pitched backwards, Yuan still wrapped about him and landed heavily on the carpeted floor.

He looked up to see Yuan giving him a playfully pitying gaze, an amused smirk written across his lips as he let his hands rest on Kratos’ bare chest.

“Way to kill the mood.”

Running, a tongue across the bottom edge of his teeth, Kratos straightened as Yuan leaned backwards until he was almost bent in half, thrusting his groin out towards him, arched abdomen muscles straining beneath skin as he reached for something. Unable to resist the temptation of taking advantage of such a vulnerable position, Kratos licked the tip of his index finger and placed it just beneath the other man’s sternum, tracing a long, cold, wet trail down the centre of his stomach again.

Yuan jerked, straightening at the touch, glaring at his lover whom gazed back calmly and reached up to his own mouth, licking the tip of his finger slowly once again. The half-elf felt his arousal twitch and closed his eyes for a moment, before bringing up the prize he had been straining for earlier.

The book.

He flicked it open to the page he had been reading before and cast his eyes down over it before looking up to Kratos again.

“How about we try out a few ideas that the ladies seem to like?”

The human lifted an eyebrow. “Running low on your own?”

Yuan ground his hips downwards in response, making the other man throw his head back and moan lightly at the sudden friction.

“Just thought it might be interesting to see if these things are actually feasible.”

“It’s between a man and a woman, Yuan.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see if we can’t substitute, hmm?”

Grinning, the half-elf leant forwards, tracing a long path with his tongue along Kratos’ shoulder, up to his ear as Kratos skimmed the pages that Yuan had open.

Placing one hand on the other’s back, he flipped them over, lying on top of the other man, mouth finding the tip of Yuan’s vaguely pointed ear.

“You’re on.” He muttered, before diving for the other man’s chest, taking a peak into his mouth, working lips and tongue around it. One hand toyed casually with the other nipple, whilst the remaining hand circled about the wet patch of skin his mouth was still working on, running his fingers the opposite way to his tongue.

Yuan groaned, sliding his hand down his own chest to meet Kratos’, pulling it away from his nipple and guiding it lower to run over the bulge in his breeches, helping him slide an already loose waistband down his legs, freeing him to the warm air of the room.

Kratos grinned about the nipple he was working on, glancing down to take in Yuan’s state as the smaller man kicked his pants off. He lifted his mouth away.

“Going commando? What’s that for, easy access?”

Glaring, Yuan responded “He didn’t say that in the book.”

“Well, she certainly didn’t have one of these in the book.” He clasped his hand over him, squeezing gently.

“You know…I’m coming to a conclusion.” Yuan gasped as Kratos shifted his mouth lower.

“Oh and what’s that?” he breathed gently over Yuan’s lower body.

“Screw the book.”

Clenching thighs about Kratos’ waist again, he flipped them over, reversing roles, his hand grabbing at the other man’s biceps to keep him pinned down.

Kratos shifted, pressing his still clothed hips up against Yuan, watching as the man’s head tilted back, eyes closing a moment before he leant down to mirror the ministrations Kratos had performed on him earlier, his hand sliding down to the clasp on navy blue trousers, sliding them free of his legs. Seconds later his hands strayed back up to the thin black underwear the other seraph wore, fingers playing over the waist band before hooking inside, dragging the clinging material down slowly.

His mouth followed, tongue flickering out over increasingly sensitive skin, stopping just short of the area the other man wanted him to work on most and he grinned wickedly as he frowned and groaned in frustration.

“Now, now, Kratos…I thought you were patient?”

The hips beneath him strained up and Yuan lifted his head away from the motion, a deceptively serene smile playing over his lips.

“Not when…it’s,” Kratos licked his lips, breath coming out in heavy pants now “been so long.” He finished, letting his hips drop back to the floor. He stared up at Yuan, his expression somewhat resigned, but needful. It was an expression Yuan was not unfamiliar with and he loved driving the usually stoic man to this point. The point where he let every defence fall, cast all doubts and self-loathing aside and let someone see him for himself. Not the mercenary. Not the seraphim. Not the traitor. Not the angsting father who had lost his lover and child so long ago.

These were only fragments of the man sprawled beneath him. No-one could see Kratos for what he truly was without having experienced most of his life alongside him, and if there was one person in the world who had done that, it was Yuan.

Even Mithos, having known Kratos from a young age, didn’t know him as well as he thought. He saw Kratos a teacher, friend and nowadays, just a subordinate. As such, he had never really seen Kratos with his defences fully down, the older man always too aware of what impact it might have on the other if he saw that.

Yuan shook his head subtly as Kratos’ hands crawled onto his thighs, stroking sensually. There was a time and a place for analysis of your companions and this wasn’t it.

“You ok?”

The half-elf looked down, smiling gently. “Fine, just…thinking.”

A knowing smile crossed the older man’s lips as his partner leant down to kiss them, fingers trailing over jaw line, travelling up to those gently curved lips as his own pulled away, caressing gently, requesting access.

They parted slowly, fingertips pushing into the wet warmth gradually, being stroked by a slick tongue as they enter, coating the slender digits in saliva, sucking on them gently.

Yuan sighed comfortably, feeling that sinuous tongue twisting about his fingers, remembering what it felt like on a more sensitive part of his body. He gasped a little as teeth grazed over his knuckles opening his eyes as a garnet gaze bored into him and he gently pulled back on his head, freeing them from Kratos’ mouth, replacing them with his tongue.

Wet fingers slid downwards, ghosting along an increasingly sensitive body and Yuan traced over the curves and dips of his stomach, sliding lower until her reached his target.

Kratos squirmed, gasping into Yuan’s mouth a little as he felt fingers pressing against him, threatening to push beyond the threshold. He lifted his hips, pushing against them slightly, lifting Yuan who was still straddling him as he did, hoping to push those slender digits inside him.

Yuan rolled his eyes, forcing his fingers against his lover’s body, feeling two digits sink into the gripping warmth after only a little resistance. Kratos arched immediately as Yuan began to scissor his fingers, only doing enough to prevent damage to the older man’s body before he pulled them free.

“Yuan? What are you…?”

He trailed off when Yuan pushed into him, head tipping back and eyes widening as he felt himself adjust to the other man’s presence. A heavy pant escaped from his lips at the intrusion and Yuan shifted and leant over him again, nipping at the side of his mouth.

Kratos turned his head to meet the lips as Yuan pulled back, before pressing into him more firmly, slowly building the strength and depth of his strokes as their tongues met and entwined once again.

Groans and grunts echoed around the room as hands grasped at sodden hair or sweat soaked flesh. Lips clashed and held. Legs entwined as bodies ground against one another until both men found the sensations overcome them.

The red-head gasped as he reached his climax, eyes widening, mouth opened in a silent scream as Yuan pounded into him one final time before collapsing atop him, limp and spent.

They lay in a comfortable silence for some time, hands seeking each other out, whilst Kratos’ free hand skimmed through Yuan’s azure locks.

Eventually, Yuan lifted his head from the comfortable plain of Kratos’ chest.

“We need to move. A bed would be preferable.”

Shaking his head, Kratos straightened as Yuan slid off him, yet as the older seraph pulled himself to his feet, the other remained on the floor.

“I thought you wanted to move to the bed.”

“Perhaps I should clarify,” Yuan murmured into the carpet “I want you to move me to the bed.”

Chuckling slightly, he scooped the half-elf into his arms noting that he grabbed the book from the floor. He carried him over to the bed wordlessly, laying him down beneath the covers before crawling in behind him purring contentedly as he pressed his chest to a moist back.

He stopped after a moment. “What’s the book for?”

Yuan turned and grinned. “Oh, just some light reading material.”

Reaching over to the lamp atop the bedside table, Kratos flicked it off, plunging the room into darkness.
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Hope you liked it, let me know what you think, please.