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Distraction (Courfeyrac): May, 1832
One of the advantages of sleeping with women is that, when you tell them they're beautiful, they usually listen to you. When I try to say it to Audric, he snorts and swats at my arm, telling me to invest in spectacles. "You are," I protest. "Quite intolerably handsome. Hasn't anyone ever told you?" Audric laughs. "Yes. You. Repeatedly." We're sitting on the edge of my bed in the warm lamplight, making our leisurely way toward nudity. "Well, there you are. I can't lie to you." Nor would, nor ever need to. Face of a thoughtful cherub, upturned for a kiss; soft brown hair like a halo, his eyes bright with amusement. Beyond handsome; adorable. "Which is why I doubt your eyesight, mon Aimé." "Nonsense. Ask Julien, he'll agree with me." That was the wrong tack to take. His face clouds over. "If I could talk to Julien--" "You wouldn't be here. I know." I kiss him again, to make him smile, but he only sighs, and leans against me when it's done. "I would have more important things to ask him." "Such as?" "Such as why he won't talk to me," Audric says unhappily. "Such as what in God's name he thinks he's doing with this. He frightens me, Aimery. It's exactly like before." In 1830, he means by that; nearly two years ago now. "Only worse, because now I know where he's headed. He looks straight through me, as though he's already got the damned gun in his hand." Now is not the time to mention the box under my bed. "It can't be that bad, chéri. We came out of that all right, didn't we?" He looks at me as though I've kicked him. "Daniel didn't." "Daniel was fine. Doesn't even bother him when it rains." "That's not the point." "I know, I know. But you worry too much, all the same." Succumbing to temptation, I run my fingers through his hair. "Kiss me?" Audric sighs again, and consents, embracing me as though afraid I'll turn to marble in his arms. His mouth tastes faintly sweet; the skin of his throat, faintly salt. My hands cradle his shoulders, silky skin over soft flesh over solid bone. On such nights he makes me hungry; I want to cover him with kisses, devour him. He shivers, under these attentions. "God, Aimé." "Dear one," I murmur against the hollow of his shoulder, "lovely one," and he tangles a hand in my hair by way of protest. "I am not. And you're trying to distract me." Astute observation. "Do you mind very much?" "...no." He smells clean and faintly musty, like earth, like laundered linen. His hands run lightly down my back, familiar territory, relearning the contours of my spine; he chuckles, half a heartbeat before he makes me shiver, anticipating my reactions to the second. There are, admittedly, times when it pays to be predictable. "Don't get smug," I tell him, catching his ear between my teeth. He gasps, and laughs again, breathlessly. "You're terrible." "Yes." Fingernails graze my skin, setting my heart racing. "God-- I know." Poor Audric, he's all too easily distracted. It's what he comes to me for, after all; distraction and comfort, and perhaps to be spoiled a little. Loving Julien, I can well imagine, will take it out of a man, even one so devoted as Audric; and Julien in bed is a driven and demanding creature, unable to give as much as he takes. And God knows Audric deserves all the attention I can lavish on him, body and soul. I cling to him for a minute while a wave of dizzy desire breaks over me; then, as my mind clears, concentrate on kissing him. He sighs against my mouth as the tension leaves his shoulders, and when the kiss breaks, he's smiling. "Ah, chéri. You drive me quite out of my mind when you do that." "Flattery will get you everywhere." I run my hands over his back, savoring the feel of his skin, caressing the hollow at the base of his spine. He shudders, burying his face in my shoulder. An exploratory finger slipped into the waistband of his trousers elicits a faint whimper, and I can't quite suppress a grin. "What's the matter?" "Don't get smug," he retorts, and rakes his nails down my back again, making me gasp. "Just because you're irresistible--" "So are you. Shall I prove it?" "Mmm." "You've still got your pants on," I point out, stroking him through the fabric, purely for the satisfaction of feeling him stiffen under my hand. His breath catches, and he steadies himself against my shoulder. "Lie back, would you?" He takes a deep breath, and complies. Once he's stretched full-length across the rumpled covers, I lean over to unfasten his pants; he lifts his hips slightly to let me relieve him of them, and I am faced again with the miracle of Audric. Clothed, he's charming but faintly stodgy, faintly nondescript. Naked, he is magnificent. I toss them onto the floor to join the promiscuous pile of waistcoats and shirts. The bed shakes slightly as he chuckles. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to pick up after yourself?" "Never." I kiss him again, long and lingering, till we're both breathless. By then he's clinging to me, his body taut against mine. "Ah, now, really, love. I thought you were the patient one." "Up to a point," he says huskily. "Ah. Well, that's all that can be said of anyone, I'm sure." "Mm." His cheeks are pink. He's looking at me with tilted eyebrows, wry, affectionate; he knows full well how I enjoy teasing him to the brink of desperation, and damned if he isn't going to make me work at it. I run a hand down his side, kissing him again, and he slips an arm around my waist to pull me closer. His heart is beating hard; by the time we pause for breath, so is mine. "Now that," I say, "is an excellent start to an evening." Audric laughs. "Oh, good. I'm glad you think so." He runs his fingers slowly through my hair, and it's all I can do to keep from purring. Instead, half-straddling him, I take steps to retaliate. "You're not naked," he points out after a minute or two. "Not entirely." "Ought to remedy that." "Why?" I shift a little, letting cloth brush against sensitive skin; he bites his lip, and I grin at him. "All in good time." "Not fair," he sighs, his hand lingering on the seat of my pants. "You're going to drive me mad." I kiss him again, hard. "You say that, brother mine, as though it isn't mutual." Audric blinks a few times, slowly, like a man regaining consciousness after a swoon. "Do I?" "When I'm all but dying for the taste of you." "Oh--" His eyes catch fire, as I intended; magic words, I want you. He trails a shaky finger upward along my spine. "Is that so?" For answer I duck my head and kiss his throat, run my tongue along his collarbone and begin working my way downward. He laughs, and it turns into a sigh. "Ah, cher--" breaking off abruptly as I tease his nipple with teeth and tongue. He strokes my shoulders lightly, his breathing ragged. I take my time, breathing him in, revelling in the feel of him. So many of my nights are spent with Daniel, who remains rake-thin no matter what I do, that making love to Audric, who tends in the other direction, feels decadently luxurious. The thought of Daniel gives me a momentary pang; I should have given him more warning than this, before leaving him to spend the night alone. But Audric sighs just then, recalling me to the moment. "Aimé," he whispers. "Beloved," I whisper back to him, smiling, before bending to take him in my mouth. Sweet brother. Somewhere in the midst of it, I reach up to clasp his hand, as much for the simple comfort of the touch as to keep him from distracting me. The small urgent sounds he makes are doing enough of that. He arches toward me slightly; and on a perverse impulse I leave off and move up the bed to kiss his protests into silence. I shift a hand, and he groans against my mouth, knotting his fingers in my hair. Too late, I realize I'm still wearing pants, and they've become a decided inconvenience. I start to pull away, but Audric digs his nails into my shoulders and demands another kiss, and abruptly the world goes up in flame. When it comes back, I am lying with my head on his shoulder, rocked by his deep breaths and my own. His skin is soft under my cheek; the air is heavy with spent passion. "You could warn a man," I say. Audric chuckles. "I might say the same." "My poor laundress." "I'm sure she's seen worse." "Ordinarily," I say, running a hand down his side, "I'm a bit more careful than that." I sit up a bit to finish undressing, belatedly and somewhat gingerly. He blushes. "Sorry." "It's entirely your fault." I lean over to kiss him again. "For driving me wild with desire." Audric shakes his head. "I think, my dear, we'll have to share the blame." I settle back against him, into the familiar warmth of his arms. "Fair enough." The spring night, that was all afire so recently, has gone mild and gentle as water. Submerged in sleepy bliss, I drift away.
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