12 Nights Of Christmas: Solstice Magic Page 3

  “Good lad,” the kindly voice murmured. “Do you understand any of what you’ve heard? What you were shown?”

  Aleksi’s eyes filled with tears.

  “No, no. Hush, now. I bargained for a second chance, Aleksi. I cannot guide you, but I can advise you this much: cast aside your fears. So you are not the man that once you were, a proud prince and master of magic. You are still a man, with much knowledge that can still be used. You have a heart, and there is love and faith buried deep inside the ice. Break your shell, and be reborn. Allow yourself to trust once more. Take the step you’ve feared for so long and let go of all you fear. Then, and only then, will you be whole once more.”

  Aleksi felt a light pressure on his forehead, almost like a kiss. “I must be silent now,” the voice said, “but fear not. I am here, and I will not leave you nor forsake you unless you choose in the wrong.”

  “But — but how will I know?”

  He heard a faint chuckle. “Be who you can be, without regret for what you were. Take the lessons that matter and put them to good use,” the voice advised. “Trust your heart and not your head. Believe in love, and disdain fear.”

  “I don’t —”

  “Aleksi, look. Raise your head and look. Your second chance comes singing through the trees, laughter in his heart. Laugh with him, and win the day. Weep, and you will cry alone forever more.”

  It paused. “One more thing, Aleksi. I am the kindly god of love, and the ritual of bodies coming together is my particular tribute. There is no shame in cherishing the one your heart desires. For my help, and for the sake of coming back to life, do as you so long to without fear, and thus honor the Solstice. Such is the path to new, true power.”

  Silence fell, calm and absolute.

  Then he heard it. A voice raised in song, the same sprightly Solstice tune they’d played at the tavern earlier that night. Wherever the singer didn’t remember the right words, he made up his own, or hummed, or whistled. Happiness rang in his voice, warm as a crackling fire.

  Aleksi knew that voice. He stared at the trees, beginning to breathe quickly.

  With a laugh, Berin broke through the line of evergreens, dusting snow off his arms. He stopped to look about himself. A smile of wonder and amusement warmed his face. “Aleksi?” he called, adjusting a leather sack slung across his shoulder. “Aleksi, may I come in?”

  Aleksi, hidden by the snow, swallowed hard against a throat dry as cotton. He closed his eyes tightly. Help me now, he prayed, his first plaint made in earnest, not in anger, for many and many a year.

  “Berin,” he croaked, pulling his arm free of the ice and waving it in the air. “Berin, help me!”

  And he waited, heart in his throat, to see what would happen next.

  Chapter Three

  “Aleksi?” Berin sounded stunned. “What the devil?”

  Aleksi heard the sound of soundly-shod feet crunching through the snow at a run. He let his eyes flutter briefly closed in relief. Berin had seen him. He had come.

  The man’s face hove into view above Aleksi’s, dismay mixed with a touch of baffled amusement. “How did you get yourself into such a pickle, man? They say I’ve got no sense. What possessed you to go outside naked as a newborn babe and lie down in the snow?”

  “A dream,” Aleksi croaked. Not the truth, but close enough, and all he could manage to say. His throat felt raw, blasted by the harsh winds.

  Berin shook his head. Sensible enough not to skin off his good, thick gloves, he set about breaking the rime of ice that held Aleksi trapped, shoveling off handfuls of snow. “A dream, eh? Must have been some ride on the night mare. Then again, I’ll wager more than a few folk will have visions after drinking the tavern Solstice grog. Whew, what a kick this batch had! I’ve told the landlord to go easier on the grape and grain, but does he listen? Bugger, no. T’isn’t Solstice for him until every last villager of age is rip-roaring drunk and the lot of them are ready to dance till they drop. More than like you’re especially not used to such a brew.”

  Aleksi let Berin’s genial chatter wash over him in a warming wave. He felt himself smile. How odd, but how good. For the first time in years, someone’s speaking to him was no annoyance, but a pleasure. Berin sounded genuinely friendly, no hidden agendas, but Aleksi could hear the undercurrent of worry — worry for him — that kept the words flowing.

  He was considered worth saving.

  As he marveled over the thought, Berin finished his digging. “Come on then, you.” He slid his arms under Aleksi’s limp body. “Up we go. I’ve not been to your home cave before; is it far?”

  Aleksi shook his head. He managed to gesture to the entrance.

  “Yes, I see it now. Good! You’re no sack of feathers,” Berin teased. Yet for all that, he lifted Aleksi with surprising ease. Either he had great strength in his arms, or Aleksi had grown far too thin. Perhaps, or probably, a bit of both. Aleksi let himself sag against Berin’s broad chest, soaking up the warmth that radiated through his leathers and furs.

  Berin laughed, the sound tinged with surprise. “You know, I’ve often imagined you in my arms. Not quite like this, though,” he joked. “By the gods, you are close to a sack of goose-down, aren’t you? Do you eat at all?”

  Aleksi shrugged.

  “Eh, I figured as much. I’ve never seen you tuck into a meal, nor yet a drink before tonight’s Solstice grog. Well, I’ve brought a few things, but time enough for those when we’ve got you warmed up.” Berin pulled Aleksi closer to his chest. “Go on,” he said gently. “Tuck yourself close. I don’t mind. Gods, do I ever not mind.”

  Aleksi chuckled despite himself. He reached out with one hand and curled his fingers into Berin’s vest like a child needing comfort. The leather felt good, soft and supple to the touch, and underneath it he could feel solid muscle.

  “Yes,” Berin said, a bit breathless. “Good man. Now, inside.”

  Aleksi smiled to himself. He felt himself being jostled as Berin began to plow his way through the snow, and…

  He blinked. Odd. Suddenly, they were inside his cave. He was no longer in Berin’s arms, but stretched out on his miserable cot. Alarmed, he shifted, making as if to sit up.

  “Ho, there!” Berin hove into view, grinning as he pushed Aleksi back down. “So there you are again. I thought you’d sleep the day away. Gave me a fright, you did.”

  “Day?” Aleksi croaked. “I fainted?”

  “Like the daintiest of ladies.” Berin winked to take away the sting of his jest. “No shame, mind. I’d have gone arse-over-teakettle myself if I’d been half-frozen. You passed out on our way in, and spent a few hours sleeping. For the best, I expect. A body needs rest to heal.”

  “I remember,” Aleksi murmured. “From classes in the healing arts. They taught us how to use poppy and mandragora. Other things, too, not so well known. Willow bark, ergot, and… and…”

  “They?”

  “Temple priests. My teachers, my masters.”

  “So you are a holy man.” Berin’s face was unreadable as he studied Aleksi. “Tattoos or no, there’s many of us wondered.”

  Aleksi shook his head. “Not holy. The tests for mastery. I failed. No more magics. Everything, gone.”

  “They cast you out, eh?”

  Aleksi nodded.

  “Tcha. Big-city fools. No sense of a man’s worth.” Berin reached down to brush Aleksi’s hair back, casually as if he didn’t realize what he was doing. “You’d years and years of learning, I’d wager, and all the knowledge stayed tucked in your brain even if you couldn’t pull off the fancy party tricks. You’d have been of good use to them.”

  “Not without magic. Can’t serve the gods if you can’t bend reality.”

  “Balls to such rubbish. We serve the gods with good, honest work.” Berin grinned. “Or so I choose to believe, and they seem to like me well enough.”

  Aleksi laughed, surprising himself. “Do they? Why turn your eyes in my direction, then?”

  Berin chuckled in re
turn. “So you have noticed. I’d begun to think you were blind. And trust me, I did everything but dance at your feet and wag my tail. Gods, the teasing I’ve taken for being so caught in this web, but be damned if I can break loose.”

  “I’m no spider.”

  “Well, no. I’d not be having wicked dreams that leave the furs all sticky if you had eight legs or more.” Berin winked.

  Surprising himself again, despite a small blush, Aleksi smiled. Berin grinned. “There, that’s what I like to see. You’ll be yourself soon, or even better. I’ve started a fire in the hearth to warm this place up properly, and taken the liberty of setting a little breakfast to going. Do you think you could eat?”

  Aleksi blinked. “Food?” He sniffed the air, and realized it was filled with the scent of toasting bread and boiling chicory. His stomach gave a mighty rumble. How long had it been since he’d eaten? Days? He couldn’t remember. Struggling to sit up, he strained for a glimpse of the cooking feast.

  “Here.” Berin patted Aleksi’s shoulder and handed him a chunk of bread, crisped brown around the crust. “This morning’s baking. There’s a dab of butter on there as well.”

  Aleksi stared at the bread. It had been baked with a light sprinkling of salt. Salt and bread, gifts of the gods. As well as… “Chicory?” he asked, hopeful. “Please? A small mug’s worth?”

  Berin’s eyes twinkled. “Far be it from me to deny man one of the second best pleasures in life.” He poured out a half-portion. “Go slow, mind. I’ve no sugar. Don’t take it, myself, so I didn’t think to bring any.”

  “No matter.” Aleksi took the first sip and closed his eyes in bliss. Ah, gods! He’d not had anything so good in — he didn’t know how long. Fresh, strong, deliciously bitter. It warmed him going down, soothing his sore throat better than any medicine. His stomach tingled with pleasure.

  He let out a long sigh. “Good,” he said. “So good. Thank you, Berin.”

  Berin waved a hand. “Bah! It’s my own pleasure to see you enjoying something. Go on. Drink, and eat your bread. There’ll be time for talking once you’ve settled your innards.”

  Aleksi half-smiled to himself. Well. He might ease his rumbling stomach, to be sure, but he felt his heart thudding from the nearness of Berin’s easy presence. He dared a glance up at the man, so handsome in his honest, friendly way, and saw Berin grinning back at him. Aleksi couldn’t hide his smile before he ducked his head and began to eat.

  The bread, too, was a marvel. Soft and warm, the crust chewy, the taste tangy. Sourdough, perhaps? Melted butter, a treat Aleksi hadn’t had since leaving the city, ran down his fingers. Eager not to waste a drop, he lifted his hand without thinking and applied his tongue to the sweet trails, licking them away with small moans of pleasure.

  A choked sound startled him into looking up. Berin stared at him, lips slightly parted, looking as if he’d been pole-axed. Aleksi realized how he must have looked, giving in to so carnal a pleasure. Before last night, he would have been deeply shamed.

  This morning…

  Well, things had changed. A memory of the kindly god’s voice chimed in Aleksi’s mind. He didn’t understand all the entity had had to say, but he knew one thing: he had a choice to make, and he’d been given a chance to make good.

  To make himself a life anew, instead of living in the shadows and forever mourning what had been lost.

  Aleksi smiled a wicked, teasing smile. It felt strange, but deliciously freeing. Keeping his eyes fixed on Berin, he slid one finger back into his mouth and suckled, lapping in delicate strokes and letting out small moans of pleasure.

  Berin made a ragged sound. Aleksi knew that sort of noise of old, though it had been years upon years, perhaps not since his journeyman days, that he’d heard it and known it to be genuine. Prostitutes had wanted what he could pay; temple underlings, an association with his name or a taste of power. Berin wanted Aleksi for himself. A startling notion, and yet… good. No, better than good. Wondrous.

  Aleksi felt a rush of power flood his veins. Not the magics he’d known of old, but something far more primal. He curved his lips in a smile, knowing and teasing. He lapped at the tip of his finger and let his eyes drop to Berin’s lap.

  Yes — ah, yes. Even beneath Berin’s sturdy leather trousers, the swelling bulge of his cock was all too evident. Aleksi let his gaze linger, making no secret of his interest. Slowly, he lowered his hand to his own cock and stroked the growing flesh. “Mmm.”

  Berin’s throat worked as he swallowed. “Aleksi?”

  “Ssh.” No longer weak at all, Aleksi rose gracefully to his knees, spreading them wide to display his cock. He ran his hand down the length, savoring the thrill of pleasure that tingled through his bones but, even more, the way Berin’s eyes dilated.

  His turn to play the coquette; his turn to give chase. Giving in had never been so great a marvel, or felt so very amazing. Aleksi’s skin hummed with pleasure that he channeled into his voice, turning it low and husky. “Do you like what you see?” he asked, teasing his cock-head with the pad of his thumb.

  Berin licked his lips. Startled, but yes, hungry. Wanting despite his amazement at Aleksi’s behavior. “What d’you think?” he rasped.

  “I think it’s time I rejoined the living.”

  “What? Aleksi, you — I — ah, gods!” Berin reared back, arching his neck as Aleksi leaned forward, swift and smooth, and laid his mouth over the hard swell of Berin’s cock. Just as Berin had done before, Aleksi suckled him through his leathers, tracing a path with his tongue.

  He stroked Berin’s thighs, coaxing them wider apart. Nuzzled deep into Berin’s groin, savoring the feel of his pulse beating fast and ever faster, the sound of his breath turning into sharp gasps, and his stifled curses. His hands, shaking ever so slightly, came down to tangle in Aleksi’s hair.

  “Lie with me,” Aleksi murmured against Berin’s leg. He drew back and lay down, exposed as a common wanton. Before, even as a youth, such a pose would have shamed him. Now? It felt right, it felt free, and it felt like a gift from the kindly ones. No fear. No doubts. Just peace, and at the same time, thrill after thrill of excited anticipation. He gazed at Berin from beneath heavy lids, daring the man to come and join him.

  Berin swallowed hard a second time. He stared at Aleksi. “What happened to you last night?” he asked hoarsely. “What made you change so? You were like a snow king before. Frozen. Now, you’re a fire. You’ll burn me alive.”

  “Perhaps.” Aleksi trailed a finger down his own chest, teasing at the hardened knots of his nipples. “Will you dance within the flame? Or are you afraid that you’ll be burned to death?”

  Berin shook his head in slow wonder. “I must be dreaming, myself.”

  “No.” Aleksi laughed. “You’re awake, Berin, and so am I. At long last, my ride on the night mare is over. Now come and lie with me, and bring on the new day a-dawning.”

  “I’ll bring on more than that,” Berin growled. He stood. Jerky, yanking and tugging at laces and buttons, he stripped away his clothing without any finesse. Aleksi stroked himself lasciviously as he watched, savoring Berin’s eagerness. He decided he liked it far better than any practiced prostitute’s tease.

  When Berin kicked aside his trousers, revealing a cock of glorious girth and length, Aleksi grinned. Now he knew he liked this better. He opened his arms wide. “Come to me.”

  And Berin came. He fell upon Aleksi, unpracticed but more than making up for skill with enthusiasm. What he didn’t know, Aleksi taught him, how to lick and nibble at lips until they plumped from the force of their kisses, how to tease and dance with tongues inside heated mouths, where he liked to be touched and how. Berin made a wondrous student, so quick a study that ere long he knew what Aleksi wanted without being told. His hands roamed over Aleksi’s body, stroking here and pinching there, squeezing and tickling.

  In turn, Aleksi learned the wonders of Berin’s own sweet spots. Better than any lesson out of books, to be sure, and far more gratifying with t
he reward of Berin’s unashamed reactions: groans, hisses of breath, and involuntary bucking of his hips, bashing his marvelously hard cock against Aleksi’s own. Their bellies grew slick with escaping trails of eager seed as their embraces became more and more frantic.

  When Berin was kissing Aleksi as if he wanted to climb inside his skin, Aleksi knew it was time. He drew back, smiling at Berin’s moan of disappointment, and laid a finger over his lips. “Have you lain with a man before?”

  Berin nodded. His eyes were nearly black with lust. “Twice,” he managed. “Village boys, wanting to experiment. They married, both of them. Neither knew the things you do.”

  “Did you take them, or…”

  Berin nodded again, a rough jerk of his head. “I know a little. They’d no idea at all.”