marlowemuses | This will be happily ever after...

"That's just it. You couldn't be yourself if you...held back all of your maddening plots." Damen didn't sound angry, though. He watched Laurent come to him with a more open gaze at him. He should feel wary; all he could feel was weary.

Somehow, Laurent was leaning against his shoulder; somehow, Damen's arm was slipping around his shoulders, holding him there lightly. He craved just such an embrace too much to put up his guard right now.

"Not...disappointed. I spoke truly before. It's you I want in my bed." Tentatively, Damen turned to brush his lips to Laurent's temple. "This you. I...dread another night like last night. Or this morning." He didn't say it, but the possessive tone of Laurent's words, and that pouting scowl as though he were the only one who should be making eyes at Damen, pleased him inordinately.

"If I didn't want to win you, I would have let Erasmus have his night."

When his approach was received with an embrace, Laurent relaxed a little more, hooking his legs over Damen's lap and nestling against him, enjoying the affection and starting to trust that Damen's affection was his for the asking, whenever he desired it.

His nose wrinkled at the image of Erasmus having his night at all, whether Damen wanted to win him or no. He objected to it on multiple counts, but managed to restrain himself from itemizing them.

"You have my word that--with the exception of any threats I might encounter to my own person--all of my maddening plots will be henceforth conducted to further your own interests or for the good of your people. I know you may not believe it, but my loyalty now is first to the people of Akielos, then to you, then to the peace and welfare of my homeland."

Laurent offered up his wrist. "Help me out of these laces."

It...was. His for the asking. Time and again, Laurent had turned savagely on him, and yet here he was again, welcoming the closeness of him into his lap, letting him curl up against his chest as they both seemed to crave. Damen let out a sigh. He was a fool. This would only end badly. But he could not say no to what his heart and body so eagerly wished for.

"That is...admirable." Damen wished he could believe him. He could almost believe that Laurent had the good of Akielos at heart. Loyalty to himself seemed a very chancy thing at present. "I look forward to seeing this new allegiance."

He touched the linchpin lace and gave it a skilled tug. Damen's breath made whorls of Laurent's bangs. "You didn't answer my question." Loosening one wrist was a matter of seconds now. He found the other, did the same.

"You have seen this new allegiance," Laurent said, submissively offering the other wrist when Damen reached for it. "You just don't like it. I'm offering you my loyalty and my honesty, Damen, not my obedience. I think you have too many people who do the opposite. Sometimes I will be selfish and temperamental and vindictive, but understand that since I have the freedom to be unpleasant to you, when I am pleasant to you it is motivated by nothing other than my desire and affection for you."

Smiling tentatively, Laurent nipped at the side of Damen's lip. "Which question? About me spending the night? With my husband, I think, if he'll have me. My honorable and long-suffering husband, who is so breathtakingly handsome."

Unfortunately for Laurent, Damen still couldn't take him at face value. Laurent seemed to delight in upending his heart, turning on him in an instant, after he'd yielded body and soul to the seemingly honest affection and desire that Laurent swore he gave him.

He touched the laces at Laurent's neck. "You have the freedom. But do not think me made of stone." For someone with such power and sheer physical capability, Damen knew his heart was his weak spot. And Laurent knew it too. Break it, and Laurent would find himself in a far less desirable place than he was now.

The flattery made him uncomfortable, though the kisses were sought-out. "I..." He exhaled, like he was about to confess something very secret. "I would like to sleep beside you tonight. Hold you even. Whatever we do, that seems to me an admirable goal." He placed a hand over Laurent's thigh as he tugged loose the tightly laced tunic. "Even I grow tired of constantly holding you at bay, Laurent."

"Shall we make an effort to be chaste tonight?" Laurent suggested, lifting his chin to let Damen unravel the laces at his throat. "I think it might benefit us both to... to simply share intimacy and affection. As much as I desire you."

His fingertips skimmed over Damen's chest, admiring him, as Laurent nestled a little closer, only shifting as much as necessary to remove the rest of his clothing. "I am also not made of stone, Damen. I'm in a vulnerable position, entirely at your mercy, and I am not accustomed to exposing my emotions or desires."

That was an understatement, and Laurent knew it. Sitting up, Laurent pulled the tunic over his head, discarding it to one side. He studied it on the floor for a moment, feeling a wash of vulnerability at the confession, and wanting desperately to conceal it.

"That depends on your definition of chaste." Damen half-smiled, pleased by the honest admission, the knowledge that Laurent desired him. "Intimacy and affection do not sound entirely chaste to me. But..."

He lost his train of thought in the swirl of fingers over his chest, the pale perfection of Laurent's bare torso. With difficulty, Damen drew his focus back to the words which he knew were important, coming from Laurent. He considered the truth of them. For the Prince to even acknowledge his own vulnerability seemed incredible to him. Was it merely a trap? Was it possible that Laurent had kept his promise to be honest with him within this room?

"It will take time," Damen said, touching Laurent's face softly. "For us to understand one another. To no longer wound at every turn. It will come." Or they would fall apart entirely, and the truth would prevail.

And yet for as long as Laurent wished to try, Damen did too. His hand strayed to Laurent's chest. "Bed. Before you lose any more clothing." Damen sounded...the faintest bit...jealous...that Isander might wander out at any moment and see Laurent in such a scandalous state of undress. Nevermind that that was the very thing he had been trained for. Damen's eyes were greedy for his monk-like husband's body, divested of its usual neck-to-toe garments.

To that end, he stood, not carrying Laurent this time but inviting him with an arm about his waist and a gesture towards the bedroom door.

"I thought you liked me without clothing," Laurent teased, completely missing the jealousy because it would never have occurred to him that Isander might return or that he--or anyone else--could be competition for Damen.

Moving to the bedroom, Laurent slid his arms up around Damen's neck, wanting to kiss him properly, since they'd spent the past day with only hurried, false kisses. "Damen," he murmured, nuzzling briefly at Damen's cheek before turning his head to claim his husband's lips. He pressed close, chasteness forgotten in his desire for the intimacy and affection that Damen offered.

"I like you dressed for the occasion. Alone in our bedroom is a good occasion for nudity." Damen's gaze made free with the elegantly exposed lines of Laurent's shoulders, his chest, the lean flat planes of his stomach. Lingered on the pink tips of his nipples. Damen wasn't taking the chaste suggestion too literally either.

The weariness, the loneliness, the craving he'd felt for affection, all made themselves known as he felt warm breath on his cheeks, and then on his lips. Damen bent his head. Tilted it. Lapped at Laurent's mouth hungrily, like he'd been starving all day for the realness of this kiss. One hand cupped Laurent's face like water in his hand, drawn up to his mouth. His body inclined towards Laurent, more and more each times their lips renewed their contact.

Damen kissed like he needed it. Because he did.

He didn't try to touch or provoke anything further. Just folded Laurent to his chest and sighed against his mouth. Dark curls tickled Laurent's cheeks, Damen leaning in deeper.

Our bedroom. Laurent liked the sound of that. Liked the implication that he had a place here, and that Damen wanted him as part of his life.

Winding one hand into Damen's hair and keeping the other pressed against Damen's broad chest, Laurent returned the kiss, sweet and sincere, following Damen's lead without offering any challenge this time. He was tired of fighting. He just wanted to trust to Damen, and to the sense of Damen's honor that he was starting to understand.

Whimpering very softly against Damen's lips, Laurent pressed close against him, craving the feeling of safety and affection that Damen provided.

This was the point where things usually...escalated. Damen's body knew it too. It was his mind that kept him in control right now, if just barely, feeling the pliant flow of Laurent's body against his own. The awareness of it brought delight, for it meant a reprieve to his physical loneliness and a renewal of the open-hearted affection he'd received in small doses from the changeable Prince.

(If only Damen didn't fuck it up tonight.)

The sound of Laurent's whimper was tucked away into the corners of Damen's mouth. He treasured it as something strangely needy from Laurent, even if he didn't yet know quite what Laurent needed. He hoped, perhaps naively, it was him.

Backing up a few steps, he took a seat on the edge of the bed and drew Laurent with him, to sit however he liked in his lap. Even sitting, Damen was an unavoidable presence, his breadth simply spread out in different ways.

Laurent slid to straddle Damen's lap, thighs pressed on either side of his hips. He hugged his arms around Damen's shoulders, tucking his face against the side of Damen's neck and just hugging tight for a few minutes. "I'm tired," he said, offering that small piece of vulnerability to Damen. "I feel like I've been exhausted since I reached Marlas."

Damen was so warm, so solid and safe. Laurent let his eyes shut and his breathing slow, trusting himself entirely to Damen.

Damen settled the welcome weight of Laurent around him with a quiet sigh of contentment. He'd rarely felt Laurent so relaxed, the looseness of his body tangible against Damen's own. It seemed a proof of trust of him. So did the confession.

Approvingly, he stroked one big hand slowly up and down Laurent's spine. It was strangely comforting, offering him comfort without aiming for anything more. Damen was aware of the smoothness of the skin beneath his fingers, the heartbreaking fineness of the bones, the muscles that were so often tensed, things he would have noticed in a sensual context too, but it was different this way. It meant learning Laurent for his own sake, not as part of any seduction.

Damen's chest rose and fell against the slim torso finding refuge there. He found he loved being the one Laurent turned to for this. He hoped to the ends of the earth it wasn't a trick.

"Then rest," he murmured, and his lips traced the curve of Laurent's brow. "Take what you need." His arms tightened around Laurent. For one night, he would shut out the rest of the world and let them just breathe with each other.

"Mm," Laurent responded, sleepy and incoherent. He sighed once, relaxing deeper into the comfort and warmth of Damen's arms.

"Damen," he murmured, barely audible, and not awake enough to be saying anything coherent. Nuzzling at Damen's throat, Laurent sighed again, and drifted into sleep, trusting Damen simply to hold him.

For a while, Damen simply watched him, letting his thoughts drift wherever they may. His longing for this all to be real had never been greater. A sense of peace settled over him, seeing Laurent at rest with him, feeling him let down his defenses and simply lean on him, trusting him enough to fall asleep in his arms.

The sleepy murmur of his own name from Laurent's lips plucked at something tight and aching in his chest. Damen closed his eyes and arched into the soft nuzzle of Laurent tucked against his throat. He hardly dared move a muscle. He wanted this to infinitely last. The only parts of him that stirred were the deep constant breaths filling his chest, the slow graze of hands over Laurent's back.

His. But he could not say it. Not without breaking the beauty of this peace between them.

When sleep began to touch the edges of his own consciousness, Damen drew the slumbering Prince very carefully with him into the bed, tucking sheets and then himself around him. Damen unpinned his chiton and let the fabric simply pool at his waist. He hadn't bothered with any other garments today, nothing underneath that he need remove to sleep freely. The bareness of skin soothed him as he wrapped his chest around Laurent's back, his arms around shoulder and waist, and his forehead curled against soft blond hair.

This evening's fantasy had come true. Who could have ever predicted it?

Laurent grumbled softly as he was shifted, nuzzling at Damen in sleep. He settled against Damen on the bed, claiming one of Damen's hands and winding their fingers together.

When he woke, warm and safe in his husband's arms, Laurent smiled, feeling content and well-rested for the first time in weeks. He shifted in Damen's arms, rolling over so that he could nuzzle and kiss at Damen's cheeks to wake him.

Everything felt easier and more hopeful this morning, with simple intimacy and no expectations. Laurent found himself smiling, wanting very much for all this to be real.

Damen slept like the dead that night.

His bed - their bed - was warm and perfect, troubles set aside to be with each other simply and peacefully. He'd needed the rest too. He'd been running on a handful of snatched hours over the past two days. Morning seemed to come too soon.

Except morning also brought a kiss and a wriggle of a body that he knew was not any of the usual suspects (though his own body had its usual waking interest in said wriggling companion.) Damen was half amazed that Laurent hadn't snuck out and left him to wake up alone. He found he was wonderfully glad for that.

He gave a little, lazy smile too, before he even opened his eyes. His biceps loosened around Laurent as he rolled, then snugged back against him, Damen on his back with Laurent over his chest.

"Morning?" It was a question and a greeting all at once. Damen yawned and cracked open his eyes, threading his fingers through Laurent's hair, fluffed up from bed. The smile broadened. "We made it. Well-done, us."

Edited (cause morning kingwood) 2017-02-20 00:00 (UTC)

Laurent smiled at him, stealing soft kisses from Damien's lips as they woke up. "It helped that we were both asleep and thus had no occasion to argue."

Nipping once at Damen's chin, Laurent laid his head on Damen's chest, making himself comfortable. He was still wearing his trousers from last night, which were too tight to lounge in comfortably, but at least protected his dignity. Which could not be said for Damen, whose sleep-rumpled garment hid absolutely nothing about his condition.

"I see that your situation is... to be expected," Laurent teased, giving Damen's nipple a light flick.

"Even that is an accomplishment. I think we deserve to celebrate it." With kisses and a furtive rub of bare thigh against silky not-bare-at-all thigh.

Damen gave a harumphing grunt as the sensation toyed at his nipple, sliding down his spine. "Nobody asked your opinion." Indeed, Laurent would find his King tended to awake in that...situation, more often than not.

"I was going to remove these, last night..." Damen's hand skimmed down one trouser leg. "But you sounded so put out at simply being laid down that I could not bear to disturb your rest with any more commotion. Are they...uncomfortable now?"

He did not quite venture between, but his fingers came dangerously close.

"They're not the most comfortable attire for sleeping, no," Laurent agreed, slightly hesitant about being naked with Damen, since things had gone so poorly before. "Thank you for letting me fall asleep on you. It was... nice."

Embarrassed by the confession, Laurent tucked his face into Damen's neck, hiding his blush. He nipped briefly at the skin of Damen's throat to help distract him.

They were making progress. Laurent sounded almost boyish, the sharpness and angularity of him tucked away into a surprisingly sweet shyness.

Damen smiled, head tilted to allow Laurent to rest there under his chin. Even allowing those nips. "It was nice," he agreed. "As is this. We have nowhere pressing to be. Will you stay abed with me a while? Now that we are rested...I would be glad for the chance to talk a bit."

He wasn't angling for anything sexual, in other words. On the contrary, he wished to find out certain things and this seemed like the best place to talk about them. His hand found a lace. "Would you prefer to stay in them?"

"I... suppose I would. It would make me less nervous. Though I'd rather change into pajamas, but that would mean getting up and leaving my husband's embrace. And he makes a comfortable mattress." Laurent kissed Damen's cheek, pleased by the prospect of staying with him and talking. "What would my husband like to discuss?"

Keeping an interested eyes on Damen, Laurent toyed idly with a strand of Damen's hair, enjoying being able to explore him.

Nervous. Truly? Damen slid a studying look at him. He remembered what Laurent had said last night, and started to wonder if he wasn't the only one left feeling vulnerable by their disastrous sexual encounters so far. He simply nodded and left the laces alone. He liked the way Laurent called him by that name.

Mornings, Damen's hair was even more of a wild mane than it was after being tamed in the bath. Curls launched themselves in every direction, and the moment Laurent let one go, it would spring up more enthusiastically than before.

"Yesterday," Damen said. He spread his hands over Laurent's bare back. "You were angry when you left the room. You have parted in anger every time we try to make love. I begin to think that I am - unwittingly forcing my attentions on you." Those soothing strokes returned, a slow rhythm tracing Laurent's shoulderblades. "Will you tell me, husband, what angered you, so that I may know what to avoid in the future?"

Laurent tensed and quieted. He'd avoided thinking too much about the details of their intimacy together. There were quite a few details of their marriage that were easier not to think about. Better to focus on the good things, and try to nurture the seeds of hope between them.

After a few moments, Laurent squirmed away from him. He rolled over, turning his back on Damen and curling into himself, struggling with the words that Damen required of him.

"Give me a moment," he said, choked, because he had to answer. He'd promised Damen his honesty, and he needed to find a way to provide it, even when it was wrenching.

Alarmed, Damen felt his fears confirmed as Laurent pulled away from him, the comfortable relaxation exchanged for tension and separation. He nearly reached out to touch Laurent, and drew his hand back just in time.

Instead, he tucked the sheet around Laurent's back and left the space between them unbreached; a quiet but unmoving presence beside him. Laurent had promised him honesty, and in turn he had offered to listen, to respect his wishes and treat him as an equal.

"As much as you need," he promised, settling back to simply watch the curled line of Laurent's back, the barely visible contours of his face.

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