marlowemuses | Fools in Love, for gentry

"Then we're agreed," he said, breathless, "that we're absolutely crazy about one another." It was like he was walking on air. Floating. Ascending to another plane of existence. Later, he would have to write some poetry about how he was feeling. Then he would serenade the object of his affections with it. Perfect.

"I know you said the wedding doesn't matter, but... I'm looking forward to it. For you to officially be my husband." He smiled. "Then, you'll wear my ring all the time."

Laurent nodded, grinning happily at the thought. "And I can call you my husband whenever I please."

Sitting up partway as a thought occurred to him, Laurent watched Gansey's eyes. "I don't know anything about the traditions of the Raven Kingdom, when it comes to the wedding night. I assume it's customary for some of the senior councilors to confirm that the marriage is consummated, but aside from that...?" He said it utterly blithely, since it was of such importance in Vere, and sexual acts were more open there. The palace had even been built with a viewing room onto the royal bedchamber, for the wedding night.

Gansey reclined as Laurent sat up, tucking his hands under the back of his head and bending his elbows in a pose of relaxation. "Mmm. There is, of course. It's important to make sure the marriage is consummated‐there's a routine check up after and they ask a few questions. As to whether or not anyone watches... no. Not unless it's specifically requested."

Laughing, Gansey continued, "Among the people there's a tradition of standing outside the bedroom and cheering. Everyone's drunk, and then someone usually gets tossed into the center fountain. It'll be like that if we go to the afterparty. Unofficial, it's what happens after the older guests have called it a night."

"Sounds raucous," Laurent said, with a smirk. He could enjoy such things, but he generally preferred to avoid them.

Grinning down at his beloved, Laurent slid his hand up Gansey's shirt so that his fingers could curl around Gansey's side, feeling deliciously risque at the touch of skin even though he knew he could drag Gansey back to the bedroom at any time he pleased. "Good thing we have an excellent excuse to be doing something else. Preferably with the door locked."

Smirking briefly, Laurent leaned down to kiss him. He kept it short, brushing his nose against Gansey's and smiling down at him from inches away. "On which topic," Laurent said, fingers straying ticklishly along Gansey's side. "Can we look at rooms with attached baths? Please?"

Gansey laughed quietly as Laurent tickled him, belly rising and falling with the pitch of his breath. He liked it very much, having Laurent's hands skimming his body, sexual or not. They were beautiful hands, much as they loved to tease him.

"That's right," he mused, considering Laurent's request. Truthfully, he was a little sad to be leaving the tower, but he had always known that he couldn't stay there forever. Cohabiting with Laurent was worth giving it up.

"We have a few options open to us. There's the south wing, bottom floor, but I don't recommend it because there's always a draft in the winter. East wing third floor has a fine set of rooms that have been vacant, the only thing it lacks is a nice view, but that's no big deal. And then there's the garden wing. It's closest to the heart of the garden, and newly built. Helen was having it built for when she visits us, but I could convince her to gift it to us. What do you think?"

Laurent laughed and nipped at Gansey's throat, nuzzling ticklishly at his neck and showering him with soft, playful kisses. "I think you make it sound like you've already decided," he teased, hand roaming a little farther up Gansey's shirt. "Especially asking me to decide on that description when you're the one who has seen the room."

Nipping briefly at Gansey's lips, Laurent smiled adoringly down at him. "I think it sounds like you're hoping to tell Helen that I'm the one who asked to steal her rooms from her."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he grinned, trying so very hard not to squirm with that hand wandering up his chest. "My accounts were completely unbiased."

Leaning up, Gansey stole a kiss right back, dropping back onto the hammock with a raised brow. "Maybe, but she won't try to sit on your head. She's still trying to convince you that she's a mature lady. Me? She'll have no qualms about rubbing my face in the mud."

He sighed, turning his head with a dramatic flourish. "Would you really want your fiancé to eat dirt?"

"I'll protect you," Laurent promised. "I doubt she would dare any such thing if she had to extricate me from your arms first, and I have no plans to leave your side ever again. You can blame me anyway, if they're the rooms you think I'd like best."

Removing his hand from Gansey's shirt, Laurent lightly brushed back a few stray strands of Gansey's hair. "You're so exquisitely handsome. My Gansey."

"We can look at them all later. I think that you'll agree with me."

There was always the option of having their own wing built, he supposed. Then they could choose everything as they liked. It was tempting, but the downside was the amount of time it would take. It wouldn't be ready in time for the wedding unless they made their builders work around the clock. It didn't seem fair to do that to them.

He was distracted from such thoughts when Laurent brushed a few stray hairs aside. Sighing, his eyelids fluttered. "Not as handsome as you," he tossed back with a grin, gazing at his lover lazily, like a contented cat.

"My darling Laurent."

Laurent wrinkled his nose, preferring to focus on Gansey's physical beauty. He liked the darling bit, though.

Curling close with his head on Gansey's shoulder, Laurent stroked a hand over Gansey's chest, getting distracted as he found Gansey's nipple under his shirt. "I want to stay here and nap and read with you, but I also very earnestly want to drag you back to your room and tear off all your clothes. I can't decide. I'd be partial to the latter if it didn't involve getting up."

Gansey noticed the wrinkle and raised a brow at it, but didn't ask why. He would have if he were not very, very distracted at a stray hand brushing over his nipple. Plus, the thought of Laurent tearing off his clothes was ... very, very, very distracting.

"Getting up does seem like a hefty task. And I so love embracing you like this." Glancing up, he gave a show of thinking about how to beat solve their dilemma. With a coquettish smirk he flicked his gaze back to his lover.

"Tell me, what would you like to do to me once you got my clothes off?"

Laurent grinned wide, finding Gansey's playful flirtation to be utterly irresistible. "Oh, probably just sit about. I've got to write that note to Auguste for those collars I was going to send him," he said, tone bland but eyes sparkling with mischief. He'd made a couple of other purchases that had included actual gifts for Auguste and his father, but those could wait.

"Oh? I suppose you'll ask him how his favorite new dogs are?" Gansey asked, still wearing his smart little smirk.

"Meanwhile, I imagine I would be taking care of myself, if you're sitting around writing to your brother. Might as well if my clothes are already off and you're otherwise occupied, no? Pretending that it's your hand instead of my own. How tragic."

Laughing, Laurent bent his head to nip at Gansey's ear. "Now, do you really want to get yourself worked up before we go back to your room? Not that I wouldn't enjoy watching you trying to walk and hide your erection at the same time, because I really would."

Kissing him sweetly, Laurent extricated himself carefully, letting Gansey up so that they could relocate. He tucked his book safely under his arm, wanting to read more but also very much wanting to get back to their room so that they could kiss properly.

"No," he admitted with a huff of his own laughter, "God, no. That would be terrible." The last thing he wanted to explain to a concerned maid would be why he was trying to dash down the hallway, waist covered in a tablecloth.

Once they were safely in the tower Gansey placed his own book on the desk, giving the room a quick sweep with his eyes to make sure everything was as they had left it, and that no one else had entered while they were away. It seemed to be that everything was in order. Not that he was paranoid; it was simply a habit, and a part of him liking things the way he left them.

Then he caught Laurent up in his arms, pulling him in close and kissing him with everything he'd had pent up throughout the day. When their kiss finally broke he laughed once more, "I've been waiting all day for that."

Laurent grinned as Gansey caught him, pulling him in close and kissing him breathless. His arms slid around Gansey's neck, hugging him close and melting into the embrace.

Parting his lips gladly, Laurent teased his tongue out, inviting Gansey in and yielding gladly to him. He occasionally challenged and teased with his own tongue, but in the end he always yielded to Gansey, giving of himself entirely and letting Gansey have the lead.

"I feel I should mention," he said, warm with joy as the kiss broke, "that I love you."

"Oh? I love when you mention that." Stealing another brief kiss and letting his hands wander south to give Laurent's ass a squeeze, "And, I love you too." So much. His mouth tingled with the feeling of Laurent's tongue, of their lips meeting, and left him with that light feeling again. Like everything in the world was right.

Hiking Laurent's legs up around his waist as he dropped down onto the bed, Gansey grinned up at his lover.

"So, is this where you begin writing that letter to your brother?" Clearing his throat, he began, "Dearest brother. I'm writing to tell you about how terribly fond I am of my fiance. I can't wait to marry him."

"He's unreasonably handsome. Excessively charming. Excellent muscles. Beautiful cock..." Grinning and stealing a kiss, Laurent lounged on him, stealing kiss after kiss, too addicted to pull away.

Finally he escaped for long enough that he could go dig through the parcels that had been delivered up to Gansey's room for them, filled with their purchases for the day. He found the collars easily, picking up both along with the leashes. Bringing them back to the bed, Laurent straddled Gansey's lap, spilling the leather loops onto his belly. One of the collars was patterned with briars, which Laurent had chosen for himself. Roses among thorns. He ran his thumb over it, thoughtful for a moment.

"So. What shall we do with these?" Laurent asked, watching Gansey's eyes with interest to see what Gansey might request first.

Watching his lover with keen interest, Gansey chuckled when he saw the collars, half breathless from so many fantastic kisses. The smell of leather was almost immediate when Laurent brought them back over. Rich and earthy. It reminded him of the stables, of their teasing little talk of roleplay.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, throat and cheeks taking on a lovely faint pale pink. "I've never used them for anything other than.... well, dogs, before." He knew he wanted to do something, and his fingers itched terribly, but his lack of experience halted him. He hadn't thought much beyond wearing one for his fiancé.

"What do you... recommend?" Goodness, felt like he was at supper, trying to choose between the fish and the chicken.

Laurent smiled affectionately, utterly charmed by Gansey's awkwardness. "I've never used them, either. I have some idea of what people do with them, but I'm not much interested in the preferences of anyone other than us. Most of what I know I like is what I've done with you. Almost anything we haven't done, I have no idea whether I like it."

His hands skimmed up Gansey's chest, watching his lover's eyes with utter devotion. "I know I like it when you touch me. I know I like being filled with you. I know I'm hopelessly in love with you. Everything else..." Laurent leaned in, kissing Gansey's cheek. "We'll just have to try what feels right."

Resting his arms on Gansey's shoulders, Laurent smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. "Now, do you want to take the lead, or shall I?"

Knowing that they were both doing this for the first time together warmed him. Easy as that, any nerves he might have had didn't exist. Trying what felt right... something for the two of them, together, deeply intimate.

Kissing Laurent's cheek in return, Gansey traced along the fine lines of Laurent's slender throat. While the other man had bought himself a collar, his earlier words hadn't been forgotten.

"You said you might not be ready right away—so collar me." Catching one of his lover's wrists, Gansey guided that hand to trace along his throat in return, turned his face so he could kiss the soft underside of Laurent's forearm.

Smiling warmly, Laurent curled his hand around Gansey's throat, leaning in to kiss softly along the line of one of the tendons in his neck. "For you," he murmured, "with you, I feel ready for anything."

Reaching for the briar-patterned collar, he wound the leash around it, taking his time and keeping his thighs tight on either side of Gansey's hips. Setting it aside, he slid his hands up under Gansey's shirt and pulled it up over his lover's head. Grinning with pleasure at the sight of his warm, broad chest, Laurent dropped the shirt aside.

He caught both of Gansey's hands, pressing them palm-down against the bed as a gentle command to keep them there. Then, taking his time and savoring the pleasure of this moment, he trailed his fingertips up Gansey's chest, lingering over his throat as he traced the lines and planes of Gansey's body.

Gansey was perfectly fine with going slow. Every movement, every squeeze, somehow felt sacred. He wanted to memorize it. How Laurent's thighs felt so tight against his hips. His smile. The feeling of his hands slipping under pesky tunic, sliding up, stripping it away.

Keeping his hands flat against the bed turned out to be a difficult thing. They so itched, begged, to be allowed to roam his lover in return. To keep from giving in he caught the sheets in his fingers and twisted them, imagining that they were Laurent's skin. No good. Not smooth, not warm enough.

A sigh escaped when fingertips began to roam his body. In response, his skin prickled with goosebumps, and his eyebrow twitched. A little ticklish, a little heavenly, he uttered a reverent, "Laurent," and watched the other man with rapt fascination.

"I love you."

Laurent grinned at the words, giving him a warm kiss in response and then laying a finger across Gansey's lips. He had some idea of how crazy that was going to make Gansey, being forbidden to touch or to speak, but he wanted Gansey to feel utterly in his power, to belong absolutely to Laurent.

He pulled off his own shirt as well, letting Gansey look his fill, at least.

Nuzzling at Gansey's jaw, Laurent kissed at his throat, sliding his hands up to curl around both sides of Gansey's neck. He could feel Gansey's pulse against his hands, and he smiled, watching Gansey's eyes and just feeling the connection that they shared, the love and trust that bound them together.

Letting go, Laurent picked up the collar. This one was covered with oak leaves and acorns, and Laurent had thought it suited to Gansey, for his love of the woods.

He checked Gansey's eyes frequently, maintaining the connection and checking in with him. Unlatching the collar, Laurent curled it around Gansey's neck. He smiled as he did so, liking the sight of it. Taking his time, Laurent kissed Gansey's lips briefly, checking his expression again before he fastened the latch.

It was absolutely going to drive him crazy. How could it not, when looking up at such a lovely image? He understood the finger on his lips and complied, biting his lip to keep from speaking, fingers still knotting into the sheets. It was in his nature to respond somehow, or try to take over; he had never allowed anyone to forbid him from doing anything. Which made the experience far more intimate than he would have expected, and they had just barely started.

The kisses to his throat made his pulse quicken as his body responded almost instantly, already having become accustomed to his lover, knowing where things were likely headed. Their eyes met and Gansey studied the lovely color of Laurent's. Searched for flecks of different color among blue, admired how his eyelashes framed and dipped.

So very different than his lover's hands, the collar felt almost cool against his throat. Having it there was actually rather pleasant. Even though he felt the restriction, it was Laurent's restriction, and knowing that the other man had chosen it for him made it even better. There was only a brief moment when a knot in his belly flipped at the thought of losing control—he closed his eyes and bit the inside of his mouth at that—but managed to calm his nerves. This was nothing like being trapped. Nothing like being paralyzed.

Opening his eyes again, he smiled when he saw Laurent smile. The expression on his face was expectant: Can I touch now? Now? How about now? as he tried so very hard to wait until he was given permission. It wasn't easy.

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