The days were filled with broken shudders against shells of ears, warm fingers sliding across exposed skin, gentle kisses that turned more desperate and violent as seconds ticked into minutes. The image of Argis biting into his skin still constantly surfaced in his mind and threaten to bubble from his lips while his mind did its best to clamp his mouth shut. He craved that sweet pain, but silently and in secret.

Argis never followed him to bed, no matter how tempting he tried to make himself. If Argis was one of those "wait until marriage" types, Rumirin was sure he'd actually die of neglected arousal. He knew the Nord wasn't immune to his actions, however. The little breathy moans that the Altmer caught in the middle of the night were proof of that. He would clasp a hand over his mouth and strain himself to listen, trying desperately to control his breathing while he ached from the sounds. He would always shudder when he heard that hiss between clenched teeth that ended the noises, and then he was left with his own problem to deal with shortly after the Nord's completion. Half the time he was tempted to walk into his housecarl's room and take care of the problem himself. But he wasn't that bold; no. He'd gained a healthy amount of shyness upon his realization that he was falling for Argis, one that he hadn't had while in the Thieves Guild with women at his feet.

This was drastically, somehow, different. It made him a bit uncomfortable.

It was the fourth of Rain's Hand when Rumirin finally accepted that he'd fallen in love with Argis. He'd been in the market looking for sweets when it happened, and as he paid for his goods, he realized he'd just bought a multitude of sweetrolls for the Nord without thinking twice about it. He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to glance over at the rising sun, confusion spreading cross his slight and thin features.

Oh dear gods.

He practically dragged himself up the stone steps, smiling wearily and waving to the market stall keeps that greeted him as he walked on. His stomach turned and he pushed open the door without a sound and stepped inside, striding over to the table in the between-room. He dropped his basket on the surface and sat down, riffling through the sweets and pulling out a long taffy treat with a grin.

He was spoiling himself, yes. He probably shouldn't be eating so badly. However, it wasn't every day the Dragonborn of Nordic legend turned twenty-three. He munched on his spoils, eyes shifting to the pass-through of Argis's room as he saw a blonde head peek out from the doorway.

"My thane."

"Argis, c'mere. I got something for you."

He chewed on the treat thoughtfully, plunging his hand into the basket and pulling out a small wrapping of cheesecloth.

"And I have a secret to tell you. But you have to be good."

The Nord rolled his eyes, and Rumirin heard him stand and push his chair back under his desk.

"I'm no dog; of course I'll be good." The grin on his face suggested otherwise, but the Altmer smiled innocently, crooking a finger to call him closer to his face.

Argis bent down to Rumirin's lips and was rewarded with a tongue laving across his ear, bringing shudders up his spine.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Argis scoffed but straightened up and did as he was told without question. The little elf placed something into his palms, and he felt weight shift cloth as twine was untied from the little package.

"Okay, open them now."

Argis opened his good eye and laughed, opening both to smile down at the elf. He leaned down to kiss the younger on the lips before pulling back all too soon to take a bite of the offered sweetroll.

"Thank you, now what's the secret?"

"You can't tell anyone."

The elf reached into the basket again to pull out a boiled crème treat to bite on, staring up at Argis expectantly.

"You're makin' me nervous…" Argis began hesitantly as the elf's green eyes grew wider, more mischievous with every passing moment.

Rumirin took the food out of his mouth with a loud sucking sound that made the Nord's knees shake. "It's my birthday today."

The blonde froze, raising a brow in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me before? I could have done something before you got home…"

"I um," the elf blushed darkly, taking a deep and shaky breath. "I didn't want you to. I just wanna, you know, spend the day with you." He couldn't look up, couldn't meet Argis's eyes. His chest was tight, his words becoming more hushed with every syllable he forced out.

Argis shrugged and smiled at the simple request. "Alright."

"…In my bed."

Silence. The elf didn't dare lift his head, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Just to hold me if you want. Nothing else. I get it if you don't want to… y'know."

His hands were trembling in his lap, and he heaved a shaky sigh when he was met with thick, uncomfortable quiet. Argis was shifting quietly in front of him.

For the love of Mara, gods strike me dead.

"I'm being stupid." His heart beating in his ears crashed timpani loud and he could barely hear himself speak over the sound of his pulse. "I'm sorry."

He lifted his face to catch sight of emptiness in front of him, and the sight hit him like a sack of stones, knocking the wind out of his willowy frame. He bit his lips hard in disappointment only to feel his chair be pulled back. Completely shocked, he stood up out of alarm and was promptly scooped into strong arms.

"Bed?"

Rumirin's smile couldn't have been bigger, and he hid it in the crook of Argis's neck as he reddened with embarrassment.

"Please."

"The table could be fun, maybe against the wall?"

"Um." Rumirin dug the tips of his fingers into the coarse fabric of Argis's simple shirt and whined softly in anticipated arousal. The Nord carried him easily, like a sack of flour, to the threshold of his room. "Maybe later," he muttered heatedly against the man's warm neck.

He was dropped rather unceremoniously onto the green coverlet; back-down as he let out a whelp of surprise. Rumirin could feel the bed dip slightly as Argis knelt onto it, pulling himself up to hover over the elf. Leaning forward on his elbows, Rumirin kissed the Nord, leading him with his mouth to the center of the bed. Pulling away with a soft sound, the elf sat with his back against the headboard and stone wall. The Nord crawled after him, sending a blush to the Altmer's face as Argis knelt just beneath his feet. A hand went to the lacings of his boots, and Rumirin felt his face burn.

"Argis, I can…"

The Nord shot his face up as he loosened the strings and tugged it off, moving on to the other foot and tossing the boots aside.

"I can undress myself."

It seemed… demeaning for the warrior to be knelt in front of Rumirin, stripping the elf of his clothing piece by piece. The thought was swept out of his head when Argis swiftly undid the cords of his leather pants and began to tug them down. The Altmer felt the breath leave his body, and Argis dipped his head down and kissed the flesh of his bare thigh, so close to his heat that it made Rumirin jolt and groan.

Argis gave him an amused look and pulled the leathers down further, Rumirin arching his back to allow the Nord to pull them off completely. Heavy hands pulled at the hem of his cotton shirt and Rumirin went frantically to yank it off over his head, but Argis stopped him, sliding it calmly off his body to reveal the taut gold flesh underneath.

Rumirin hissed involuntarily and was quieted with Argis's lips on his; then trailing hot half-kisses down the side of the Altmer's neck as he moaned shamelessly and bucked his hips without thinking.

"Wow," the Nord breathed into his ear, nibbling on the lobe before releasing it and laving his tongue along the shell. Rumirin whimpered, finally fisting his hands into the bed sheets. His arousal was already beginning to ache just from the simple kisses and touches on his bare skin. If Argis could do this to him by just undressing him… well, Rumirin couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

Impatiently, he began to tug on Argis's tunic, easing the straps before having his hand pushed away. Rumirin almost looked annoyed, and the Nord couldn't help but laugh as he yanked down the man's small clothes and was rewarded with a yelp.

The elf moved to cover himself, completely torn between his shame and lust. Argis forced his legs apart with a knee and pressed both of his hands into the mattress, preventing him from moving.

He gave him a stare, Rumirin able to return with little more than a blushed face and pleading eyes. Confident he'd placated the man (for now), Argis dipped his head down and licked the head of Rumirin's weeping arousal just once with the entire flat of his tongue. He was vaguely aware of the Altmer groaning throatily and he felt the veins in his hands tense under his palms. Argis laced his fingers into the elf's and took him into his mouth, toying his tongue on the bottom side of the mer's cock. Rumirin could feel his thighs tremble with effort, trying to stop himself from bucking up into the wet heat.

Finally after what seemed like years of delicious torture, Argis began to suck, hollowing his cheeks around Rumirin's dick. The elf wrenched his hand out from under the Nord's grip to press it against his open mouth, muffling his cries as Argis found he wanted more of them. Gold and white eyes shifted to meet the Altmer's green gaze, and Argis moaned softly around him as he saw the elf staring down at him, his expression completely clouded by lust as he bit the knuckle of his first finger. He couldn't even look at the elf without being reminded of the ache against his leg.

Argis turned the tables constantly, each time just as Rumirin felt he could control himself. Within a few moments the elf threw his head back and groaned, warning Argis only to have the Nord pull his hips forward at the last moment, swallowing him completely and leave the Altmer to buck and heatedly moan as he came hard.

Argis pulled away, licking the wet from his lips away. Rumirin couldn't be bothered to stop the whimper that rose from his throat as he watched him. He forced himself to sit up farther, bending down to try and kiss the Nord, who leaved forward and pressed him down on the bed again.

"You're really over-dressed," Rumirin pointed out breathily, still trying to steady himself, wrapping his arms around Argis's shoulders and pressing kisses to the man's bared throat. "You should fix that."

"That must be terrible for you," Argis countered, raising an eyebrow and pressing his hips to the Altmer's thigh, wrenching a half-strangled moan from him.

Rumirin pushed him off with what little strength he still held, unlacing the top of the Nord's shirt with fluttering fingers as his heart began to pound in his ears again. He eventually pulled it off and was rewarded with planes of muscle and the light hair dusting Argis's broad chest. Those twin red tattoos mocked him, dipping down into the line of the Nord's pants, beyond his vision.

The elf ran his hands downwards, tracing the muscles of Argis's torso, relishing in the way the Nord's breath hitched, marveling at the reactions Rumirin was pulling out of him just with his palms.

"I…" Rumirin cleared his throat uselessly, swallowing his hesitation. "I wanna see how far down those tattoos go."

A hot tongue slid across his neck, pulling an embarrassingly throaty moan from the Altmer, and he heard the buckle of a belt being undone, his nerves pulling at his muscles and sending him to shake. He moved away from Argis, long enough for the Nord to tug his pants off his hips. Those gods damned tattoos slide down even further than that. Rumirin moved forward, hissing a breath through his teeth as he saw Argis straining through his small clothes. He pulled them down, blush covering his face immediately as he realized the tattoos stopped just above the top of his thigh. Raising his face to Argis, he felt his cheeks get hotter when Argis grinned down at him.

"Pretty damned far."

"Lucky paint scratcher," Rumirin muttered. "I'm a bit jealous."

The jealousy faded when Argis tanged a hand through his brown hair and pulled him forward, kissing him deeply and heatedly. Drawing the Nord's smallclothes down, he took his cock in hand and began to work it slowly, pulling a moan from Argis as he ate the sound from his mouth. He could only concentrate on the little breathy pants the Nord made when he pulled away to breathe, and Rumirin finally opened his eyes long enough to see Argis throw his head back and groan, finally allowing his hips to buck forward into the Altmer's hand. Every muscle in his body strained beautifully, and Rumirin was taken aback by it for a few moments. He ran his thumb along the head, smearing the stain of pre-cum across the skin, sending Argis to grit his teeth and fist his hands into the sheets of the bed.

"Rumirin, I'm going to come."

It was a fair enough warning, but the Altmer found himself dipping his head down, laving his tongue across Argis's length without fully processing what in Oblivion he was doing. He began to suck, bobbing his head in the man's lap as Argis finally swore Rumirin's name, sending the ghost of a smile to the Altmer's face.

Argis came with a groan, leaving Rumirin to swallow what he could with a slight grimace and a hint of self-satisfaction. He could feel arousal once again working down his spine and the moan, and he leaned back, falling onto the bed sheets, licking his lips. After a few moments, Argis joined him, falling into place beside him on the huge mattress. The Altmer moved to kiss him, pressing his open mouth against Argis's with a hint of desperation. The Nord returned the gesture with a small bit of violence, nipping the elf's lower lip and holding it between his teeth for a moment while Rumirin shook with heat.

Taking notice, Argis took the Altmer's aching cock into his hand, stroking him once again until he was teetering on the edge of a shuddering orgasm. The Nord pressed his face into the crook of Rumirin's warm neck, lapping at the golden skin until it felt pleasantly raw. Heat flooded to Rumirin's face as he realized how easily the Nord got him riled up, and he tried to hold out his climax for just a bit longer…

Teeth latched on to his throat, pressing down with not even a hint of hesitation. That little bit of brutality was what Rumirin had craved for longer than he'd cared to admit. He lost himself in pleasure, moaning like a common whore, spilling onto Argis's hand and his own stomach as the Nord's tongue soothed red flesh.

He caught his breath, shivering and shimmering with comfortable haze as Argis drew the bed sheets over them, taking Rumirin in thick arms and entrapping him in his embrace. The Altmer didn't mind.

"This was a good birthday."

He heard Argis chuckle under his breath, and the outline of a smile pressed into his neck.

"The day's not over yet."

(A/N: Eeek! Thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows. There will be one chapter after this one, and then it's complete! Hope you've enjoyed so far!)