'Hemorrhage (Love Lies Bleeding)',
Fuel
This chapter is
a lemon! Not a very graphic lemon, but a lemon all the same. You have been
warned.
The demon was quiet as he
returned to the caves. He reformed himself, building a body from the water that
made the rock dangerously slippery, and kept any warmth from lingering in this
cold, dank place. He reformed with his eyes closed, amber points shut against
the sight he knew was awaiting him.
He had stayed away for some
time. As he had said, time had little meaning here. Still, it was time he
needed, however long it had truly been. But he couldn't hide from it anymore,
now. He had to come back, to whatever the end might be. Houjun was just beyond
the shadows, on that bed Hikou had
dragged down here, and he was waiting for Hikou. Waiting for the end.
Hikou might as well give it
to him.
His eyes opened, and he
found himself looking at the monk. He had managed to get himself upright,
sitting on the bed, his legs folded carefully under him. The sheet had been arranged
to hide any evidence of his nakedness below the waist. It was creatively tucked
about his legs and backside till it looked like he was wearing a rather dingy
skirt. His hands were curled up in meditative mudras on his knees, and his
single eye was closed. With the cave so quiet but for the dripping, Hikou could
hear his rhythmic, practiced breathing. With his other senses, he could detect
the rise in the other man's ki. Had he been meditating and restoring himself
all this time?
But then that burgundy eye
opened, and Chichiri's gaze found him, even in the darkness. "You can come out
now. We both know you are there, and we cannot finish this game till you make
the next move."
Hikou rankled under the
flat order from his captive, his eyes narrowing to slivers. Houjun was in no
position to order the Shittenou about yet he found himself stepping from the
shadow. "Is that all this is to you?" he asked, "Or is it what you think it is
to me? Just a game?" His voice was soft, but querulous.
"Every cat must toy with
it's mouse," Houjun answered simply. Gone was the sorrow and the grief and the
fear. In it's place was placid calm, the reflection of meditations on peace and
the God of Love—who was also the god of harmony. "I doubt you have the honor to
take a clean kill, if that's what you wish."
Hikou's face remained
neutral, carefully set into a dispassionate blankness. "Is that it? Or,
perhaps, I'm playing with you even now," he stepped forward, waving a hand in
an idle gesture, his long sleeves trailing with the motions. "And perhaps I was
before. Could I have been? Could I have told you that to throw you off guard?
Or maybe I should have told you that Kouran and I had been fucking for months.
Would you have been shocked? Would you have wept? Or would you have gotten
angry again, like you did then?"
The monk's serenity began
to falter. "I'm sure you've played out every strategy, Hikou. Every possible
move, every possible dialogue has been played out behind your eyes. You know
how to put me into check with skill."
"You could be playing the
game too, Houjun. Are you so certain you're not?" Hikou suggested, his lips
curling in a sneer. "Or have you found your moral high ground now? Safe above
the flood water of hypocrisy."
Houjun's single eye began
to burn darkly, ire rising with him. He didn't want to give into anger, but
slowly, it began to fuel the words that fell from his lips. "Saa… I at least
was honest in my hate and blunt in my rage. This game of yours is hardly that.
You've figured out how to hurt me. But it's what I deserve, isn't it? For my
sin against you," despite the acceptance of the words, his tone was anything
but. There was anger. Bitterness. Hurt.
"Saa. Gotten over yourself,
have you? Your words are resigned, but your tone is not," Hikou came closer as
he spoke, his neutrality broken by a twist of his lips. And another, and
another, until a full fledged smirk found itself on his face. Amusement was
writ across his face; in the glimmer of his eyes, the cruel twist of his lips.
"And there you sit. A monk of his Feathered Holiness. And here I am, a demon
damned to hell—which I blame you for, I might add, in case you haven't
noticed."
He leaned down, now,
closing the space between himself and his victim. "How does it feel now,
Houjun? How does it feel to know that you were lied to? Betrayed by someone you
trusted?" His hand lifted, and he traced a line across the monk's jaw. Houjun
jerked back, but Hikou continued to reach for him, to touch invasively. "Funny
how hormones ruin everything. Attached at the hip one moment, sucking face with
the other's girlfriend and then tossing each other into rivers the next." His
eyes narrowed and his lips curled into a crescent of cruelty, even as Houjun's
good hand began to tremble. "Welcome to reality, Houjun. There isn't much to
it, is there?"
Houjun glared. Finally
giving into anger, his single eye burned with it as he stared at his tormentor.
"Your lies will get you nowhere. I know the truth of things! You instrumented
your own death with your dishonesty… If you really loved me, like you
said you did, you wouldn't have ruined my wedding! You would have let me be
happy! Love means sacrifice!"
Hikou met the accusation
with laughter.
The demon straightened, and
he tossed his head back and cackled at the monk. He ignored Houjun, no matter that the monk was trying to rise, his
hand was trembling as he pushed himself up from the bed.
"Do you honestly believe
that? Even after everything, do you still cling to the illusion that love
exists?" Hikou retorted. "Are you still that eighteen year old boy that had
eyes for no one but his 'true love'?" He turned his head, and spat to the side,
as if he were defiling the very idea. "Grow up, Houjun. Love is a sugarcoating
for lust. And lust asks for everything, and gives nothing in return. With
lust—there's no sacrifice."
Houjun stood there, legs
trembling and ribs aching. "I think you're wrong," he said. "Though, by your
own words, you invalidate all your own piteous cries for love. You never loved
me at all, and all of this is simply because I didn't look on you as a lover."
"You didn't even realized I
existed, Houjun, once you turned your eyes to Kouran," was the return scoff.
"You forgot me. Your family. You built your world around her, and as far as the
rest of us didn't exist." The demon's eyes narrowed. "Do you know Kouran's
sister was trying to court me? Did you know that your brother was considering
leaving the farm to you and going to Eiyou, to make his fortune there? Did you
see beyond her? Or were you simply being selfish and pretending there was
nothing beyond your precious romance?"
Houjun blinked once, twice,
the anger in his dark eye abruptly turning to shock. "Umiko? And you?" His
brows knitted. No. He hadn't known. Any of it. It showed plain on his face as
it twisted up in a grimace. This disturbed him; had he really been so blind?
"No one could get your
attention, Houjun," Hikou whispered now, sliding closer over the water as he
saw his opening. "You didn't care about anything except your happiness. And how
could you expect me to get your attention any other way… than with her?" He
didn't want her, but he would use her. If he couldn't have Houjun, then he
would have Houjun's wife-to-be.
"No—no, it wasn't like
that," the monk denied lamely, even as he began to doubt. "You could have said something!"
"Said what? 'Hey, Houjun,
would you like to try the other side of the fence and fuck?'" As Houjun's jaw
dropped at the blunt statement, Hikou made his move. Hands lashed out with the
quickness of serpents and took a hold of the man's shoulders, drawing him in
for a fast, hard kiss.
Houjun gasped sharply as cool lips claimed his own and Hikou took full
advantage. His tongue swept out, tasting the inside of Houjun's lips, and
eliciting a strangled gasp from the other man. Houjun's good hand made contact
with Hikou's chest, pushing hard against him. The demon let him go—and Houjun
fell back onto the bed with the force of his own shove.
Even as Houjun's head
smacked against the cavern wall that the bed was pressed against, Hikou
smirked, looking down at his startled and dazed prey. "So, do you? Want to
fuck, that is."
"H-Hikou!" Despite Houjun's
gasped protest, Hikou was down upon the bed within moments, the straw was
crunching beneath their shared weight. The demon's mouth was now wandering
across his neck, even as Houjun pushed ineffectually against his shoulder,
shuddering as cool lips tracked over his skin, chilling him slightly. Hikou
didn't notice the pushing fall away, nor the quiet that came over his
companion.
He did notice the
trembling.
Hikou did not stop for a
time, laying cool kisses in a line to the first bandage that curled around the
monk's chest. And there he paused, pressing his brow to the living man's chest,
the cool stone of the jade circle he wore at his brow colder then his lips had
been. "You're trembling. But you're not fighting."
Houjun did not answer.
"What is it? Scared? Like it?
Don't like it? Worried? Hurting?" he lifted his head, quietly asking. The rage
and anger was gone from both, and for the demon the feelings that had damned
him renewed themselves, deep within. He gazed down at his captive, his eyes
bright with his ardor. He saw that Houjun's eyes were closed, his face drawn
with tension. Hikou reached up and caressed his cheek, watching the eye flutter
open, confusion in the burgundy orb.
"I'll give you this one
chance," Hikou said softly. "To escape. I won't stop you. Go if you want." But
then his eyes glittered with a dark sort of mirth. "But if you don't, in the
next few moments, I'm taking the sheet away."
A long moment passed
between the pair, as they gazed at one another, Hikou's eyes reflecting the
distraught monk's face. But then, oddly, a strange sort of calm passed over the
monk's visage, and he raised his hands to the heavy weight of his prayerbeads;
their holy nature meant that no demon could remove them.
Hikou waited for the
inevitable; the swell of ki, and the emptiness of the straw bed. Houjun's
fingers tightened about his beads—and then, he lifted his head, and clumsily
took them off.
Hikou's jaw sagged, his
eyes widening as he watched Houjun tug at them once when they became entangled
with his ponytail. With a jerk, garnering a wince from the monk, they were free
of him, and he dropped them off the side of the bed. The sound they made when
they struck damp stone was almost musical.
They stared at each other
once more, Hikou's eyes wide, Houjun's single eye serene.
The shittenou's mouth
worked mutely for a moment, but then he stopped himself. The choice was made
for both of them. There was no going back now.
His hands went to the sheet
and he slowly began to draw it away, and leisurely revealed the lean form
beneath him. Houjun's body was pale and lean, battled scarred; bandages
obscured most of his chest, and elsewhere there were little reminders that the
man had lived through the war with Kutou-koku. A slash here, a gouge there.
Ugly memories writ deep into his flesh.
But Hikou drew it further,
ignoring the shiver the cool air inspired in the monk. Down over narrow hips,
and then finally, simply away, gathered up from his legs and set aside. Hikou
sat on his haunches and gazed at the sight bared to him, no matter that Houjun
turned his face away, embarrassed beyond all measure.
Bloody, dirty, and
feverish, his naked form had not been beautiful. Houjun had simply been meat
then. Now, now Hikou remembered why he had wanted him when he was a youth. From
the maimed visage, to the soft manhood nestled in sparse, azure blue curls,
Hikou felt a surge of old emotion; desire mingling with something softer.
Fonder then simply lust.
"Saa…" the demon uttered
softly—and then began to strip hastily. Houjun blinked at the haste the demon
made, watching as he kicked off his shoes, and began to tug at his robes, his
wings flaring behind him as he rose from the bed to attempt to undress.
"Hikou, this is not a
race," he gave as a weak rejoinder, but merely got a snort from the demon in
return.
"It might be," Hikou said
cryptically. Regardless, he continued with his feverish undressing until Houjun
sat up and reached out to grasp his
clothes.
There was a surge of magic,
before Hikou abruptly found himself very aware of a draft. Now it was his turn
to flush, as Houjun kept his gaze trained strictly on the demon's face and
handed him his neatly folded clothing. "Handy trick," the shittenou said
ruefully.
"Never really put it to use
till now, unless it was with the injured," Houjun admitted, still keeping his
eyes carefully on his companion's face. The clothes were set at the end of the
bed. Hikou and Houjun found themselves staring at each other once again.
Hikou paused there—flushing
now. "Should have done this before I got undressed," he muttered. But even as
he spoke those words, violet flame began to lick around his form, and his wings
spread wide—before abruptly retracting into his back, vanishing from sight. The
unnatural flame died away.
Houjun could not help but
stare; Hikou blushed slightly under the intensity of his gaze. "I am dead,
Houjun. But I can simulate life when I need to. Though I doubt that it was ever
intended for anything like this."
Not sparing anymore words,
Hikou returned to the bed, stiff length already bobbing between his legs, an
acute ache that demanded satisfaction. The demon-turned-man's attempts to
contain his eagerness ultimately failed, but he wasn't rough. His hands were
quickly placed on his partner's shoulders, and he pushed him gently back. Now,
Houjun didn't tremble, instead doing as he was directed, docile as a lamb.
Hikou's head dipped downward even as he laid the shichiseishi against the straw
mat and found his throat with his now-warm lips, and lapped gently at his
captive's neck. He was hardly experienced, but having seven long years to get
ideas, it didn't take him long to figure out what he wanted to do.
Kisses quickly turned to
suckling, as he found the sensitive places on Houjun's neck; he toyed with his
earlobes, traced the shell of an ear with his tongue, and gained shivers that
were not of revulsion. Everything was new for both; neither had ever had a
lover, and slowly Hikou began to discover what he could do. Houjun's vocal demonstrations
were minimal; he was quiet. Very quiet. He gasped softly, and whimpered on
occasion as Hikou's mouth worked over his skin, nibbling at his collarbone,
making his way south with deliberation. But the reactions of his body were
obvious. The tension, the tremble, the shudders; it didn't take demonic powers
to figure out that he could in fact arouse the man, even if it did take work.
But he was willing.
Oh, gods, was he willing!
Hands and mouth grew warmer
as the press of bodies generated heat of their down. Hikou was careful not to
lie atop Houjun, as the monk was still quite damaged. Straddling his legs,
Hikou slid his fingertips over Houjun's hips as his mouth skipped over the
monk's bandaged torso. They were not as warm, perhaps, as the shichiseishi, but
the illusion of humanity was almost totally complete. His hands were certainly
warm enough that they didn't shrink Houjun's manhood when Hikou grasped him
gently.
The intimate touch made the
monk's half-lidded, hazy eye fly open as he felt Hikou explore him with curious
fingertips, feeling the odd sensation of his own body harden at another's
touch. His life had been one of denial of sensuality, and so to feel his body
pulse with this new rhythm was alien, and not a little frightening. He
whimpered, the sound fearful, as he shifted under the demon's touch. Hikou took
a place at his side now, lying carefully along the edge of the bed.
"Shush," he whispered. "I'm
not going to hurt you." The soft assurance did little to assuage the fear in
that single eye, but the nuzzling kiss the demon dropped to his lips slowly
worried away his apprehension. Hikou's
hands slid along the half-firm length, coaxing him to further fullness, even as
amber eyes drank up the sight of the monk.
He was gentle, surprisingly
enough; Houjun expected him to be otherwise. But still—Hikou had said he loved
him at one moment, and then said love was only a coating for lust the next. But
slowly those thoughts drifted away as the arousal those hands generated began
to drive away all but the most persistent of worries. He couldn't deny it; it
felt good!
The hand did not stop, even
as Hikou began to situate himself between the other's legs. Where Houjun's
erection was not quite complete, Hikou's was well past; it was a brand between
his legs, leaving him on the edge of frustration. But that didn't stop him from
eventually resting the living man's legs on his shoulders, and carefully
dipping downward.
Hikou cast a glance at
Houjun, waiting for him to look at him, as he was poised above the throbbing
length captured in his hand. Houjun was sure there was amusement; almost as if
asking him, 'Well, looky here! What do I do now?' in jest. His eyebrows arched
upward, and only increased the impression the monk had gleaned. And then, he dropped
his head quietly, mouth opening, before he extended his tongue, garnering a
shocked gasp as it first.
Houjun's voice rose in
abrupt shock. "Wh-what are y-you d-doing!?" He stammered, his single eye the
size of a saucer.
Hikou smirked, as he tentatively
licked across the tip of the living man's cock, taking pleasure in the shock on
his victim's face, before Houjun collapsed back to the pillow with a groan.
Hikou shook his head, chuckling at the low whine that rose from his partner's
throat, before simply and carefully taking the head within his mouth. His teeth
scraped slightly, until he had the good sense to wrap his lips about them,
deciding that it wouldn't do well to gnaw on Houjun's organ.
He found a rhythm, slow and
steady, careful of his partner. Never mind that Houjun's eye was rolling back
in his head and his chest had begun to heave with deep pants, Hikou was still
worried that he would not really be pleasured. Anyone could get a man up; it
took skill to get a man off, right? Unable to really answer his own question or
calm his own fears of inadequacy, he continued to bob up and down, slowly
taking the monk within the cavern of his mouth before sliding up until he only
held the head in his mouth, giving it a firm suckle before back down again.
While Hikou worried about
his oral skills, Houjun's fingers found their way into the demon's dark blue
hair. But annoyance took the shittenou as Houjun's hips began to work with him,
and he found himself dealing with a wriggling lover who seemed to want to help
him when he didn't need any assistance. He lifted his hands, and pressed them
to Houjun's hips; in the monk's weakened state, it was more then enough to keep
him from bucking, for the most part. While Houjun was not fantastically
endowed, the first abrupt and unexpected thrust into Hikou's mouth nearly left
him gagging.
All the same, he did his
work well. "H-Hikou…" the monk gasped, but Hikou did not hear him. The demon
slid upward, and found himself tasting… ki. At least, it was a form of it.
Lifeforce, ki, and the man's seed—they all had the same essence within them. He
found he didn't mind it much; it was not a really a taste he was accustomed to,
but found that it was not at all unpleasant. He paused, to lap at the tip
delicately, gathering it into his mouth—before the monk abruptly jerked beneath
him and he found he had much more of that fluid ki than he had bargained for.
But he did not jerk away.
He held to Houjun's hips, trying to keep him from bucking wildly, as that first
orgasm overtook the monk's unprepared senses. But once his thrashing stilled,
Hikou carefully let him slide free—never mind the mouthful of seed that he held
behind his lips. His first thought was a moment of indecision and inexperience:
just what the hell could he do with a mouthful of come?
Houjun turned glassy eyes
to Hikou, and for a moment, they stared at each other, as Hikou debated just
want to do with the fluid in his mouth. His brow quivered once—and Houjun began
to snicker. And with the beginning of his laughter, Hikou turned his head and
spat violently, expelling the sticky fluid with one mighty 'ptui!'
Houjun only laughed harder,
voice husked from the night's activities.
"Oh, go ahead and laugh at
me after I've just given my first blow job," Hikou retorted, though he realized
just how comical he looked, reaching up to brush the remaining fluid from his
face and flicking it away with his fingers. "Baka. Like you would do better
your first time."
"The… the look on your
face…" Houjun gasped out between chuckles. "It was… so… priceless." His hands
folded on his chest, his gaze disconcertingly close to acceptance; perhaps even
affectionate.
"Saa… Bastard. See if I
ever get you off again," the demon replied, as he crept down against the other
man, his eyes half-lidded. His body was a shock for the lust-heated monk, but
he adjusted easily enough; though the weight of Hikou's erection, hot against
his leg, was a reminder that he was sated where the demon was not.
Wasn't it the demon that
had wanted this in the first place?
"You… you're still…" The
monk tried to come around and simply say it; but years of denying that his own
organs existed for anything other then waste disposal was something that was
deeply ingrained now.
"Hard as a rock?" Hikou
suggested after he realized the man couldn't finish the sentence. At Houjun's
nod, the man just smirked. "Well, if you wanna help me out with that…"
"I don't think... I can do
what you just did," Houjun said quickly, his eye widening. Hikou just laughed
at him; there was no mockery to his tone, only rich amusement at his
companion's innocence.
"Yes you can," Hikou
replied, brushing away any argument. "You've got one good hand, don't you?" The
demon paused as Houjun blushed furiously. "Please, now. You can't tell me
you've never," he smirked, as he gave a colorful euphemism for the activity he
was about to suggest, "pumped the monk?"
Houjun turned purple.
He stammered; for a moment, Hikou wondered if he might swallow his tongue in
his shock. "Houjun?"
"I've never—I mean, I don't—I'm
a MONK!" Houjun's face scrunched up in embarrassment which was quickly made
all the worse by Hikou's riotous laughter. "Stop that! It's not—I don't—I was
saving myself!"
"You're serious, aren't
you?" Hikou asked as the chuckles died down, leaving him only with a tremor of
laughter in his chest. "You… you didn't even before? Not even to the thought of
her?"
Houjun's eye darkened.
"Never. I would never debase her or myself that way. It's… It's wrong."
"So's having a man go down
on you and make you cry out in ecstasy, Houjun," Hikou reminded gently, before
he reached out for the monk's hand. He propped one leg up, and then guided
Houjun's hand to his throbbing erection. "You just felt what it's like... Think
you can figure it out from there?"
Hikou's hand disengaged
from Houjun's, as the monk paused to try and figure out just what he should do.
What had Hikou done? He couldn't really pay a lot of attention! Should he have?
"I…" He stammered—but then slowly curled his fingers around Hikou's length, and
began to explore him. He didn't stroke, per se, but merely let his hand wander,
feeling his length gently, from base to tip, feeling it twitch under his touch.
He explored the curvature of one vein, and heard his companion give a low sigh.
"Hikou?"
"Go on," the demon rasped
softly.
Houjun nodded weakly,
before remembering; Hikou had encircled him. And so, he made a small, loose
fist and then drew it back and forth along the demon's shaft. Now, he got a
reaction! Hikou's breathing turned erratic, and Houjun watched his face begin
to contort and relax, as the monk drew along his skin. He began to move
quicker, wondering if that would help, and marveled as Hikou's hips jerked
against his touch.
"Houjun…" the demon moaned
now, his eyelids fluttering as the other man finally gave him a release; the
orgasm that Houjun brought him to was not earth shattering, ground breaking, or
otherwise memorable except for the fact that it had not been Hikou's own hands,
fantasizing that the monk was the one touching him.
When he came, Houjun jumped
in startlement at the seed that spurted; scoring the demon's belly, splattering
against Houjun's arm and hand. And while they lay in the after math, Houjun
idly considering the stickiness that coated their skin, he heard the demon
whimper once, before falling silent. "Hikou?" he asked in concern. "Daijoubu?"
He was greeting by silence;
the demon's face was slack—peaceful for the first time since Houjun had seen
him since becoming a demon. "I'm fine, I'm fine," Hikou assured. "More then
fine." But the tone of his voice betrayed certain dissatisfaction—this hadn't
been quite what the demon desired for his first encounter.
Hikou's hands slid down,
trying to wipe away the ejaculate that coated his belly, but only succeeded in
getting it on his hands. Houjun also had little luck in removing the sticky
substance, and he disliked the feel of it on his skin. But after a moment,
neither cared. The monk, beaten and sore, knew that the tingly afterglow of orgasm
would soon leave him aching again. Hikou, for his part, was simply not as
fulfilled as he had hoped he would be.
Hikou did not move from the
bed, despite the lackluster finish to the evening—but he dragged the blanket up
over them. Houjun stayed still through it all; but quietly realized that Hikou
intended to stay the night. He swallowed softly, his voice rough. "Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi," came the unsure
reply.
