Yup..so I decided to go back to bi-weekly updates to give myself more time to finalize the upcoming chapters.

This is actually part 2 of the last chapter that I felt had a much better impact as its own chapter. Hope you all enjoy ;)

ANNOUNCEMENT: For those of you who haven't seen my profile: I will be posting a Halloween fic called The Raccoon and the Shadow King (title may change)-having been inspired by a dream about shapeshifters and the Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack ;) See my profile for the summary. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Own nothing but the plot.

Dedications: To my readers and reviewers! Thank you all so much! You keep me going and encourage me to kick my own lazy butt into high gear.

Chapter XLIX: Zeal

The next morning, Yugi woke to clear skies and the rising sun. The sun had dismantled last night's rain, leaving only a clear, crisp, uninterrupted blue and the promise of a sweet day.

A lazy arm stretched to block the flares of lemon light streaming through the curtains. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He felt strongly nostalgic, but there was something else—a strange weight inside his chest. Not so much a pain or an ache, but something odd and lingering, more an uncertainty than an annoyance.

"What was I doing before I fell asleep?" he wondered in a drowsy voice, rubbing sleep from his eyes. What hour was it? He shifted under the sheets and a cool breeze reminded him he was naked.

Last night's memories surfaced like a distant dream. He sprang up, startled by the realization. What had happened the night before? It was the question that sent his heart palpitating. He blushed when the furs pooled around his hips, exposing his nudity. Frantically, he pulled at the covers, hoping to hide them but found he could not. Slowly, unwillingly, he looked down at his naked hips. He blushed redder. Dear Ra, there were bruises where Timaeus had kissed him? Timaeus' fingerprints branding him, marking him, strategically-placed where only he could see.

"Timaeus!" Yugi finally called out in a shrill shriek. Where was Timaeus? Had he—did they? Had they…?

"Hnnngghh," came the low, muffled groan.

Slowly, Yugi became aware of the weight tugging on his sheets, and the familiar spidery touches gently clasping his hips, and the warm, gentle brush of soft skin and coarse hair against the small of his back.

Yugi spun over—and found Timaeus curled at his side, lightly snoring and his cheeks snuggled against Yugi's hip, slumbering innocently and ignorant of the obvious distress he caused his younger lover. Briefly stupefied, Yugi's jaw dropped, his red face crimsoning further and unsure if he should laugh or scream. Sensing a giggle rising in his throat, he covered his mouth to smother it. A snort escaped him. If Timaeus noticed it, he gave no indication of it.

Lying back on his side, he studied the sleeping profile: the relaxed brows, the soft cheeks, the sweet, dreaming smile of his lips, and Yugi could only smile. He'd almost forgotten how peaceful Timaeus looked when he slept, like a child in the warm embrace of his mother. His eyes fell on those thin, strong lips, smiling so gently, and wondered what it would be like to kiss them, and he found himself acting on that desire. It was a chaste kiss: quick and feather-soft and yet he saw Timaeus' sleeping smile curl wider in his sleep and felt his hands slipping around his waist and pulling him into a tight embrace, mumbling.

"Hmmm, my Yugi… agape mou…joon-am… jăné del-am… glykia mou… ătashé del-am… mine… mine… mine…" he muttered, a cacophonous combination of hard, rough sounds and sweet, soothing lulls laced with adoring love and possessive lust. All words in a language Yugi did not recognize, but wondered if in his subliminal state, Timaeus' had slipped into his native tongue. Yugi shuddered when his hard, heated skin brushed over his naked hips and chest—brushing, tasting, teasing even in his sleep.

His shivered, his body trembling with delight and eyes glittering with lust. How easy, he wondered, would it be to wake him and continue what they'd begun the night before? Did he want to?

Yugi already knew the answer. And it terrified him as much as it exhilarated him.

Tiny lights flickered over the sea, signaling the dawn, and Yugi knew it would be rising soon.

"T-Timaeus…" He pushed the unconscious man away easily, but not without reluctance. "Wake up." He shook his shoulders firmly. Still no answer. "It's dawning. You have to wake up."

The man's groan morphed into a growl and he rolled over. He must be tired, Yugi concluded. The man never slept past dawn. Yugi almost felt guilty for wanting to wake him—but then last night's memories resurfaced and a blush of uncertainty turned his whole body crimson.

"Wake up, you lazy old man!" Yugi snapped louder, shoving at his back, but Timaeus was stronger and slept like a boulder wedged in a ravine. With a loud, animalistic sound, Timaeus rolled over. Yugi plopped face first on the bed.

"Lazy bastard." He swore an oath of frustration. Then a thought struck him. His smile curled into a smirk. Carefully, he crawled over his lover and gently nudged his right shoulder. His smile widened when the man groaned again and rolled onto his back. Taking advantage of the new position, Yugi braced himself over his husband and crushed their lips together.

Timaeus' eyes snapped open. Galvanized awake, magnesium thundered through his blood like an electric current. The beast hidden within him raged and screamed to be released to devour Yugi. Timaeus gripped Yugi's hips and tied to shove him away, but Yugi expected such resistance and so threw all his weight against the man's chest, forcing him down and pinning him on his back. Yugi straddled his thigh and cupped Timaeus' face to deepen the kiss.

Caught unaware, Timaeus gave a gasp of surprise, which Yugi took full advantage of and soon, Yugi's tongue was in his mouth. Yugi's ambrosia taste was intoxicating and addicting and left his mind spinning. He tasted like fire: the reinvigorating warmth, and sharp, spicy heat, and the tender sweetness that reminded him of pomegranates. His hands settled on Yugi's hips and he moved to return the kiss—and was surprised again when Yugi pulled away and settled on the end of the bed, naked and smirking.

"Are you awake now, you lazy boy?" came the coquettish tease, underscored by the bird-like cock of his head.

With a roughish shudder, Timaeus grinned. "I am." His voice was grated and rough from sleep and last night's lust. "That was quite a delightful way to wake up." He closed his eyes and paused deliberately. "Now then…" His eyes sharpened and a tight, curled smile split his face. "Where in God's name did you learn to kiss a man like that, my so-claimed little virgin?" His voice was a single, dangerously low breath, all huskiness and desire.

Yugi's only response was a spirited grin. With a coquettish flick of his hips and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, he hopped off the bed and laughed. "I am a virgin, but I never said I was prudent…" he finished with a saucy wink.

Timaeus' eyes were blazing emerald and flickering pearl, like fire trapped in gemstones. The beast inside Timaeus saw it and growled like a hungry tiger all too impatient to pounce. "Careful, Yugi…" Timaeus he warned stiffly. His face scrunched in a pinched frown and there was a barely-controlled twitch above his left eye. "Before I can no longer control myself."

Yugi stared at him with a mixture of confusion and almost agitation. "What are you talking about?" Yugi demanded, slightly annoyed. Hadn't they already moved past this?

The twitch above Timaeus' blank eye became obvious. "Damn!" He unfolded himself and stood, his voice gruff and all breath.

"I know you're not playing coy…" he mumbled more to himself.

Yugi stared at him, perplexed and slightly annoyed. "What?" he half-demanded.

Timaeus' eyes twitched again and he wrung his fingers. "Little one," he said, voice strained and choked with impatience. His eyes locked dead on Yugi's blazing ones with the barely-controlled hunger of a lion in heat. "Do you not remember what happened the night previous?"

The prince blushed, but kept his frown. "I do." He asked in an obvious tone to continue.

Timaeus looked like he wanted to scream. "Then you remember, of course, how you fell asleep while I was in the middle of pleasuring you?" Timaeus was over him now, eyes blazing and his voice was a barely-restrained rasp. "And do you," he continued in the same gruff, pinched voice, "understand how difficult it is for a man to restrain himself when doing such things with his lover?" A deliberate pause, letting the information sink. Then he punctured each word with a sentence. "Very. Very. Difficult."

It struck Yugi like fireworks: sudden and all at once. His face suffused with color and all irritation vanished from his face, replaced with mortified understanding.

Timaeus pulled away and expelled an exasperated sigh. "Please don't make me explain it."

Yugi shook his head frantically. "I understand!" he said quickly.

"Thank heavens for that." Timaeus sighed in relief and removed himself from the bed. He reached for the wardrobe, but Yugi snatched his wrist and pushed his weight against the other's strong muscular frame.

"What if I don't want you to?" Yugi whispered huskily.

"Yugi…" Timaeus warned, drawing out the name in two long syllables. His voice was rough and dangerously low, but the undertone was laced with lust.

Yugi met his eyes with a leering smirk. There was a kind of beast in there that wanted to come out, and was furious that it wasn't allowed to. Feeling playful, Yugi's talented fingers curled intricate circuits over the broad chest, connecting patterns of scars with feather-soft touches. Timaeus growled and Yugi grinned again, and kissed the scars, tasting the delicious salty skin like caramel on his tongue. Timaeus opened his mouth and what came out was the most delicious combination of sounds that Yugi had ever heard. Despite the confidence in his teasing, his heart was palpitating with a wild, bewildering passion. Throwing his weight against Timaeus, he pressed the man's back against the bed, and smirked victoriously when he moaned in surrender—

— and cried out when Timaeus absorbed a sudden strength and flipped them over, tossing Yugi onto the mattress with Timaeus' hands pinned on either side of him. Suddenly, the man was above him; a possessive fire blazed in his eyes and smirk like a wolf that hadn't eaten in days, and Yugi was his next meal. Yugi shivered, realizing his mistake, and shuffled backwards, falling off the bed and rising quickly. Timaeus was on him, licking his lips—the beast inside him alive and ready to devour Yugi whole. He took a step towards him, but Yugi's retreat matched his step for step.

Only when his back hit the wall did he remember that he was still naked and, if he ever removed those small clothes, so would be Timaeus. Out the corner of his eye, Yugi saw his shift and made a grab for it, but Timaeus smacked his hand away and gently pinned the wrist to the wall. He caught Yugi's free hand and gently placed it level with his head, fingers weaving lovingly with Yugi's. He pressed his body against his and Yugi whimpered when he felt his scorching erection press between his thighs, burning even through the thin cloth of his small clothes. Yugi met his eyes, face stern despite his suddenly-pounding heart.

Timaeus' smirk did not fade.

"How brash of you to think that you could touch me so and I would not retaliate…" Timaeus whispered, low and sweet. His words were more than a promise.

His thumb rubbed massaging circles around the bone of his wrists. Yugi's skin tingled under the touch like thousands of soft feathers tickling him with tiny bursts. So gentle, yet the sensation was so strong and inviting. Then Timaeus lowered his face, passing Yugi's lips, teasing, tasting the soft skin of his collar with kisses as gentle as bird wings.

Yugi willed himself not to moan, but his treacherous body betrayed him and he heaved a sigh of pleasure. He felt Timaeus smirk against his skin, and the tender, loving way his fingers curled around Yugi's own, and the gentle way he held him still. Just a little bit of strength and Yugi would be free—if he wanted to be. A gentle kiss pressed against his heart, more passionate than the others. Yugi craned his neck up to moan. He barely felt it when Timaeus let go of his wrists.

"W-W-Wait, what are you—" he moaned the frantic shriek, then shivered when the hand at his hip curled around his thigh.

"So sensitive, my sweeting," Timaeus barked out a pearl of laughter. His hands were on either side of Yugi's hips, teasing his naked, quivering thighs with soft, stroking fingers.

Yugi's body twitched and shivered independent of his will: hips rising, knees wobbling, legs quaking, thighs parting welcoming and vulnerable. It would've been so easy for Timaeus to press his strong body harder against Yugi's soft and pale one. So easy for Yugi to spread his knees and let Timaeus' strong hands lift his hips and slip between them. So easy for him to undo his lacings, pull himself free, and hold his moaning, trembling lover and slip inside him. And it would've been so easy for Yugi to adjust his hips and sink into his body with his arms wrapped around Timaeus' neck and tighten his quivering thighs around his hips and have Timaeus make love to him.

So simple...

"It makes me long for when our bond becomes more than chaste kisses," Timaeus whispered huskily.

Yugi remembered himself and, unwilling to surrender the game just yet, shoved him away. It was a push of little strength but Timaeus released him anyway.

Yugi tried to smirk despite the huff in his voice. "D-Don't think having my virginity means I'm easily won!" he said boldly.

Timaeus chuckled then leaned over him, still smirking. "If that was all I wanted, I'd have had you in my bed long ago, he said, brave and bold with all the casual ease of someone well-practiced in such arts. "But it is not just your body I want." He leaned closer and held Yugi's chin with a firm hand. His kiss barely brushed Yugi's lips, then rested on Yugi's forehead. "I want your mind…" He trailed a finger down Yugi's chest, resting just above his stomach. "Your body…" The hand traveled upward, slender fingers caressing up and then carefully circling the skin above Yugi's heart. "And soul." He solidified the promise by kissing the skin there.

When he pulled away, he was still smirking but his eyes were loving. "I'm already two-thirds of the way there." Then he kissed him.

It was sweet and promising and with a possessive taste to it, but not ungentle. Yugi parted his lips to return it, but Timaeus pulled away from him smiling, hovering so close Yugi could feel his warm breath on his face. He understood at once what the gesture meant, and made his decision. Clenching the front of Timaeus' shoulders, he pulled him down and kissed him hard on the lips, putting up no resistance when the other's tongue parted his. Dear Ra, if this was what it felt like to surrender then Yugi would submit willingly to all that his husband promised.

But he wasn't ready to end the game just yet. Quickly, Yugi pulled away and swiped his shift off the floor and quickly dressed. Then he spun, letting the garment broadcast his long legs and soft, subtle curves. "Perhaps…" He smirked, winking and backing towards the door. "But the game is not over, and you haven't won yet." Yugi winked, then dashed from the room.

Timaeus smile curled—the smile of a hunter prowling for something far more precious and vital than its next meal. "We shall see." He gave chased and slipped into the shadows.

Yugi spun when he saw the other was not behind him. Too late, he realized his mistake and the other pounced. Yugi shrieked with laughter until the other scooped him over his arms and dropped him squirming onto the bed, the shift rising and giving Timaeus a delicious view of the parts it hid. Suddenly embarrassed by the other's leer, Yugi sat up and pushed it down, glaring red-faced.

Timaeus chuckled and gently brushed Yugi's bangs from his face. "Rest assured, love, we'll only take that final step when you come to me," he promised and pressed a soft kiss to Yugi's lips: chaste and promising. "When," he had said, not "if." Was he truly that confident? The soft, warm press of his lips against Yugi's and the dizzying taste of ambrosia answered his question.

"If you are not ready," Timaeus continued when he pulled away and fished Yugi's champagne garments from the floor, "there is nothing wrong with waiting. I could wait forever."

And once again, Yugi knew Timaeus could and would, as he did last night. He's repeated the very same words and the younger knew it wasn't just a boast.

But despite those promises, Yugi had no intention of delaying the bedding more than necessary. Their marriage needed to be consummated and it wasn't fair to Timaeus—never mind that Yugi himself was just as excited for it as he was nervous about it. He wondered… Had his mother and sisters felt like this on their wedding nights? Perhaps if he'd been less stubborn, he could've asked Mut. Now it was too late, and he had no one else to ask… except…

"Blast!" Timaeus' shout broke the spell of Yugi's thoughts. Timaeus stood at the end of the bed, shaking the silks still drenched from yesterday's rain. "Seems you'll be going in your armor after all." He snorted again and Yugi blushed, recalling the past day's argument. "Unless you're content to go about in damp clothing?" he teased. "Or perhaps you'd rather go in your shift?"

He sounded so certain that Yugi decided to rile him. "I'm sure it'll dry." He snatched them away and dressed quickly. Spending the night in a wet pile had done little to dry them, but after two months at sea, he was used to damp clothing already. "Shame this is my only outfit." Yugi pouted with smirking eyes.

Timaeus blanched then laughed. "Well, I apologize, love. I did not expect to return from Kemet with a bride. If I had, I'd have had apartments filled with the finest silks and robes befitting your status as mine."

"I've no doubt you would." Yugi chuckled and kissed him. "What will happen today?" Yugi asked suddenly.

"I'll be at the helm, watching for the South Gates." Timaeus turned to his mate with a smile. "Will you not joining me?" he offered a hand.

It sounded so tempting, but Yugi shook his head.

"I will meet you there. I need to ask Rhebekka something first."

"Alright. The sky is clear and the winds are on our side. It promises to be a sweet day." He smiled brightly and Yugi watched him go.

"Indeed it does."

(Queen sips her wine) Hope you all enjoy this nice little round of fluff and cirtuis between these two. My fav part about this chapter is Timaeus and just how naively innocent Yugi is-Tim may be a gentlemen but he's still a man, and men have urges that it kills them to hold back. But he loves Yugi way too much to pressure him-and again anyone who's ever been a virgin I think can sympathize with Yugi's situation: he's ready emotionally but physically he's not ready to take that leap...but he's got time to sort it all out (and damnit I cannot WAIT to post THAT lemon!)

Glossary-Timaeus' terms of endearment for Yugi

agape mou-Literally "My Love"; Greek term of endearment used formally or informally but mostly as an intimate term
between couples

joon-am-Literally "My Life"; Persian; a slightly more extreme term of endearment and commonly follows a name (Persians
are extreme with their emotions so this can be used for an intimate friend as well as a lover) Tim uses it as
Yugi-joon, in a more literal sense.

jăné del-am-Literally "The life of my heart"; Persian; Very romantic term of endearment, meant to ignite love and passion

glykia mou-Literally "My sweet", "My Sweetheart"' Greek term of endearment, Timaeus usually calls Yugi sweet one or
sweetling, this is the spartan/greek version of that same name (but passion causes him to slip into his native
tongue)

ătashé del-am-Literally "The fire of my heart"; Persian, common phrase used for loved ones, mean to represent one's fiery
passion and desire for their spouse.

Hope you all enjoyed it :) I'm having so much fun writing this story and did NOT expect to have so much fun writing Part as I did! They're almost at Locri and you all know what that means ;)

as always read, review, comment, critique, post theories, ask me anything (i'm very nice, NOTHING will offend me-even if you hate it GIVE ME A REASON! its how i make the story better)

NEXT TIME: With Locri-and his wedding night-fast approaching, Yugi seeks advice from the ONE person who has any inkling of what's going on.

NEXT UPDATE:October 30