Title: Bed role games
Rating: M
Pairings: Merlin/Arthur
Summary: Anyone wonders what will King Arthur find Merlin doing in his bedchamber after a hard day? Well, Arthur too.
Warnings: Series of related one-shots. Unbeta'd. Slash m/m Merlin/Arthur. Established relationship. CanonAU. Smut, fluff and everything you could think of. I own nothing. English is not my mother language.
Word count for this chapter: around 3,400
AN: As always, sorry for the late update! The excuse, I mean the cause, it's still the same: lots of work, some laziness and I used some time to work on other fics and re-edit the published chapters of this fic (I only corrected some grammar, punctuation and other small mistakes I noticed but everything is still the same). And once more, thanks for the following, favourites and reviews this fic keeps receiving! (Among all them, thanks to SoulMore for their FAN. I received it on my birthday day and it was one of my best presents! It really made me smile like mad!) About this chapter, it's meant to be a transitory one as several things are changing between Merlin and Arthur and in Camelot. And as you have already guessed what's going on, I'm giving you a spoiler for the next chapter: it will be called 'The Sorcerer' (merlinreveal3, you didn't have to ask because I had that chapter planned since the beginning!;)). Now, enjoy!
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7 - The Thief
It had been a very difficult week... Hell, it had been a very difficult month for the king of Camelot. Things were starting to change in Albion's most powerful kingdom and as with any change, it wasn't easy. Being a king meant he had most of the control over the country. He could dictate laws and made people obey them – he even had an army under his command and the best knights in the world. And yet, all that power had limits. And those limits were represented in the council members, the nobles, the knights and the good people of Camelot with their beliefs, hopes and lives.
However, that wasn't what had been worrying the young king lately. The long month of talks with his advisers to draft some new laws had been put on a stand due to alarming news. A group of bandits from a neighbour kingdom had decided to pay Camelot a visit. The result had been a wave of raids to smaller villages, pillage and thefts. It had taken him and his most trusted knights almost a whole week to apprehend all of the criminals since some of them had left the main group and had started to work alone breaking into some nobles' houses.
Finally, Arthur was able to return to his comfy chambers after being reassured that he had all of the bandits behind the bars of Camelot's dungeons waiting for their trial. He nodded to the guards posted in the doors to his rooms and entered them with a tired sigh on his lips. Gods, he was so exhausted that at first he even closed the door behind him without noticing that there was something strange. But there was and that made him frown. Neither the candles nor the fireplace were lit. The only source of light in the room was the dim one from the full moon, which got to sneak in through an open window. There wasn't any sign of his manservant either.
Then he saw it. Movement. Unthinkingly, his hand went to the pommel of his sword and he advanced with as much stealth as if he were in a hunt. And he was right to do so since he soon discovered there was someone in his rooms or, more precisely, under his bed. How did he know? Well, the fact that he could see someone's legs and arse sticking out from under the bed was a help. Arthur had to stifle a laugh at that. Really, who could be so clumsy as to try to hide under a bed and... Wait a minute. An idea came to Arthur's mind. Whoever was there might not be hiding but stealing from him. How hadn't he thought of it before? After all, he had a small chest full of gold coins in there.
The thought that it could be one of the bandits quickly crossed his mind. And so he went into action. He pressed the tip of his sword into that sexy round arse (mmm... no, he didn't think that...) as he said, "Get out of there with your hands up where I can see them if you don't want to end skewered in my sword."
Some rustle could be heard and then very slowly the thief stood up before his king, his hands up in a surrendering pose, his eyes big in fear. He was just a boy. A pretty one at that, despite wearing tattered clothes and being too skinny. "Please," his soft imploring voice rang out, "sire, I just wanted to..."
"I'm well aware of what you wanted." Arthur's sword found his way back to the thief, this time to his chest, near his heart. "You wanted my gold, didn't you?"
"I..." the boy stuttered.
"Or perhaps you wanted to make fun of your king by robbing in his own chambers," Arthur pressed.
"No, my lord..." the thief defended. "My family..."
"Enough," the king interrupted angrily. "Are you one of those bandits that have been terrorising my people this last week?"
"What?! No..." the boy's eyes were full of fear now. He knew those bandits would surely end paying for their crimes. "I'm not... I just..."
"The bandits confessed there wasn't anyone else of their group out there... But you can't trust them completely and anyway there is room for more thieves in my dungeons." Very slowly Arthur approached the boy as if he were a hunter and the thief were his prey.
"No. Please, sire," the boy begged. "I was so hungry... My family needs food and rich people have so much money... I couldn't help myself," he let out in a rush.
Arthur's frown returned. Was there hungry people in his kingdom? He wasn't sure but judging by the boy's looks it could very well be true. Then he did something unexpected that left the boy puzzled. The king sheathed his sword and ordered, "Tell me."
"What?" the thief whispered very surprised. "Sire?"
"I said tell me," the king said with authority. "Tell me who is famished in my kingdom. Tell me what do they need. Where are they?"
"You would listen to me, sire?" the boy asked dubiously. He couldn't believe the king was willing to listen to a poor thief, a simply beggar about his problems, about the people's troubles. It was an opportunity among thousands and he couldn't let it pass.
"I grew up in a little farm village. We worked hard to grow the crops but we hardly had enough to get through winter as it was. We had to pay the taxes to the lord of the land and then contribute to the kingdom's food stock and then there were the riders who wanted to take from us what little we had. Sometimes knights came to protect us, but most of the times we were alone and undefended." The boy sighed and his beautiful blue eyes looked directly at the king, now without any kind of fear or doubt. "We came to Camelot to get a better life. We heard everyone was happy here. But we found ourselves alone in the street at the mercy of the charity of good people. We have no job, no hope and worse, no food to survive. Sometimes we are even treated like animals..."
The sadness that the pale face of the boy irradiated was so deep that the king couldn't keep listening to him any more. With a quick stride he was by the boy's side, his large hand caressing softly those high cheekbones, wiping away tears from his eyes. "It will be alright," he declared. "Things are going to change."
A small smile graced the thief's lips. "But how? The nobles... it isn't fair... why can they live so easily just because they were born in the right family and we instead... why us... why them..."
"That precisely is what's going to change," the king stated with a serious face. "And you will have a job, here, in the castle staff. There will be something for you to do. You won't be forced to steal any more."
The boy brought his hands to the king's ones, still stroking his face, and he nipped at his lower lip cutely. "Thank you, sire." Their eyes found each other again. The king couldn't avoid it any more. His lips descended slowly on the thief's sweet plump ones. The contact lasted just a few seconds. A clear surprised intake of breath from the boy brought them part.
"Sire?" the boy asked with big shocked eyes. Arthur's hands on the boys cheeks went down until they rested on the boy's shoulders.
"It's alright," he repeated somehow disappointed. The boy could be skinny and wear horrible clothes but he was very pretty and the fact that they were alone in his own chambers had clouded Arthur's good sense, meaning he had done something so improper of a respectable knight and king as to try to act upon his lower desires and force them on an innocent boy.
Arthur was about to turn away and call for his guards so that they could take the boy to the head of the castle's staff when a mouth crushed with his. It was the king's turn to be surprised, not only due to the clumsiness of the kiss but also because of the mere fact of receiving it. The only word to describe it was 'sweet'. And this time Arthur, usually the dominant one while kissing, stayed still enjoying how those soft lips rubbed his uncertainly.
When the boy took a step back and looked at him almost pleadingly, Arthur didn't say anything either. He had never been one to earn a lover's affections with his status and he didn't plan to start now with this little thief. He had done the correct thing. He had listened to his complaints and to the people's troubles. He had tried to help him to the best of his abilities. And, yes, in a moment of weakness, he had succumbed to that beautiful face, but it had to be the boy's choice, not his.
So, the king of Camelot stayed still, his serious gaze boring into the thief's grateful one, and waited. Accordingly, it was the boy who took the first step. Or more precisely, he practically forced Arthur to step further in the room, his hands on Arthur's tunic, pulling him softly towards a near desk by the open window. Once he had him resting against it, the thief made to kneel in front of his king. Arthur didn't even have time to complain that such a gesture was totally unnecessary. Before he knew it, the little rascal had the nerve to slap away his hands, which at the moment were on his way to stop him. But for his next words it was obvious that he didn't want that.
"You're a king worth of being serviced, my lord. Just let me comply." And so he did. The thief planted a last reassuring sweet peck on Arthur's lips before dropping into his knees nonchalantly as his hands descended down the chainmail to raise the hem and hold it up with the king's own sword belt. Being more than happy to oblige, Arthur obviously didn't voice further objections and surrendered willingly to the boy's ministrations. That is, he simply watched mesmerized how those graceful hands untied the laces of his breeches and took his cock out, tugging at it lightly, as those impossibly beautiful blue eyes gazed up at him with both hunger and innocence at the same time. How could that be possible?
But Arthur didn't have much time to consider it when the boy sent him another heated glance and leaned down to kiss the tip of his cock. At first, it was a mere lick. Then, he inflicted a little suction there. And painfully slowly, one of his hands started to stroke the base of his length as he continued to lick and suck the head slightly. Arthur couldn't help but notice how the thief's other hand caressed tenderly his thigh before disappearing, undoubtedly towards the boy's crotch. At that point, Arthur's moan echoed through his chambers and not only because of the hotness of watching the pretty thief wank but also because his sucking become bolder.
Arthur's attention was completely focussed on the incredible vision in front of him. The boy's lips descended lower with each bow of his head until they were completely stretched around his cock and his throat opened to accommodate Arthur's length. He had practically swallowed him whole, bobbing his head up and down in frenzy, accompanied by the brisk movements of his hands, one stroking the base of Arthur's shaft, the other working on himself. Then, Arthur's breath ragged as the boy almost gagged around his cock. He was being completely ravaged by this little thief. He certainly was about to lose it.
However, the king didn't want to finish so quickly. He wanted to enjoy every moment of it. He wanted to see the boy coming undone with pleasure first. He wanted everything he had to offer. So, in an heroic attempt, Arthur asked the boy to go more slowly, his fingers getting tangled in his dark tresses as he stopped his movements. In response, the boy hummed around his manhood, causing in him the most exquisite bliss, before he popped Arthur's cock out of his mouth and answered with a happy, "As you wish, sire."
And once more he was glancing up at him with such a fire in his eyes that Arthur just felt like melting. The thief, nevertheless, went on with his tender caresses. He nuzzled Arthur's erection and fondled it with his cheek in a rather naïve and provocative way. It wasn't helping at all to keep Arthur from coming right then and there. It was complete torture. Arthur even gulped down when the thief stuck his tongue out again and licked his cock from base to head, his hand playing with his balls. His mouth slid down again, this time to pepper light kisses on his sack and suck it gently.
Before Arthur had time to lose his mind definitely, the boy lay his head on Arthur's hip, suddenly stopping all his attentions. For a moment, Arthur was confused but when the thief looked up at him, his gaze fogged by pleasure, there was no doubt. Arthur stroked his lovely face all through his climax, observing transfixed the jerking movement of the boy's hand increase its pace and then slow down, listening to his alluring moans, admiring such an exquisite creature. The boy was really gorgeous... However, his recovering didn't last long. As soon as he got his breath back, Arthur's time to just indulge in that glorious sight was over as the boy resumed his handiwork. His mouth went back to Arthur's cock and his teeth scraped the tip slightly before engulfing him down one more time.
Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to take it for much longer now that he had seen the orgasm painted in the pretty thief's face. The warm enveloping his length, the excruciating quick pace, the shy gaze from under those long eyelashes, it was all unendurable. A couple of bobs more and Arthur was coming down that exquisite throat, with such intensity that at the end he couldn't bear it any more. He let himself be overwhelmed by all the feelings and sensations assaulting him and closed his eyes contentedly, the image of the boy's face partially covered in his cum, looking up at him with adoration, still fresh in his mind.
For a while, Arthur could feel the thief's hands tugging slightly at his cock and stroking his thighs. He could hear his jagged breathing along with his. But the only coherent thought present in Arthur's numb mind was how much he would like to have more of this boy, to take him to his bed and keep him for all night long. He was already planning it, all he wanted to do to him... Then, his eyes opened to see the thief was not there. Arthur stood up quickly and scanned the room attentively. Nothing was different. Well, on a closer look, he noticed the bowl of fruit he always had on the table in his antechamber had disappeared along with the boy.
That little...thief! Arthur sighed a bit exasperated. Such a pity. Despite how tired he was, he had really wanted more. Gods, he didn't even have the chance to see the boy naked! As frustration seized him, Arthur changed out of his chainmail into his night clothes, clearly in a bad mood. He contented himself with lying down on his huge bed alone, no pretty boy to cuddle to. Then, a sudden thought made him chuckle sinisterly. Luckily, he was the king of Camelot. It was well within his power to make that little thief pay soon enough.
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In the morning...
When Merlin entered the king's chambers with the king's breakfast in a tray, Arthur was already awake and sitting comfortably in his bed, his back reposing on several plump cushions, a displeased look in his handsome face.
"Where did you disappear to last night?" the king asked a little annoyed, undoubtedly because he had spent a long night alone in his enormous cold bed with no Merlin there to keep him happy.
Merlin, of course, ignored the comment, too busy balancing the tray in his hands. In any case, Arthur knew perfectly well why he hadn't stayed last night. He had heard enough times Merlin's speech about how much he needed his rest (that is, how he should sleep more and touch less when Merlin stayed for the night).
As Arthur's eyes roamed his lover's lithe body from head to toes, he decided to let it be (just for the moment, since he planned on extracting his sweet revenge for leaving him alone one way or another) and he changed the topic. "You shouldn't be doing that any more, you know?"
"But someone must bring you your breakfast first thing in the morning!" Merlin said as he left the tray on the big table in the antechamber and prepared everything. "We don't want your stomach's grumblings to frighten all the castle!" he added chirply.
"Merlin!" Arthur said in an angry tone but when the boy turned around with a raised eyebrow he simply added, "Shut up." And both of them burst in a merry laugh.
"Come on, you prat!" Merlin exclaimed as he approached the bed. "You've rested quite enough! Time for you to dress and eat something! You have a big day ahead of you!"
Arthur grumbled something intelligibly but he got up before the boy reached the bed. He might seem a little scrawny thing, but he was strong enough to drag the king out of his comfy bed. Arthur knew that much from experience. However, that didn't mean he was happy at all about getting up without some lazy caressing in bed with his lover. The way to remedy that, planting a passionate kiss on Merlin's lips first thing his bare feet touched the floor.
When they finally parted in a blissful state, Arthur had to resign himself and let Merlin help him dress as he chattered away about the upcoming events. "Today is the bandit's trial, isn't it?" But Merlin just received a curt nod as an answer. Arthur wasn't in the mood to speak much in the morning. He would rather spend those precious moments gazing at the beautiful image of his manservant dressing him and how he still blushed each time his hands brushed him in an inappropriate way. It was too much fun.
"Anyway," Merlin went on. "The passing of some of the new laws is also scheduled for today." A quick glance up. "You know, the one to make the nobles pay more taxes to contribute to the kingdom and use some of the money to help the poorer people..." and Merlin stepped backwards admiring his work. A king well dressed and ready to face the hard day ahead of him. "Do you think the councillors will approve it?"
Arthur smiled. His Merlin... He had such a candid soul. He should be worrying about other kind of laws that were going to be discussed that same day too. The kind of laws that concerned him more directly. And still he was more preoccupied with the poorer and less privileged people. He had even gone as far as defending them fervently last night. At least it had been in the intimacy of the king's chambers, although Arthur didn't doubt the boy was able to stand his ground in that matter (or any other) against any adviser that might think otherwise.
"I think they will approve it wholeheartedly, Merlin." After all the king was for that law as well as his most trusted knights and good advisers and friends like Gaius or Mommoth. It was the passing of other laws which would take more time and effort, but as Merlin seemed more interested in that law concretely and he had supported it so badly since the beginning, there was just one thing left to say, "And you will be there with me to see it come true."
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Thanks for reading!