Thank you guys so much for lovely reviews alerts and what not ^_^ I'm so happy my story is over 100 reviews now! Though I feel I should warn you that the smut happens frequently after that last chapter~ but I don't think any of you are complaining~ btw, during the editing process, I have ended up extending the story by at least three or four more chapters ^_^ hurray~
Kismet
Chapter Sixteen: In This Castle
Lovino awoke and blinked at the bright sun shining into his room and he groaned, trying to sit up, but hissed at the terrible pain that shot up his backside. He dropped back to the pillows and glared at the teal fluffy thing. If he'd known he would be in this much pain, he would have been on top. Wouldn't that make a great story for the later years?
'Oh, yeah, I fucked the king of Sverran in the ass!' he laughed lightly and let his eyes shut again, tired of being blinded by the sun.
He heard the door open up and foot steps enter, "Lovi~? Are you awake?"
Lovino contemplated ignoring him so he could just sleep until the pain stopped, but the smell of food hit his nose and he groaned, "Yeah, I'm up, bastard …"
"You okay, Lovi?" he asked sitting down beside him on the bed.
"My ass hurts." he mumbled into the pillow.
Antonio laughed lightly, "I'm sorry, my love, I'll be more gentle next time~"
Lovino twisted his head to look at him with a scowl, "What next time? There's no way you're even being allowed near my ass again! Bastard." he mumbled, trying to sit up again. He pushed passed the pain and licked his lips.
"You don't mean that, Lovi~ you enjoyed it as much as I did~" Antonio kissed Lovino's cheek and setting the tray of food in his lap, "I made you breakfast, sweetheart."
Lovino blushed and slapped Antonio's shoulder, but muttered a thanks and ate the fruit slices and eggs.
But that wasn't the end of Antonio's generosity. Not by a long shot. Lovino was not only dealing with the pain of the previous night's activities, but also the soreness of dancing and walking and that obstacle course. Antonio carried him (embarrassingly naked) through the house, down to the bathing room, where he'd drawn a hot soothing bath for him.
"I hope it helps you feel better, my love~" he set Lovino in the hot water. Lovino moaned softly at the heated water hugging his sore muscles.
"It's okay …" he grinned, leaning his head against the edge. Antonio climbed in as well and put some soap on a cloth to clean his lover. He lifted Lovino's arm and gently let the sudsy cloth run over his skin. He then switched to the other side and cleaned the other arm and then his chest and back. He cleaned the more intimate parts of Lovino. Once he'd finished, he decided to let Lovino just relax and enjoy the water.
He held him close and pressed soft kisses all over the top of his head, "Are you feeling better, Lovi~?"
Lovino nodded and looked up at him, "Much better … no pain at all …"
"I woke up early this morning to head down to the market. I found those elves and bought one of the healing potions from them. They told me it could be put in perfume, soap, food, or bath water to ease small outer ailments and inner ones. You don't actually have to drink it unless it's something serious~!"
Lovino blushed, "I see … you didn't have to do that, Antonio."
Antonio laughed and shrugged, "I knew you were going to be sore, especially after that course. I just wanted you to feel better." he kissed him softly.
The Illonian kissed him back and rested his head on his chest, "I'm the one supposed to make sure you're happy and comfortable."
The older man chuckled, "As long as you're happy and safe, I don't care what happens to me." he ran his fingers over Lovino's choker. Lovino's face heated up and he looked away, scowling, "Don't say such weird things!"
Antonio laughed and kissed his cheek, "Come on, love, let's get out now~!" he lifted Lovino out of the water, despite the man's protesting.
"I can walk just fine now, bastard!" he shouted as Antonio carried him to a chair in the room and set him down. The Sverran picked up a towel and began drying Lovino off. "What the hell? Antonio, I am not a baby!"
"I know~!" he ran the towel down Lovino's legs, "But I told you yesterday, I wanted to do something to show how proud I am of you~ today, you are the king and I am your servant." he smiled brightly, "Would you like me to carry you to the room now, your majesty?"
Lovino shook his head violently, "No! Don't you dare! And don't call me that!"
The Sverran man smiled again, "Then I'll be right back~" the man wrapped a towel around himself and left the room. Lovino shook his head. What the hell had gotten into Antonio? Calling him such a thing! He covered his body with the fallen towel and closed his eyes, feeling comfort ease into his body.
That potion really had done wonders. Nothing ached and nothing hurt. The door opened again and Antonio walked in with a handful of clothing. He set them down and grabbed Lovino's underwear and slipped them up part way. He grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet to pull them up the rest of the way. Lovino shook his head. The man was serious!
His face became dark red when Antonio patted his bottom, "There~" he grabbed the short pants and knelt to the ground to let Lovino step into them.
"Get up … I can dress myself …"
Antonio looked up, slightly hurt, "But Lovi~ I want to do this … I want to treat you how you deserve to be treated …"
Lovino looked down in shock and anger. He didn't deserve it. He couldn't even find his little brother. He was just a servant who was getting in way over his head by falling in love with royalty. The Vargas looked away. If it weren't for the years of practice Antonio let him have, he wouldn't even be good at his job! He'd done nothing to deserve this treatment, from a king no less! All he'd done was use the few skills he'd gained over the years to beat a simple obstacle course.
"I do not, bastard. Give my clothes and leave me alone." he growled, lowly. Antonio sighed and picked up the younger man's clothing, handing it to him, "I'm sorry, Lovi … I thought I would … never mind …" he kissed his cheek softly and left the room to go get dressed himself.
The Illonian rolled his eyes, but felt an emptiness after the door closed. He pulled on his clothes and sat down in front of the mirror. His cheeks were lightly pink and healthy looking, his eyes (which he'd always hated because they were neither green nor brown) were bright and his hair was … getting long, actually. He would need a hair cut soon. Though, he didn't trust anyone but Tessa or Femke to cut his hair because of that curl.
His eyes trailed down his face, finally landing on the choker around his neck. Its black outside shined lightly from being soaked in the water. Lovino thought of Antonio and a scowl came across his face. Why couldn't he go ten minutes without thinking of him! It only brought up that pang of guilt he was trying hard to push away.
Antonio had only wanted to make Lovino feel special … but Lovino didn't deserve it! But … Femke had told him once to just go with it, to just let things happen. He groaned in confusion and stood up, deciding he needed to find Antonio.
He found him laying on the bed in their room, staring up at the canopy. "Antonio?" Lovino shut the door and walked over toward the bed. Antonio looked at him and smiled, "Lovi~!"
Lovino moved his lips, but what resulted was an unsure smile/frown. The Sverran king sat up and grabbed Lovino's hand and pulled him on top of his chest as he laid back down.
"My Lovi~" Antonio whispered running his fingers through Lovino's hair. The Illonian let his eyes slide shut to enjoy the feeling. It seemed Antonio wasn't upset about being told to leave Lovino alone …
He opened his eyes with a frown and sat up. That was still not a reason he shouldn't apologize. He honestly didn't want Antonio to leave him alone.
"Hey, listen … I didn't mean what I said back there …" Lovino narrowed his eyes at the confused look Antonio was giving him, "I … why do you have to be stupid sometimes? … I don't want you to leave me alone, okay?"
Antonio rested his hands on the sides of Lovino's face and brought him down to press their lips together in a chaste kiss, "I'm glad … I don't want to leave you alone …"
Lovino blushed and turned his head to the left.
Antonio looked up at his Lovi as the man turned his head away. However, that brought a lot of curiosity back. Just what was with this curl that never went away. He'd never seen Lovi put it that way and he seemed really protective of it. The Sverran bit his lip. He wanted to pull it … really badly. His fingers trembled slightly rising off Lovi's shoulder towards the bouncy strand of hair.
"What are you doi-CHIGI!" his Lovi yelped as he grasped the hair. The man on top of him began to trembled and pant, his face turning red.
Lovi's eyes closed and he gripped Antonio's shirt. Confusion filled the Sverran. Just what was this hair? He let his fingers pull lightly at it and the reaction he got from his Lovi was … well … Antonio blushed as Lovi moaned loudly, riding his hips into Antonio's.
Antonio couldn't help but groan softly, feeling his lover's erection pushing at his own forming one.
"D-damn it, b-bastard!" Lovi panted, "l-let g-go of that!"
"What is it, Lovi~?" Antonio asked, giving it another yank. Lovi cried out in pleasure and glared, "J-just don't touch i-it!"
The king smirked, "But you seem to enjoy it, my Lovi~!"
He gave another moan with every pull yank or stroke to the curl. Antonio moaned softly, feeling Lovi grind into him again.
"Sh-shut up and nnng!" Lovi gasped as Antonio played with the curl, "D-damn it! God, Antonio just make i-it stop!"
"How would I do that, Lovi~?" the older man teased, twirling the curl around his finger.
Lovi leaned down and kissed Antonio fiercely. Antonio moaned into the kiss, but continued playing with the curl.
"I don't think I understand, Lovi~" he whispered huskily into his lover's ear. Lovi growled and bucked his hips against Antonio again.
"F-fuck … Antonio … you piss m-me off sometimes!" Lovi moaned.
Antonio gripped his Lovi's hip with his free hand and pushed up to meet his Lovi's thrusts. "That's not telling me how you want me to make it stop~"
Lovi leaned down and pressed his face into Antonio's chest, trying to muffle the noise he was making. Antonio only smirked. His possessiveness and lust seeping through his veins again, "What was that Lovi~ I didn't quite catch that.
" … me …" he muttered. Antonio gave the curl a sharp tug, "I didn't hear you."
"Fuck me, god damn it!" Lovi shouted, crashing his lips to Antonio's, "Please!" Antonio growled possessively and let go of he curl to roll Lovi over so that he was on top. He wasted no time stripping them of their clothing and preparing his lover for him.
Lovino moaned as Antonio gripped his member and slowly rubbed him. He then hissed when Antonio plunged into him. Pain was quickly replaced with pleasure when Antonio took to assaulting his curl again. Lovino couldn't think straight, much less do anything but let Antonio know how much he was enjoying this.
Antonio thrust into his Lovi and let go of the curl to help his lover out. He aimed for his lover's spot while pumping his member. Lovi moaned loudly, climaxing. Antonio followed soon after and slipped out of his lover to lay down. Sweat poured down his face and he pulled a trembling Lovi to his chest, "Feel better, my love?" he kissed his forehead.
Lovi nodded and Antonio's chest weakly, "If it wasn't for you pulling my curl, I wouldn't have needed it!"
Antonio laughed lightly and kissed him tenderly, "Back to the bath?"
Lovino scowled, but a short time later, after they took another bath, it was lunch time. Antonio stood in the kitchen cooking something that made Lovino's mouth water.
"Hey, Antonio, where are the guards?" he had noticed that they hadn't been around at all that day … well, from what Lovino could see the few times he'd been carried through the halls and into the kitchen. Yes. Antonio still wasn't dropping the whole 'I'm your servant, today' thing so Lovino just shrugged. It was only a day.
"I gave them the rest of the week off and after some convincing, they took the opportunity for the paid vacation~" Antonio grinned too happily and Lovino shuddered. He hated that smile. It spoke volumes about that dark side he'd seen rarely and personally never wanted to see.
"I see …" he muttered, sipping the juice Antonio had made him, "You're really going all out over there, aren't you?"
"Only the best for you, my king~" he laughed, ignoring Lovino's glare. The man scooped whatever he had cooked into a bowl and set it down in front of Lovino.
Lovino tentatively took a bite of the concoction made of tomatoes and decided he liked it, so he ate it.
"You like it, Lovi?" Antonio asked, eating his own bowl.
"It's pretty good." Lovino shrugged, finishing it off. He was forced to sit and wait while Antonio washed the dishes. Then the real king picked up Lovino and carried him outside and down to the beach, "We don't have to go swimming, love, but I figured it was actually a cool, windy day to just sit in the sand or something~" Antonio said, letting Lovino down.
Lovino felt the sand between his toes and let a smile grace his lips, "What kind of something?"
Antonio shrugged, kicking over a seashell, "When we came here when I was younger, Rosana and I would make sand castles, collect seashells and find crabs and stuff for dinner. Have you ever had crab? It's really good~!"
"No … I haven't." Lovino muttered, sitting down in the sand. His hand settled in the gritty substance and he lifted it to let it fall in between his fingers.
"Maybe I'll find some and we'll have crab for dinner~ let's make a sand castle, my love~!" the king ran like a child to the edge of the dry sand and wet sand and began piling it up and neatly shaping it. Lovino sighed and dragged himself over to help.
By the time the sun was beginning to set, the two had created a beautiful castle complete with a moat, a drift wood draw bridge and a heart with their initials in it. Lovino stared at the small heart above their draw bridge with a slight blush.
He felt Antonio's sandy hand slip into his own and lace their fingers together, "In this castle, you're my queen." he whispered sadly, bringing Lovino's sand covered hand to his lips. Lovino felt tears in his eyes and a very small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It was true. Here, among the sand and ocean, he could be Antonio's queen, with no worries, no fears, only themselves. And this small castle, they'd built together, was a small marker of that.
The Sverran king pulled Lovino close to him and they sat in silence, listening to the waves crash around them, the tide slowly coming in. The sky in front of them darkened to deep shades of purple and blue and Antonio stood up, bringing Lovino up with him. Hand-in-hand, they walked back up the path, watching the sun set over distant hills and far away trees and buildings.
"Isn't it beautiful, Lovi~?" he said, looking out to the pink, orange and blue mixtures.
Lovino blushed and looked up at Antonio's face, which was lit up with the fading light. His dark hair glowed with the tints the sky produced. His smile was warm and bright, his eyes sparkling, "Yeah … beautiful …"
Antonio made dinner for 'his king' and the two retired to bed. Lovino stretched and yawned as he dusted the remaining sand off of his clothing, before folding it up and throwing into the bag. He changed into a thin night shirt and slipped under the covers. The Sverran lover changed as well and cuddled up to him, "I love you, Lovi~" he whispered, tucking Lovino's hair behind his ear and kissing his cheek.
Lovino pulled Antonio tighter to him and buried his face in the older man's neck, " … love you, too …"
The Sverran smiled, "This day has been perfect~"
It was only the first of many perfect days. During the day, the two would go to the beach or into the market place to look for food or clothes or this or that. Lovino had quite the collection of seashells now and even a new present Antonio had sneaked him: a small gold bracelet with words inscribed on the inside.
Lovino read the words and felt embarrassed by them. To my only love, Lovino Romano Vargas, whom I'll hold and cherish my entire life. AFC. His face burned every time he looked at the golden band around his wrist but was glad that he could at least wear this wherever. He was still confused on why Antonio didn't want him to wear the choker back home, and it upset him to know Antonio wouldn't be wearing his either, but when Lovino asked, Antonio just told him it was because they were expensive and worth a lot of money. If people knew what they were, the gifts would be stolen.
Their nights were even more exciting. Lovino had quickly grown to love their late night activities and it's not as if Antonio was going to complain about it. Although, Lovino did get annoyed with the way Antonio would take him anywhere in the beach house he felt like. The kitchen, the bathing room, the den, the sitting room, the bed room several times, even on the beach, which Lovino severely disliked. There were just some places sand should never be!
Soon, the week was nearing its final few days. There were two left, one day of fun and the trip back. Lovino had once again awoken late and was enjoying the warm morning breeze blowing in through the open balcony doors. He rose from the bed, hissing lightly at the soreness in his backside. The man grabbed a silky robe from the bedside table and wrapped it tightly around his naked body and walked outside on the balcony.
Antonio was leaning against the stone railing, staring out at the ocean. The sun rising higher above the water with each passing moment.
The Illonian leaned his head on Antonio's arm and closed his eyes when Antonio wrapped an arm around him. They stood in silence, feeling the warm breeze whip the robe around his skin, "I don't want to go back …" he muttered softly.
His lover tightened his grip, "I know, my Lovi … I wish we could stay like this forever." he pressed a kiss to the top of his head and led his Lovino downstairs to make breakfast together. After eating, Antonio decided he wanted to show Lovino a special place he found when he was younger.
TBC
teehee~ what did i tell you? Anyway~ I loved the sandcastle scene~
~Lady Pyrien
btw~ i'd like to let you guys (who've read Don't Forget) that AsianIggs1 wrote a little sequel to it ^_^ thank you AsianIggs1~