The Stargazer and the Toolmaker

Chapter 6

The day had not begun auspiciously as Rodne and R'dek had ventured forth that morning into the snowy uplands to check their trap line, and found only one small rabbit and a sparrow, too tiny to eat.  R'dek had been going on all morning, however, about this crazy theory he'd heard, that the sun, and not the Earth, was the center of the universe, and as they passed an open, snowbound meadow, R'dek tracked a series of concentric circles in the snow, made Rodne walk slowly along the third, and proceeded to demonstrate how this theory explained the highly mysterious phenomenon of retrograde motion among the wandering stars.

Rodne was actually struck speechless by the magnitude of this revelation at first but then, as they left the meadow to return home, he found new ideas and realizations filling his mind and spilling forth at an unprecedented rate.  Some of these were things that R'dek had heard of or thought about before, while others were completely novel, and by the time they arrived at the cave they were firing half begun sentences at each other with dizzying speed, and Rodne found himself filled with a heady, intellectual euphoria that made him feel almost as if he was walking on air.

This euphoria seemed to have  ignited other energies in both of them as well, for without saying a word about it, they both gathered double arm-loads of firewood from the pile near the front of the cave the moment their outer wraps were off.  Rodne left R'dek to the task of building up the fire, as he had a singular talent for it, but the moment he had the fire roaring and filling the space with warmth, Rodne fell upon him, clutching R'dek's head between his hands to ravish his mouth.  R'dek responded with equal ardor, grasping Rodne's hips with both *his* hands to pull their groins and already half-hard cocks together.

They both gasped at the sensation and then Rodne shifted his grip to R'dek's shoulders and pulled him back and down onto their bed.  Still powerfully fired by his earlier illuminations, Rodne retained the upper hand, pressing R'dek down against the furs and sliding his tunic up to reveal his long and amply furred torso.

"Gods I love how brilliant you are," Rodne murmured as his mouth and hands descended to kiss and suck and lick and caress that torso, and R'dek moaned softly and happily acquiesced.

In the few short months since R'dek had moved in, Rodne had developed a considerable fondness for the taste and feel of R'dek's cock in his mouth, and this was his goal now.  He lingered only a little on the delicious, hard points of R'dek's nipples, while his hands worked at unfastening R'dek's leggings and loincloth.  R'dek's cock was as hard as his own, and sprang up in the rapidly warming air of the cave the moment it was released.

As distracted as he almost certainly was, R'dek retained enough presence of mind to pull Rodne's tunic off before his mouth descended on his cock, which Rodne was perfectly pleased about.  The heat of the fire and R'dek's fingers danced over his skin, as the heat of R'dek's cock pulsed in his mouth, and Rodne knew bliss.  R'dek did too evidently, from the sounds he was making and the way he was thrusting his hips up to fuck Rodne's mouth.  Rodne let him, partly because he was feeling especially grateful for R'dek's enlightening gift this morning, and partly because he liked how much deeper he could take it every time he did that.  He could almost reach the base of R'dek's cock with the tip of his tongue now, and he loved how loudly R'dek would groan every time he tried.

Soon enough Rodne could feel R'dek begin to tremble in the way that meant he was close to coming.  Rodne redoubled his efforts to take R'dek's long hard cock all the way past the back of his throat and swallow around it, as R'dek had done for him on occasion.  It seemed like he might have gotten it right this time, or close to it, for R'dek cried out in sudden ecstasy, shuddered powerfully and came.  Rodne felt the hot spurts at the back of his throat and swallowed them down triumphantly.

When R'dek's cries finally eased, and his shuddering body fell still, Rodne let R'dek's softening cock slip from his mouth and crawled up to take R'dek in his arms, holding him close and sighing with contentment.  He hardly expected to find R'dek stirring so soon, but only a few moments later he felt R'dek nuzzle at his throat and then lift his head for a kiss, tasting himself in Rodne's mouth and clearly savoring the taste.

Lost in the kiss, Rodne was surprised to feel R'dek's fingers dexterously undoing the ties on his own leggings and loincloth, and then wrapping around his own cock, stroking it gently, caressing the most sensitive bits.  Soon enough Rodne was moaning brokenly into R'dek's mouth, as he refused to release Rodne from their kiss, even as his clever fingers had their way with Rodne's cock.

R'dek had him reduced to a boneless heap of quivering ecstasy before very long, and then took advantage of the sorry state he had reduced Rodne to, rolling him over onto his back to resume kissing him with even greater fervor.  Having evidently gotten Rodne right where he wanted him, R'dek now assaulted him with kisses on every part of his body, all the while continuing to squeeze and stroke Rodne's cock.  Rodne was panting and moaning helplessly, thrusting his hips in an effort to fuck R'dek's hand, when R'dek's kisses found his nipples, transforming his moans into a shout of surprised delight.  The sensation of R'dek's teeth gently biting one of them finally sent Rodne over the edge, back arching, fists clutching at the furs beneath him, hot seed spurting from between R'dek's wondrously talented fingers to spatter over his belly.

Rodne was only barely aware of R'dek swiping the mess away with someone's loincloth and pulling the furs over both of them as he curled up next to Rodne.  He blinked sleepily to take in the vision of R'dek's head laying over his heart, smiling like a cat who had just eaten all the cheese, and Rodne reached his hand up to stroke through R'dek's fine and disarrayed hair.

Rodne could not remember any time in his life when he had been happier than he was these days, and he knew it was all because of R'dek.  The toolmaker was smart, remarkably so, suffered Rodne's occasional poor moods with astonishing grace, and had shown Rodne more kinds of pleasure than Rodne had ever imagined existed.  It was patently stupid to want more, and yet, there was one of pleasure that Rodne had known in his largely unpleasurable life which R'dek had never asked Rodne about, or even mentioned.  R'dek knew what sorts of things Rodne had done with Kip, the goat herd, so it couldn't be that he thought that Rodne would be repulsed by the idea, but still, it had never come up.  It seemed odd to Rodne that this should be so, and odd things troubled him.  He could not let them be.  He had to ask.

"R'dek?" Rodne said, fingers still combing lazily through his hair.  "I was wondering…"

"Hm?" said at R'dek, looking up idly.

"Did you ever think," Rodne began tentatively, "that you might want… um… to, ah… have me, from… from behind… like, you know, like Kip did?"

As he asked, R'dek's pleasant contented look vanished, and he went very still against Rodne's chest.  In all the time he had known him, Rodne had never seen R'dek take offense at anything Rodne said, no matter how outrageous, but now, Rodne feared, he had somehow, it and he felt his heart seize with fear.

"Why…" R'dek asked, quiet alarm in his voice, "why would I want that?"

"Um, because it feels really good?" Rodne offered, afraid to speak anything but the bluntest truth.

R'dek lifted himself up on one elbow to meet Rodne's eyes, anxious confusion showing in his own.

"I would never do anything like that to you Rodne," he said, "no matter how good it felt."

Rodne blinked.  Something wasn't making sense here.  "I, ah, wouldn't exactly be suffering here, you know," he tried to explain.

"I don't understand, Rodne," R'dek replied, frowning.  "I thought you didn't like what you had to do with Kip?"

"I didn't like the fact that he'd almost never touched me," Rodne said, "and that he cared about his favorite goats more than he cared about me.  Other than that, there was nothing particularly unpleasant about the sex."

To Rodne's dismay, R'dek's troubled frown grew only deeper.  "I… I am sorry, Rodne," he said, "but I do not think that I could ever bring myself to do such a thing.  I have heard men speak of this act only as… as one of brutality and humiliation.  I fear I cannot see it any other way."  The look in R'dek's eyes, even to Rodne's not so perceptive ones, spoke of something more –something deeply painful– and Rodne's heart ached for him.

"I hope…" R'dek went on, "I hope you are not too disappointed in me?"

"Gods no, R'dek!" Rodne said, drawing the man into his arms.  "Never.  I could never, ever be disappointed in you!  Just forget I ever asked, please.  It's nothing important, I swear."

R'dek responded in kind, wrapping his arms around Rodne's torso and holding on with all his wiry strength.  Rodne held him close, rocking him ever so slightly as he stroked his hand over R'dek's hair once more, and silently berated himself for prying at something that clearly should have been left alone.  He didn't know why, when he had something so good, he couldn't just be content with it as it was, but it seemed not in his nature to do so.

Waiting for them both to fall asleep, Rodne prayed silently to gods he did not believe in, that he might learn to hold his tongue before he ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him in his life.

~*~

They both woke hungry sometime later, and set to the task of making dinner without once mentioning their earlier conversation.  There was, however, something slightly subdued about R'dek's demeanor for the remainder of the evening, even as they came to speak of the morning's exciting discoveries and their elaborations on it.  Rodne could see that some aspect of his request was still troubling R'dek a good deal, but other than raising the topic again, which clearly seemed a bad idea, Rodne had no notion of what to do.

He snuggled in close as they crawled under the furs to sleep that night and was gratified to hear R'dek's contented sigh as he curled up against Rodne's back.  What ever it was that he had raised to trouble R'dek's heart, at least it wasn't coming between them, and Rodne was profoundly grateful for that.

In all the time he had spent with R'dek since they'd first met last Autumn, Rodne had seldom heard the man speak in his mother tongue.  Sometimes he could be heard muttering quietly over his work, and once Rodne had heard him shout angrily in words he did not understand when he'd slipped and broken a very good flint, ruining it.  It was different words, but the same the language, Rodne was sure of it, sounding plaintive and distressed, that woke him in the middle of the night.

R'dek had rolled away from him, and so lay curled in a miserable ball, crying words whose meaning were unknown to Rodne, but whose import could not be mistaken.  What ever demons held dominion over R'dek in his sleep, they clearly had him terrified.

"R'dek?" Rodne reached over to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder to wake him, but the demons held him fast.

"R'dek, wake up, you're dreaming," he tried again, shaking him slightly.

With a gasp and a terrified cry, R'dek came suddenly awake, eyes wide with panic, seeming not to know where he was at first.

"R'dek!" Rodne grabbed at him, pulling him close.  "You're okay; you're safe; I've got you.  It's okay; I've got you."

"Rodne…" R'dek sobbed at last, collapsing to lie against him, clutching him tight as Rodne held him and rocked him, murmuring soft comforts.

"Gods, gods…" R'dek moaned when he could speak again.  "I thought I had finished with this dream.  I thought it had left me finally.  It has been so long since it came to me; I thought it must be done with me at last."

"Can... can you tell me," Rodne began, thinking of how Caresn said he delt with evil dreams, "what it was about?  Caresn always says its better to get it out than to keep it closed up inside."

"He is a wise man," R'dek said, sniffling as he raised his head from Rodne's shoulder.  "Though I am sorry that you will now carry this burden as well."

"It doesn't matter," said Rodne, smoothing R'dek's wild, disheveled hair.  "I don't mind.  Really."

R'dek straightened a bit in Rodne's arms and lifted a hand to scrub the tears away from his face.  "It… it is about how the raiders came to my village when I was young," he said.  "The worst time."

Rodne recalled that R'dek had spoken of this once or twice before.  It was why he had left to go traveling.  He had never previously offered any details, however, and Rodne suspected that this was about to change.

"In my seventh summer," R'dek began, "I had an older brother, and a little sister, newly born that spring.  Our village was larger than some, though not so large as Lakeside, and relatively prosperous.  Usually the raiders came in the late summer, when the crops were in, and we gave them what they asked.  Sometimes they beat some of the men, and sometimes they took some of the women, but most years it was no more than that."

R'dek sighed and shifted to sit tucked into Rodne's side, and Rodne leaned over to kiss R'dek's cheek, encouraging him as best he knew how.

"There came rumors that summer," R'dek continued finally, "that something had angered the raiders.  It may be that another village tried to fight back, and that some of the raiders or their horses had been killed.  I do not truly know what it was, but that year it was different.  It was horrible."

R'dek swallowed and began to tremble slightly in Rodne's arms and Rodne pulled him closer, wrapping them both in another layer of furs.

"They came at dawn, without warning," R'dek spoke so quietly now that Rodne could barely hear him.  "And they did not even ask for the food they usually came for.  They just began burning… and killing… everyone that crossed their paths.  Women, children, elders… it did not matter.

"My father sent me to hide in the place he always sent me to, in the wood pile near our hut.  He wanted my older brother to go with me, but he wouldn't.  He wanted to fight."  R'dek swallowed again, for his voice had gone a little unsteady, and Rodne only waited silently, rubbing his hand over R'dek's shoulder.

"My mother would not leave the hut," R'dek continued after a moment. "And there was nowhere she could hide anyhow, for she would not leave my little sister, who would not stop crying.  She would not come out even when they set fire to the hut…"  R'dek's voice trailed off again and Rodne found himself trembling with horror.

"My father pulled the pile of wood down over me when I hid, but it was so close… I could see the light of the fire when the hut burned," R'dek went on.  "I could hear my mother's screams, and the things the raiders said… what they would do to her if she came out.  My father's voice, screaming in anger and despair as he saw her die… as he fought them… But they caught him… I think he wanted to die but they caught him and then…"

Now, suddenly, Rodne realized what came next, and what it was that had caused R'dek's evil dream to return, and his heart felt sick.  "Oh gods, R'dek… no…" he choked.

R'dek had his eyes shut tight, though the tears he wept slipped down his cheeks anyway, and he continued to speak, determined to open this most painful memory in the hope of banishing it.

"They threw him over the wood pile," Radek whispered, his voice trembling, "no more than two hand spans from where I hid, and they… they used him… they took him… not one man but many… so many… I could hear him screaming, begging, begging to die… and I was close enough to touch him, but I dared not…"

The force of the awful memories stole R'dek's speech at last, but after only a moment he forged ahead, determined to finish.

"And when they had taken what they wanted," he managed at last, "they killed him.  They cut his throat… so that the blood… so much blood, it ran down into the wood pile and… and I never dared to move… even when my father's blood fell onto my face…"

"Oh gods, R'dek," Rodne cried, pulling his lover close to lay his head on his shoulder as he wept silently.  "Oh gods, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… This is all my fault.  I never should have asked you… oh gods I'm so sorry."

"No, Rodne," Rodne was surprised to see R'dek lift his face, wet with tears, to answer him.  "It is not your fault.  How could you have known?  I did not even know… I thought that the passing of time would destroy the power of these evil memories, but I see now that I was wrong, and this I needed to know."

"R'dek, if I hadn't brought it up, it might never have bothered you again," Rodne countered.

R'dek shook his head.  "As long as it lives in me, it will find a way to haunt me.  I want it gone, and now I know that it will never be enough just to wait for time to starve it to death.  I will have to kill it… and Rodne… I think I may know how, now.. but I will need your help."

"Anything," Rodne answered instantly.  "Anything you need from me R'dek, I swear, I'll do it."

R'dek smiled a little as he reached up to touch Rodne's cheek with affection.  "It's not so much, I think.  I only… if you will let me do as you asked me to do last night… If you promise me that this can be done gently, with pleasure for both… this is what will destroy the evil dream, Rodne; this is what will redeem my father's memory."

Rodne drew back to regard his lover carefully, blinking in the dim light of the banked fire.  "R'dek… are you sure?" he asked.  "It seems to me that that's what started it all."

"And that is what will finish it," R'dek replied.  "Trust me, Rodne.  This much I am certain of."

"Um, okay," Rodney said, his head swimming a bit with the import of what was being asked of him, and what was being offered.  "You'll need to build up the fire, enough that you can see good, and for warmth too."

R'dek nodded and drew himself away from the close comfort of Rodne's arms to do that while Rodne rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried to think of what else they would need.  Kip, he recalled as he thought back, always kept his hands soft for milking his goats, and his nails were always cut short and smooth.  It would be best, he reflected, if R'dek's were too, at least to start with.

"You should probably make sure your finger nails are, um, not too long or rough," Rodne suggested as he set the pot of goose fat close to the fire to warm up a bit.

"My fingernails?" R'dek asked from besides the quickening fire, looking back at him with a questioning expression.

"You'll, ah, need to use your fingers, um… in me, at first… to, ah, to loosen me up?" Rodne stumbled through his explanation.  "Since it's, you know, been a while…"  Rodne was pretty sure that Kip had generally used his fingers to loosen Rodne up first, only because he'd had to when he used to fuck his goats and didn't know any other way.  It had made a world of difference for Rodne however, he knew, and he was thankful for it, whatever the reason.

"Oh," said R'dek thoughtfully.  "Alright, that makes sense, I suppose."  He went over to where he kept his knapping tools and pulled a few out, working by the fire with silent concentration for a few moments, and then lifted both his hands to examine them in the fire's light before offering the to Rodne.  "Is this all right?" he asked.

R'dek's hands weren't as soft as Kip's had been, but Rodne had come to love them in all their agile beauty.  Now, in the growing fire light, he saw that R'dek had trimmed all his nails neatly and cleaned them too.  Rodne lifted the fingertips to his lips, stroking them across the soft skin to test for sharp spots or snags that his eyes might have missed, but he found none.  "Perfect," he said softly as he kissed them adoringly.

R'dek's shy smile only inspired him to reach for more, drawing him close to kiss those elegant lips, and he could feel how nervous R'dek was.  Usually R'dek was the confident one in these activities, calming Rodne through his nervousness and uncertainty.  Now, though, it seemed that their roles would be reversed, and Rodne realized that he would have to be the calm and confident one.  Feeling R'dek tremble a little in his arms, Rodne knew that he could do that; he could give R'dek what he'd been given so many times.  It was the least that he could do.

"You are sure?" Radek asked now, lifting his head to meet Rodne's eyes.  "You are certain that this is something you want?"

"I'm the one," Rodne reminded him, "who brought this all up in the first place, remember?"

"Because it is pleasurable for you," R'dek clarified, "and not out of any sense of obligation or gratitude?"

"R'dek, I liked it when Kip was doing it to me," Rodne explained, "and it made me feel a little sick, because he was just using me, and I knew it and I still wanted it."  He reached out to touch R'dek's face again.  "This is going to be so different, so good…"

R'del looked at him steadily, gray eyes still troubled.  "I do trust you, Rodne, I promise you… but I want to understand… how it can be good… how there can be pleasure for you in this?"

Rodne frowned, trying to find words for what it was he wanted… why he had gone so far as to ask for this.  "When…" he began, "when I felt Kip inside me… the feeling of being filled, full… it's a good feeling… I don't know if I can explain why… but there's also a… a place where his cock would sometimes touch me… inside, that feels… it's… I swear, R'dek, it's almost as good as having your mouth on my cock."

There was a curious light in R'dek's pale eyes now, and Rodne welcomed it.  R'dek's curiosity was wonderful, and it always heralded good things.  "Yes?" he asked, clearly intrigued.

"Kip used to hit it… just by chance sometimes, and sometimes I could shift myself so he'd hit it more, but he never cared if I felt good or not."  Rodne laid both his hands on R'dek's shoulders as he spoke, wanting him to understand everything.  "But you," he continued, "you've always cared, and… you would find that spot right away and make me feel it every time… Gods, R'dek, you could probably make me come without even touching my cock.  Just fucking me like that."

"Truly?" R'dek asked, the firelight dancing in his eyes and revealing a conflicted eagerness.  Rodne wanted to draw it out, wanted to see R'dek all eager and filled with desire for this, for him.

"Let me show you," he said, laying back in the furs and lifting his knees, revealing a cock already half hard with anticipation.  "You'll see, it's going to be so good, for both of us."

R'dek's eagerness did not fade, but there was some confusion in his expression as he regarded Rode now.  "Won't you need to be… lying the other way?" he asked.

"Nuh-uh," said Rodne, shaking his head.  "I made Kip do it this way so I could touch my cock easier, but I want you to be able to see my face, to see how good it is for me."

"Oh," said R'dek, a smile, growing from shy to delighted on his face as Rodne watched.  "Yes… I would like that very much."

"And I'll get to see your face too," Rodne continued, "get to see how good it is for you when you feel me around your cock, all hot and tight and slick…"

R'dek sucked in a long breath, all the uncertainty gone from his features, replaced by arousal and desire.  "Show me what to do…" he murmured unsteadily.

"Okay," said Rodne, handing R'dek the pot of goose fat and pulling his knees further back, rendering himself open and exposed before his lover.  "You need to start with just one finger and use lots of goose fat.  I haven't done this in… a while, so I'll be kind of, um, tight."

R'dek took the goose fat and shifted himself to kneel between Rodne's thighs, then set the pot down and regarded Rodne intently for a long moment.  Rodne was about to ask what the matter was when R'dek leaned over his body and kissed him, hard and deep.  Rodne moaned softly into the kiss, feeling the heat pouring off of R'dek's body where it arched over his.  Eventually R'dek broke away from Rodne's lips, kissing his way down Rodne's body till he came to his cock, now fully hard and erect.  R'dek kissed his way down Rodne's cock too, causing Rodne to arch his back and groan, and then he sat back, caressing the insides of Rodne's thighs with those graceful, clever fingers.

Rodne was panting softly when he finally felt R'dek's finger, slicked with copious amounts of goose fat, gently probe at his entrance.  "That's it," Rodne breathed.  "Go on…"

There was a faint burn at first, as R'dek's finger pushed it's way inside, but it was a slender finger and Rodne's body quickly adjusted.  It quickly remembered the pleasure that came with such intrusions as well, and he moaned softly.  R'dek's expression had been uncertain when he'd first pressed his finger into Rodne, but it eased at Rodne's sound of desire, and the sparkle returned to his eyes.

"Yeah… that's it," Rodne breathed.  "Now just move it in and out a few times… and spread the fat around… mmm, yes… just like… like that…"

Glancing down, Rodne could see R'dek's own cock slowly growing hard, and determined to inspire it further.  "When… when you feel me around… your finger," he said between breaths, "think about… about how I'll feel around your cock… about how it will feel… to be inside me…"

"Rodne…" Radek murmured, eyes very bright now, and his cock standing rigidly erect.

"Yeah… oh yeah…" Rodney said, grinning with pleasure and satisfaction to see R'dek's arousal.  "Now… now a second finger… with more goose fat… and work on… on stretching… hmmm… oh yes… You've.. you've got the idea…"

And he did.  The man was nearly as brilliant as he was, after all, and had already figured out the best way to gently stretch Rodne's opening with his two fingers, liberally spreading more goose fat as he did.

"Gods I want to feel you inside me," he gasped.  "Want to feel your cock in me… making me so full… There's nothing… nothing like it…"   R'dek's gaze was intense now, both lustful and attentive, and Rodne figured it was time for another pointer.

"Now," he said, struggling for coherency, "I want to show you where that… place is… that feels so good… You need to… to turn your hand so it's facing up, and push in as deep as you can… yeah, yeah… like that."  Rodne closed his eyes and drew a long breath, pulling his scattered thoughts together enough to give good instructions.

"Okay, now…" he continued, "curl your fingers just… just a little and pull out… slowly… slowly… oh *gods*!"  And there it was, and Rodne was lifting his hips, back arching in ecstasy as he moaned long and loud.

"Oh my," R'dek exclaimed softly, all his focus on Rodne, as though he were one of the flints he coaxed into various forms with such skill.  "It is... it is here?" he asked, moving his fingers in and out again to find and caress that spot once more.

"Yes… oh gods, yes… fuck, R'dek," Rodne wailed.  "Want… want you in me… just… one more finger… you need… I need… stretch a little more…"

Rodne was painfully aware that the coherency of his direction was failing fast, but R'dek seemed to have the idea now, and so maybe that was all right.  He felt R'dek's free left hand on his torso, moving over his chest and toying briefly with his nipples, as his other fingers left Rodne's body for a moment, and then returned with more goose fat and an additional finger.  Rodne sucked in his breath to feel the stretch, at how good it felt even if it was just a little painful, and closed his eyes in bliss.

R'dek continued to work him with skill, pressing his three fingers further and further in at each slow thrust, until Rodne could tell that they were in as far as they could go and he was as relaxed as he was going to get for now.  Then R'dek's hand was on his face, bringing him back to focus and confirm what would happen next.

"Yeah…" Rodne said, blinking and collecting himself.  "Yeah… that's good.  I want you now… gods it's going to be so good… And you'll use lots of goose fat, right?  On you and all around on me…"

"Yes, Rodne," R'dek said with a smile, and then shook his head in astonishment.  "You are showing me things… I would never have guessed… that there could be such pleasure in this… And to see your pleasure… I never imagined that I would want such a thing, and I do now, so very much… Gods above, I want to be in you, Rodne."

Rode felt his heart leap at R'dek's words, but his look turned serious as he met his eyes, holding him for a moment before he continued.  "R'dek," he said, "there is something I want you to be ready for.  I do want this, and it's going to be really, really good, but it's also going to… to hurt… a little.. at the start… just because it's been a really long time… And it will get better, right away.  You'll just need to give me a minute to get used… to you, and then… then it's going to be so good…"

"Rodne…" R'dek's gaze darkened and he frowned a little, but Rodne reached up to grip R'dek's arm tightly, compelling him to meet his gaze.

"It's going to be good, R'dek, I swear," he urged.  "It's going to be incredible, and I only told you that so you'd know I wasn't keeping anything back.  Remember, I asked for this, and I know you aren't going to hurt me.  You'd never hurt me.  You couldn't.  Please… just trust me?"

R'dek held his gaze, steady and unwavering.  "You felt very tight around my fingers," he said.

"And you felt how I loosened up, right?" Rodne reminded him.  "Now think how tight I'm going to feel around your cock, how I'll loosen just a little, so it's good for me too, and then you'll be able to move and touch that place inside me with your cock.  Gods it'll be so good… so good that I'll come just from that, without you even touching my cock… Let me show you… please. R'dek…"

"You want this," R'dek said, desire coloring his voice at last.

"Yes, yes," Rodne almost whined.  "Gods you have no idea how much I want this."

"And I want to give it to you," R'dek said at last, and Rodne finally noticed how R'dek had been slowly stroking his cock, coating it with generous quantities of goose fat.

"Gods, yes," Rodne moaned, grabbing his knees to pull them back, opening himself for R'dek.  He soon felt the hard flesh of R'dek's cock pressed against his opening, pushing hesitently.  Eagerly, Rodne pushed back, and then R'dek's cock was entering him, forcing its way past the tight ring of muscle at his entrance and Rodne gave a choked cry, partly in pain, and partly in relief to feel himself being filled again.

Above him, R'dek stilled, a slight frown creasing his brow.  Rodne reached up to stroke a hand over his arm, reassuring him.  "It's okay," he gasped.  "It's good… just… just give me a little bit… just a… oh gods…" Rodne could already feel himself relaxing to accommodate R'dek's cock, and let his knees fall back, pushing it a little deeper.

R'dek gave a surprised little sob at the sensation, and Rodne felt him start to tremble as he fought to hold himself back.

"It's okay," Rodne whispered again.  "You can… you can move, just… just take it slow to start… yes… oh yes… oh gods that's good…"  Little by little, R'dek pressed himself further inside, till Rodne was filed completely and the full length of R'dek's cock was buried in him.

R'dek's pale blue eyes were wide with astonishment and desire, his lips parted as he panted softly. "Rodne," he moaned.  "Gods, Rodne…"

"Go on," Rodne gasped in reply, so happy and so *full* as he had not been in too long.  "Go on… fuck me… touch me… in that… in that place… Do it, R'dek… do it… gods I want it… so much…"

R'dek gave an inarticulate cry, and then did just that, pulling out slowly and then thrusting back in, slowly but steadily, and Rodne groaned loudly to feel the hard flesh of R'dek's cock moving in and out of him.  He did it again, but this time changed the angle slightly and, *oh gods*, there was the spot.

"Fuck, oh fuck, yes!" Rodne shouted, so that there could be no doubt in R'dek's mind that he'd found what he was aiming for.

R'dek made a sound that was half laugh and half sob, and he grinned with joy.  "I have it?" he gasped.  "Yes, I have it; I have it… oh gods Rodne… so good…"

There were no words after that, only gasping and little moans and sobs, as R'dek slowly fucked Rodne with increasing confidence and fervor.  Without thinking, Rodne found his legs coming to hook over R'dek's hips, allowing him to fuck him back, thrusting his own hips and impaling himself deeper still on R'dek's cock.  R'dek's hands clutched in the furs on either side of him, supporting him as thrust ever harder into Rodne's more than willing body, but Rodne found his hands roaming, not in the least tempted to touch his own cock. Instead he was caressing R'dek's shoulders, his face, fingers trailing down to gently pinch his nipples.

R'dek cried aloud at the sensation, thrusting deep, the head of his cock pressing hard against that special place.  Rodne felt it start then, miraculously, without a finger laid on his erect and weeping cock.  There was the heat that originated in his balls beginning to spread, sweeping through him like a fire through dry tinder.  There was his voice, breaking high, in that way he'd always found a bit embarrassing but not tonight, presaging the moment of release, and then… there was his body, shuddering, the hot seed surging from him, and R'dek's eyes wide with amazement, watching.

His lover gave a surprised shout and then followed, and Rodne thrilled at the warm feeling of R'dek filling him… in a way that he'd never felt when it was Kip doing this. R'dek's elbows gave way as the tremors came at the conclusion of his climax, and he collapsed on top of Rodne, gasping in exhaustion and astonishment.

Eventually, he moved to pull himself off, and Rodne cautioned him, mindful that R'dek was still inside him.

"Careful," he said.  "Just go slow and… aaah, there, there… its okay."

"You are aright?" R'dek asked, concerned.

"Oh gods, yes," Rodne reassured him.  "Way better than alright."

"But… it hurt you…" R'dek puzzled.  "I could see…"

"And your jaw aches after you've been sucking my cock for a long spell," Rodne pointed out, "I see the way you massage it.  Doesn't mean it's not good, right?"

Rodne observed R'dek taking that in, considering it, comparing, and then he nodded.  "Okay," he said thoughtfully.  "I had not thought of it like that before."

Rodne smiled and pulled R'dek in close, laying his head on his chest.  "Am I going to have to take back everything I said about how brilliant you are?" he asked.

He felt R'dek smile and gently kiss his throat.  "I cannot be brilliant about everything, you know… not like you."

Rodne laughed softly against R'dek's hair at that, squeezing him tight.  "But seriously," he said, "that… that was just… it was better than anything, R'dek.  Better than with anyone, ever."

"Gods, Rodne," R'dek said softly, then reached up to draw Rodne into a deep and passionate kiss.  When they parted Rodne could see R'dek's eyes, bright with unshed tears.

"Hey," Rodne said softly.  "You okay?"

"You…" R'dek said, his voice thick with feeling and gratitude.  "You have redeemed my father's memory.  You have helped me to destroy an evil vision which has held a piece of my heart since I was a child…" R'dek shook his head.  "And you have shown me a new pleasure… so magnificent… I do not have words."

"Well, you know," said Rodne, a little undone by the strength of R'dek's feeling.  "The pleasure thing, that was mutual… in a big way."

"Good…" said R'dek, nestling down at Rodne's side, beginning to drift toward a sleep that he knew now would be free of evil dreams.  "That is very good.  We will do it again… soon, I think."

"Oh yeah…" murmured Rodne, starting to drift himself.  Thinking of when 'soon' might be, he considered that they were likely to remain snowbound for another day, at least, with little to do but eat and sleep and pleasure each other.  This reflection sent Rodne into the relms of sleep anticipating only the most pleasant of dreams, and by the time that Spitt wandered back into the cave, shaking the snow off her fur and making herself a nest in the furs between their feet, Rodne and his lover were both fast asleep.