I Will Follow You
Title: I Will Follow You
Pairing: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Summary: He did notice, as he’d turned, the way Jensen had licked his lips as he let his eyes trail over Jared one more time. It may not mean anything. It might mean everything.
Author's Note: Written for my long overdue trope bingo card with the prompt of 'locked in'. So... something new and wierd-er than I usually write I think. I don't know. I might not be the best judge of that :P The encantado is something I saw on wikipedia and ran with it... changed it to what I needed... but I like it :P
“You know this is it, right?” Jensen asked as the walls seemed to close in a little more. “There’s no way you’re getting out of this.”
“I almost welcome it,” Jared said as he stared up at the walls. He looked over his shoulder at Jensen. “At least you’d stop complaining about it then.”
Jensen didn’t bother looking over his shoulder. He just traced the seams in the wall again. “Nothing but ice outside and ice inside. You’re going to freeze to death and you got no one to blame but yourself.”
“I didn’t hit the security guard.”
“You ran.”
“By myself. I didn’t ask you to follow me when I tried to escape.”
“Wait. This was a planned escape?”
Jared sighed. He closed his eyes and counted to ten in three languages. Then he did it all again just to see if he could possibly look at Jensen without wanting to throttle him. He looked at the convict. Nope. Still wanted to throttle him.
“Big master plan. And you ruined it by getting put out to ice with me,” Jensen said with his back turned.
Jared watched Jensen as the other man worked his way around the wall. His moves weren’t frantic the way they should be, nor was he drawing away from the icy wall with his bare hands. He moved with efficiency and grace, as if he was used to desperate situations. Could he be the one?
He was beautiful, Jared would give him that. If Jensen was a shapeshifter he’d picked a beautiful form, though his kind usually chose female forms. There was an elegance to him though, something that spoke of paradise, of Encante. Jared had never been there himself but it was rumored among his people that such a place existed. There were rumors that the government had destroyed it and taken all the natives captive, forced them into service.
Jared didn’t always believe the rumors, but his own people had been subjugated that way. After all, if they weren’t 100% human, the Coalition of Human Rights didn’t apply to them. Take all the years of nasty rumors that were spread about their kind and use it as propaganda and suddenly, the world was no longer fit for them.
Space had been the answer that Jared had been looking for. Forced into military service, Jared had excelled in space travel. Now, he was trapped on a prison world that just might not be a prison. It might, if he could get through this, become exactly what he’d been looking for all along.
Jensen stopped moving when he realized Jared was staring at him. Jared just smiled.
“Enjoying the view before you die?”
“Might as well, right? If I’m trapped in an ice room until I freeze, I should just give in to the inevitable.”
Jensen shook his head, but his eyes traveled down the length of Jared’s body as he did so. “I’m not going to let you die in here,” the other man said.
“You have a way to get us out?”
“Maybe if you’d stop gawking at me and help me find the seam, I might.”
Jared gave Jensen a smirk but he turned to begin looking for the place the ice had been sealed shut around them. He did notice, as he’d turned, the way Jensen had licked his lips as he let his eyes trail over Jared one more time. It may not mean anything. It might mean everything.
Jared looked closely at the walls but he made sure not to use his hands unless he thought it might be the right spot. He didn’t want to give anything away until he had more information. He didn’t know Jensen well enough to trust him. If he was the man he thought he was that could change things though.
“I think we might be stuck here for the night,” Jared said quietly.
“Let’s hope not,” Jensen said. The light was already dimming though and he could tell from the light outside the ice that it wasn’t long until sun down. “Do you have anything on you?”
Jensen turned to look at Jared then and he shrugged. “Some rations. A blanket. I don’t know why they bother to give us anything. It’s not like these supplies would help us survive more than a night out here.”
“At least you were blocked in. I heard they left the last guys out in the open to make a run for it.”
“Bet they didn’t even make it a full night.”
“Not in these temperatures. At least being sealed in will give us a chance to make it through tonight. Let’s hope it’s milder than last night.”
“We can’t see anything in this light,” Jared said. “Why don’t we sit down and eat?”
Jensen looked at the walls one last time and nodded. “Might as well. Here, let me set my blanket out. I got one with the water proof bottom. We can sit on it while we eat.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“Bribery. Probably the same way you got your pretty pelt.”
So, he hadn’t missed the seal skin he wore under his jacket. Plenty of prisoners had them to keep warm and Jared was just glad he’d found what he needed before his escape plans had turned sour.
Jared didn’t say anything as he watched Jensen. If he was what he thought he was, he’d know soon enough. Words weren’t really necessary. When Jensen had the blanket set out he sat down and gestured for Jared to do the same.
Jared joined him on the blanket and sat closer than was necessary but he didn’t think Jensen would call him on it. He could always blame the cold if he did. He opened his rations and offered some of his to the other man.
When Jensen stared at him Jared smiled. “It’s only fair since you’re sharing your blanket.”
“Don’t think you won’t be sharing yours later, since mine is covering our asses right now.”
“I wouldn’t think of leaving you in the cold. Besides, come full night I’m pretty sure I’ll need the extra heat.”
Jensen stared at him and something wild stirred behind his eyes. It called to Jared in ways he didn’t want to admit. He didn’t doubt his instincts now. He didn’t know when his luck had changed, but he was sure that Jensen was the one person in the entire prison who could help him.
“It’s a shame what they’ve done to this place,” Jared said as he took a handful of nuts and dried fruit and ate it.
“What do you mean?”
“Send prisoners to freeze out the winters and abandon them to die when it isn’t. This planet could be beautiful. I’ve seen the reports.”
“Really? How does an inmate get access to planet reviews?”
“We were all something else, before we were inmates, weren’t we?” Jensen shrugged and Jared continued. “The winters are long and harsh here but the summers are beautiful. The problem is that the thaw and freeze are too extreme for humans. They haven’t been able to devise a way to live through the extreme heat that causes the ice to melt, nor the freeze that begins the winter cycle. It’d be perfect for something that wasn’t human though.”
“Something that wasn’t human?” Jensen let out a laugh at that. “If you find something less than human, let me know. There’s a pretty hefty bounty for those sort of things these days.”
It was the sad state of the world. Jared didn’t believe that the less than human population was actually… well … less than human. Different wasn’t less. It wasn’t harmful. It was just different.
“You should know from that pelt you wear. How much did it cost you?”
Jared didn’t touch the pelt. He was almost afraid of what would happen if he did. Something in Jensen’s eyes said he wanted to see the soft fur that Jared had spent two years in prison for. Even if Jensen didn’t know that the pelt was why he was there.
“Too much,” Jared said quietly. He put his rations away without another word. As much as he wanted to learn more about Jensen, he couldn’t talk about the pelt anymore. Or what he’d done to get it.
Jensen took the hint and when Jared pulled the blanket from around his neck where he’d tied it, he lay down behind Jared. It was a tight fit over them and Jared pushed his body back into the curve of Jensen’s to make sure they were sharing body heat. Jensen had stilled for a moment and Jared closed his eyes and waited.
“Jared,” Jensen whispered softly.
“Yes?”
“I,” he could heard Jensen’s stuttered breath and Jensen was so close he could feel his tongue swipe out to lick his lips. “There are ways to get warmer.”
“I think I’m warm enough for now.”
He closed his eyes again and settled in for sleep. He made sure to keep his breathing even. If it weren’t for the tension growing between them, Jared would have been rather happy to pass the night that way. He could feel Jensen against him though, his body unnaturally still. Perhaps Jensen had grown used to denying himself in the prison but Jared had never been a saint and patience was not a virtue he was well known for.
He let out a yawn and wiggled back against Jensen. He could feel the hard line of Jensen’s cock pressed against him and then Jensen’s hand was on his hip, holding him in place.
“Jared, what are you doing?”
“I was-“
“Do you think you can tempt me? That you can tease me like that and not have to pay the price? Did you think I couldn’t see the question in your eyes?” Jensen leaned closer then. “I know the rumors that went around in the prison and I know you know what I am.”
His voice was silky smooth and even if it shouldn’t affect Jared like it did the others, he wanted to drown in it. “What am I to do with you now, Jared?” he asked.
“Put me out of my fucking misery,” Jared answered.
Jensen pushed forward and Jared was pressed to the ground where Jensen had him pinned in place. He was still chest to back with him and Jensen rubbed himself against Jared like he wanted to imprint his entire body there. Jared wasn’t sure he’d have stopped him if he’d wanted that.
“You’re not supposed to affect me like this,” Jared said.
Jensen laughed as his lips pressed a small kiss just behind Jared’s ear. “Not everything we do is magic. Sometimes it’s just chemistry. And you are beautiful Jared,” Jensen whispered. “I would have tried to take you but you were always so careful who you surrounded yourself with. I watched. I waited to see what you were doing. You picked the right fights. You lost the right ones. You never faltered in your aim. And when you had the pelt, you were ready to go and I knew I had to find a way to get out with you.”
“So you’re using me for an escape?”
“That pelt belongs to someone and you know who. You aren’t a selkie-companion. There is no spell upon you to make you suffer two years to gain that pelt. Who does it belong to Jared?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I don’t take kindly to people who steal what belongs to one of my people.”
“You aren’t a selkie.”
Jensen breathed deeply against Jared’s neck. “No, but we are all brothers and sisters, those of us in this fight.”
Jared pushed against the floor, against Jensen who leaned back on his knees to let Jared turn. When he faced Jensen though, he grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close. He didn’t hesitate to seal his lips to Jensen’s, to kiss the words from his lips before he could speak again.
Jensen wrapped his arms around Jared’s body and responded with a heat Jared had only ever imagined. Jared could feel the warmth of his body and he pushed to get the clothes out from between them. Jensen let Jared strip his jacket and shirts away and then gave Jensen free reign to return the favor.
He froze as Jensen held the pelt in his hands. Jared hadn’t touched it, had only handled it with gloved hands and when Jensen brought it close to him, he shook his head. “No, please. Not yet,” he begged.
Jensen’s eyes widened as he looked at Jared. He set the pelt down gingerly then brought one hand up to cup Jared’s face before he kissed him tenderly. Jared didn’t know if he understood but then Jensen was over him and all around him. Their clothes were thrown aside and Jensen was under him and in him and Jared had never been so full and content and blissed out as he was with this man in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn’t just sex and it wasn’t just the heat of the moment. It wasn’t the magic of his kind, nor of Jared’s that caused this moment. It was that moment of understanding and the need in both their eyes to make right all the things that they could see were wrong in the world.
When their love making was done, Jared lay with Jensen’s head upon his chest. Jensen’s hand crept closer to the pelt. “May I?” he asked reverently.
Jared nodded, not sure he could say the words.
Jensen sat up, careful to keep the pelt from Jared as he looked it over. It looked old and worn, harshly used and thinning, but it would recover as soon as it was worn properly.
“It will be a magnificent pelt,” Jensen said.
“Encantado,” Jared whispered.
Jensen smiled at he looked at Jared. “You did know.”
“Not until we were here. You don’t react to the cold.”
Jensen nodded. “They forced me into military service but they never knew who I was. They didn’t care. I was just something not human to them. Something less.”
Jared sighed. “I was forced into the scientific survey teams. They thought because of my size that I would lift and carry. Imagine their surprise when I could read their findings better than they could.”
“This planet?” Jensen asked.
“It could be home for us,” Jared answered. “Our kind could survive here. You would have to leave Encante, but we could have another; a paradise in this world all of our own. No humans to run from, no people to hurt us ever again.”
“Would they come?”
“The selkies would come. My cousins would come as well, the kelpies and sirens. I think if we called, they would come. I think … if you called, they would all come.”
Jensen set the pelt down and stroked it gently with his fingers before he settled beside Jared again. “Sleep now. In the morning, we’ll get ourselves free.”
**
Dawn was bright and Jared woke to find his clothes in a small pile beside him, his gloves on top, and the pelt resting close by. Jensen sat with his back against the wall, his eyes scanned the walls around them. He hadn’t bothered with clothes and he didn’t hide that the ice had no effect on him.
“Jensen?”
Jensen smiled as he looked over at Jared. “Good morning. It seems like a good day to escape.”
“You found a way?”
“The walls are thick and with the night’s cold, the seam was sealed tight. However, no one expects us to look for an escape down.”
Jared laughed at the thought of it but then Jensen stood and he held his hand out to Jared. “Will you follow me under the ice, Jared?”
Jared leaned in and kissed Jensen softly. “I will follow you.”
It didn’t take much. Jensen wasn’t human and he knew how to read the ice better than Jared even. When Jensen hit it for a third time, the ice began to crack. Two more blows and there was a hole big enough for them both to slip into. Jared started to turn, but Jensen had the pelt in his hands before he could.
Jared stared at it, unable to contain his unease. He’d let Jensen look at it before, but that was when they were sealed in. When he couldn’t leave with it. He licked his lips and looked up at Jensen.
“I could make you do anything now, couldn’t I?” Jensen asked. “It doesn’t belong to someone else. You spent two years in this hell hole because somehow, you traced your pelt here. This is yours. And with it I can compel you to do my wishes.”
Jared nodded. It was all he could do.
“I have no skin to shed as you do, but I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose so precious a thing. You are stronger than most to endure this torture. I would consider myself blessed to see it restored to you.”
Jensen held it out and Jared gasped as he held it in his bare hands.
“How long?”
“Twelve years,” Jared confessed. “They took it from me twelve years ago. Four years ago I found out where it was and it took me this long to get hold of it.”
“Transform for me,” Jensen whispered.
Jared let out a shaky breath as he slid the pelt over his skin. He felt it settle into place, felt the way it melded into him, made him whole. He crouched on the ground as the skin grew closed around him, his muscles and bones rearranging themselves to swim instead of walk.
When he was done, he looked up at Jensen and wiggled his whiskers at the encantado. Jensen knelt and brought both hands up to Jared’s face. He placed a kiss on his forehead and smiled, though there were tears in his eyes as he did.
“You are indeed beautiful, Selkie.”
Jared let out a bark and pushed himself closer to the water before he looked back at Jensen.
Jensen let out a laugh at his antics. “Alright, I know. You’re anxious to swim again. Trust me, it has been a long time for me as well. I have been in this prison longer than you have been peltless. They made me a soldier, but they never made me theirs. I fought for our kind and I was banished here for it. I had lost hope until you came. You made me remember who I am and I thank you for that Jared. We have a people to save, and maybe you’re right. Maybe we should just make Encante right here.”
Jared barked in agreement and butted his head against Jensen’s leg.
Jensen caressed Jared’s head before he stood. “Let us find our new home.”
Jared watched as Jensen stretched his arms over his head. His back seemed to elongate and as he brought his arms back to his sides, they began to thicken. His body continued to grow and solidify, his skin grew shiny and grey until his transformation was complete. When he was in his true form, Jensen clicked at him.
Ready? Jared heard the words in his mind and barked one last time. Jensen didn’t wait for him but slid into the hole in the ice. Jared followed along Jensen’s dolphin form until he found a break in the ice. The came up for air and Jared slid up on the ice and batted at Jensen.
Not bad looking for an encantado, he teased.
I can still leave you under the ice, Jensen teased back.
They continue on, swimming under the ice until they found a suitable break and then they’d rest together. When Jared was too tired, Jensen would transform into his human form and would lay on the ice with Jared cradled in his arms. He never asked Jared to change back for him.
When they reached the end of the ice flow, they headed to a small island. They ate fresh fish from the water and sat in front of a fire under the boughs of a fir tree. When night fell they lay next to each other to sleep. Though it wasn’t cold for their insulated bodies, Jared spread his pelt over them and Jensen looked at him in awe.
“You are so beautiful,” Jensen said as he pressed his lips to Jared’s forehead.
Jared looked up at Jensen and ran his hands over the other man’s chest. “What will we do now?”
“Why are you asking me? You seemed to have it all worked out before.”
“You fought for us. You led men to try to protect us. I’m willing to follow you.”
“And your plan to make this planet home?”
“What do you think about it?” Jared asked. He sat up on his elbows and looked down at Jensen. As much as he’d trusted Jensen to help him escape, he believed in the Encantado.
“I think, maybe, we could help each other.”
“Yeah?”
Jensen kissed him and Jared allowed himself to be pulled on top of his lover. “It will be a hard fight once they know we survived, once they know we are going to fight back, but it will be worth it to free our people. And I would fight by your side Jared. I would die happily by your side.”
“And until then?”
“Until then, I would teach you all the ways an encantado can please his lover.”
Jared laughed as he was flipped onto his back and further words were stolen from his lips.
In the morning, they began to look for a way to get word off planet so their people would come to them. As they waited, they swam through the day as dolphin and otter, jumped and danced and played in the waves as they searched their new planet.
They were never found by the prison. No one ever checked to see if they had survived in their igloo. Why would they? It had been one of many that were left behind when the thaw came.
Once the prison was abandoned, they found their way inside and began the call for their own. They came in droves and settled the islands. When the government came back for their prison as the freeze came, they found it wasn’t their planet anymore.
Pairing: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Summary: He did notice, as he’d turned, the way Jensen had licked his lips as he let his eyes trail over Jared one more time. It may not mean anything. It might mean everything.
Author's Note: Written for my long overdue trope bingo card with the prompt of 'locked in'. So... something new and wierd-er than I usually write I think. I don't know. I might not be the best judge of that :P The encantado is something I saw on wikipedia and ran with it... changed it to what I needed... but I like it :P
“You know this is it, right?” Jensen asked as the walls seemed to close in a little more. “There’s no way you’re getting out of this.”
“I almost welcome it,” Jared said as he stared up at the walls. He looked over his shoulder at Jensen. “At least you’d stop complaining about it then.”
Jensen didn’t bother looking over his shoulder. He just traced the seams in the wall again. “Nothing but ice outside and ice inside. You’re going to freeze to death and you got no one to blame but yourself.”
“I didn’t hit the security guard.”
“You ran.”
“By myself. I didn’t ask you to follow me when I tried to escape.”
“Wait. This was a planned escape?”
Jared sighed. He closed his eyes and counted to ten in three languages. Then he did it all again just to see if he could possibly look at Jensen without wanting to throttle him. He looked at the convict. Nope. Still wanted to throttle him.
“Big master plan. And you ruined it by getting put out to ice with me,” Jensen said with his back turned.
Jared watched Jensen as the other man worked his way around the wall. His moves weren’t frantic the way they should be, nor was he drawing away from the icy wall with his bare hands. He moved with efficiency and grace, as if he was used to desperate situations. Could he be the one?
He was beautiful, Jared would give him that. If Jensen was a shapeshifter he’d picked a beautiful form, though his kind usually chose female forms. There was an elegance to him though, something that spoke of paradise, of Encante. Jared had never been there himself but it was rumored among his people that such a place existed. There were rumors that the government had destroyed it and taken all the natives captive, forced them into service.
Jared didn’t always believe the rumors, but his own people had been subjugated that way. After all, if they weren’t 100% human, the Coalition of Human Rights didn’t apply to them. Take all the years of nasty rumors that were spread about their kind and use it as propaganda and suddenly, the world was no longer fit for them.
Space had been the answer that Jared had been looking for. Forced into military service, Jared had excelled in space travel. Now, he was trapped on a prison world that just might not be a prison. It might, if he could get through this, become exactly what he’d been looking for all along.
Jensen stopped moving when he realized Jared was staring at him. Jared just smiled.
“Enjoying the view before you die?”
“Might as well, right? If I’m trapped in an ice room until I freeze, I should just give in to the inevitable.”
Jensen shook his head, but his eyes traveled down the length of Jared’s body as he did so. “I’m not going to let you die in here,” the other man said.
“You have a way to get us out?”
“Maybe if you’d stop gawking at me and help me find the seam, I might.”
Jared gave Jensen a smirk but he turned to begin looking for the place the ice had been sealed shut around them. He did notice, as he’d turned, the way Jensen had licked his lips as he let his eyes trail over Jared one more time. It may not mean anything. It might mean everything.
Jared looked closely at the walls but he made sure not to use his hands unless he thought it might be the right spot. He didn’t want to give anything away until he had more information. He didn’t know Jensen well enough to trust him. If he was the man he thought he was that could change things though.
“I think we might be stuck here for the night,” Jared said quietly.
“Let’s hope not,” Jensen said. The light was already dimming though and he could tell from the light outside the ice that it wasn’t long until sun down. “Do you have anything on you?”
Jensen turned to look at Jared then and he shrugged. “Some rations. A blanket. I don’t know why they bother to give us anything. It’s not like these supplies would help us survive more than a night out here.”
“At least you were blocked in. I heard they left the last guys out in the open to make a run for it.”
“Bet they didn’t even make it a full night.”
“Not in these temperatures. At least being sealed in will give us a chance to make it through tonight. Let’s hope it’s milder than last night.”
“We can’t see anything in this light,” Jared said. “Why don’t we sit down and eat?”
Jensen looked at the walls one last time and nodded. “Might as well. Here, let me set my blanket out. I got one with the water proof bottom. We can sit on it while we eat.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“Bribery. Probably the same way you got your pretty pelt.”
So, he hadn’t missed the seal skin he wore under his jacket. Plenty of prisoners had them to keep warm and Jared was just glad he’d found what he needed before his escape plans had turned sour.
Jared didn’t say anything as he watched Jensen. If he was what he thought he was, he’d know soon enough. Words weren’t really necessary. When Jensen had the blanket set out he sat down and gestured for Jared to do the same.
Jared joined him on the blanket and sat closer than was necessary but he didn’t think Jensen would call him on it. He could always blame the cold if he did. He opened his rations and offered some of his to the other man.
When Jensen stared at him Jared smiled. “It’s only fair since you’re sharing your blanket.”
“Don’t think you won’t be sharing yours later, since mine is covering our asses right now.”
“I wouldn’t think of leaving you in the cold. Besides, come full night I’m pretty sure I’ll need the extra heat.”
Jensen stared at him and something wild stirred behind his eyes. It called to Jared in ways he didn’t want to admit. He didn’t doubt his instincts now. He didn’t know when his luck had changed, but he was sure that Jensen was the one person in the entire prison who could help him.
“It’s a shame what they’ve done to this place,” Jared said as he took a handful of nuts and dried fruit and ate it.
“What do you mean?”
“Send prisoners to freeze out the winters and abandon them to die when it isn’t. This planet could be beautiful. I’ve seen the reports.”
“Really? How does an inmate get access to planet reviews?”
“We were all something else, before we were inmates, weren’t we?” Jensen shrugged and Jared continued. “The winters are long and harsh here but the summers are beautiful. The problem is that the thaw and freeze are too extreme for humans. They haven’t been able to devise a way to live through the extreme heat that causes the ice to melt, nor the freeze that begins the winter cycle. It’d be perfect for something that wasn’t human though.”
“Something that wasn’t human?” Jensen let out a laugh at that. “If you find something less than human, let me know. There’s a pretty hefty bounty for those sort of things these days.”
It was the sad state of the world. Jared didn’t believe that the less than human population was actually… well … less than human. Different wasn’t less. It wasn’t harmful. It was just different.
“You should know from that pelt you wear. How much did it cost you?”
Jared didn’t touch the pelt. He was almost afraid of what would happen if he did. Something in Jensen’s eyes said he wanted to see the soft fur that Jared had spent two years in prison for. Even if Jensen didn’t know that the pelt was why he was there.
“Too much,” Jared said quietly. He put his rations away without another word. As much as he wanted to learn more about Jensen, he couldn’t talk about the pelt anymore. Or what he’d done to get it.
Jensen took the hint and when Jared pulled the blanket from around his neck where he’d tied it, he lay down behind Jared. It was a tight fit over them and Jared pushed his body back into the curve of Jensen’s to make sure they were sharing body heat. Jensen had stilled for a moment and Jared closed his eyes and waited.
“Jared,” Jensen whispered softly.
“Yes?”
“I,” he could heard Jensen’s stuttered breath and Jensen was so close he could feel his tongue swipe out to lick his lips. “There are ways to get warmer.”
“I think I’m warm enough for now.”
He closed his eyes again and settled in for sleep. He made sure to keep his breathing even. If it weren’t for the tension growing between them, Jared would have been rather happy to pass the night that way. He could feel Jensen against him though, his body unnaturally still. Perhaps Jensen had grown used to denying himself in the prison but Jared had never been a saint and patience was not a virtue he was well known for.
He let out a yawn and wiggled back against Jensen. He could feel the hard line of Jensen’s cock pressed against him and then Jensen’s hand was on his hip, holding him in place.
“Jared, what are you doing?”
“I was-“
“Do you think you can tempt me? That you can tease me like that and not have to pay the price? Did you think I couldn’t see the question in your eyes?” Jensen leaned closer then. “I know the rumors that went around in the prison and I know you know what I am.”
His voice was silky smooth and even if it shouldn’t affect Jared like it did the others, he wanted to drown in it. “What am I to do with you now, Jared?” he asked.
“Put me out of my fucking misery,” Jared answered.
Jensen pushed forward and Jared was pressed to the ground where Jensen had him pinned in place. He was still chest to back with him and Jensen rubbed himself against Jared like he wanted to imprint his entire body there. Jared wasn’t sure he’d have stopped him if he’d wanted that.
“You’re not supposed to affect me like this,” Jared said.
Jensen laughed as his lips pressed a small kiss just behind Jared’s ear. “Not everything we do is magic. Sometimes it’s just chemistry. And you are beautiful Jared,” Jensen whispered. “I would have tried to take you but you were always so careful who you surrounded yourself with. I watched. I waited to see what you were doing. You picked the right fights. You lost the right ones. You never faltered in your aim. And when you had the pelt, you were ready to go and I knew I had to find a way to get out with you.”
“So you’re using me for an escape?”
“That pelt belongs to someone and you know who. You aren’t a selkie-companion. There is no spell upon you to make you suffer two years to gain that pelt. Who does it belong to Jared?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I don’t take kindly to people who steal what belongs to one of my people.”
“You aren’t a selkie.”
Jensen breathed deeply against Jared’s neck. “No, but we are all brothers and sisters, those of us in this fight.”
Jared pushed against the floor, against Jensen who leaned back on his knees to let Jared turn. When he faced Jensen though, he grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close. He didn’t hesitate to seal his lips to Jensen’s, to kiss the words from his lips before he could speak again.
Jensen wrapped his arms around Jared’s body and responded with a heat Jared had only ever imagined. Jared could feel the warmth of his body and he pushed to get the clothes out from between them. Jensen let Jared strip his jacket and shirts away and then gave Jensen free reign to return the favor.
He froze as Jensen held the pelt in his hands. Jared hadn’t touched it, had only handled it with gloved hands and when Jensen brought it close to him, he shook his head. “No, please. Not yet,” he begged.
Jensen’s eyes widened as he looked at Jared. He set the pelt down gingerly then brought one hand up to cup Jared’s face before he kissed him tenderly. Jared didn’t know if he understood but then Jensen was over him and all around him. Their clothes were thrown aside and Jensen was under him and in him and Jared had never been so full and content and blissed out as he was with this man in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn’t just sex and it wasn’t just the heat of the moment. It wasn’t the magic of his kind, nor of Jared’s that caused this moment. It was that moment of understanding and the need in both their eyes to make right all the things that they could see were wrong in the world.
When their love making was done, Jared lay with Jensen’s head upon his chest. Jensen’s hand crept closer to the pelt. “May I?” he asked reverently.
Jared nodded, not sure he could say the words.
Jensen sat up, careful to keep the pelt from Jared as he looked it over. It looked old and worn, harshly used and thinning, but it would recover as soon as it was worn properly.
“It will be a magnificent pelt,” Jensen said.
“Encantado,” Jared whispered.
Jensen smiled at he looked at Jared. “You did know.”
“Not until we were here. You don’t react to the cold.”
Jensen nodded. “They forced me into military service but they never knew who I was. They didn’t care. I was just something not human to them. Something less.”
Jared sighed. “I was forced into the scientific survey teams. They thought because of my size that I would lift and carry. Imagine their surprise when I could read their findings better than they could.”
“This planet?” Jensen asked.
“It could be home for us,” Jared answered. “Our kind could survive here. You would have to leave Encante, but we could have another; a paradise in this world all of our own. No humans to run from, no people to hurt us ever again.”
“Would they come?”
“The selkies would come. My cousins would come as well, the kelpies and sirens. I think if we called, they would come. I think … if you called, they would all come.”
Jensen set the pelt down and stroked it gently with his fingers before he settled beside Jared again. “Sleep now. In the morning, we’ll get ourselves free.”
**
Dawn was bright and Jared woke to find his clothes in a small pile beside him, his gloves on top, and the pelt resting close by. Jensen sat with his back against the wall, his eyes scanned the walls around them. He hadn’t bothered with clothes and he didn’t hide that the ice had no effect on him.
“Jensen?”
Jensen smiled as he looked over at Jared. “Good morning. It seems like a good day to escape.”
“You found a way?”
“The walls are thick and with the night’s cold, the seam was sealed tight. However, no one expects us to look for an escape down.”
Jared laughed at the thought of it but then Jensen stood and he held his hand out to Jared. “Will you follow me under the ice, Jared?”
Jared leaned in and kissed Jensen softly. “I will follow you.”
It didn’t take much. Jensen wasn’t human and he knew how to read the ice better than Jared even. When Jensen hit it for a third time, the ice began to crack. Two more blows and there was a hole big enough for them both to slip into. Jared started to turn, but Jensen had the pelt in his hands before he could.
Jared stared at it, unable to contain his unease. He’d let Jensen look at it before, but that was when they were sealed in. When he couldn’t leave with it. He licked his lips and looked up at Jensen.
“I could make you do anything now, couldn’t I?” Jensen asked. “It doesn’t belong to someone else. You spent two years in this hell hole because somehow, you traced your pelt here. This is yours. And with it I can compel you to do my wishes.”
Jared nodded. It was all he could do.
“I have no skin to shed as you do, but I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose so precious a thing. You are stronger than most to endure this torture. I would consider myself blessed to see it restored to you.”
Jensen held it out and Jared gasped as he held it in his bare hands.
“How long?”
“Twelve years,” Jared confessed. “They took it from me twelve years ago. Four years ago I found out where it was and it took me this long to get hold of it.”
“Transform for me,” Jensen whispered.
Jared let out a shaky breath as he slid the pelt over his skin. He felt it settle into place, felt the way it melded into him, made him whole. He crouched on the ground as the skin grew closed around him, his muscles and bones rearranging themselves to swim instead of walk.
When he was done, he looked up at Jensen and wiggled his whiskers at the encantado. Jensen knelt and brought both hands up to Jared’s face. He placed a kiss on his forehead and smiled, though there were tears in his eyes as he did.
“You are indeed beautiful, Selkie.”
Jared let out a bark and pushed himself closer to the water before he looked back at Jensen.
Jensen let out a laugh at his antics. “Alright, I know. You’re anxious to swim again. Trust me, it has been a long time for me as well. I have been in this prison longer than you have been peltless. They made me a soldier, but they never made me theirs. I fought for our kind and I was banished here for it. I had lost hope until you came. You made me remember who I am and I thank you for that Jared. We have a people to save, and maybe you’re right. Maybe we should just make Encante right here.”
Jared barked in agreement and butted his head against Jensen’s leg.
Jensen caressed Jared’s head before he stood. “Let us find our new home.”
Jared watched as Jensen stretched his arms over his head. His back seemed to elongate and as he brought his arms back to his sides, they began to thicken. His body continued to grow and solidify, his skin grew shiny and grey until his transformation was complete. When he was in his true form, Jensen clicked at him.
Ready? Jared heard the words in his mind and barked one last time. Jensen didn’t wait for him but slid into the hole in the ice. Jared followed along Jensen’s dolphin form until he found a break in the ice. The came up for air and Jared slid up on the ice and batted at Jensen.
Not bad looking for an encantado, he teased.
I can still leave you under the ice, Jensen teased back.
They continue on, swimming under the ice until they found a suitable break and then they’d rest together. When Jared was too tired, Jensen would transform into his human form and would lay on the ice with Jared cradled in his arms. He never asked Jared to change back for him.
When they reached the end of the ice flow, they headed to a small island. They ate fresh fish from the water and sat in front of a fire under the boughs of a fir tree. When night fell they lay next to each other to sleep. Though it wasn’t cold for their insulated bodies, Jared spread his pelt over them and Jensen looked at him in awe.
“You are so beautiful,” Jensen said as he pressed his lips to Jared’s forehead.
Jared looked up at Jensen and ran his hands over the other man’s chest. “What will we do now?”
“Why are you asking me? You seemed to have it all worked out before.”
“You fought for us. You led men to try to protect us. I’m willing to follow you.”
“And your plan to make this planet home?”
“What do you think about it?” Jared asked. He sat up on his elbows and looked down at Jensen. As much as he’d trusted Jensen to help him escape, he believed in the Encantado.
“I think, maybe, we could help each other.”
“Yeah?”
Jensen kissed him and Jared allowed himself to be pulled on top of his lover. “It will be a hard fight once they know we survived, once they know we are going to fight back, but it will be worth it to free our people. And I would fight by your side Jared. I would die happily by your side.”
“And until then?”
“Until then, I would teach you all the ways an encantado can please his lover.”
Jared laughed as he was flipped onto his back and further words were stolen from his lips.
In the morning, they began to look for a way to get word off planet so their people would come to them. As they waited, they swam through the day as dolphin and otter, jumped and danced and played in the waves as they searched their new planet.
They were never found by the prison. No one ever checked to see if they had survived in their igloo. Why would they? It had been one of many that were left behind when the thaw came.
Once the prison was abandoned, they found their way inside and began the call for their own. They came in droves and settled the islands. When the government came back for their prison as the freeze came, they found it wasn’t their planet anymore.