Fic: If you go down in the woods today...
Title: If you go down in the woods today...
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I own nothing but an overactive imagination. And a computer.
Summary: Sequel to The (Unfortunate) Downside of Eavesdropping in which Gaius sees more than he wishes to!
Words: 3173
A/N: Loads of Thank Yous this time!
Thanks to Rizzy for betaing at top speed for me as always
To hils for keeping me company and giving me the word "nyargh" which I have overused ever since.
To
dragonbetween and
angelwings9 for constantly feeding the bunnies
And to
simontheduck who provided the prompt that started Part 1.
Enjoy!
“Oh god Merlin!” Arthur groaned. “Have I ever told you how good you are at this?”
“You might have mentioned it.” Merlin said with a small smile.
Arthur opened his mouth as if to retort “oooooh…ow!”
“Sorry.”
They were on Arthur’s bed; the prince sprawled on his front wearing only his trousers whilst Merlin knelt above him massaging his back and shoulders. He’d faced a gruelling day of training until even his well-honed muscles screamed in protest. He hadn’t even bathed, just collapsed as soon as Merlin had removed his armour and lay there trying to not move and send tremors of pain through his body.
Merlin had taken off his boots and climbed onto the bed. With practised and soothing fingers, he’d begun to knead the knots in Arthur’s back and shoulders and arms eliciting alternating grunts of approval and pain.
“Don’t stop Merlin…feels good,” Arthur mumbled as Merlin stopped pressing and pummelling the prince’s muscles back into shape and felt his pockets until he found what he was looking for.
He uncorked the small bottle of soothing salve and poured some onto his hands. “Be patient!” He instructed, and began to rub the salve into the most painful spot on Arthur’s back.
“Mmmm…that smells nice,” Arthur said drowsily as the smell of sandalwood and pine and something fruity he couldn’t quite place drifted towards him. “Where did you get that?”
Merlin’s hands faltered. “Isn’t it yours?”
“I don’t think so. Where did you get it?”
“It was on my bedside table. Next to the vial of oil we use when we…you know.” Merlin was rather flustered now.
“Oh you found that, did you?” Arthur said pleased, “I couldn’t find it earlier.”
“No, I just said, it was on the table.” Merlin began massaging again
Arthur would have shrugged if Merlin weren’t pressing his thumbs into his shoulders, “Maybe Gaius put them there.”
“Gaius,” Merlin repeated thoughtfully, and then he stilled abruptly, “Oh my god, Gaius! He knows! He knows and he’s leaving ointments and oils on my bedside table!” He thought he might be sick.
Arthur stretched and Merlin was momentarily distracted by the muscles rippling beneath him. “Don’t be silly, Merlin. How could he possibly know? We only nearly got caught this morning and we got away.” He sniggered, “unless you think he’s been hiding under the bed or something trying to catch us at it.”
Merlin flopped onto his back beside Arthur, abandoning all attempts to finish the massage. “It’s not funny, Arthur.”
“He probably just found the oil bottle on the floor and left the soothing salve for you to give to me. He knew I had a hard day’s training ahead.”
“I suppose.” Merlin took a deep breath and the waves of nausea began to subside.
“Anyway,” Arthur said propping himself up now that he could actually move without crying out in pain, “I am all hot and sweaty and could do with a bath.” He leant over and nibbled Merlin’s ear, “want to join me?”
The nausea was completely consumed by waves of something much more pleasurable.
~
“Arthur says thank you for the salve by the way.”
Gaius spluttered into his stew.
“It was you that left it, wasn’t it?” Merlin asked anxiously, pushing a tankard of water into the physician’s grasping hand. Gaius nodded as he slurped gratefully at the drink.
“It…er…did the trick then?” He asked weakly.
“Oh yes,” Merlin beamed. “Arthur says he’s never felt less sore in his whole life. And it was rather a vigorous session. He wants to use it all the time…are you alright?” Merlin broke off as Gaius choked on his food. He reached across and gave the physician a few sharp taps on the back until he stopped coughing.
“I’m fine…fine!” He croaked waving a hand to ward off Merlin. “I’ve just remembered something important.”
Merlin watched in bemusement as Gaius scuttled from his chambers.
~
“And then he scurried out like a plague of locusts was after him…are you even listening to me?”
“No.” Arthur admitted “I’ve got other things on my mind.”
“Oh?” Merlin said. Arthur slid a warm hand under Merlin’s tunic. “Oh!”
“Sometimes you really are an idiot.”
“Prat.”
~
Merlin woke first the next day with Arthur’s hair tickling against his chin. Bright sunlight was pouring through a slit in the curtains around Arthur’s bed making the prince appear, in Merlin’s humble opinion, more golden and beautiful than ever. Not that he’d ever tell Arthur that.
Rugged and manly, maybe.
Beautiful was definitely a no-no.
But to Merlin in the early morning light, naked in bed with their limbs intertwined, his Arthur was beautiful and pretty and loveable and all those things neither could ever say aloud.
The prince was stirring and Merlin knew it was only a matter of time before they both had to get up and go about their day pretending they meant less to each other than they actually did. And he wanted to savour these last few moments. He kissed Arthur lightly and wrapped his arms tighter around him.
“Mmm.” Arthur opened his eyes. “Morning.” He wriggled closer into Merlin and kissed his chest.
Eventually, Merlin spoke reluctantly, “What do you want for breakfast?”
“You.”
~
As it turned out, Arthur’s duties were completed very quickly that morning and, as the prince generally decided on Merlin’s duties, by lunchtime they were both setting out for an afternoon’s hunting. And by hunting, they meant searching for a private spot in the woods to have thrilling and secretive semi-public sex. To maintain the pretence Arthur wore his brown leather hunting jacket. Which was always a bonus. Merlin was carrying some of the weapons, which wasn’t as much fun.
Arthur set a few snares to catch rabbits. Before, Merlin would have protested at the killing of such fluffy and innocent creatures but the last time they’d been ‘hunting’ they’d napped amongst the ferns and Merlin had woken up to find three of the blighters gnawing at his toes and he suddenly wasn’t so fond of the creatures. Plus, they needed to take something back with them or Arthur’s reputation as a great hunter would be under threat. Or something like that.
This time, it was Merlin who led Arthur to a sheltered and leafy glade, well off the beaten track, which he’d stumbled across whilst searching for herbs for Gaius one day. It was strewn with springy mosses and grasses and surrounded by lush green trees and ferns. Merlin dumped the hunting equipment on the ground as Arthur flung himself down and looked up to the blue sky, watching a bird swooping and circling above. Merlin sat next to him.
“Sometimes I think it must be quite nice to be a bird,” Arthur said dreamily. “You know, able to just fly away from everything.”
“And probably get shot down by a trigger happy crown prince.” Merlin said wryly.
Arthur frowned but he tickled Merlin lazily with a piece of grass and didn’t say anything.
“Ooooh, look, a squirrel.” Merlin was on his feet and padding softly towards the creature looking quizzically at them from the foot of a tree. Arthur followed, marvelling at how his usually clumsy manservant could approach the tiny creature with such grace and quiet. Merlin was crouched now, stretching a hand towards the squirrel that sniffed his fingers and looked inquisitively at him. Then the creature saw Arthur and scampered off into the trees. Merlin was disappointed but he laughed gently when he stood and turned and saw Arthur’s hurt face.
The prince pretended not to care. “Well, I don’t want to play with small woodland creatures like a girl.”
“Oh really?”
“No,” Arthur said with a wolfish grin backing Merlin up against the tree, “I’d much rather play with you.”
Merlin reached both hands out and grasped the front of Arthur’s jacket (he really did like this jacket) and pulled him in for a kiss.
~
Since Merlin had come to Camelot, Gaius rarely went out picking herbs and flowers in the woods. Part of him was relieved, he wasn’t as young or sprightly as he used to be, but he did miss the leisurely walks he had often taken, admiring the scenery and discovering unexplored areas of woodland, and even uncovering new plant and animal life he could research. So that afternoon, he was quite merrily strolling through the woods with a basket in hand picking the necessary supplies and just generally appreciating the view.
He was particularly pleased when he unearthed a new variety of moss that seemed to trail way back off the track and disappeared into the trees. Eagerly, he followed the trail until the small patches of moss became a large blanket that spread across a glade. But at that point, Gaius’s attention was no longer focussed on the moss at all as he stared in dismay at what was happening on the other side of the clearing.
He wondered why he hadn’t heard them, as they weren’t being particularly quiet. Arthur, the Crown Prince of Camelot, with his trousers pooled by his ankles thrusting into Merlin, pushing him against a tree, and the both of them letting out sighs and moans that could have woken the dead.
For a few moments in which time seemed to stand still, Gaius stood transfixed with widened eyes in horror as the sight of the two men burnt into his brain and mingled with the echoing cries he’d heard only a day ago. Then he turned and fled with a speed he did not know he still possessed, chased by the clear ringing cries of ecstasy from both Arthur and Merlin.
~
“If I’ve been bitten to death again, it’s your fault,” Merlin said sleepily.
They were slumped carelessly under the tree bathed in the afternoon sun, Merlin’s head on Arthur’s chest, having dozed peacefully after their energetic lovemaking. Merlin, who also seemed to attract all manner of insects as well as rabbits that liked the idea of chewing upon his skin, sat up to examine his arms warily. Arthur, who would not have voiced aloud his slight disappointment that the insects never seemed to want to feast upon his princely personage, largely ignored Merlin’s idle remark.
“Let me have a look.”
Merlin untied his neckerchief and pulled his tunic off over his head.
Arthur frowned and stroked soft fingers over a graze on Merlin’s back. “Is that sore?”
Merlin winced, “Yes. Was it an insect?”
“Er…no it was me.”
“You?”
“Us. The tree.” Arthur explained.
“Oh!” Merlin winced again as Arthur prodded the scrape. “Ouch.”
“Sorry. I don’t suppose you’ve got that salve with you?”
“I might have put it in the bag.” Merlin nodded towards their discarded supplies. Arthur leant as far as he could and caught a strap of the bag, dragging it towards him. He turned out several items muttering about how poorly the bag was packed until he found what he was looking for. He uncorked the bottle, tipped a little onto his hand and rubbed it into Merlin’s back.
“Is that a bit better?”
“Mmm.” Merlin leant back against Arthur. “Do we have to go back just yet?”
Arthur squinted at the sky and slid his arms around Merlin to hold him, “No, we’ve got a bit of time yet.” He nuzzled into Merlin’s neck.
“Um...Arthur?” Merlin ventured as Arthur began nibbling his ear. “I can’t help noticing you’ve got a lot more clothes on than me.” He could feel Arthur’s lips twitching as they pressed soft kisses down his neck and thought how very unfair it was that he couldn’t even see Arthur. So he twisted and turned round to face him, looking at Merlin with a tenderness that seemed almost alien.
Merlin tugged on Arthur’s jacket. “This. Off. Now.”
A small part of Arthur’s brain wanted to retort that he should give the orders but his body had other ideas and he pulled off his jacket and shirt, tossing them aside.
Merlin fell on Arthur’s exposed skin with greedy hands that tickled and teased, traversing the sinewy dips and curves with as much awe and delight as he had the first time he’d touched Arthur. Merlin’s lips followed the path his hands had made until Arthur’s head fell back and all he could do was gasp and sigh and wrap his fingers in the dark curls on Merlin’s head.
“Merlin,” he moaned and was silenced as Merlin swooped to kiss his mouth, long and leisurely, the tip of his tongue occasionally darting out to taste Arthur’s bottom lip. When he pulled away, Arthur pulled him back, teeth clashing, with frantic kisses and eager fingers. Merlin smiled into each of Arthur’s fervent kisses and then pushed with a soft hand on Arthur’s chest until the prince was lying back amongst the foliage. He then returned to trailing butterfly kisses randomly across Arthur’s chest and stomach.
Merlin straddled Arthur’s hips and leant forwards to nip at his neck. Arthur writhed and whimpered (though he’d deny he made such an unmanly noise) and arched his back. And when Merlin wiggled and pressed his bottom against his straining trousers, he almost came undone. The tease!
“Merlin…you…I…oh god!”
Then it was only moments before they stripped off their trousers and became a naked tangle of limbs touching with hot hands and impatient lips and muffled gasps until Arthur slipped an oiled finger into Merlin that made him whimper “guh!” Arthur inserted another finger, and then another, until Merlin cried “nyargh” and bit Arthur’s lip.
“Arthur…want you…so much…” Arthur tried to push, to roll them over, but Merlin’s hands kept him on the ground. “I want to…try something,” Merlin whispered, reaching for the vial of oil, pouring out the last drops onto his hand and slicking it over Arthur’s erection.
“What are you…?” Arthur tried to ask when Merlin pushed back, and he understood. His hands moved to Merlin’s hips to position him and his fingers tensed and bruised against Merlin’s pale skin as the warlock slid slowly down until Arthur was completely buried in him.
Merlin shifted experimentally, drawing low pleading murmurs from Arthur that he liked the sound of, and leant forwards to support himself with hands on Arthur’s shoulders.
“Merlin. Please!”
Tentatively, Merlin lifted and then lowered his hips drawing another cry from Arthur. Then he did it again, sliding himself up and down Arthur’s cock until he could feel the prince’s fingers digging into his hip and thigh and could see Arthur’s chest rising and falling in ragged gasps.
“Oh god, Merlin!” Arthur bucked his hips and thrust into Merlin, meeting him as he slid down and hitting that spot inside Merlin that sent tremors of pleasure flooding through him. He thrust several more times; each time sending another wave of delight through Merlin until he dropped his head back and groaned.
“Merlin…look at me, Merlin…”
Merlin lowered his head and opened eyes he didn’t remember closing to look at Arthur. The sight of his flushed face, sweat slicked hair and eyes that appeared almost black with pleasure, ignited a smouldering tingling deep in his stomach and he leaned to press his lips to Arthur’s, brushing his own erection against Arthur’s stomach. The tingling sensation splintered, spreading out and down and Merlin thrust back, hitting that spot again and pushing him over the edge with a groan of “Arthur!” as he came, spilling onto Arthur’s chest and stomach.
The sight of Merlin above him, abandoned and wild, caused Arthur to hitch his breath. The feel of Merlin’s release spilling onto him, pooling onto his stomach caused him to thrust twice more into Merlin’s increasingly pliant body until his vision blanked out, and he found his own release with a guttural cry that sounded more like a growl. He didn’t even care when Merlin collapsed heavily on him and stayed there, pressing feathery kisses into Merlin’s neck until their breathing evened out.
~
The last streaks of daylight were fading from the sky as they returned to Camelot, with a couple of snared rabbits and huge grins across their faces. If anyone thought they looked remarkably happy with such a small catch, no one said anything.
Arthur attended an unusually quiet dinner with his father and Morgana where he pleased his father by being polite and dignified, and alarmed Morgana by not insulting her and even being pleasant throughout the entire meal.
“Killing things does wonders for you,” she remarked dryly and was met with a twinkling grin that quite unnerved her.
Merlin ate with Gaius in the physician’s chambers. Their meal was unusually quiet too, in that there was a prolonged and somewhat awkward silence despite Merlin babbling desperately trying to garner some sort of reaction from the physician. Gaius barely even met his eye and Merlin fell into silence wondering if he’d forgotten something or somehow offended his mentor.
Later Merlin crept into Arthur’s chambers and they lay in each other’s arms in the vast bed and drifted off to sleep.
~
The door to his chambers burst open and Gaius looked up from the book he was consulting to see Arthur striding in.
“Merlin, I need you to polish my sword right now.” He was saying with a smirk and marched into the room undoing his belt.
Merlin jumped up from his seat at the workbench and swept aside the bottles and papers there in time for Arthur to back him onto it.
Arthur kissed Merlin soundly.
Gaius coughed loudly to make his presence known but he was ignored.
“Take me now, Arthur!” Merlin declared dramatically.
Gaius coughed again.
Arthur was pulling at Merlin’s neckerchief.
He coughed again. Merlin suddenly seemed to notice him over Arthur’s shoulder.
“Hello Gaius,” he said pleasantly.
“Gaius? Gaius/”
“GAIUS!” Gaius woke with a jump to see Merlin standing over him, shaking him awake and looking anxious. It took a few moments for Gaius to realise he’d fallen asleep at his workbench.
“Are you alright, Gaius?” Merlin was looking worried. And so he should.
“I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Gaius admitted. And it’s entirely your fault. He brushed aside Merlin’s offer of help as he got up from the bench to consult one of his books.
The door to his chambers burst open and Arthur strode in saying “Merlin, I need you to polish my sword, right now.”
Gaius dropped his book and fled from the room.
“What’s wrong with him?” Arthur asked handing Merlin his sword.
“I don’t know.” Merlin gave a concerned frown, “I don’t think he’s very well.”
“I’ll ask father to give him a day or two off,” Arthur said. Then he gestured towards the sword. “Sorry about that. Father wants a small tournament to entertain some stuffy diplomats.”
“That’s OK.”
“I’m going to be really busy today,” Arthur said ruefully. He glanced quickly around, then put his arms around Merlin’s waist and leant towards him so their foreheads touched. “Come to me tonight?”
“Always.” Said Merlin and kissed him.
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I own nothing but an overactive imagination. And a computer.
Summary: Sequel to The (Unfortunate) Downside of Eavesdropping in which Gaius sees more than he wishes to!
Words: 3173
A/N: Loads of Thank Yous this time!
Thanks to Rizzy for betaing at top speed for me as always
To hils for keeping me company and giving me the word "nyargh" which I have overused ever since.
To
dragonbetween and
angelwings9 for constantly feeding the bunnies
And to
simontheduck who provided the prompt that started Part 1.
Enjoy!
“Oh god Merlin!” Arthur groaned. “Have I ever told you how good you are at this?”
“You might have mentioned it.” Merlin said with a small smile.
Arthur opened his mouth as if to retort “oooooh…ow!”
“Sorry.”
They were on Arthur’s bed; the prince sprawled on his front wearing only his trousers whilst Merlin knelt above him massaging his back and shoulders. He’d faced a gruelling day of training until even his well-honed muscles screamed in protest. He hadn’t even bathed, just collapsed as soon as Merlin had removed his armour and lay there trying to not move and send tremors of pain through his body.
Merlin had taken off his boots and climbed onto the bed. With practised and soothing fingers, he’d begun to knead the knots in Arthur’s back and shoulders and arms eliciting alternating grunts of approval and pain.
“Don’t stop Merlin…feels good,” Arthur mumbled as Merlin stopped pressing and pummelling the prince’s muscles back into shape and felt his pockets until he found what he was looking for.
He uncorked the small bottle of soothing salve and poured some onto his hands. “Be patient!” He instructed, and began to rub the salve into the most painful spot on Arthur’s back.
“Mmmm…that smells nice,” Arthur said drowsily as the smell of sandalwood and pine and something fruity he couldn’t quite place drifted towards him. “Where did you get that?”
Merlin’s hands faltered. “Isn’t it yours?”
“I don’t think so. Where did you get it?”
“It was on my bedside table. Next to the vial of oil we use when we…you know.” Merlin was rather flustered now.
“Oh you found that, did you?” Arthur said pleased, “I couldn’t find it earlier.”
“No, I just said, it was on the table.” Merlin began massaging again
Arthur would have shrugged if Merlin weren’t pressing his thumbs into his shoulders, “Maybe Gaius put them there.”
“Gaius,” Merlin repeated thoughtfully, and then he stilled abruptly, “Oh my god, Gaius! He knows! He knows and he’s leaving ointments and oils on my bedside table!” He thought he might be sick.
Arthur stretched and Merlin was momentarily distracted by the muscles rippling beneath him. “Don’t be silly, Merlin. How could he possibly know? We only nearly got caught this morning and we got away.” He sniggered, “unless you think he’s been hiding under the bed or something trying to catch us at it.”
Merlin flopped onto his back beside Arthur, abandoning all attempts to finish the massage. “It’s not funny, Arthur.”
“He probably just found the oil bottle on the floor and left the soothing salve for you to give to me. He knew I had a hard day’s training ahead.”
“I suppose.” Merlin took a deep breath and the waves of nausea began to subside.
“Anyway,” Arthur said propping himself up now that he could actually move without crying out in pain, “I am all hot and sweaty and could do with a bath.” He leant over and nibbled Merlin’s ear, “want to join me?”
The nausea was completely consumed by waves of something much more pleasurable.
~
“Arthur says thank you for the salve by the way.”
Gaius spluttered into his stew.
“It was you that left it, wasn’t it?” Merlin asked anxiously, pushing a tankard of water into the physician’s grasping hand. Gaius nodded as he slurped gratefully at the drink.
“It…er…did the trick then?” He asked weakly.
“Oh yes,” Merlin beamed. “Arthur says he’s never felt less sore in his whole life. And it was rather a vigorous session. He wants to use it all the time…are you alright?” Merlin broke off as Gaius choked on his food. He reached across and gave the physician a few sharp taps on the back until he stopped coughing.
“I’m fine…fine!” He croaked waving a hand to ward off Merlin. “I’ve just remembered something important.”
Merlin watched in bemusement as Gaius scuttled from his chambers.
~
“And then he scurried out like a plague of locusts was after him…are you even listening to me?”
“No.” Arthur admitted “I’ve got other things on my mind.”
“Oh?” Merlin said. Arthur slid a warm hand under Merlin’s tunic. “Oh!”
“Sometimes you really are an idiot.”
“Prat.”
~
Merlin woke first the next day with Arthur’s hair tickling against his chin. Bright sunlight was pouring through a slit in the curtains around Arthur’s bed making the prince appear, in Merlin’s humble opinion, more golden and beautiful than ever. Not that he’d ever tell Arthur that.
Rugged and manly, maybe.
Beautiful was definitely a no-no.
But to Merlin in the early morning light, naked in bed with their limbs intertwined, his Arthur was beautiful and pretty and loveable and all those things neither could ever say aloud.
The prince was stirring and Merlin knew it was only a matter of time before they both had to get up and go about their day pretending they meant less to each other than they actually did. And he wanted to savour these last few moments. He kissed Arthur lightly and wrapped his arms tighter around him.
“Mmm.” Arthur opened his eyes. “Morning.” He wriggled closer into Merlin and kissed his chest.
Eventually, Merlin spoke reluctantly, “What do you want for breakfast?”
“You.”
~
As it turned out, Arthur’s duties were completed very quickly that morning and, as the prince generally decided on Merlin’s duties, by lunchtime they were both setting out for an afternoon’s hunting. And by hunting, they meant searching for a private spot in the woods to have thrilling and secretive semi-public sex. To maintain the pretence Arthur wore his brown leather hunting jacket. Which was always a bonus. Merlin was carrying some of the weapons, which wasn’t as much fun.
Arthur set a few snares to catch rabbits. Before, Merlin would have protested at the killing of such fluffy and innocent creatures but the last time they’d been ‘hunting’ they’d napped amongst the ferns and Merlin had woken up to find three of the blighters gnawing at his toes and he suddenly wasn’t so fond of the creatures. Plus, they needed to take something back with them or Arthur’s reputation as a great hunter would be under threat. Or something like that.
This time, it was Merlin who led Arthur to a sheltered and leafy glade, well off the beaten track, which he’d stumbled across whilst searching for herbs for Gaius one day. It was strewn with springy mosses and grasses and surrounded by lush green trees and ferns. Merlin dumped the hunting equipment on the ground as Arthur flung himself down and looked up to the blue sky, watching a bird swooping and circling above. Merlin sat next to him.
“Sometimes I think it must be quite nice to be a bird,” Arthur said dreamily. “You know, able to just fly away from everything.”
“And probably get shot down by a trigger happy crown prince.” Merlin said wryly.
Arthur frowned but he tickled Merlin lazily with a piece of grass and didn’t say anything.
“Ooooh, look, a squirrel.” Merlin was on his feet and padding softly towards the creature looking quizzically at them from the foot of a tree. Arthur followed, marvelling at how his usually clumsy manservant could approach the tiny creature with such grace and quiet. Merlin was crouched now, stretching a hand towards the squirrel that sniffed his fingers and looked inquisitively at him. Then the creature saw Arthur and scampered off into the trees. Merlin was disappointed but he laughed gently when he stood and turned and saw Arthur’s hurt face.
The prince pretended not to care. “Well, I don’t want to play with small woodland creatures like a girl.”
“Oh really?”
“No,” Arthur said with a wolfish grin backing Merlin up against the tree, “I’d much rather play with you.”
Merlin reached both hands out and grasped the front of Arthur’s jacket (he really did like this jacket) and pulled him in for a kiss.
~
Since Merlin had come to Camelot, Gaius rarely went out picking herbs and flowers in the woods. Part of him was relieved, he wasn’t as young or sprightly as he used to be, but he did miss the leisurely walks he had often taken, admiring the scenery and discovering unexplored areas of woodland, and even uncovering new plant and animal life he could research. So that afternoon, he was quite merrily strolling through the woods with a basket in hand picking the necessary supplies and just generally appreciating the view.
He was particularly pleased when he unearthed a new variety of moss that seemed to trail way back off the track and disappeared into the trees. Eagerly, he followed the trail until the small patches of moss became a large blanket that spread across a glade. But at that point, Gaius’s attention was no longer focussed on the moss at all as he stared in dismay at what was happening on the other side of the clearing.
He wondered why he hadn’t heard them, as they weren’t being particularly quiet. Arthur, the Crown Prince of Camelot, with his trousers pooled by his ankles thrusting into Merlin, pushing him against a tree, and the both of them letting out sighs and moans that could have woken the dead.
For a few moments in which time seemed to stand still, Gaius stood transfixed with widened eyes in horror as the sight of the two men burnt into his brain and mingled with the echoing cries he’d heard only a day ago. Then he turned and fled with a speed he did not know he still possessed, chased by the clear ringing cries of ecstasy from both Arthur and Merlin.
~
“If I’ve been bitten to death again, it’s your fault,” Merlin said sleepily.
They were slumped carelessly under the tree bathed in the afternoon sun, Merlin’s head on Arthur’s chest, having dozed peacefully after their energetic lovemaking. Merlin, who also seemed to attract all manner of insects as well as rabbits that liked the idea of chewing upon his skin, sat up to examine his arms warily. Arthur, who would not have voiced aloud his slight disappointment that the insects never seemed to want to feast upon his princely personage, largely ignored Merlin’s idle remark.
“Let me have a look.”
Merlin untied his neckerchief and pulled his tunic off over his head.
Arthur frowned and stroked soft fingers over a graze on Merlin’s back. “Is that sore?”
Merlin winced, “Yes. Was it an insect?”
“Er…no it was me.”
“You?”
“Us. The tree.” Arthur explained.
“Oh!” Merlin winced again as Arthur prodded the scrape. “Ouch.”
“Sorry. I don’t suppose you’ve got that salve with you?”
“I might have put it in the bag.” Merlin nodded towards their discarded supplies. Arthur leant as far as he could and caught a strap of the bag, dragging it towards him. He turned out several items muttering about how poorly the bag was packed until he found what he was looking for. He uncorked the bottle, tipped a little onto his hand and rubbed it into Merlin’s back.
“Is that a bit better?”
“Mmm.” Merlin leant back against Arthur. “Do we have to go back just yet?”
Arthur squinted at the sky and slid his arms around Merlin to hold him, “No, we’ve got a bit of time yet.” He nuzzled into Merlin’s neck.
“Um...Arthur?” Merlin ventured as Arthur began nibbling his ear. “I can’t help noticing you’ve got a lot more clothes on than me.” He could feel Arthur’s lips twitching as they pressed soft kisses down his neck and thought how very unfair it was that he couldn’t even see Arthur. So he twisted and turned round to face him, looking at Merlin with a tenderness that seemed almost alien.
Merlin tugged on Arthur’s jacket. “This. Off. Now.”
A small part of Arthur’s brain wanted to retort that he should give the orders but his body had other ideas and he pulled off his jacket and shirt, tossing them aside.
Merlin fell on Arthur’s exposed skin with greedy hands that tickled and teased, traversing the sinewy dips and curves with as much awe and delight as he had the first time he’d touched Arthur. Merlin’s lips followed the path his hands had made until Arthur’s head fell back and all he could do was gasp and sigh and wrap his fingers in the dark curls on Merlin’s head.
“Merlin,” he moaned and was silenced as Merlin swooped to kiss his mouth, long and leisurely, the tip of his tongue occasionally darting out to taste Arthur’s bottom lip. When he pulled away, Arthur pulled him back, teeth clashing, with frantic kisses and eager fingers. Merlin smiled into each of Arthur’s fervent kisses and then pushed with a soft hand on Arthur’s chest until the prince was lying back amongst the foliage. He then returned to trailing butterfly kisses randomly across Arthur’s chest and stomach.
Merlin straddled Arthur’s hips and leant forwards to nip at his neck. Arthur writhed and whimpered (though he’d deny he made such an unmanly noise) and arched his back. And when Merlin wiggled and pressed his bottom against his straining trousers, he almost came undone. The tease!
“Merlin…you…I…oh god!”
Then it was only moments before they stripped off their trousers and became a naked tangle of limbs touching with hot hands and impatient lips and muffled gasps until Arthur slipped an oiled finger into Merlin that made him whimper “guh!” Arthur inserted another finger, and then another, until Merlin cried “nyargh” and bit Arthur’s lip.
“Arthur…want you…so much…” Arthur tried to push, to roll them over, but Merlin’s hands kept him on the ground. “I want to…try something,” Merlin whispered, reaching for the vial of oil, pouring out the last drops onto his hand and slicking it over Arthur’s erection.
“What are you…?” Arthur tried to ask when Merlin pushed back, and he understood. His hands moved to Merlin’s hips to position him and his fingers tensed and bruised against Merlin’s pale skin as the warlock slid slowly down until Arthur was completely buried in him.
Merlin shifted experimentally, drawing low pleading murmurs from Arthur that he liked the sound of, and leant forwards to support himself with hands on Arthur’s shoulders.
“Merlin. Please!”
Tentatively, Merlin lifted and then lowered his hips drawing another cry from Arthur. Then he did it again, sliding himself up and down Arthur’s cock until he could feel the prince’s fingers digging into his hip and thigh and could see Arthur’s chest rising and falling in ragged gasps.
“Oh god, Merlin!” Arthur bucked his hips and thrust into Merlin, meeting him as he slid down and hitting that spot inside Merlin that sent tremors of pleasure flooding through him. He thrust several more times; each time sending another wave of delight through Merlin until he dropped his head back and groaned.
“Merlin…look at me, Merlin…”
Merlin lowered his head and opened eyes he didn’t remember closing to look at Arthur. The sight of his flushed face, sweat slicked hair and eyes that appeared almost black with pleasure, ignited a smouldering tingling deep in his stomach and he leaned to press his lips to Arthur’s, brushing his own erection against Arthur’s stomach. The tingling sensation splintered, spreading out and down and Merlin thrust back, hitting that spot again and pushing him over the edge with a groan of “Arthur!” as he came, spilling onto Arthur’s chest and stomach.
The sight of Merlin above him, abandoned and wild, caused Arthur to hitch his breath. The feel of Merlin’s release spilling onto him, pooling onto his stomach caused him to thrust twice more into Merlin’s increasingly pliant body until his vision blanked out, and he found his own release with a guttural cry that sounded more like a growl. He didn’t even care when Merlin collapsed heavily on him and stayed there, pressing feathery kisses into Merlin’s neck until their breathing evened out.
~
The last streaks of daylight were fading from the sky as they returned to Camelot, with a couple of snared rabbits and huge grins across their faces. If anyone thought they looked remarkably happy with such a small catch, no one said anything.
Arthur attended an unusually quiet dinner with his father and Morgana where he pleased his father by being polite and dignified, and alarmed Morgana by not insulting her and even being pleasant throughout the entire meal.
“Killing things does wonders for you,” she remarked dryly and was met with a twinkling grin that quite unnerved her.
Merlin ate with Gaius in the physician’s chambers. Their meal was unusually quiet too, in that there was a prolonged and somewhat awkward silence despite Merlin babbling desperately trying to garner some sort of reaction from the physician. Gaius barely even met his eye and Merlin fell into silence wondering if he’d forgotten something or somehow offended his mentor.
Later Merlin crept into Arthur’s chambers and they lay in each other’s arms in the vast bed and drifted off to sleep.
~
The door to his chambers burst open and Gaius looked up from the book he was consulting to see Arthur striding in.
“Merlin, I need you to polish my sword right now.” He was saying with a smirk and marched into the room undoing his belt.
Merlin jumped up from his seat at the workbench and swept aside the bottles and papers there in time for Arthur to back him onto it.
Arthur kissed Merlin soundly.
Gaius coughed loudly to make his presence known but he was ignored.
“Take me now, Arthur!” Merlin declared dramatically.
Gaius coughed again.
Arthur was pulling at Merlin’s neckerchief.
He coughed again. Merlin suddenly seemed to notice him over Arthur’s shoulder.
“Hello Gaius,” he said pleasantly.
“Gaius? Gaius/”
“GAIUS!” Gaius woke with a jump to see Merlin standing over him, shaking him awake and looking anxious. It took a few moments for Gaius to realise he’d fallen asleep at his workbench.
“Are you alright, Gaius?” Merlin was looking worried. And so he should.
“I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Gaius admitted. And it’s entirely your fault. He brushed aside Merlin’s offer of help as he got up from the bench to consult one of his books.
The door to his chambers burst open and Arthur strode in saying “Merlin, I need you to polish my sword, right now.”
Gaius dropped his book and fled from the room.
“What’s wrong with him?” Arthur asked handing Merlin his sword.
“I don’t know.” Merlin gave a concerned frown, “I don’t think he’s very well.”
“I’ll ask father to give him a day or two off,” Arthur said. Then he gestured towards the sword. “Sorry about that. Father wants a small tournament to entertain some stuffy diplomats.”
“That’s OK.”
“I’m going to be really busy today,” Arthur said ruefully. He glanced quickly around, then put his arms around Merlin’s waist and leant towards him so their foreheads touched. “Come to me tonight?”
“Always.” Said Merlin and kissed him.