Jeet, Chapter 33
By Josh
©2008 Josh. All rights reserved
Confession
An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. It may also be a revealed prediction or precognition of the future, from deities, that is spoken through another object (e.g.: runemal) or life-form (e.g.: augury and auspice). In the ancient world many sites gained a reputation for the dispensing of oracular wisdom: they too became known as "oracles", and the oracular utterances, called khresmoi in Greek, were often referred to under the same name — a name derived from the Latin verb orare, to speak. - Wikipedia
Aruli woke to Demos' hand on the side of his face and the younger boy's body pressed to the side of his own. The sun was just rising.
"I wanted to spend my last night with you," Demos said sadly.
Aruli smiled and rolled up belly to belly with Demos. He wrapped his arm behind the small of Demos' back and they entwined their legs. "I missed you," Aruli told him.
"I spent the night in my brother's pavilion," Demos said with a small smile. Then Demos lifted his head to see who was laying between Aruli and Rem. "Is that Plycon?" Demos asked. "The boy who won the gymnopaedia?"
Aruli grinned and nodded.
Demos frowned. "You didn't miss me at all then."
Aruli's grin softened. "I did miss you. I had wanted our last night to be together as well."
Demos smiled, then. He nuzzled in under the side of Aruli's face. "I'm a little sleepy," he whispered.
Aruli nodded, and with a hand on Demos' small bottom, he pulled him more snugly to his body.
"I wish we had another night," the younger boy murmured.
The King stepped stiffly out from his tent. He hadn't spent himself sexually so much in one night in many years, but the three of them - he, Jeet, and Anda - had been excited after the mass dance of the Kurbantes and all that followed. Seleucus checked the angle of the sun. It was already mid morning, but it looked to him as though very few boys were stirring from their pavilions. He glanced at one of his guards. "Are they all sleeping late?" he asked.
The guard nodded, and told the king about the raids of the night before. "We've already had several ask permission to stay over another day, Great One," the guard said. "They are tired."
The King looked across the peninsula to the pine trees on the northern side, and shook his head. "Enough semen has been spilt in those woods that soon boys will be sprouting up instead of trees," he said.
The guard chuckled.
"If only it were so easy to raise an army," Seleucus said with a grin. "Simply let boys plant seeds." He looked up at the blue sky. He looked around at the river, clear like an emerald in the morning sun, at the rope swings, the pavilions, and the track. He made a mental inventory of cattle and food he thought his supply train had remaining. Then he turned to the guard. "Pass the word. All the boys are to stay another day. We'll feed them and their mentors. Tomorrow, though, everyone must leave. I've promised Ganymede to the Oracle and the Abij-hah, and I must return soon to Antioch."
The King found Aruli in front of the twelve-year-olds' pavilion that afternoon, wrestling naked with two twelve-year-olds at one time. "Come walk with me, Aruli," the King said. "I must talk to you."
Aruli quickly got to his feet and came to the King. They strolled in the direction of the river at the end of the peninsula.
"Jeet told me about your desire to find your younger brother," Seleucus said. He glanced at Aruli. "Jeet begged me to let you go look for him." The King smiled. "Jeet has very persuasive ways of begging."
Aruli smiled hopefully.
They kept walking, and Seleucus wrapped his arm loosely over Aruli's shoulders. "When we return to Kaleh," the King said, "I will give you a captain of my guard and twenty horsemen. I will also give you some money for your parents. You may use the money to buy your brother, if you think it best."
Aruli glanced up at the King. His eyes filled with tears, and he quickly looked down, wiping them with the back of his hand. Seleucus grinned and gave Aruli's shoulders a hug as they walked. "Jeet thinks you'll want to take Jin with you."
"Oh, yes, Great One," Aruli replied instantly. "That would be very excellent."
Seleucus smiled. He looked around as they walked, at the bright sunlight, glinting on the river, at the deep green of the trees... his eyes roamed the hundreds of nude boys who were running, wrestling, playing games, milling, talking... ahead at the river, he could see many, many boys in the water. There was nothing like all of this in his experience, but Seleucus was determined that Jeet would organize many more games and gymnopaedias.
"Are you excited to come to Antioch, Aruli?" Seleucus asked.
Aruli nodded. "As long as the Oracle and all of us stay together, I am very excited, Great One."
Seleucus grinned. "You will all stay together."
There were several large boulders close to the river. One particularly large one, much taller than a man and twice as long as it was tall, was of dark granite. On it, boys had used chalky rocks to write, and Seleucus paused for a moment to read, with Aruli still under his arm.
"Bentax fucked Archimedes," he read. "Orion fucked Zeus." Seleucus guffawed. "I'm surprised at Zeus, and surprised we didn't hear the thunder of that one." His eyes traveled over the rock. It was thoroughly covered with similar epitaphs of boys fucking boys. "That one," he said, pointing with his free hand. "Do you suppose that Letradoisan is the twin we know from Antioch?"
Aruli glanced at where the king pointed. Written was, "Letradoisan fucked," and then a stack of nearly a dozen boys' names, the bottom one of which was in fresh chalk. Toward the top was Demos' name. Aruli nodded. "Yes, Great One. That is our Letradoisan."
The king shook his head. "Looks like he's everybody's Letradoisan. It's a wonder the boy can still walk."
"Perhaps the King should bestow a wreath on him," Aruli joked.
The king shook his head. "I don't know that we want to encourage too much of that type of competition."
"Perhaps not, Great One," Aruli agreed. "But not many boys here have been like Letradoisan. Most of them made new friends and spent almost all their time with them. That boy," he said, pointing to Demos' name on the rock, "Demos - he has spent almost every night with me. He will spend tonight with me before they leave." Aruli glanced up at the King. "We are grateful to have another night."
Seleucus smiled. "I'm certain that he is, Aruli. You're a very beautiful boy, and that's quite a piece of meat dangling between your legs." The king instantly grimaced. "Listen to me, Aruli," he said. "All these nights sleeping with Jeet and the Oracle have me thinking like a boy lover, and all this," he swept his free hand around, "has me thinking like a lecher. I am sorry if I offended you."
Aruli shook his head. "No, Great One. I am grateful for my endowment."
Seleucus chuckled. "And well you should be." He smiled benevolently on the fifteen-year-old eunuch "You have much more than an endowment, Aruli. You are particularly beloved by the Oracle and the other eunuchs. You know that?"
Aruli nodded.
Seleucus gave the boy's shoulder a squeeze. "When we return to Kaleh, Jeet and the Oracle will remain here for a day or two. Until you leave to find your brother, will you and Jin attend me?"
Aruli glanced up at the king and nodded. "You honor us, Great One."
Seleucus chuckled. "Honoring you wasn't exactly what I had in mind... Damn! Listen to me again."
The King turned toward the river.
"Would the King care to swim?" Aruli asked.
Seleucus glanced around at all the boys in the water and on rope swings. "Yes!" he said, taking his arm from Aruli's shoulders to pull off his tunic. "I might even try one of those rope swings."
"The King is swimming," Rem said, coming up behind Jeet and the Oracle. They were walking toward the hill at the entrance to the peninsula. Rem fell into step between them and laid a hand on each of their bare shoulders. "It's been ages - ever since the King came to Kaleh - since I have been able to lie with either of you," Rem complained. "Please come back to the King's tent with me while he's away swimming."
Jeet glanced at Anda and saw her faint smile. He slipped an arm behind Rem and patted the twelve-year-old's naked bottom. "The Oracle and I are going up on that hill," Jeet told him. He leaned close to Rem's ear. "We made love up there a few days ago, and we're going up there again. Care to come with us?"
Rem beamed and threw both his arms around Jeet's neck, draping his nude body on Jeet's. He kissed Jeet, and found the older boy's firm lips and familiar taste instantly exciting. He rubbed his suddenly heavier cock against Jeet's.
Jeet dropped his hands to cup the smooth skin of Rem's firm little buttocks, and he gave them a gentle squeeze. He widened his stance and pulled Rem's groin to his as their tongues started to wrestle.
Whack! The sound of the Oracle's slap to Jeet's bottom made him jump as much as the slap itself.
"Wait till we're up the hill," she chided.
The boys pulled apart and Jeet bowed to her from the waist. "I'm sorry, Oracle."
Grinning, Rem did the same. The younger boy was already hard, and the foreskin had pulled back on his slender erection.
"We really need to get up that hill," the Oracle said, brushing past them as her own phallus thickened.
"What are you doing?" Jeet asked an hour later, as Rem stood at the edge of the eastward-facing rocky ledge and wiggled his butt from side to side, dancing. Jeet and the Oracle were resting behind him - Jeet was lying on his back, his head in Anda's lap. His legs were stretched out and crossed at the ankles. His spent cock lay still-thick and pink across his leg.
Rem grinned and wiggled his butt in a circle. His cock was still heavy from sex and jiggled with the movements of his hips. "I'm mixing your juices inside," he said with a grin.
Jeet laughed and Anda's brow furrowed.
Rem came to them and knelt astride Jeet's thighs. He pulled Jeet's thickly flaccid cock up to his own and squeezed them together. "Let me stay with you," he said. "When everyone goes back, let me stay with you." He looked up at the trees and the sky. "This is so different than the temple and the shrine. This is... wonderful."
"Jeet and I need to be alone for a change," Anda answered, before Jeet could say anything.
"Oh, please, Oracle," Rem said with a cocked head and his best charming grin. "The three of us belong together."
"No," Anda said.
Jeet heard the determination in her voice. He looked up and saw the set of her jaw. He looked at Rem, smiling helplessly. "You can take care of Maracee and Notama until we get back," Jeet said. "I'm sure they miss you."
"They'll be fine," Rem said happily. "Please, Oracle? I'll stay out of your way. If you want, I'll stay away from you two completely. I'll stay down at the river and just float on my back all day and piss up at dragonflies when they fly over."
"No," Anda said firmly.
Rem's smile went slack, and his eyes slowly dropped. He sat there for a moment, and then, slowly, he climbed off Jeet, He walked back to the rocky ledge and stood looking down, with his back to them. Somehow, he looked smaller.
Jeet glanced up at Anda, whose eyes were on Rem and whose jaw was now working. She glanced down at Jeet, saw him watching her, and frowned a warning not to argue.
Jeet sat up from her lap with a frown of his own. He glanced at Rem's dejected form, and then at Anda. He stood up, and then bent over her to whisper. "Sometimes your jealousy wears thin, Oracle," he said with no attempt to conceal his irritation. "I hate it when I'm caught between you two."
"I'm your wife," Anda whispered back just as angrily. "Rem's your servant."
"I'm your servant, Anda. I'm your slave." He knelt beside her, looking hard into her eyes. "If you like it out here at Ganymede, don't you think Rem might feel the same way?" Jeet's look softened. "Because he is our servant, Anda, we are everything to him. He means nothing in his own eyes, except for what he is to us. Every time you reject him... " Jeet's voice caught, and he turned away. When he turned back, his eyes were damp. He took a deep, deliberate breath. "I love you, Anda. I don't understand why you cannot be happy with that." He got up and walked away, back down the hill.
Anda watched him leave, and her eyes filled with tears as well. He was gone, and she sobbed. She pulled up her knees and laid her forehead down on them.
Then Rem was beside her. "Oracle," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I asked."
She looked up. Tears streaked her cheeks. "Oh, Rem," she sobbed. She wrapped her arms over her knees and buried her face in them. She wept bitterly and muttered something Rem couldn't make out.
He wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "What did you say, Oracle?"
"I had sex with other boys this week," she sobbed. "I wanted to be alone with Jeet to... I don't know... to maybe talk about it."
They found Jeet sitting on a rock a hundred paces back down the trail. Anda and Rem came to him hand-in-hand. "Rem will stay with us," Anda said. "But the first day is mine alone with you."
Jeet glanced from her to Rem. Rem nodded, his eyes signaling that it was important for Jeet to simply agree.
Jeet nodded and got up from the rock. He bowed. "I'm sorry, Oracle. I behaved badly."
Anda shook her head, and came to him. She wrapped her arms around Jeet's chest and laid her head on his shoulder.
"I'll head on back," Rem said, passing on.
Anda knew Rem wanted her to go ahead and talk to Jeet about it now, but she couldn't. Not yet. Not before Ganymede was completely over and all the others were gone.
"Captain," called one of the guards from the doorway to the shrine guard mess.
Rufus looked up from his food. "Over here," he said, waving the young guard over.
"Captain," the man said, with a fist across his chest and a bow, as he came to the table. "The fat priest, Stycus... he's in the shrine."
Rufus' countenance darkened. "Who let him?" he demanded, jumping to his feet.
"How were we to stop him, Captain? He's a high priest."
"Damn it, man! By the King's order he's not to be allowed anywhere near the shrine."
Rufus found the priest standing in the middle of the shrine hall with his hands on his hips, gazing around at golden shields and lamp stands, silk banners, brass torch holders, and fine furnishings. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Rufus. "The Oracle grows rich," Stycus said. "Is that ivory inlay on her chair? I fear she hasn't been sharing her wealth adequately with the temple."
"You are forbidden from coming here, holy one," Rufus said, stopping behind the priest.
Stycus glanced back over his shoulder at the man. "Jeet isn't here," Stycus said. "It's really him that I'm forbidden to see... and they tarry. A King's messenger arrived to say they will not return until tomorrow." His gaze turned toward the side entrances. "I want to see the chambers," he said. "I want to see what other treasures they have hidden for themselves."
Rufus stepped to block the priest's way. "You are not allowed, holy one."
The priest scowled. "Remember your place, captain. I am high priest in this temple. Someday, I could be most high priest, and you will answer to me then; I promise you that."
"I serve the Oracle and the Abij-hah, holy one," Rufus said. "And now they answer only to the King."
The priest met Rufus' gaze steadily. "Be careful, Rufus," the priest said. "Times change. Kings change."
Rufus closed his hand around the hilt of his sword. "Do you threaten the King, priest?"
Stycus smiled disarmingly. "Certainly not. May the King live forever. I merely point out that the hearts of kings change. The fortunes of men change. Even Jeet's fortunes will change."
The old guard answered very quietly. "But my loyalty to him will not change. Leave now, holy one, or I will strike you down and make this world safer for my master."
Stycus' smile faded instantly. The genuine menace in the guard's voice was unmistakable. With a final scowl, Stycus stepped back, turned on his heels, and left.
The sun had barely risen when Jeet and the Oracle took their places at the entrance to Ganymede. Soon, the first boys climbed the rise to join their mentors and return home. Jeet wore a short breechcloth, along with his neck medallion, and the Oracle wore a simple gown. They had dressed, because the departing boys would all be dressed.
Jeet knew most of the boys by name, and embraced them as they filed past. One departing group included the copper-haired brothers, Demos and Philip, along with their friends, Lycos and Jentes. Aruli and Rem escorted them. Jeet embraced Lycos first, and when he did, Jentes and Philip embraced the Oracle. They did so quietly, but warmly, and Jeet, seeing that, was glad that the Oracle was appreciated at Ganymede as well.
Jeet embraced Demos and the shorter boy gave a kiss to Jeet's cheek. "Thank you, Abij-hah," he whispered. "I have liked it here."
Jeet grinned and kissed Demos' forehead. "Do you all travel together?" he asked.
"As far as we are able," Philip answered. He embraced Jeet next, and the embrace was stiffer than it had been with the Oracle.
"Go in peace, Philip," Jeet said. He held Philip by the biceps and gave the boy a quick kiss on the lips, as Phrygian boys who were friends sometimes did. "Come next year and win your races again, and before long, you will be more famous than even me." Jeet grinned.
Philip nodded shyly as he stepped away, and Jeet embraced Jentes. "Go in peace, Jentes," he said. "We hope to see you at the shrine again soon."
Jentes flushed and quickly cast his eyes down. "Thank you, Beloved One," he said. More boys were coming and the boys quickly moved on.
Rem stayed with Jeet and the Oracle and brought them food when they were hungry. It was almost midday when the King, his servants and soldiers, and all the other shrine eunuchs came up to the entrance. Seleucus embraced Jeet and Anda together, tightly. "Seeing everyone off is a good idea Jeet. Have you been here all day?"
"Yes, Great One," Jeet answered. "We wanted to say good bye to all the boys we've met here."
Seleucus smiled and gave the two of them a tighter hug. "May the gods bless you with good weather these next few days," Seleucus said. "I am leaving my tent for you, and a number of servants and guards. I'm also leaving two horses. I remember that you both like to ride." He winked. "Just don't ride too far. I'm expecting you back in Kaleh soon. I have to get back to Antioch before long and I want a few last nights with you both before I go."
"Thank you, Great One," Jeet said.
Anda leaned up and kissed Seleucus' cheek. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.
+++
It was late afternoon before the three came down from the rise at the entrance to Ganymede. They headed for the river at the far end of the peninsula. The two cooks, who Seleucus left for them, came forward from their fires and bowed. "Will the Oracle wish to be eating soon?" they asked.
Jeet glanced at Anda. She shook her head. "I'm not hungry yet."
As Jeet turned back to answer the cooks, Anda glanced around. Other than a few guards and servants close to the King's tent, the peninsula was eerily empty. She took Rem's hand and leaned close to him. "You don't have to go. You don't have to leave us alone yet."
Rem cocked his head curiously, but nodded as Jeet rejoined them.
Jeet took Anda's other hand and they continued on, stopping at the King's tent to remove their articles of clothing and jewelry. From there, they proceeded, hand in hand, to the river and the end of the peninsula. Jeet took a few steps into the water and sat down in the shallows.
Anda joined him in the water, pulling Rem down to sit back between her legs. She wrapped her arms around the twelve-year-old, consciously clinging to him, afraid over what she needed to do. Rem gave her leg an encouraging rub under the water. "Do it, Oracle," he whispered back to her.
Anda glanced at Jeet. The sun was still above the cypress trees on the far side of the river, and it bathed Jeet in light that was just beginning to turn golden. He was resting back on his hands, head back, eyes closed. His hair hung from the back of his head, down to the water, where the ends were wet and had grown heavy. The fine features of Jeet's face were slightly squinted against the sunlight. Her eyes drifted to his lips. At another time, she would have leaned over to kiss him.
"Jeet-hah," she said, softly. "There is something I must tell you."
"Um-hm," Jeet murmured.
Anda pulled Rem back more tightly to herself and rested the side of her face against the back of his head. "I had sex with other boys, here at Ganymede," she said, quietly.
Jeet said nothing for a moment, and she wondered if he had been listening. But then he sat up slowly, opened his eyes, and gazed across the river.
"I didn't want to; that is, I didn't intend to," Anda tried to explain. "It was so hard, with all the beautiful, naked boys running around. I went to the north side of the peninsula to get away, and they just happened to come along - Philip, the runner, and Jentes, the wrestler from Kaleh, and it just happened."
Jeet glanced at her. "Why did you not tell me?"
She shrugged and hugged Rem to herself. "I was afraid to. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to spoil the games for you."
Jeet looked away across the river again. He thought of Philip and Jentes, of their muscled bodies, their youthful masculinity, their balls. He had a sudden image of them, laying between Anda's legs, balls deep inside her, balls on her labia. "Did... did they fuck you, or you them?" Jeet asked quietly, without looking at her.
"Both," she said.
Somehow, that made it better in Jeet's mind; that Anda-Alexander fucked them. He stood, still staring across the river, water dripping from his lower body. Then he dove in and swam out into the river.
Anda closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the back of Rem's head.
"He'll be alright, Oracle," Rem said, patting the arms she had around his stomach. "But you have to tell him everything, Oracle. Tell him that it was three times you had sex with them."
She nodded against the back of Rem's head, and then they waited.
Dragon flies sunned on a rock beside them, in the last direct light before the sun fell behind the trees. And then the sun was behind the trees. Kingfishers came past, flying low over the water, dodging where Jeet swam. Finally, Jeet returned to them, sitting where he'd sat before. "I'm glad you told me," he said.
"Are you angry?" the Oracle asked.
Jeet shook his head. "What kind of hypocrite would I be to have sex with so many and then fault you?" He glanced at her and smiled sadly. "You are Alexander. Your cock gets as hard as mine."
"It is different with me," Anda said. "I am also your wife."
Jeet shook his head sadly. "It is not really the same as that, Anda. It is not as if I could give you children."
Anda sighed sadly and nodded. She hugged Rem's belly and buried her forehead once more against the back of Rem's head. "I don't believe anyone can give me children. I feel nothing in my womb." She looked at Jeet. "Have you dreamt about it? Do you know if I can bear children or not?"
Jeet glanced down and shook his head. "Almost always when I dream of you," he said, "you are a boy. I have dreamed that you will bear no children."
Anda nodded, and Jeet watched her closely, expecting her to weep. But leaning the side of her face against the back of Rem's head she stared off, distantly. "I didn't want to believe that before," she said. "But I know you are right."
"You don't need children," Rem said, turning to wink at Jeet. "You have me."
Anda smiled and squeezed Rem's stomach.
Jeet got up onto his knees beside them. He took Rem's hand, and he took Anda's from where her arms were wrapped around Rem, and he squeezed them both. "We are what we are," he said. "And what we are is together, the three of us." His eyes held Anda's. "Three boys."
Anda-Alexander nodded.
"But you have girl parts, Alexander," Jeet continued, quietly, "your breasts and the special place between your legs. They are a treasure the gods have given you. Keep those parts for us only, Anda; for Rem and me and the other eunuchs; we who love you. Let the King be the only man or boy with potency to know you. Be Alexander - be a boy - to whoever you wish, fuck whoever you wish, but be wife only to us. Let it be only us who put our cocks inside you to give you pleasure there." Jeet's eyes bored into hers. "You are The Great Oracle of Kaleh. Let your womb be sacred to only your eunuchs and the King."
Anda smiled sadly. "You are right, Jeet-hah." Her eyes dropped to his lap. Jeet's cock had risen over the water.
Jeet bent to kiss her. He let go of their hands and slipped one of his behind her back. Their kiss warmed, and Jeet slid his other hand over her breast. He caressed it as his tongue probed into her mouth. Rem sat up, turned, and then knelt between Anda's legs. He reached into the water and closed a hand around Anda-Alexander's floating member. He closed his other around Jeet's erection. He squeezed them as he added his mouth to their kiss.
Rem and Anda quickly grew hard, as hard as Jeet. Then Rem and Jeet backed Anda from the water, and onto the sand and gravel at the water's edge. They came up on either side of her and Anda opened her legs to their hands. "Jeet-hah, Rem-hah," she whispered, "Some of my girl parts are inside... inside my heart." She looked at them with heavily lidded eyes. "Your parts fit me there as well." She glanced from one to the other. "Both of you do."
They pressed their lips to her cheeks. They kissed her mouth, her face, her neck, her breasts, fondling her, and when the lips of her labia grew firm and warm, Jeet mounted her, burying his cock deeply inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his back. Rem watched Jeet's narrow hips thrust between Anda's thighs, forward and then up, forward and then up, in a movement the twelve-year-old always found intoxicatingly erotic to watch. Jeet wrapped his arms under the back of Anda's shoulders and pressed the side of his face to hers. His lithe body undulated within the embrace of her arms and legs, and Rem ran his palm admiringly over the flexing globes of Jeet's tight-muscled bottom.
If not for her arousal, Anda might have wept with relief. Jeet's body felt so right and so natural, and so exciting, as it always was with Jeet. She stroked his hair and rubbed the side of her face against his. She met his thrusts with her own, and he drove her excitement higher and higher, until Jeet arched back in her arms and spent himself. Then he moved away and Rem came up between her legs. His smaller, twelve-year-old cock was not as filling at first, but then he started the rabbit thrusting he knew she loved. Anda planted her heels and lifted her pelvis to meet him while Rem chewed at her neck and Jeet lay up beside her, plunging his tongue deeply into her mouth.
Anda slipped an arm behind Jeet and cupped his butt. She cupped Rem's little, pumping rump with her other hand. And in that last moment before bliss exploded into ecstasy - a frozen moment like that at the top of a high swing right before letting go of the rope, poised - with Jeet and Rem pressing her, the river and forest close by, and twilight overhead... in that moment, Anda felt a soul-deep contentment, a contentment she could feel like a warmth down into her vagina. In the next moment, her body arched in a blinding orgasm.
The three took seats under torches on the rocks near the cooking fires. The two cooks brought bowls of rich, meaty broth to them, and then stepped back expectantly as the three tasted it.
"Oh, what is this?" Anda asked enthusiastically, before taking another gulp.
"Turtle soup," the younger of the two cooks said. "It is a specialty of mine. There aren't enough turtles in the entire Euphrates to have made this soup while everyone was here for the games, but for only the three of you... "
"It's excellent," Jeet agreed.
The cook bowed. "When you come to Antioch, remember me, Abij-hah, Oracle. I'm a good cook."
"But you serve the King," the Oracle observed.
"Yes, but the King already has a chief cook."
"We will probably be eating at the King's table," Jeet pointed out.
The cook nodded respectfully. "The Oracle will have her own quarters, though. She should have a cook of her own when she requires it."
The Oracle took another, long sip of soup. "I will remember you," she promised.
"Many will wish to serve you when you come to Antioch, Oracle," the older cook pointed out. "Your fame goes before you - you and the Abij-hah."
"I didn't think that many people heard of us in Antioch," Anda said.
"Oh, yes, Oracle. And even more will know about you after these games."
Jeet woke in the night with Anda on her back against his backside. He was spooned behind Rem. Jeet's loins snugly cradled the twelve-year-old's little bottom, and the underside of Jeet's nocturnal erection pressed Rem's crack. Jeet hugged Rem, drowsily, and pumped his hips comfortably. He rubbed Rem's belly with his hand and kissed behind his ear. He'd missed Rem being in his bed.
Rem stirred, rolling into Jeet and onto his back. Jeet's palm came with him, resting on Rem's belly. The younger boy sleepily turned his face toward Jeet's, and their breath brushed each other's lips. Jeet kissed him and slid his hand down between Rem's legs. The boy's cock was warm but mostly flaccid. Jeet prolonged the kiss and pulled Rem's cock up onto his belly. Then he rubbed it with the palm of his hand while probing into Rem's mouth with his tongue.
Rem reached up, sliding his fingers into Jeet's hair. They paused in their kiss and gazed into each other's eyes, glittering in torchlight from outside the tent. They said nothing. There was no need. Their love was different from what Jeet felt for Anda, or Rem felt for Maracee. It was a deep affection unique unto themselves. It had been cemented that day in Stycus' chamber when they came close to death together and when Jeet walked from that room with Rem in his arms.
Jeet bent to kiss Rem once more and moved his body over the younger boy's. Rem opened his legs and Jeet settled between them. Jeet grabbed Rem's shoulders and Rem slid his hands down to Jeet's muscled bottom. They kissed and ground.
Anda stirred and rolled up onto her side. Her eyes opened and she watched them for a moment, her gaze drifting down the lines of Jeet's body to where Rem clutched the taller boy's flexing buttocks. It was a time to let them be together. She was sleepy anyway. She moved closer to them, her face close to theirs, and closed her eyes, falling back asleep.
They simply kissed and ground their cocks together for a long time, making little variations in their tongue patterns or in the angle of their grinding. Finally, Jeet lifted his hips and they both reached down to guide him in, slowly, because the only oil was what remained from bathing earlier.
Jeet eased in and they tightened the fit of their bodies. Jeet grabbed the backs of Rem's shoulders once more, and Rem ran his fingers into both sides of Jeet's hair. They opened their mouths to each other; a fifteen-year-old and a twelve-year-old; two boys, two lovers, two friends. Their grinding grew firmer and they hit a rhythm, circling their hips to first press Jeet deep, and then rub Rem's cock between their bellies.
They broke their kiss and pressed the sides of their faces together. They pumped steadily, breathing in each other's ears; a firm, pumping rhythm. They were content to let it build on its own, not rushing, not forcing, only enjoying, savoring... smooth-skinned young bodies, the feel of them together, and the sensations of their joining.
Boy eunuchs... trotting boy-on-boy like running unicorns... slowly building... hot breath in each other's ears... and at the end, a final, racing gallop and a rearing of heads.
Breathing hard, they kissed again, swallowing breath, breath from nostrils washing faces... a long kiss with slow grinding to keep each other hard. And then the slow ascent into a second run, a long trot together until almost dawn, and then sleep in each other's arms.
"I know why you wanted all three of us to ride the same horse, Oracle," Rem said from the front. "The Oracle's been feeling me up, Jeet-hah, and her cock's hard. I feel it on my butt. How am I supposed to guide this horse?"
"And why do you think I'm feeling you up?" Anda asked, seated behind Rem. "Jeet's been feeling up my breasts and rubbing his cock on my behind for the last half hour."
"Not a half hour yet," Jeet said, kissing the nape of her neck. His forearms were crossed over her chest and he held one of Anda's breasts in each hand. His erection lay up over her flattened butt and onto the small of her back. "Admit it, Anda. You didn't want Rem and me on our own horse because you thought we'd be feeling each other up, just like this, and you didn't want to be left out."
The three were nude, except for the vials of oil around their necks. The day was sunny and clear, and they kept the horse's path along the river to avoid becoming lost.
The horse, a large, gentle gelding, sauntered slowly from the trees into a sunlit grassy clearing and stopped, pulling down on the reigns to get at the grass. Rem tried to tug the reigns back up.
"Stop," Anda said. "Let's stop here."
"Why?" Rem asked.
But Jeet was already dismounting. He reached up with both hands for Anda and helped her down into his arms where he held and kissed her.
Rem waited. "You can't leave me up here," he finally said. "She gave me a hard cock, too."
They ignored him.
The horse took a step forward, eating grass.
"Come on, Jeet," Rem complained.
Smiling, Jeet broke the kiss and patted Anda's bottom. Anda, her phallus erect in front of her, took the reigns from Rem, and Jeet, just as erect, held up both hands as if to help Rem down. But Jeet was strong, and he playfully held Rem up high with a hand under each armpit. Making pig sounds, he took nibbles from the underside of Rem's upturned cock until the younger boy's laughing and squirming forced him to set Rem down.
They tethered the horse to a tree, and then Jeet led Anda into the clearing and sunlight where he pulled her down to the ground and into a kiss. He fondled her. "Umph!" he murmured, rubbing her labia with his fingers. "You're warm down here... and damp already."
"It's from the way the horse feels under me." She reached down between his legs and, with her fingers, rubbed his empty scrotum and under his perineum. "The horse feels good under you, too, doesn't it?"
"Um-hm," Jeet answered, rubbing.
Rem dropped to his knees and reached under Anda's bottom from behind. She lifted her leg and Rem's fingers met Jeet's under her. "Let me feel where she's warm, too," he said.
Jeet pulled back his hand and wrapped it around Anda's erection. She did the same to him and they continued kissing. Rem rubbed her labia with his fingertips and slipped one finger between them, and inside her.
"She's starting to get really wet, Jeet," he said.
"What would you like, Oracle?" Jeet asked in a whisper.
"You on your back," she whispered in answer.
Without hesitation, Jeet rolled onto his back and opened his arms and legs for her.
"No," Anda said, while Rem continued to rub her labia from behind. "Put your legs together."
Jeet did and Anda pulled away from Rem and knelt up astride Jeet's waist, facing him. She smiled as she reached behind her, grabbed Jeet's erection, and backed her vagina onto it. Once she had settled, she motioned for Rem to join her. She had him stand astride Jeet in front of her, and then she pulled Rem's butt down into the V of her legs.
Rem quickly comprehended what she wanted and handed her the vial of oil from around his neck. The Oracle applied some to Rem's crack and her own erection, then backed him on to it. When they were all settled, she wrapped her arms around Rem's waist from behind. "Now we're really going to ride," she said with a grin.
"Oracle, do you miss Notama?" Rem asked, as the three lay side by side in the grass, gazing up at clouds.
"Yeah... do you miss Maracee?" the Oracle asked.
"Yeah."
"I'm about ready to go back, too," Jeet said.
"I didn't say I was ready to go back," Rem protested.
Anda's head rolled back and forth in the soft grass. "I'm not ready to go back either. I just wish they were here."
Jeet sat bolt upright in the bed, barely breathing as he listened. He heard only the sound of the river. He looked out through the silk sheers and could see one of the guards standing near a torch. He got up from the bed and padded quietly to the side of the tent. "Lastor," he called.
The guard jumped, and then came closer.
"The Oracle has had a vision," Jeet whispered. "Assassins - three of them - coming from the north side of the hill."
"Now?" Lastor asked.
"Yes!" Jeet answered.
"No," Rufus said, shaking his head. "I don't recognize him." He looked at the second corpse. "Not him either."
"I'm sure I've seen the first one. I'm sure he's from Kaleh," Jeet said.
Rufus shook his head again. "No. I don't remember seeing them." He looked up at Jeet. "I'm sorry that this spoiled your time here."
Jeet shrugged. "It would have been spoiled more if they had accomplished their purpose."
"What do you think they intended to do?"
Jeet glanced over to be sure that Anda and Rem weren't around. "Kill me," Jeet said. "I think they were going to kill me, and maybe the Oracle as well."
Rufus exhaled sharply. "From now on, Jeet-hah, I must travel with you."
Jeet glanced at him and smiled. He looked around at the trees and river, at the last of the King's servants and soldiers disappearing over the rise leaving Ganymede, and at the now virtually empty peninsula. He nodded. "Let's head back."
Jeet stepped toward the Oracle's barge where the others waited. Rufus came along with him, and Jeet gave him another smile. "Did they send you to make sure we didn't sail the Oracle's barge off down the river?" he asked.
Rufus shook his head. "No, Abij-hah. You couldn't take it much farther down the river. Just south of here are cataracts. The barge would break up on them. I came because taking care of you is my duty, and I should have been here all along."
Jeet grinned and patted the guard on his back. "No recriminations, Rufus. You have duties at the shrine as well." He leaned closer. "I must admit, though, I missed having you here last night while we were waiting for the intruders."
"I'll tell you this much," Rufus said. "I would have gotten the third one, too, and I would have captured them all so we could find out who sent them."
"I can almost guess that," Jeet said.
Rufus shrugged. "The higher you rise in the kingdom, Jeet-hah, the more enemies you will have. From what I heard, these games were a triumph for you. That will not please everyone."
Jeet nodded, and slapped the guard on the back. "I am glad to have the Oracle and myself back in your care, Rufus."
"They were waiting for us," the man complained to the rich man from Antioch. "We thought the guards were sleeping, but they were waiting inside the tent. They struck down Adenrod as soon as he entered. They ran down Barc as we fled, and they almost caught me."
"The Oracle has had a vision," Jeet said, as they lay on either side of Seleucus.
The king, who had become drowsy after their lovemaking, now sat up. "What kind of vision?"
Both Jeet and Anda sat up as well. She glanced across Seleucus at Jeet, meaning for him to answer.
Jeet took a breath. "We waited until this last night to tell you because we didn't want to trouble you before, but it concerns Antiochus." He took Seleucus' larger hand into both of his. "He means you ill, O King. I fear... I mean, the Oracle fears, that Antiochus would murder you if he could."
The king chuckled in surprise and glanced at Anda. "I know he's been angry over Jeet, but he brought that upon himself. He's smart and capable, but I'm sure that Antiochus' ambitions are sexual, not political."
Anda shook her head. Jeet had told her everything from the dream, so she answered Seleucus directly. "He would kill you over Jeet. You must not give him any chance."
"What?" Seleucus asked, "Are you saying I should have him executed? Over a dream?"
Anda glanced at Jeet for help.
Jeet laid a hand on Seleucus' bare shoulder. "Great One," he said quietly. "My heart has been grieved to know that I am the cause of this. We would not mention this if the vision wasn't true. Keep Antiochus away from you. Him and his friends. Keep yourself well-guarded."
Seleucus' brow furrowed, and he considered. It would not be the first time a brother had plotted to kill a brother. He could put Antiochus to death, but how could he face his own conscience if he executed his brother over a dream?
"I will keep him away from me," Seleucus agreed. "And when he must be near, I will be well guarded."
"She is a true oracle," the man told Heliodorus at the latter's great house in Antioch. "She knew the assassins were coming." He studied Heliodorus a moment. "It's madness, you know, going against the boy. The Oracle can see any attack coming, and it will be only a matter of time before she discerns that you are behind the plots. They share the King's bed, Heliodorus. He wouldn't hesitate to cut you down."
Heliodorus nodded, gazing down into his cup of wine.
"The gods favor the Abij-hah. His fortune is rising," the man pointed out. "The way to keep yours from falling is to attach yourself to the boy. Make friends with him."
Heliodorus took a thoughtful sip of wine. That would not be the only way to keep his fortunes from declining.
"Soldiers!" the man's oldest son cried out, rushing into the hut. "Soldiers and two princes have come to the village and they have asked for Sytaya."
The man glanced at his wife. Her eyes went wide and her face went pale. He was alarmed, himself. He turned back to his oldest son. "Find Sytaya. Bring him, but hide him until we know what this is about."
The young man started out the door but popped back in. "They're coming here. They're at the bottom of the hill," he said.
"Hurry," his father urged.
The man and his wife, with the second and third eldest of their sons, were standing in front of the hut when the mounted party of soldiers arrived. Two riders, in the middle of the group, were decidedly not soldiers, but were of extraordinary appearance. One was albino; that was immediately apparent. Both appeared to be youths, in chlamys. They had beautiful faces and exquisite features. They had long, thick hair tied up in high tails with golden clasps. They wore medallions of gold on their bare chests, earrings of gold, and golden bands around their arms, wrists, and ankles.
They dismounted, and as the man and his family bowed, the man caught glimpses of smooth, flat bellies and fine, silk breechcloths riding low on youthful hips.
Silently the two youths came to stand before the man. The man, and his family, remained bowed, not daring to look up.
"Father?" one of the youths asked, in a voice that seemed high.
A eunuch? The man wondered, but who is he calling father?
"Aruli?" the man heard his wife ask in a tremulous voice. He looked up. The two faces watching him were of such beauty that, for a moment, he only gazed. But then, in one face, he saw things familiar. The blood drained from the man's face. "Aruli?"
His wife was suddenly in front of the youth, the fingertips of both hands over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. "Aruli?" she asked again from behind her fingers.
The man stepped closer. The boy was tall; much taller now, and tightly built. The man's eyes traveled up and down Aruli's body. "What has become of you?" he asked in amazement.
"You sold me," Aruli said, but without rancor. "And yet, the gods have favored me. I am shrine eunuch to the Great Oracle of Kaleh," Aruli said. "I serve her and the Great King."
The man could say nothing; his thoughts were a jumble. His wife reached out with trembling fingers to touch the side of Aruli's face. A crowd of villagers had gathered around them, and Aruli heard his name in whispers pass among them.
Aruli's eyes met those of his mother, and for the first time, Aruli's filled with tears.
With a sob, his mother embraced him and wept loudly.
Aruli looked over at the two youths who used to be his brothers, and then at the man who was his father. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "I have come to see Sytaya," Aruli said, "and to see how you have cared for him."
"I will bring him," the older of the two boys said, and he took off running.
Aruli closed his eyes then, squeezing out tears, and rested his hands on his mother's back as she clung, weeping, to him. Shortly, the brother who had left returned with both Aruli's oldest and youngest brothers. Aruli separated himself from his mother, and rushing to the youngest, he threw his arms around the boy. "Sytaya," he sobbed, "it's me, Aruli."
The younger boy knew already; his brother had told him. Though he did not weep because of surprise, he returned his older brother's embrace, tightly.
Jin had noticed that Sytaya had a prominent bulge and a traceable ridge down the front of his loincloth, like his three oldest brothers, and Jin almost smiled to himself; Aruli's endowment was a familial trait. If only they hadn't taken Aruli's balls, he thought, not for the first time, they would have been magnificent!
At that moment, Aruli's mother turned with a gasp and grabbed her husband's arm. She glanced at Jin with alarm, and came to him, and fell on her knees. "Great One," she pleaded, clutching her hands together. "Please do not take my Sytaya from me."
Jin said nothing, but only looked over at where Aruli still embraced his younger brother. Aruli's mother lunged forward and clutched the sides of Jin's legs. "Please do not take Sytaya!" she begged.
Jin looked down at her, and then at her other three sons, who were watching both Aruli and himself, and then at Aruli's father, who was watching only Jin. "We will buy him," Jin said. "We will pay you well for him." He glanced down at Aruli's mother. "He will live with us at the shrine. It will be a good life for him."
The woman's eyes squeezed shut and she bent over as though she had been stabbed in the stomach. Aruli's father looked uncertainly at Jin. "She wept many days after Aruli was taken away," the man said. Bending, he laid a hand on his wife's back. "Did you hear?" he asked her. "Sytaya will live in wealth. It will be a better life for him." The man stood, looking at Jin. "Of course," he said, "it would need to be a large amount of money to compensate us for the loss of another son."
Jin frowned at the man's avarice. "We can talk about those things later," he said.
The man nodded, and then helped his weeping wife back to her feet.
"Tonight," Jin told them, "we require a place to pitch our tents. We will compensate you for the use of your field there." Jin pointed. Then he glanced at Aruli, who was rocking his younger brother back and forth in his arms, and Jin forgot his displeasure over the man's greed; he forgot it in his happiness for Aruli.
Jin turned back to the man and his wife. "Where might we buy a calf? Tonight we will hold a feast, because Aruli is reunited with his brother."
Despite her tears, Aruli's mother noted the happiness this white eunuch was showing for her son. She heard it in his voice. And now she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at him more closely. Her brow knitted. "Who are you?" she asked directly, and her husband gasped at her forwardness. "Are you friend to Aruli?" she asked.
Jin looked from her to her husband, and then met her gaze. "We are eunuchs," he said. "We will never have wives to bear us children, but we have each other. Aruli and I have bound our lives together by solemn oath." He held her gaze. "And we are bound by deep affection. We are mated."
He could see the woman struggle with the concept. He also saw the brief frown of disapproval on the father's face. "You take care of Aruli?" the mother asked uncertainly.
"We take care of each other," Jin said. He looked from the man and woman to Aruli's brothers, who had turned their full attention to him and his answers. "I love Aruli," he said simply, "and I have pledged my life to him."
The man frowned again, partly because of the lack of love he had felt for his son, but Aruli's mother studied Jin in a wondering way. Aruli's brothers looked at him as if trying to decide if there was now a connection between them.
The middle brother, the one who had run to fetch Sytaya, came forward and bowed to Jin. "I am Genrauv, Great One," he said. "I am the second of Aruli's brothers."
Aruli was still talking to Sytaya when Jin retired to their bed that night. He didn't sleep, though. He thought things over and waited for Aruli. He hadn't cared much for Aruli's father. Aruli's mother seemed to be an emotional woman, and not overly bright. But Jin liked Aruli's brothers and the respect they showed Aruli. They had all stayed up late, plying Aruli and him both with questions about Kaleh, the shrine, and the Oracle.
Finally, Aruli came into the tent. The night had grown quite cool, and in the light of one lamp, Aruli removed his breechcloth and jewelry before removing his chlamys. Jin held open the bed covers, and Aruli quickly tossed aside the chlamys and climbed in. He cuddled close to Jin's naked body and entwined legs with him. Happily, he kissed Jin and hugged him.
"So you are happy, Aruli-hah?" Jin asked quietly.
Aruli nodded and leaned back to look at him. "Sytaya grew sleepy, but I don't think I can sleep yet."
Jin smiled. "We've not made love since last night. Jeet-hah would fuss at us."
Aruli grinned and rubbed his palm over Jin's bottom they way they often did when they lay talking at night. "I want to talk first," he said.
"About buying Sytaya?"
Aruli nodded. "I remember when I was taken from my brothers," he frowned, and his eyes glistened briefly in the lamp light. "I know Sytaya will miss them."
"But you do want Sytaya with you," Jin said. "And you know you can make his life better at the shrine."
Aruli nodded.
"Shall I tell you what I have been thinking?" Jin asked.
Aruli nodded again.
"Bring them all back to Kaleh," he said. "Jeet has the authority of the king. He can find some land for your family close to the city. They can raise crops for the temple and the shrine, like Jeet has other farmers doing."
Aruli's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. Then he frowned. "But would Jeet do that?"
"Aruli," Jin admonished, rubbing the soft skin of Aruli's bottom, "Jeet-hah and the Oracle both love you. You know Jeet would find a way to do this thing."
Aruli considered Jin's words, and then grinned. He hugged his lover, hard.
Jin wrapped his arms gently around Aruli and whispered into his ear. "I wish I were Abij-hah, Aruli, only so that I could do that for you myself. I wish I had a kingdom. I would give each of your brothers a vast estate, and then I would lay the rest at your feet." He kissed beside Aruli's ear. "I would be the man who gave a kingdom to the one he loved. Oh, Aruli," he said, squeezing Aruli tightly, "Of all men, I am most blessed because you belong to me."
Aruli leaned back. His eyes glittered with tears. He searched Jin's eyes, and then he hugged Jin, hard. Jin stroked his back.
"All I have to give you," Aruli said with a sad, small voice, "is me."
Jin smiled, and his own eyes began to tear from the happiness and affection he felt so keenly for Aruli in that moment. He rolled Aruli onto his back, his face so close over Aruli's that their lips almost brushed. "Silly Aruli," he whispered. "All I want is you."
Two days after the King departed, Bantu and Ptolemy bowed before the Oracle in her chambers. "The Oracle has had two nights to comfort Notama for her absence," Ptolemy said, "and it has been many, many nights since Bantu and I have slept with you and the Abij-hah. We have prepared the King's chamber for a banquet. Come to us there tonight, while Aruli and Jin are still away, and let us serve you."
Anda glanced at Jeet. He nodded. "Shall we bring Tazaar and Cyndur?" she asked.
"If they wish to come," Ptolemy said, "but truly, I have longed for you, Oracle, and Bantu has longed for Jeet-hah."
"We will come alone then," the Oracle told him, feeling a stiffening in her phallus. Of her eunuchs other than Jeet and Rem, Ptolemy most loved making love to her as a female. He liked her breasts and vagina. And he had a long cock that both of them liked to feel inside her.
Ptolemy and Bantu met them inside the doorway. Both wore only short loincloths of thin, gold silk. They wore combs in their hair; silver in Bantu's, gold in Ptolemy's. They bowed, and then greeted Jeet and Anda with kisses on their lips, first Ptolemy kissing Jeet, and Bantu kissing Anda. Then they switched, and the next kisses lingered.
There was food on the table, but they ignored it for the time being. Ptolemy led Anda to a bath that had been filled, and beside it, embraced her through her gown. Bantu led Jeet to the bed, and beside it, pulled Jeet into an embrace of his own. They kissed once more, and opened their mouths to each other.
No words were exchanged, but they were reunited lovers, and their bodies had much to say. In nightly lovemaking with Ptolemy, it was Bantu who was normally penetrated. Jeet normally did the penetration with the Oracle. But when Bantu and Jeet came together - especially if it had been a while - they almost always reversed the roles. Bantu became the stallion, and Jeet became a mare in heat. They stirred each other that way.
Bantu pressed his kiss while backing Jeet to the bed. He pushed him back onto it, and then dragged him bodily up onto the bed before dropping his belly onto the Abij-hah's. He covered Jeet's mouth with his own, and Jeet's body responded under him. The hardness of their erections ground through thin fabric.
Jeet unfastened the back of Bantu's loincloth and ran his fingers down into the smooth crevice between Bantu's buttocks, lifting out the silk. Then he grabbed the tight, muscular globes of Bantu's bottom in his palms. The skin was soft and cool under his fingers. Jeet squeezed with both hands.
While his tongue probed the depths of Jeet's mouth, Bantu pulled the combs from his hair and Jeet's, and tossed them to the side. Then he rolled Jeet face down on the silk coverings and pulled away the Abij-hah's breechcloth. Jeet's long legs were slightly parted and Bantu dove between them, licking down into Jeet's perineum and onto his empty scrotum. Bantu drew his tongue up over Jeet's perineum, and through his butt crack, and then again. He kept doing it, slipping a hand, palm up, between Jeet's legs and under Jeet's erection, rubbing upward. Jeet responded, his hips circling, his cock grinding down into Bantu's palm.
Then Bantu did something the eunuchs did only among themselves, and only when thoroughly bathed, which Jeet was. He probed into Jeet's sphincter with his tongue.
Jeet murmured, lifting his butt off the bed. Bantu's hand came up with him, clutching Jeet's cock from underneath, and stroking. Jeet buried his face in the bedding, murmuring, butt high.
And then Bantu was on his knees behind Jeet, aiming his crown between Jeet's buttocks. He plunged in, all the way. Jeet rose up onto his knees, leaning back against Bantu. He sat down into Bantu's lap. He circled his hips as Bantu held Jeet's waist, chewed behind Jeet's neck, and moaned pleasantly.
Bantu rose up on his knees, lifting Jeet. He wrapped his arms around Jeet's trunk and held him upright as he ground into him. Then the redheaded eunuch bent forward, folding both of their bodies over, Jeet head down and butt up. Bantu molded the front of his body to the back of Jeet's, grabbed the backs of Jeet's shoulders, and pumped hard.
Bantu was already spooned behind Jeet that night, falling asleep, when Ptolemy and Anda finished their last lovemaking. Backing up so that his butt pressed back against Bantu's, Ptolemy pulled Anda into his arms. As he relaxed to sleep, he felt Bantu reach behind himself to rest his hand on Ptolemy's hip bone. Ptolemy smiled and wiggled the soft skin of his butt back against Bantu's. They always slept better, touching each other.
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