Butterfly Hunter 01 (16 page)

Dave lay there for a long
while after, overwhelmed. Cradling this man in his arms, Nicholas,
so strong and yet so fragile. So unexpected and yet so inevitable.
Nicholas was a wrecked weight upon him, his face pushed close into
Dave’s throat, and they were warm, pressed too warm together, but
God it was good, it was necessary.

Eventually Nicholas lifted
his head, cast a discreet glance at Dave, but then kept his gaze
averted as he clambered back off Dave and off the bed to crouch
beside it. Then he had to gather himself to look at Dave more
closely, and it was clear that Nicholas was nervous about what he
might find. It was obvious that Nicholas was worried for his own
sake as well as for Dave’s.

The problem being that Nicholas
was supposed to be the one who knew what the hell was going on.
Dave felt a flash of fear and insecurity.

Which Nicholas must have
seen, for a moment later, his long face cooled into something
calmer. “Are you,” he said, before clearing his throat and starting
again. “Are you all right, David?”

“
Yes,” he
managed in a whisper.

“
That wasn’t,
er …” Nicholas glanced away for a moment, but then his gaze
returned. “If I presumed too much –”

“
No! No, it
was great. You didn’t.”

“–
forgive
me.”

There was nothing to
forgive, of course. Dave reached to gently shake the man’s
shoulder.
Don’t be an
idiot.

Nicholas stood, brisk now.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” He looked around, but Dave had a towel
and face washer, bottled water and a washing bowl, just as Nicholas
did in his own tent. Nicholas poured out some of the water, brought
it and the face washer over to Dave, and cleaned off their mingled
spunk, before setting his boxer shorts to rights again, and lifting
the sleeping bag back over him. Then he took the bowl away, and
quickly cleaned himself as well, keeping his back to Dave. Rinsed
out the face washer, and leaned out the door to toss the water
away.

Dave lay still, waiting.
Eventually Nicholas returned. But he only leaned down for a moment
to take one of Dave’s hands and lift it, cradle it to his cheek
with both of his own hands, press a kiss to the palm. And then he
put Dave’s hand back, and said quite formally, “Good night, David.
Sleep well.”

And he was gone.

Dave blinked, hardly knowing
what to make of what had happened. But it had been good. It had
been necessary, and it had been good.

He turned over onto his
side, facing towards where Nicholas’s tent stood only a few metres
away. And with a wistful sigh, Dave slipped away into
peace.

Dave woke a bit later than
usual the next morning. When he emerged from his tent, he
discovered that Nicholas was already up and dressed, and sitting on
a blanket on the Cruiser’s bonnet, leaning back against the
windscreen – though there was no point in trying to watch the
sunrise while they were down here by the waterhole. The two of them
greeted each other silently, with a nod and tentative smiles that
soon broadened in response. Dave put the kettle on for tea, and
went through his usual routine. Then he took the mugs of tea over
to the Cruiser, and needing only the barest hint of an invitation
he climbed up to sit beside Nicholas.

“
I thought
you’d be off with the butterflies,” Dave said, tipping his head
towards the wattle. They’d deliberately set up camp at as much of a
distance as they could, so as not to disturb anything.

“
They’re not
up yet.”

“
Late risers?
Sensible creatures.”

“
But look at
what they’re missing,” Nicholas said, a hand indicating their
surroundings while his eyes lingered on Dave. “It’s such a
beautiful day …”

“
It is,”
Dave agreed, and as they sipped the hot tea they contemplated the
red rock and the green–blue jewel of the pool, the white–grey of
the tree trunks reaching tall and the grey–green of the foliage.
“It’s
really
beautiful,” Dave murmured, wondering if he just
hadn’t looked properly before, or whether all his senses were
heightened, because –

“
David
–”

He turned towards Nicholas
– and those long fingers were plucking the empty mug from his
hands, Nicholas was reaching to stow their mugs on the edge of the
roof rack behind him – and then Nicholas was taking Dave’s face in
his hands again, kissing him,
kissing
him, and they were making
out – Dave was lying back, with Nicholas close beside him, Nicholas
with those long legs curled under himself as he leaned in over Dave
and
kissed
him.

Dave reached a hand up to
grasp Nicholas’s arm again, to anchor himself. The pleasure didn’t
inundate him as quickly this time, but that was all right. He still
wanted this in the clear light of day, and he really didn’t mind if
they eased their way carefully into it. They kissed for long
moments, forever, and at last Dave let his hand slide down to find
Nicholas’s narrow waist again. He thought – Today, he thought, he
could touch the man. Today, he was pretty sure, he could cope with
that.

Nicholas murmured agreeably as
he pulled away and sat up. Shucked off his shirt to reveal a pale
chest with virile dark scatterings of hair, the man slim enough for
his ribs to undulate down his sides, yet strong enough for those
surprisingly hefty shoulders to impress.

“
All right?”
the man asked as he reached to start unbuttoning Dave’s
shirt.

“
Yes.”

The fingers stilled, as
Nicholas apparently sensed a doubt. “David?”

“
Let’s … just
take our time. If you can.”

Nicholas looked at him
drolly. “Haven’t I already proved that I can control
myself?”

“
Yes. Mostly,”
Dave added with a grin.

“
Well, then.”
Those long fingers continued, and Nicholas quirked a smile at Dave.
“We’ll take it slow, and I’ll do what you tell me.”

Dave was lying back,
wallowing in being taken care of, having long since handed over
control of all this. “I don’t wanna tell you,” he argued peaceably.
“I just want you to – do stuff.”

The smile turned wry and
wonderful. “It will be my pleasure to – do stuff to you,” Nicholas
replied. “But then … along the way … you must tell me if there’s
anything you
don’t
want. Will you promise me that?”

“
Promise.”

Nicholas helped Dave out
of his shirt, then let him settle back before leaning in to press
kisses across his chest, to suddenly rasp his tongue against a
nipple. Dave’s breath hissed, and Nicholas sinuously wound up to
kiss him again. Against his mouth, Nicholas murmured, “Do you think
we might get naked this time?”

“
Reckon we
could.” So, it would be a first, but they were well past worrying
about that, weren’t they?

“
My boy bits
won’t put you off?”

“
Didn’t seem
to last night.”

“
But you
didn’t have to
look
at them …”

“
Felt them,
though. Against mine. No mistakin’ ’em for anything
else.”

Nicholas chuckled
filthily, and he sat up again, his fingers already working at his
own jeans. “David, you are a constant revelation to me.”

“
Likewise, I’m
sure.”

“
Oh …”
Nicholas happily murmured.

And moments later Nicholas
was straddling Dave’s thighs, his hips shifting rhythmically as he
rocked his cock hard along Dave’s, both of their cocks wrapped up
together again in one of Nicholas’s beautiful hands – just like the
night before, except this was daylight and they were naked and
there was no question anymore about who they each were and what
they each wanted. Dave’s hands wandered boldly of their own accord,
sliding up Nicholas’s long thighs, feeling the muscle work below
the cool skin, then shaping themselves to the man’s sharp
hip–bones, before finally easing around to fit up against the
subtle curves of Nicholas’s rear.

So different to what he
was used to, and yet reassuringly the same in some ways, as Denise
had liked to take a turn on top, and often she’d have him sit up
against the pillows like this so she could lean in and kiss him
when she wanted – just as Nicholas was doing now, swooping in to
mouth at him hungrily – though Nicholas was undeniably different,
and he seemed to have this habit of not just kissing but
caressing
Dave’s face with his own, and it felt odd but amazing to
have Nicholas’s cheek slide along his own, the tip of Nicholas’s
nose gently rub across his closed eyelids, Nicholas’s forehead roll
against his, then those teeth carefully gnawing at the corner of
his jaw before pushing lower to worry at his earlobe …

Dave had been without for
too long to last – and he had too few defences against the
surprises of a man loving him. In the end it wasn’t any one
particular thing that tipped him over the edge, but a combination
of Nicholas curling in to bite at a nipple, and his own back
arching deliciously in response, and Nicholas moaning his
appreciation so that the sound vibrated through Dave’s chest, and a
stutter in Nicholas’s rhythm followed by a twisting tug of their
cocks – and Dave was shaking and shouting, and just
fountaining
out a week’s worth of spunk – and Nicholas was laughing in
joy – and the bastard waited, saw him through it all right to the
last shudder, and didn’t let up in the slightest, but kept going,
rubbing his own cock against Dave’s softening sensitivities which
was just excruciatingly exquisitely wonderful – until Dave couldn’t
bear it anymore, and growled, grasping that narrow rear in his
hands, hauling the man to him, insisting
“Now!”
– and Nicholas came
with a howl right in Dave’s ear which was both pleasure and
punishment.

And when he was done, Nicholas
fell back to lie against the Cruiser, but took Dave with him, so
that Dave unexpectedly found himself curled against the man,
holding and being held, in the utter comfort of completion.

He must have dozed off.

Dave came to a while later
feeling a bit too cool, a bit too stiff in the thigh muscles, a bit
too itchy where the sticky patches were drying on his stomach.
“Ngh,” he grumbled, shifting back a little, and reaching down to
scratch.

“
Stop!”
came an urgent whisper –
and Nicholas grasped Dave’s wrist with iron
strength.

“
What … ?” he
complained, even while he obediently stilled again. And then he
felt a telltale tickle down amidst the wet spots. “Oh fuck
…”

Nicholas chuckled – though
he warned, “Don’t you
dare
hurt it.”

“
As if.” Dave
had managed to open his eyes, and now peered down to find exactly
what he’d feared. Nicholas’s butterfly was drinking from his skin.
And this time it wasn’t sweat. “Fuck’s sake!” he exclaimed, not
knowing whether to be appalled or amused. “They’re as queer as
you!”

A happy guffaw met this
declaration. “You are
so
lucky my camera isn’t in
reach.”

“
Oh God
…”

“
How could I
resist? My three favourite things: cocks, balls, and
butterflies.”

Dave sank back, letting
his head thud against the Cruiser. “That’s four things.”

“
My four
favourite things in all the world,” Nicholas lightly confirmed.
“Your cock … your balls … our butterfly …”

Dave laughed. He had to
laugh, or he’d cry. “This is
way
too weird for me. You didn’t
tell me I’d be participating in butterfly porn!”

“
Tit for tat,”
was the tart response. “You can’t tell me this hasn’t always been a
fancy of yours … being debauched atop the Cruiser.”

Some kind of
too much
sound bubbled out of him, and Dave stirred himself to flap
a hand towards the butterfly – though not too close, so it probably
wasn’t any use. “Shoo!” he tried. “
Shoo!
Go on! There’s a whole
damned waterhole over there for you to drink from.”

“
Oh, but I’m
sure you are so much sweeter,” Nicholas murmured, curling up
against him, and watching the butterfly but also snuggling his head
in against Dave’s shoulder. “I’m envious. I want to taste
you.”

“
Not safe, I
suppose,” Dave said, after a moment’s thought. The weird thing
being that he hadn’t ever had to worry about such things before.
“Um …”

“
It’s all
right, I realise you’re probably a fine healthy specimen, and as
far as I know I am, too, in that regard – but I won’t do anything
that isn’t safe.”

“
Thanks.”

Nicholas fervently burst
out,
“God,
I want to get my mouth on you, though …”

“
I want that,
too,” Dave had to admit. “It was your mouth … It was your mouth I
noticed first.”

“
Yes …
?”

“
Your smiles.
I like the way you smile. And, um … your lips are pretty. No
offence.”