Butterfly Hunter 01 (22 page)

Dave let out a breath that
definitely
wasn’t
a gasp. But it was as if those last phrases were
poetry, they were so true. Dave himself could feel the draw of the
notion … of lying back and inviting Nicholas in. Not just in the
obvious ways. And in that moment, he knew that it was going to
happen that night – even if all of Charleville did know it,
too.

“
Nicholas,” he
said a bit brokenly, standing and letting his sense of direction
guide him. His knees bumped into the side of the
mattress.

And Nicholas was shifting
towards him, his arms wide in welcome, and those pretty lips
pursing for kisses and smiling in delight as he murmured, “My
beautiful man …”

Dave had never had
pretensions to poetry. As he turned within those strong
affectionate trustworthy arms, letting gravity take him back down
onto the bed, he said, “Fuck me. Nicholas, I want you to fuck
me.”

“
Oh, I will,
my darling David. I will – but all in good time.”

“
Close –
getting close now – hurry up, for God’s sake –”

“
Mmm,”
Nicholas agreeably remarked, not stopping what he was doing, and
not easing off or intensifying it, either.

“
God’s
sake –
fuck me
– gonna go off any
minute
now –”

Nicholas removed his mouth
from Dave’s condom–covered cock for long enough to say in friendly
tones, “As you wish. In your own time.”

“
No!
No,” Dave
insisted.

Nicholas gurgled a
delightful laugh around Dave’s cock, and lifted his head again to
hush him. “Stick to
yes,
yes
, would you? Unless you
want
half
of Charleville dashing in here to protect what remains of your
virtue.”

Dave groaned in
frustration, having lost the sweet fine edge he’d been balancing
on. Maybe that was just as well, though. This way they could take
it careful and he could really concentrate on it. Dave lifted his
head to stare at Nicholas, who’d inexplicably remained exactly
where he was: between Dave’s thighs, which was great, but
penetrating him with nothing more than a long narrow
finger.

“
What the hell
are you waiting for?” Dave demanded. “I’m good to go here! Fuck me
already!”

“
Not the
plan.”

He almost spluttered in
indignation. How on earth could Nicholas get this so very wrong?
“No. Obviously. I wanna come while you’re –”

Nicholas was shaking his
head. “Not the first time,” he advised.

“
Not –
?!”

“
I need you
relaxed for that. Post–orgasmic works just fine.”

Was this really not clear?
“No – No, I want to come while –”

“
Coming
involves tension,” Nicholas argued implacably. “Which is not
conducive to enjoying your first thorough rogering.”

Dave glared at him and
sank back, thoroughly disgruntled. And hard. Thoroughly disgruntled
and ball–achingly hard. “Fuck’s sake,” he muttered.

“
Enjoy this,
you gorgeous thing, and then I promise you’ll have a fair chance of
enjoying the rest.”

“
But I wanna
…”

“
Next time. If
you’re up for it, having survived the first time, then next time
we’ll try for the whole nine yards.”

Dave wanted to sulk for a
while, but how could he when the oh–so–reasonable Nicholas set
himself up so very perfectly? “Oh, now you’re just trying to show
off,” Dave complained, “when I know very well it’s not even nine
inches.”

Nicholas stared at him
blankly for a long moment – before finally twigging, and the two of
them burst into giggles. Not for long, of course, but it was enough
for them to regain their equilibrium.

The mood had kind of ebbed
away, so Nicholas – leaving his finger in place – shifted up far
enough on an elbow and knees to lean in and kiss Dave – to mouth at
him hungrily, to bite at his lower lip and suck it in and chew on
it – and then to press his tongue into Dave’s mouth, stiffly miming
his ultimate intentions, echoing the slow relentless rhythm his
finger maintained. Dave groaned around the luscious intrusion, and
then tried chasing after when that bold tongue eventually
withdrew.

“
All right, my
darling man?” Nicholas whispered with his lips brushing against
Dave’s – and Dave didn’t want to lose that, he loved the intimacy
of being in each other’s faces when they came – so he answered by
nibbling in turn on Nicholas’s pouty lips, and reaching down a hand
to shuck the condom and bring himself off. Which took hardly any
time at all, with Nicholas lying over him, connecting randomly
skin–to–skin as well as that mouth and that finger, and his pithily
crooning encouragement …

He was breathless with it.
He was breathless, he was full of Nicholas, there was no room for
breath in him. He was breathless, he was curled up below Nicholas
on the bed, on his back with Nicholas over him, within him. His
right hand clung to Nicholas’s knee where it rested on the bed
below Dave’s hip, clung on tight, for he was so breathless he was
dizzy with it, or was he simply dizzy with sensation –

He was capable of thought,
of small regrets. Wishing he hadn’t come already, though he
understood why now; he knew Nicholas had been right, it would have
been impossible. Wishing he was on his front, on his knees, so that
he could feel that delicious arch in his back as he tilted his rear
up for Nicholas to plunder –

And this was what it felt
like, this plundering, this was what he’d craved, to be part of
someone else, for them to be a part of him. “Want more of this –”
he said. “I’ll want more –”

Nicholas let out a
laughing sob, as if happy and relieved and overcome all at once –
which Dave supposed he was, really. “Oh my darling man,” Nicholas
said, reduced to endearments. “My darling David …”

“
I want
to
know,
I want to learn this.”

Nicholas had no words for
that, but only gazed down at him, damp–eyed. Meanwhile, his hips
maintained a steady rolling rhythm as relentless as the waves on
the ocean. Nicholas was almost kneeling upright, one arm tautly
stretched before him, the hand clasped around an iron railing of
the bed head, his lean bicep a lovely long curve. He was strong,
his slim frame and his usual loose clothes were deceptive, though
the wide shoulders gave him away. He was strong, and everything a
man ought to be. Not who Dave had expected at all. Nicholas’s other
hand reached down to clasp Dave’s hip, keeping them both grounded
as he pounded steadily in – careful, but he’d soon realised Dave
was coping well enough.

“
Next time –”
Dave said, each word a pant of precious breath, “wanna be – on
hands and knees –”

“
Do you … ?”
Nicholas seemed to grasp at the conversation now, as if needing
distraction. “I’m sorry, I’m selfish, I wanted to be able to see
you, to see the gorgeousness.”

“
You didn’t –
explain it – that way.”

“
No,” the man
admitted with a laugh.

Dave was curled up so far
that his shins were against Nicholas’s chest, the idea apparently
being that he could push Nicholas away if he needed to. His thighs
were his strongest muscle group, he knew that, but to be honest he
didn’t feel strong anywhere right now, he was just heaviness and
heat and a whole lot of contradictions such as wanting this to be
over and never wanting it to end, or at least not until he had
learned it. He was fascinated by the sensations, though he’d hardly
call it pleasure, not yet. One day, though, he reckoned. One day
he’d grasp it, he’d understand it, and it would make sense, and
–

And it would be spectacular.

“
I’m sorry,”
Nicholas was murmuring. Englishmen were always apologising, Dave
had found.

“
What
the fuck for? I was – just thinking –
spectacular
.”

Nicholas’s colour was
already heightened, but he still blushed very prettily about the
cheekbones. “I’m sorry you don’t have a gorgeous view, as I
do.”

“
You’re mad –”
Dave told him. “You’re beautiful –”

“
Oh …”
Nicholas groaned raggedly, and sank towards Dave, and struggled a
bit, obviously trying to last, but he was overwhelmed. His hand
loosened its grip on the railing and dropped to the bed as he
leaned in further, and Dave parted his thighs to let him in close,
leaned up to meet him as Nicholas drove deeper still with him – and
Nicholas came like that, quaking with it, and groaning gutturally
as Dave whispered kisses across that beautiful face.

Dave felt that he hardly
slept that night. He was happy and delightfully sore, and Nicholas
was wrapped close around him, deeply slumbering – and how on earth
could Dave sleep? He didn’t even need to, he was so happy. The main
curtains had been left hanging open, so the first hints of dawn
glowing through the net curtains woke Dave from a doze. He lay
there contemplating the world and all that was right with it
–

And jumped a mile when his
mobile went off. Dave reached for it, scrabbled to pick it up from
the bedside table, while Nicholas grunted a protest, still mostly
asleep. “H’lo?” Dave managed once he’d answered the call.
“Denny?”

“
Nah, it’s
Charlie, mate.”

“
Charlie? God! What is it?” Dave’s heart was still thudding
in shock, and he had to assume – If anyone was gonna be asked to
break bad news to him, it would have to be –
“Charlie. What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing.
Nothing’s wrong. Just need to talk with you.”

Dave let a beat go by,
wondering if he was actually dreaming this. None of it was making
any sense. “What … ?
Now?”

“
Come on down.
I’m outside. Bring your man, if he’s awake.”

Dave turned to look at
Nicholas, but of course he
was
awake by now. His embrace was
as encompassing as ever, but he’d lifted his head to listen in.
When he caught Dave’s eye, he smiled with a soft warmth. Which was
very enticing.

“
Davey …
?”

Nicholas nodded
encouragement, so Dave answered, “All right. Just give us a few
minutes.”

“
You wouldn’t
make an old man wait while you two got distracted, would
you?”

Dave chuckled. “Charlie,
we were
asleep
. Give us a few minutes,
all right? And I’ll try to restrain myself.”

“
I make no
promises,” Nicholas added darkly – and Dave ended the call on the
sound of Charlie’s groan.

But ten minutes later they
were walking with Charlie through the cool of early morning towards
the Warrego River. After greeting them, Charlie lapsed into
silence, so they followed suit. They crossed the river on the
Willis Street bridge, walked north–east along the riverbank for a
short distance. And then when Charlie indicated, they all settled
cross–legged on the ground, underneath a red river gum and beyond
that the rich blue sky.

Dave and Nicholas remained
quiet, while Charlie thought some more. And then eventually Charlie
let his story slowly spill forth.

“
That
waterhole,” said Charlie. “An old friend of mine, he was the last
of his tribe to know the songs, to know the story of that place. It
has strong magic. Strong.”

Well, Dave was on board so far.
He exchanged a glance with Nicholas, who obviously agreed.

“
He passed
those songs on to me, or they would have died with him. So much has
been lost already, so many songs forgotten, so many Ancestors go
unacknowledged. The power of the land, she’s slumbering, but who
knows what she will do if the songs aren’t ever sung? So it was
better that he pass those songs on to someone in the wrong tribe,
from the wrong place, than let it all be lost.”

They nodded their
understanding – though if Charlie was still feeling qualms about it
all, then the reassurance of two white guys was hardly going to
count for much.

“
I went out
there,” Charlie continued, “I couldn’t find it. I walked for days,
I couldn’t find that place. I was walking round in circles, and old
man grunter was having a big laugh.”

Into the saddened silence,
Dave said, “It’s in this wide flat valley. I thought – maybe it’s
an old crater, you know, formed by a meteorite. But really old, so
it’s mostly worn down again. Maybe you never saw into the valley,
but it’s not like it’s surrounded by hills or cliffs or
anything.”

“
You found
it,” Charlie said to Dave.

“
Me? Well,
both of us.”

“
Nah, Nicholas
found his butterflies. You found the waterhole.”

“
Well –” But
Dave stopped. Nicholas was looking at him intensely, and Charlie
was obviously very very serious.

“
Long time
ago,” Charlie mused after a silence had passed, “this was all one
land. Gondwanaland. We were all one people. We still are. I’d
forgotten that.” Another silence, and then Charlie announced, “I’m
thinking, I’m still thinking about this, but maybe I need to pass
the songs on to you, David Taylor.”