Destiny Sealed With a Kiss

The campfire crackled merrily in the clear early autumn night. A full moon hovered above their heads, signaling the lateness of the hour. He and Merlin really should be sleeping, for they meant to start their day early tomorrow. They would need to ride most of the day to arrive in Camelot by nightfall.

And, to his credit, Merlin was already asleep and had been for some time. No doubt, he was tired from all the game he’d managed to scare away as well as sore from all the riding he’d complained hurt his bottom, Arthur thought, rather uncharitably. Really, how could anyone be so clumsy so many times in one day?

But unfortunately, these were not the thoughts that were keeping Arthur awake. Those were the thoughts he used to try to distract him from what was keeping him up: his obsession with Merlin’s lips.

His manservant’s damn lips were fuller and lusher than any maiden’s.  It was really unfair how pink and plump they were!

Arthur found they were easy enough to ignore…some of the time. But other times, Arthur found himself just staring at Merlin’s mouth as he spoke. And then there were those moments that he would purposefully rile Merlin up just so he could stare at the mesmerizing way those lips moved, pursed, and puckered as he spouted all sorts of snarky nonsense.

And then there were nights like this, when they were alone together and far away from Camelot, with Merlin snuggled up in the bedroll right beside him, those lips mere inches away, soft and slack and innocent in sleep.

It was enough to drive a Prince insane.        

He didn’t even fancy men. He never had. Until now, added a perverse little voice inside his head.

It made absolutely no sense! Merlin was a bumbling idiot with huge ears and an even bigger mouth. Mouth…lips… Arthur’s eyes were drawn back to Merlin’s lips like a moth to a flame. Dammit!

Studying his manservant’s face again, Arthur wondered how he could possibly have missed the fact that Merlin also displayed full, long eyelashes that lay nestled against smooth, alabaster skin that any girl would dream of possessing. He also had deep, curving cheekbones that currently sported a delightful blush of warmth. And the way the firelight played off the waves in Merlin’s ebony hair made Arthur’s fingers itch to test its silkiness.

“Gods, what the hell is wrong with me?” Arthur whimpered aloud as he noticed his cock starting to react to Merlin’s presence.

Despite himself, Arthur slid down into his bedroll and propped himself up on one elbow facing Merlin. Cursing his own weakness, Arthur tentatively reached out with his other hand. I’ll just touch his hair, and that’s it, Arthur reasoned with himself. Just to see if it really is as soft as it looks. And if he wakes up, I could just tell him it was an accident, or I was brushing an ember from the fire away, or…

And then his fingers gently ruffled through the hair at the crown of Merlin’s head, and Arthur’s ability for forming coherent words left him. The ashen waves were silky soft and smooth against his calloused fingers. He’d only meant to do it once, but Arthur’s fingers slid through the ebony tresses again and again of their own volition, only serving to arouse him further.

Arthur’s heart began to beat against his ribcage in a heady, taboo rhythm. Slowly, he allowed his hand to slide from Merlin’s hair, instead trailing the backs of his fingers across his angular cheek like a caress. Arthur’s breath caught in his chest as Merlin’s eyelids fluttered… but instead of waking, he turned to lay more fully on his side—leaning slightly towards Arthur—and drifted back into sleep undisturbed.

“This is insane…” Arthur breathed, his voice lower than a whisper. He really shouldn’t be doing this. But, by the gods, he couldn’t help it…

Arthur’s thumb edged down and rubbed a ghostly path across Merlin’s full lower lip, once, twice…and then he mirrored the touch on his upper lip as well. Arthur’s cock twitched and throbbed against his thigh in response to this masochistic torture.

Arthur had never kissed a man before, but oh, he could imagine…especially now that he knew that Merlin’s lips were just as sinfully soft as they looked. Again, Arthur trailed his thumb lightly over the smooth shell pink flesh…and then Merlin’s mouth fell open with a gasp and a needy groan whispered past Arthur’s thumb to swirl around him as Merlin’s hips ghosted forward, shifting against his blanket. 

White hot heat flickered in Arthur’s veins at Merlin’s unconscious response to his attentions. He pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned; terrified that at any moment Merlin’s eyes would open and catch him outright at his unintentional seduction.

Arthur knew he needed to stop this madness, understanding logically that he’d already gone too far, taken too much without permission. But his body flatly refused to listen to his mind. Instead, Arthur leaned forward impulsively…and touched his lips to Merlin’s.  

A jolt of something Arthur had never experienced before shivered down his spine and lodged somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. His lips tasted and teased Merlin’s fuller mouth, each kiss a humble supplication instead of a selfish demand. His free hand caressed and cupped Merlin’s jaw as his fingers buried themselves in the silken hair behind his ear.

There was a second or two of the pliant complacency of sleep before Arthur felt Merlin’s lips twitch and then soften against the gentle onslaught, moving in time with his. Merlin’s body rolled against Arthur’s and suddenly they were touching chest to knees, with only the bedroll blankets between them for padding.

A moment later, Arthur felt Merlin’s hand sliding sinuously up his chest from under the blanket, trying to find an outlet. And then, finally freed from its woolen cocoon, his hand tucked around Arthur’s neck, fingers burying themselves in the short hair at his nape and tugging him even closer. Never once did their lips part.

Arthur groaned in response, and then gently lapped his tongue against Merlin’s lips, asking for admittance that was immediately given. In fact, Merlin’s tongue met Arthur’s in a playful duel, sometimes in Merlin’s mouth, sometimes in Arthur’s.

Finally, oxygen became a necessity and they broke apart, panting and heaving with their foreheads rested on each other’s shoulders. 

“Gods, Merlin…” Arthur gasped, his breath ghosting across Merlin’s neck, making him shiver. “Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“Don’t know…” Merlin replied, sounding dazed. “Besides, you started it…”

Arthur chuckled, “I know.” An embarrassed flush travelled up his neck and cheeks. He untangled his hand from Merlin’s hair and rubbed his face self-consciously. “Look, Merlin…”

Arthur waited until Merlin raised his head and their eyes met, but once he had Merlin’s undivided attention, he had no idea what he wanted to say. “I know you’re my servant and all, but… I would never expect… I mean, I wouldn’t want you to, you know… out of obligation…and…”

A slow, knowing smile bloomed on Merlin’s sexy mouth as he interrupted the stuttering prince. “Arthur?”

 “Yes?” Arthur asked distractedly.

“Too much talking…”

In Hot Water

Merlin sighed as he stepped into the steaming water of Arthur’s tub. Yes, technically he was supposed to be cleaning Arthur’s room, but it was so rare that Arthur went out on patrol without him that he just couldn’t resist the temptation. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t use his magic to finish the job in about 30 seconds once he was done…

After all, it had been ages since his last bath! Certainly Gaius did not have a tub of his own and while there were ones provided for the royal household staff to use, they were in public bathhouses. Merlin was a bit modest, sure…but that would not have ordinarily stopped him from using such a place. However, it was what someone would see on him if they walked in while he was bathing that caused him to shun them.

In the seven years since Merlin had become Arthur’s manservant, he had certainly accumulated quite a lot of scars from foes both magic and mortal. Too many and too showy to go unnoticed…and noticed led to questions, questions that Merlin could not easily answer.

So when the knights would strip down at the edge of a lake or river too cool off after a hard day’s ride while on quests or patrols, Merlin reluctantly had to content himself with simply taking his boots and socks off and dipping his toes in the water while they all teased him for his bashfulness.

Merlin reached around on the bottom of the tub for the bar of soap. After retrieving it, he slicked down his neck, his arms, and his chest before sinking himself down neck deep in the water. Of course, this meant he had to scrunch his legs up so that his knees stuck out, but he didn’t mind that so much. Getting his sore shoulders into the warm water was definitely worth it.

Gods! This is just so cozy! Merlin thought as he fought back a yawn. He couldn’t stay in here much longer. He needed to get his work done before Arthur got back. But the morning sun took that moment to come out from behind the clouds and bathe Merlin with warm, golden light and he thought, Just five more minutes…and closed his eyes.

It felt as if the sun must have gone back behind a cloud, blocking out the warmth of the rays and Merlin shivered. Cracking an eye open drowsily, he yelped and startled, sloshing a good amount of water onto the floor; because a very, very Arthur Pendragon shaped cloud was staring stonily down at him.

“Merlin…what the hell are you doing?” Arthur bellowed.

Suddenly aware of his very bare (and scarred) state, Merlin tried to surreptitiously slide his chest back into the water before Arthur’s ire abated enough for him to start noticing things. “Um…taking a bath?” he squeaked sheepishly.

“Yes, Merlin. Your gift for stating the obvious knows no bounds,” Arthur snarked. “However, I am rather sure that you were supposed to be cleaning my room this afternoon.”

Merlin suddenly noticed that the bathwater was now tepid and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Surely it hasn’t been that long since you left?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Merlin, it’s been three hours.”

Merlin shook his head in disbelief. Of course, it was always his luck that things never went to plan… “I’m sorry, Sire. It was meant to be a quick wash. I must have fallen asleep…”

Arthur let out a long-suffering sigh. “And?” He motioned with his hands. “Out!”

Scandalized, Merlin squawked, “What? Now? With you standing right there?”

“Merlin, I do it with you almost every day…surely you’re not that bashful. We do have the same parts, after all.”

Beneath the surface of the water, Merlin’s pruned fingers rubbed against the edges of the burn mark in the center of his chest. Panic began to rise in his throat. Nevertheless, he tried to keep his voice calm. “Yes, actually, I am that bashful, Arthur.”

Arthur gave Merlin the ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ glare and crossed his arms impatiently across his chest. “Then consider this your punishment for misappropriating my bath. Out. Now.”

Gathering his legs under himself, Merlin reluctantly pushed to a stand. Water cascaded in sheets off his wrinkled body. Merlin hunched forward and crossed his arms across his chest in a vain attempt at hiding the worst of the scars, praying that Arthur was too irritated with him to notice the rest.

But it seemed that the gods hated him today. Before he’d even gotten one leg over the side of the tub, Arthur sucked in a sudden breath. Merlin felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and spin him around. “By the gods…” Arthur breathed. “What the hell happened to you?”

Merlin rubbed at the bottom of his nose self-consciously and looked anywhere but at Arthur. “Uh…nothing?”

Arthur grasped Merlin by the other shoulder as well and shook him. “How can you stand there looking like you…were mauled by a bear and tell me it’s nothing?”

Merlin took a deep breath as he finally met Arthur’s eyes. “Trust me, Arthur…you really don’t want to know.”