Secrets - part four
by Ebonhawk

Rowen shifted nervously under the scrutiny. He could feel Sage's eyes peering into him, digging deep. What did Sage want to hear? That he wanted Ryo to take him in nothing less than a blazing fire of unbridled passion? That he *didn't* want that? (Dear god, he was starting to quote Mia's romance novels! He cringed.) Sage's lack of outward emotion was becoming very disturbing. He didn't think he could brave looking into those pale eyes fixed on him with such determined concentration.

"Tell me what you want, Touma," Sage intoned quietly. "It's your choice."

The hand slipped from his cheek, trailing down over his shoulder before clasping his hand, twining slender fingers with his own.

"*My* choice?" Rowen asked apprehensively, trying to pull away but unable to free himself from the grasp Sage tightened on his hand. He'd been caught off his guard - something he hated. "What choice am I making?" His mind seethed with a jumble of confused thoughts - another thing he hated. He wasn't at all certain what his most intimate of companions wanted to know. "Am I choosing between you and Ryo...? Always you, Seiji. Always."

He heard Sage chuckle and frowned in consternation. Halo was doing it again - laughing at something *he* wasn't in on, at his baffled expression. It was immensely annoying. Rowen yanked his hand loose with a second attempt and pulled his knees tight against his chest, back turned on his partner. What was so damn funny?!

He let his blue-glass gaze wander over the details of the room. Each and every piece spoke of Sage in some way. Understated, old-world elegance...almost Spartan in the scarcity of decoration. Yet he found evidence of himself amidst the near perfection. A pencil laying on the nightstand, worried almost to death by toothmarks. The small scattering of Star Wars and Mercedes Lackey paperbacks - all on the verge of falling apart from numerous readings - laying on the desk, dresser, and various other surfaces. In his own room, he knew where to find such small evidences of Sage's influence. He bit at his lip and wondered if he were about to end up in some stupid argument for no reason he could name as Sage was suddenly so quiet behind him. He felt the bed shift.

The strong arms of his swordsman wrapped securely around him then, the buttons down the front of Sage's soft, cream colored shirt pressing against his bare back and a knee raised to either side of him. Sage nuzzled into his neck, laying dozens of kisses over the warm skin. "I never doubted that, you brat," he spoke gently into Rowen's ear.

Rowen wormed around in the encircling arms to look at the blond warrior. Sage's expressive lips hinted at a smile and his eyes were mischievous. He was up to something. A lush plot, some luxurious machination, was even now being devised in that clever mind of his. Rowen of Strata didn't know if he should be frightened or eagerly awaiting whatever came of it.

"That's not what I was referring to, though."

Rowen cocked his head to one side in wary askance. "But-" The quicksilver touch of Sage's lips to his silenced him.

With a huff, Rowen glared at Sage. Reaching out, he tucked the lock of honey-blond hair that obscured Sage's right eye willfully behind his ear, daring it to fall forward with a raised brow. Rowen crossed his arms tightly across his chest and grouched, "I hate it when you do this." He glanced away for a brief second then, fixing narrowed eyes on the divine, tear-shaped face, asked, "What *were* you referring to?"

Sage snapped the waistband of the boxers against Rowen's flat stomach and smiled in a suggestive way that had Rowen's temperature taking an upward turn. Again, the archer thought. Before he could consider further, Sage was easing him back on the bed, urging his legs apart with an insistent hand.

Poised between the long, ivory-skinned limbs, Sage hovered over Rowen for a moment, just watching him as he went from brooding little boy to surly, greedy kitten in a matter of seconds. It never took much with the archer, whom he'd found to be delightfully wanton. Sage descended, as if to kiss, but held back when Rowen lifted to meet him. The length of his blond hair just barely touched the flesh almost as fair as his own.

"No. Let *me*," Sage chastised with a small frown, nothing more than a tightening of his lips. Rowen's slow blink and expectant pout assured him that he'd been given control. He moved in again, tasting those sulking lips for only a brief moment then sliding lower. A fit of boyish giggles and an enticing wiggle was won when Sage tickled the sensitive spots behind of Rowen's knees, which lifted upward to squeeze the fingers away from their wicked deed. As his tongue ran a fiendishly winding path over Rowen's smooth skin, his hands lazily fondled their way up the archer's inner thighs.

Soft exhalations of pleasure rang in his ears. He had no doubt; Rowen was his. Smirking, Sage tugged lightly on the silver ring that shone brightly at Rowen's navel with his straight, white teeth. The slender, athletic body arched up in sympathy to the rousing tactic. Such a unrestricted sensualist, his lover. He wouldn't have it any other way.

He remembered how Rowen had woken one morning a few months ago to find himself pierced after a drunken night of revelry with his friend Kimiko... The small, indigo kanji tattooed on his lower back was another reminder of that night the archer couldn't recall. Sage took the ring into his mouth and alternated between sucking and laving the sensitized flesh.

Beneath him, Rowen bounced and squeaked, unable to decide if it tickled or excited but knowing he *really* liked it when Sage did this. His fingers clawed into the quilt then released before digging in again in quick spasms as he wriggled under the assault. The faded erection Ryo had created earlier was now back with a vengeance as a hand slid under the green silk, the touch light and tormenting. His eyelids drooped low and he whimpered.

Then, Sage paused.

Drawing himself back, the warrior ran his silver-blue eyes over the archer's form. In the late morning sunlight he seemed almost fragile, his body reedlike, but Sage knew well the innate strength that resided in the whipcord muscles. He let a slow, hungry curve spread over his mouth.

Both of his hands rushed in and grabbed a handful of green silk, yanking the material from Rowen's hips. Holding the boxers thoughtfully in a hand for a moment, he tossed them aside with an air of negligence. They weren't needed right now. He surveyed the revealed flesh that he understood in exceedingly intimate detail, the arousal he could feel without touching...even when touching was so much better. He reminded himself he wasn't after a quick piece of ass, though. Not yet, anyway...

Sage purposely ignored Rowen's awakened member, instead toying with the silver hoop again, flicking it with his nimble fingers. "I need to thank Kimi for this. It really is lovely." He tugged on it hard, making Rowen hiss in pain. "I'm sorry," Sage murmured. As he moved between the raised knees to love the hurt away, his shirt brushed against Rowen's sex, eliciting a sharp intake of air.

"Sage..." the archer complained when the blond continued to entertain himself with the piercing. He shifted his hips, hoping to gain stimulation more intense than the soft sweep of cloth. One hand tangled into the lustrous golden hair that veiled Sage's features and his own middle like a swath of antique satin.

Sage batted the hand away then leaned heavily on him, arms crossed indolently over the sleek belly, stilling Rowen's movement. "Do you want something?" he inquired, already knowing the answer. When he received Rowen's growl in reply, he continued, "Wait. Let me guess." Halo dropped open-mouthed kisses across the vulnerable, rose-petal soft skin low on his stomach, slowly, steadily shifting lower.

Nibbling at the tender flesh where thigh joined into abdomen, Sage turned his head a little to nose the wispy blue curls. "Is this what you want?" He gently bathed the shadowed shape of Rowen's balls with his tongue. Breathy exclamations accompanied a twisting of hips as Rowen attempted to coax the hot mouth to where he really wanted it.

Sage looked up and saw Rowen watching him with passion clouded eyes, his lips parted and sexy. "No? Maybe this is what you want?" he asked before flicking his tongue over the rigid sex, mouthing around the base. He almost laughed aloud when Rowen protested the teasing.

"Dammit! Ah! Sage! ...mmm...nnnh... What are you - oh! - damn you!"

"Or maybe-" Sage paused again, long enough to wet his fingers, "-you want this?" He reached down and carefully pressed inside the tight, grasping heat of Rowen's body with first one and then a second digit.

Rowen rocked back on the fingers as they slowly began to work in deeper and then slip almost completely out of him. He was panting when Sage's other hand closed firmly around him, pumping in the same maddeningly slow rhythm. Again, Sage's voice spoke to him as he moaned and writhed on the bed. "Do you want him to do this to you?"

"Uhn...who?...mmm-"

"Ryo. Do you want Ryo to do this?"

"Sage...ahh..."

"Answer me," Sage persisted, increasing the speed of his hands.

"Ah! Mmm..."

"Touma! Do you want Ryo to fuck you?" He grinned devilishly as the pale, willowy body tightened and bucked under his ministrations.

"Nnngh!"

"Answer me."

Rowen gripped the patterned quilt with white knuckled hands, groaned out what Sage wanted to hear, "Yeeesssss!"

"What do you want?" Sage taunted. "Tell me, Rowen. What is it that you want?"

"Oh god...Sage...uhn..." He was so close now! Just a little bit more and he would topple over the edge...

"Say it."

The firm grip on him loosened and the fingers that had been pounding into him fell to a sluggish pace. "Dammit, Sage!"

"Just say it, Rowen."

Rowen mewled against this agonizing treatment. "I-I...mmm...I want-"

"Yes?"

"I want Ryo to fuck me!" Rowen gasped as Sage squeezed him hard before taking both his hands away completely, leaving him empty and pulsing with unfulfilled passion.

Sage sat up on his knees, smirking as deep blue eyes narrowed, stabbed into him, and smoldered with unmistakable frustration. "That's all I wanted to know," he told his blue-haired lover. He dropped a loud slap of his palm against one of the white hips, and with smug satisfaction ordered, "Get dressed."

The tall, slim body in sophisticated clothing slipped off the bed and was out of the room. Rowen, filled with exasperated disbelief, lay still until he heard the door shut, after which he promptly curled his fingers into tight fists and slammed them down on the mattress as hard as he could. No way was he going to finish this himself! Not after blondie's little show - no matter had bad he wanted it. "SAGE, YOU GOD DAMNED BASTARD!"

Even through the door, he could hear the laughter that was Halo's reply. "Shit," he muttered in furious aggravation and tried not to think about how easy it would be to reach a hand down...

Shaking her head when Rowen's burst of profanity floated into her room, Mia chuckled. She wondered what Sage had done this time. Then, turning back to the work at hand, Mia grabbed up the thick stack of paper and stuffed them back into the manila folder, unable to take any more of the torture some of her students called completed assignments. Not all of them were horrible pieces of rehashed drivel but those that were made her head ache like a real never mind.

With a resigned sigh, Mia pulled free the pencil she'd shoved through the sloppy twist she'd made of her hair to hold it out of the way. The long locks of cinnamon brown fell into place, hanging a good reach below her shoulders.

Luckily, it was Saturday. She still had tomorrow to try reading the rest of the stack. Looking at the glowing red numbers on her alarm clock, Mia grimaced when she realized she'd only been working for a little over an hour. Well, that last paper made it seem horribly longer, she reasoned. She deserved a break after that one. Just where in hell had that student gotten his information? The back of a cereal box?

It had taken her mind off the morning's little drama, though. Now, time distanced her just enough from the revelation to look at it from a different perspective. Try as she might, she really couldn't deny it. Dais and Yuli *were* kinda cute together... Mia sighed, a calm, sad smile graced her pink lips. When was it *her* turn to be gushy and sugary-sweet with someone? Damn you, Ryo, she thought in continuation of her long-running silent litany.

Leaving her desk behind, Mia stepped into the hall and grinned when she found Sage picking up the clothing that still lay flung across the floor. "Don't forget the trail goes *all* the way down to the front door, Seiji," she reminded him, adding an innocent flutter of lashes. She hurried around him, heading for the bathroom, before he could come at her with more than a snort of disapproval.

To her great annoyance, she found the door locked. Rather than head downstairs to the other bathroom, Mia knocked.

"Yeah?" came Ryo's muffled voice. He sounded a bit distracted.

She stared at the door in surprise. "Are you *still* in there??? My god, Ryo, what are you doing that takes so long?"

The door opened wide enough for Ryo to pop his head out. With a sullen face - not an unusual sight - he answered, "Um, nothing...well, no, that's not right. The wall kinda had an accident and I'm trying to fix it."

"Again? What happened?" Mia asked, hoping she sounded concerned rather than condescending. He really didn't need her patronizing him. Obviously something had occurred that set off Ryo's exaggerated sense of self-blame. Walls didn't have 'accidents' without help. "Let me in, please?"

"I sorta hit it," he told her sheepishly, moving back so Mia could slip into the room with him. Uncomfortable, his gaze shot around the bathroom, alighting finally on the half-patched hole. He didn't look at her.

I'm going to explain. I'll tell her all of it, Ryo affirmed silently. Except what Rowen said before leaving... He was still worrying over the void those words left inside him. Yes, maybe he did belong with Mia (never mind that he was too chicken to go for her) but he still wanted the tall archer, more than he'd ever imagined now that he'd actually touched that pliant body. As he stared at the damage his fist had caused, he realized fixing the wall was far more inviting than the thought of telling Mia the reason it had happened.

He was going to tell her, dammit. He *was*. Telling her that he'd almost fucked Rowen on the floor where she was standing was still easier than telling her that he wanted her in that same position - badly enough that it left him heartbroken to know that he didn't have the courage to do anything about it. And he *had* to tell someone about the escapade before he ended up in a depression over the situation. He rubbed at the back of his neck and waited for her to start, feeling like a hormonal teenager.

Mia blinked. Then she frowned. The damage wasn't the worst she'd seen any of the guys cause and Ryo knew what he was doing with the repair (as he'd done it many times before). She looked at him, a white smear of plaster across his tan cheek matching the smears over his t-shirt and faded blue jeans. Whatever had happened, it had him heading toward a melancholy she hadn't seen him suffer in a long time. "Why?"

Ryo coughed a little and closed the door. Sage was still in the hall and the blond really didn't need to hear this from *him*. That was Rowen's job, if anyone were to tell him.

Laying the clothes he had already gathered near his bedroom door, Sage then moved back to the puddled silk of cobalt blue. He lifted the shirt and held it up in the light. It was damp in places, he noted, one corner of his mouth twitching upward. Ryo had probably tripped over it on his way back to finish his shower earlier that morning.

The day was not at all going as he had envisioned upon waking but maybe - just maybe - something might come of it. He was decidedly curious to know what had gone on between his love and Ryo but he knew better than to ask Rowen. The archer would have absolutely refused to go into any detail. After everything that they had done together - some of it especially kinky - Rowen was still entirely too self-conscious to verbalize, although anyone given the chance to be with him would think otherwise.

He watched the bathroom door close behind Mia and seriously considered pressing his ear to the wood. Some elaboration would likely tell him just how agreeable Ryo might be to his scheme. Maybe Ryo would be more forthcoming with Mia about the specifics of the event?

"No," Sage determined quietly, "I want Rowen to tell me." He smirked and began silently adjusting his ideas to accomplish this. If Ryo was serious about his attraction to Rowen, Sage knew he could make things happen. Now, he just needed Mia to get out of the way for a bit so he and Wildfire could talk...

"You should have seen it when Kayura lost it and used that staff to whack them both over the head! They were out for days!" Dais exclaimed with a flashing smile. "I can't remember when we ever got more done ridding the Nether Realm of nuisances. I really think Cale and Sekhmet need to get out more - or at least be knocked out more often."

Cye laughed and reached for the battered old teapot to refill his cup. He was finding that, as they talked, he was liking Dais more and more. Softly spoken, steady in nature, a forgiving sense of humor... A very good match, indeed, for the loudmouthed spaz they called Yuli.

They fell silent as Mia strode purposefully into the kitchen. It was like she almost didn't notice anyone else was in the room, until she stopped beside the table. She contemplated Cye for a long while then quietly informed him, "We need to talk."

"Of course." He pulled out the chair next to him and nodded for her to sit.

"Not here. Somewhere alone," Mia replied, shooting a quick glance at Dais and Yuli from the corner of her eye.

Cye stood and gestured for Mia to lead the way. She swept past him, snagging his arm to drag him along behind her. He protested a little - only to have Mia press faster through the kitchen, nearly pulling him from his already stumbling feet. They were quickly out the sliding glass door and onto the back deck, soon vanished from sight.

With them gone, Dais looked at Yuli and asked, "What do you suppose that was about?"

Yuli pursed his lips then frowned. "I'm thinking that Rowen really *did* walk in on Ryo...and Mia just found out the juicy details."

"Oh dear. Have you come to the conclusion that *I'm* right about Ryo and Mia yet?"

"Uh huh. Guess I *was* wrong there," he conceded. Then, absently running a thumb along his jaw, "I wonder how far Ryo got with Rowen?" He reached for the steaming cup of hot tea sitting on the table before him and lifted it to his lips.

"Obviously farther than Mia's gotten with Ryo!" Dais snickered.

Yuli snorted into his teacup, dribbling a wet mess down the front of his shirt.

END PART FOUR