STORY EXCERPT

When they finally found someone to speak to, it was an ancient-looking man, using a stick to help him walk. He was carrying a large bucket around, which he set down when they approached him. The man rested heavily on his stick as they came closer, watching them with wary milky-gray eyes.

“Good morning, my good man.” Vasiliy addressed him. “We are trying to find clues to help us lift this curse. Can you tell me about how it affected your village? Are you the only one left awake?”

The man grunted and worked his jaw. His wrinkled face moved as he did that, bushy eyebrows and iron-gray hair shuddering with the movement.

“Ah, come in then,” he finally said. “No point talking in the road.” He bent over to pick up the bucket, but Falk intercepted it, being quicker.

The man only grunted and nodded then led them all to a house on the far end of the village. It looked like any of the other houses but had smoke coming out of the chimney. When they entered, they were greeted by a frazzled-looking woman in her fifties and the wail of a few infants.

“Nina, these folks here be searching for clues to lift the curse,” the older man said in a querulous voice.

“Ah, m’lords!” The woman wrung her hands, her eyes darting around. “Sit, sit.” She waved at the bench and stools around a wooden table. “Let me bring some tea. Would you like something to eat?”

Falk looked around, noticing the piles of unwashed nappies in the corner, the wooden bowls and spoons stacked up near a water bucket, the three crying infants lying on a bed.

“That’s fine, good mother,” he said gently. “We have had our morning meal not too long ago. We will be grateful for tea, though.”

It would give the woman something to do and let her feel like she’d fulfilled the hospitality rituals. Falk knew that being welcoming was a big thing in these parts, and not greeting guests with food and drink was seen as a big failure on the host’s part.

The four of them took seats around the table while the woman bustled around and the old man busied himself feeding the children. Falk observed what the man was doing then picked one of the kids up and helped with the feeding. Unsurprisingly, Gard picked up the third child, both of them earning a grunt and an approving nod from the older man. It didn’t take that long before the children were fed and settled back on the bed, and the woman came back with a pot of tea and some mugs. They all settled around the table then, cradling their mugs.

“Can you tell us what happened here, grandfather?” Vasiliy asked. “Are you the only ones left awake?”

“Aye.” The man nodded grimly. “It’s only us and young Hanna, but she’s out helping in another village.”

“Hanna is me niece,” the woman piped in. “I’m Nina, and this is me father, Pavel. The three of us are the only ones left awake. Well, and the little ’uns.” She shot a quick look at the bed, where the three children were settling into sleep.

“Mmm.” The man nodded before continuing. “When the illness came, it took us by surprise. In just a coupla weeks, all the folks were having nightmares. Men, women, children, everyone but us three. One by one, they all succumbed and fell asleep. We were the only ones left trying to look after them and the little ones. I go around, spoon feeding them some warm milk with butter and honey in it. Trying to keep ’em alive. Nina’s left looking after the littles and tryin’ to feed us. Most animals had to be left to fend for themselves and some of them seem to sleep more than usual as well. Young Hanna’s been helping out in the next village, as they only have one man awake.”

The man’s words sounded bleak. Falk couldn’t blame him. The situation seemed truly dire.

“Can you remember anything about how it started? Do you know who could have carried it to your village?” Vasiliy probed.

“Ah, aye. We all mulled it over and over. All we can think of is that tinkerer that traveled through the village just a few days afore it started. He came through the village Hanna’s helping in, selling his wares. I remember the plague when I was little. They told folks not to travel lest you bring the plague with you. So, we reckon he brought the plague to us. Mayhap he was trying to escape it?”

“If so, he was out of luck.” Nina’s voice was tired but vehement. “I heard he had to stop in the next village over ’cause he drove off the road. He was having nightmares, not sleeping, and he nodded off while driving his cart. After they helped him free the wheels, he stopped in the village to fix the axle. He fell asleep there, for good.”

“Thank you for this information. We don’t know how this curse spreads, but that it is a curse is certain.” Vasiliy spoke seriously. “We are trying to find the source of it so that we can fix it. What you told us might make a big difference.”

The old man only grunted, and the woman’s eyes watered. As they put their cups aside and got up to leave, she came and took Vasiliy’s hands in hers.

“May gods bless you and lead you on your path. I hope you manage to fix this for we won’t be able to keep this up much longer.” She looked behind her at where the old man was fussing over the infants. “We try our best, but me dad’s over eighty summers and can’t do a lot. I am stuck with the littles, who, for some reason, seem immune… Please hurry and remedy this curse.”

“I promise we will do our best,” Vasiliy said gently. 

ADULT EXCERPT

Ivan woke to a wet heat surrounding his dick. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know what was happening. He would recognize his husband’s mouth anywhere. Still, looking at his beloved was anything but a chore, so he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and smiled at Vasya.

“Well, hello there, my dear frog, are we feeling better?”

Vasya mumbled something around a mouthful of cock, and Ivan chuckled before hissing in pleasure. Vasya was soooo good at this! If he ever tired of being a wizard, Vasya could make fortune sucking dick. Well, that was he would get all of Ivan’s fortune, because Ivan wasn’t about to let his husband near anyone else’s cock. Ivan’s inane thoughts dissolved into a long moan as Vasya applied more suction and twirled his tongue along the gland under the head of his dick. Ivan’s hands found their way to Vasya’s head, and he buried his fingers in his husband’s silky tresses.

“Oh gods!” Ivan moaned as his hips bucked involuntarily at his husband’s masterful ministrations. With immeasurable effort, he applied his willpower to muster his thoughts, and then he uttered,  “Come ’round here.”

He gestured in a semicircle, indicating what he wanted. His husband, used to Ivan’s eloquence while in the throes of passion, read his intentions flawlessly. Vasya swung around, never stopping his assault on Ivan’s prick yet somehow managing to straddle his chest so that his hole was right in Ivan’s face, winking at him mischievously.

With a grunt of effort, Ivan propped himself up into a perfect position to eat Vasya’s ass. His hands, which had to release Vasya’s hair as they maneuvered, since he didn’t want to leave his husband bald, were now free to part the wizard’s cheeks. The pale globes felt soft and supple under Ivan’s calloused fingers, and he took his time to stroke and caress them. Finally, he pulled the cheeks apart and buried his face in his husband’s crack.

Vasya smelled of the rough laundry soap they had used to clean themselves and male muskiness, the scent somehow unique to his husband. Ivan leaned forward and licked over Vasya’s taint, his husband’s moan of pleasure urging him on. Using one hand to keep one of Vasya’s cheeks to the side, he gave the little hole the full attention of his mouth. In the meantime, his other hand snaked underneath to fondle Vasya’s balls and play with his cock. In response Vasya redoubled his assault on Ivan’s dick, sucking, slurping, and squeezing his balls. It was a race to see who could make the other come first. Soon enough, Ivan felt like he was about to blow, and he moaned a loud protest.

“No, my dear frog, I want you to ride me.”

Vasya lifted his head and grinned over his shoulder at Ivan, his lips and chin shining with spit and Ivan’s pre-cum.

“You think you can manage?” the minx asked cheekily.

Ivan chuckled with effort. “I won’t last long, but I want to feel you around me, your body taking me in as if it was meant for it.”

“All right, then.” Vasya’s eyes shone with challenge as he swung around and positioned himself above Ivan’s dick. “Let’s see how long you can last. If you manage not to come before me, I’ll have a nice little surprise for you.”

“Challenge accepted.” Ivan grinned ferociously, determined not to lose. His husband’s surprises were the best.

As if by magic, Vasya quickly procured a bottle of scented oil, an essential they always packed when traveling. Vasya coated his fingers before quickly inserting and scissoring them, opening up the hole, which was already loosened up by Ivan’s tongue’s ministrations. Just that quickly, Vasya was lowering himself onto Ivan’s dick, the incredible hot pressure eliciting another tortured moan from the prince.

“Gods, you feel so good, my dear frog. Ride me, ride me like a wild stallion,” Ivan babbled.

His husband lifted his eyebrows and grinned but didn’t say anything. It was a fact well known to them both that Ivan’s tongue often got away from him during their lovemaking. Just that quickly, however, even Ivan’s babbling stopped, as his husband started riding him hard, and all Ivan could focus on was biting his lip and struggling not to come. His hands tightened on Vasya’s hips as the man rose and lowered himself on Ivan’s cock, again and again and again. Very quickly, the tempo rose and stuttered as Vasya neared his peak, and Ivan bit harder on his lip and dug his fingers into Vasya’s hips to stem his own orgasm. Vasya released a low keening sound and tugged on his cock, once, twice, before hot spunk hit Ivan’s chest.

“Very good, my prince,” Vasya uttered through the shivers of orgasm his body was still enduring. “You deserve a reward.”

With these words, he reached back behind himself and touched one fingertip to Ivan’s balls. Immediately a feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced bloomed in Ivan’s testicles. If someone had asked him to describe it, he would be unable to. It was heat and cold and vibration and sparkles. Whatever it was, it caused his dick to erupt like a Chinese flower of incomparable magnificence.