STORY EXCERPT

"But, Mama, where am I to find violets in January?” Alexei asked.

“Go to the forest,” she suggested. “I hear there’s a grove at the very edge. Folk say flowers grow sometimes, in spite of the cold.”

Alexei gaped at her. How could she ask him to brave the icy winter through a peril-filled forest, all for a whim of his sister’s? Did she not love him at all?

Disheartened, Alexei nodded and obeyed. What else could he do? When his mother decided something, no one but Igor could make her change her mind, and even Igor had a difficult time.

He set out one more time, this time riding in the opposite direction. He knew his way there well, as he often went to the forest to gather firewood or fruit. Of course, this was the first time he’d actually come here during winter.

At last, the forest loomed ahead. Alexei idly noted it looked very different than he remembered it. A few months back, its lush and verdant vegetation welcomed Alexei. Now, the leaves had all fallen, and just snow covered the trees.

Still, the woods provided a welcome change to the extent that the winds no longer beat Alexei so heavily. Acknowledging the treacherous path, he rode slower. He had no idea where he needed to go. Even if he knew these woods well, he’d never heard of the grove Elga mentioned. Other than the vague indications his mother had given him, he just followed his instinct and hoped for the best.

Onward he went for the longest time. Finally, just as he started to consider returning home, he saw something ahead. A grove, just like his mother had said. Four tall standing stones rose in the center, the only change in the sea of white. Alexei could see no flowers, no violets, nothing. His tiredness turned into sheer hopelessness, and a heavy chill started to take over his limbs.

His eyes began to close, and Alexei struggled against the weariness. Unavoidably, he lost the battle, and his grip on the horse’s reins. He slipped off the animal, and expected falling into the snow, perhaps to his death. Instead, he fell into someone’s arms. “Easy there, young man,” a male voice said. “Be careful.”

Alexei’s vision swam for a few seconds, but as the dizziness faded, the sight that met his eyes shocked him beyond belief. The man holding him had hair as white as the pure snow and icy blue eyes, just like Eva. The resemblances stopped there, as Alexei felt a very strong and warm male body against him. The chill ran off as if it had never been, replaced by pure heat.

“What are you doing here?” another voice said. Alexei looked over his rescuer’s shoulder and caught sight of a second man. Alexei couldn’t be certain, but he thought his eyes and hair were green as grass. Who in the world had green hair? The second man lay reclining against one of the stones, his gaze filled with a peculiar warmth.

To Alexei’s surprise, he realized two other men waited in similar positions. The third one gave Alexei an amused look, his bright blond hair and amber eyes seeming to shine in the wane light. “I’m guessing his sister is being troublesome again. Isn’t that right, Alexei?”

At last, Alexei found his voice. “How do you know my name? And how do you know about Eva?”

The fourth man chuckled, brushing his red hair of his face. His penetrating brown gaze analyzed Alexei with interest. “We know many things.”

Freaked out, Alexei began to struggle in his captor’s hold. The white-haired man released him, and Alexei immediately felt the loss. He struggled not to let it show and found refuge next to his horse. “Who are you people? What do you want?”

“I believe we asked you that first,” the white-haired man said. “But since we do have the advantage of knowing your identity, we’ll introduce ourselves. I’m Zimah.”

The second man got up and bowed courteously. “Visnah.”

The blond also shot to his feet and began to head toward Alexei. “Lyetah.”

“And I am Ohsyn,” the last man said, also making his way to Alexei. “Now, can you answer the question?”

Alexei realized he was being very rude. After all, these men most likely saved him from death. Clearly, they weren’t common people. He didn’t know if they were pulling his leg with those names, since he’d never known anyone called “spring,” “summer,” “autumn,” and “winter.” But at this point, anything was possible. And Alexei found he felt safe here, in this grove, just talking with these strange men.

“Eva wanted violets,” he replied. “I couldn’t find any at the market, so my mother sent me out here. She said there’s a place where flowers grow in spite of it being winter.”

Zimah hummed, sounding thoughtful. “Time is this way for a reason,” he answered. “Can’t she wait?”

“Apparently not,” Alexei replied.

Visnah smiled at him. “Well, we can provide the violets easily enough.”

“But on one condition,” Zimah added.

“What condition?” Alexei inquired, almost afraid to ask.

“Nothing much,” Zimah replied. “We just require a kiss, one for Visnah and one for me.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Alexei used Lyetah’s hold on his hand to pull the other man on the bed. Taken by surprise, Lyetah fell face front on the soft mattress. Alexei flipped him over and promptly pounced, attacking Lyetah’s mouth. At first, Lyetah seemed too shocked to respond, but soon, passion and instinct took over, and the other man began his own assault on Alexei’s senses. His hands caressed Alexei’s back and went down to knead his buttocks.

When the kiss broke, Alexei lifted his head and stared down at Lyetah.  “Stop thinking I’m some fragile flower. I know what I want.”

The answer came from Zimah. “So it would seem.”

Alexei looked toward Zimah and saw him, Visnah, and Ohsyn approach. They joined Alexei and Lyetah on the huge bed, and Alexei’s daring melted as he realized exactly what he’d initiated. But he could not back down now. He refused to.

His men must have guessed his thoughts. Their clothing dissipated into thin air. Alexei licked his lips as all that naked skin became revealed in front of his greedy eyes. He wondered if he could pull off this little trick, too, because he certainly couldn’t muster enough coherence to disrobe the traditional way. He tried to will it to happen and a tingle over his skin signaled his own clothes vanish. He didn’t realize he’d achieved his goal until he felt Lyetah’s warm hand on his skin.

“You’re so beautiful, solnyshko moyo,” Lyetah murmured.

Visnah crawled toward them, drawing Alexei’s attention to him. “You two look so amazing together.” He pressed his lips to Alexei’s in a gentle, yet insistent kiss. It felt almost as if the hidden passion within Visnah’s tender nature started to become unleashed. Their tongues dueled in a lazy, delicious dance that promised so much more.

When they broke apart, Visnah pressed Alexei down to lay on top of Lyetah. Alexei ended up chest to chest with Lyetah, his naked ass up and exposed to the other three men. He felt Lyetah’s erection against his own hard cock and couldn’t help but rub against his lover. Lyetah crushed their lips together once more, and as they kissed, Alexei felt a slick finger prod at his backside.

At the surprising sensation, Alexei tensed a bit. He’d done some exploring in that area, but no one else had touched him there so far. But Lyetah’s mouth felt so good on his own that he didn’t have any trouble in relaxing and accepting the touch. Even without seeing, he knew who it belonged to. Ohsyn’s contained strength always swept over him decadently, like sweet flowing wine, just like now.

Ohsyn pressed his finger deep inside Alexei, pushing it in and out of Alexei’s passage. The rhythm soon began to be insufficient, and Alexei thrust against Ohsyn’s digit, then back against Lyetah’s cock. Kissing, being touched so intimately, it all felt so amazing, but Alexei wanted more, so much more.

All of a sudden, Lyetah disappeared from beneath him and reappeared to his right. Before Alexei could figure out how his lover had done that, Lyetah gestured for him to get on all fours. The shift separated him from Ohsyn, but Alexei ended up with Lyetah’s cock pointing at him. The hard shaft looked delicious and Alexei wanted nothing else but to have it deep in his mouth. “Come on, miliy moi,” Ohsyn whispered. “Suck him.”

Alexei obediently parted his lips and Lyetah pushed his dick inside. A myriad of flavors exploded on Alexei’s tongue, Lyetah’s taste even stronger now. He wiggled his ass, wordlessly begging for more. Ohsyn thrust two fingers into his wanton hole, and Alexei moaned. Above him, Lyetah groaned and began to thrust inside Alexei’s mouth.

Ohsyn’s fingers retreated, and Alexei felt something harder and much larger prod at his backside. This was it, the moment he’d been waiting for. Lyetah stilled, gently caressing Alexei’s hair, soothing him. And then, Ohsyn pushed inside, stretching him, hurting him so deliciously. Alexei’s eyes filled with tears, half of pain, half of awe. But Ohsyn went slow, so slow and careful. By the time Alexei felt Ohsyn’s balls flush against his ass, he’d already begun to get accustomed to the sensation of being filled.

A male groan from his side drew his attention. With the corner of his eye, Alexei caught sight of Zimah and Visnah together, naked, touching each other’s hard cocks. “You look so beautiful, radost moia, so very beautiful,” Visnah said.

Their eyes on him fascinated him. It felt as if their gazes turned into a palpable touch. When Zimah tweaked Visnah’s nipple, Alexei felt it as well. Their hands seemed to engulf his own hard shaft, jacking him in slow, sensual pumps.