Sun Bird

Neika smiled and wiggled her eyebrows in a picture of feminine satisfaction. "Cool huh?" She began to prowl around the stone still assassin. "Now, what shall we do with him? Think quick Arsha, we have about fifteen seconds until the spell wears off."

Arsha smiled sheepishly. "Well…I kinda would like to see him…you know…"

"Naked?" Neika grinned wolfishly. "Twelve seconds left, by the way."

"No! I want to see him on his knees, you know…crying like a baby, face twisted in crushing defeat, screaming 'why, WHYYYYYY' to the gods." Arsha grinned shyly and as he spoke, the assassin dropped to his knees so hard that the elf winced slightly.

Tears streamed from Ba'ith's eyes and he howled in emotional torment to the gods, his arms out in anguish as he cried to the heavens. "Whyyyy Oh Gods! Whyyyyyyy!"

"A little more crushed devastation, I think." Arsha folded his arms over his chest, enjoying himself.

"Three seconds Arsha…" Neika looked at her friend. "…Before we have one 'pissed off' bundle of assassin on our hands."

"Make him say sorry. I know he hates the 's' word." Arsha narrowed his eyes ruthlessly.

"One…" Neika whispered and moved back to prepare herself.

"I'm sorry Arsha, truly." Ba'ith caught and held the elf's eyes. "That's from me. Neika's spell failed." He looked smugly at Neika and winked. "Two fifty plus shadow resistance."

"You prick!" Neika sneered.

Ba'ith stood up smoothly. "Please, Neika. Give us a few moments? You know how I feel about him."

Arsha's jaw dropped and he glared at Neika. "You traitor!"

"It's not my fault! I've had to take over your unofficial position as city confessor! It's not like I wanted to for fucksake, but every bastard kept coming to me, pouring their hearts out!" Neika glared at Ba'ith. "This one especially! The whole love sick puppy routine is quite nauseating!"

"Please?" Ba'ith angled his head to look down at the petite woman.

Neika scowled. "Arsha?"

"Don't ask him!" Ba'ith hissed. "He'll say no."

"No!" Arsha stepped a few paces forward, his face twisted with outrage.

"See?" Ba'ith flung his hands in the air.

"I'll just be outside Arsha…" Neika sighed and then she turned to glare at the assassin. "Getting a spell penetration buff so I can fry your arse if you fuck up…again!"

Arsha groaned and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe this!" He strode to the window and leaned against the wall, busying himself by looking out at the square below.

"I won't fuck up again. I'm a quick learner too." Ba'ith waited until Neika left and then he dropped his chin to his chest and looked at his hands. "I'm sorry, Arsha. I had no idea, honestly."

Arsha glared disbelievingly over his shoulder. "Uh huh. Okay…you finished?"

Ba'ith chewed his lip and looked at the elf tentatively. "I've never been attracted to men."

Arsha's head sagged back and he chuckled sarcastically. "Oh spare me the sordid details. Just leave, Ba'ith. I'm over it, let's just move on."

He shifted so that his back faced the assassin dismissively and he returned to looking out of the window. He didn't hear Ba'ith approach but he knew he was behind him. He could feel his body heat and he was engulfed in the scent of soap, man musk and …stale magic. He stiffened.

"I'm not over you." Ba'ith's voice floated over Arsha's sensitive ears like sweet smoke and expensive liquor. "You can't blame me for being surprised."

"You weren't surprised, you were furious." Arsha swallowed hard.

"So were you." Ba'ith bent his head down until he could inhale the scent of Arsha's hair.

The corners of Arsha's lips curled down slightly and he gave a small acquiescent nod. "True. I was a tad pissed off."

He slid his warm hands up Arsha's arms and felt the elf's skin erupt into goose bumps. "Fuck Arsha…I was lost before I even spoke to you. Watching you…day after day…everyone was dumping their baggage on you and you dealt with it all with this…amazing… unflinching calmness. Neika tells them to 'piss off'!" Ba'ith said 'piss off' in a high pitched imitation of Neika's bored drawl.

Arsha chuckled. "Does she?"

Ba'ith smiled. "Yes. I think that the suicide rate has risen by two hundred percent since you have been out of action."

Arsha threw a concerned look at the assassin.

"I'm joking." Ba'ith chuckled and the sound sent shivers up Arsha's spine. "You never turned anyone away." Ba'ith pulled the elf back gently until he could hold him against his chest. "Don't turn me away now, Arsha, please? Give me a chance."

Arsha sighed. "I just don't see the point Ba'ith. You were attracted to me because you thought I was a woman."

"I was attracted to you Arsha, period. I still am. The fact that you are gorgeous is just an added bonus but it's the fact that you don't care or even realise how beautiful you are, that made me fall in love with you." Ba'ith bent his head down until he could press his lips against the top of Arsha's golden head. "You are my sun bird…"

Arsha stiffened. "What did you say?"

Ba'ith angled his head over Arsha's shoulder and looked at him. "I said you are my sun bird. You know a phoenix?"

"No." Arsha swallowed hard. He dropped his eyes to focus on Ba'ith's full lips. "Before that…"

Ba'ith bit his lip. "I said that I was in love with you."

Arsha sagged and covered his face with his hands. "Look, I know this is hard…" He shrugged out of Ba'ith's embrace. "There just isn't any point pursuing this."

"Wait." Ba'ith shifted his weight onto one leg. "I know you are attracted to me."

"Just go." Arsha sighed.

"Tell me that you aren't attracted to me in the slightest, and mean it, and I'll go." Ba'ith rested a hand on his jutting hip.

"Your appearance?" Arsha raised a questioning eyebrow.

Ba'ith looked sideways and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."

Arsha looked at the magnificent display of man meat before him. All chiselled angles and hard classically beautiful elfin features, long black luxurious hair and dressed in skin-tight, assassin's leather. Arsha met Ba'ith's eyes and locked on them. They burned with blatant honesty that only a blind man wouldn't be able to see.

"Beef cake elves have never done it for me."

~Eight~

"You are going to have to do better than that, Arsha." Ba'ith sniggered and began to prowl back and forth. "I don't believe that shit for a minute."

Arsha gave him a bored look. "How convenient and how like you to move the goal posts to suit yourself. I've never been attracted to beef cake elves, simple. Granted, I've never been attracted to many people, but definitely never to a beef cake elf and I'm surrounded by them all the time so I think that the fact that I'm a one hundred and twenty seven year old virgin, is testimony to the fact that I'm not lying." He flicked his hair indignantly and walked toward the door. "Now, I've kept my end of the bargain, whether or not you choose to believe it. Keep yours."

"I'm not going anywhere." Ba'ith growled and flung his arm out as Arsha walked past. He hauled him against his chest. "What if I told you I wasn't an elf?"

Arsha blinked and jerked back slightly in surprise. "Oh…is this a trick question?"

"No."

"I'd say uh…" Arsha cleared his throat quietly. "That I already know."

It was Ba'ith's turn to blink with surprise. "You do?"

"Yes, I was asked by a mutual friend to well, um… kind of watch over you." Arsha looked at him warily.

Ba'ith's stiffened and looked searchingly at the elf's face. "Who? Oh no, wait a minute…it was fucking Buach wasn't it? So this was all a set up?" He frowned furiously. "I feel so USED!"

Arsha pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow. "No it wasn't a set up. I didn't have to make contact with you to keep an eye on you. Chasing my arse was your decision."

Ba'ith clenched his jaw and scowled.

"I don't see what the problem is anyway, I mean, what's up big man?" Arsha couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive and since the best form of defence is attack, he let it rip. "You are acting as though you have never used anyone before."

"I didn't use you." Ba'ith angled his head and glared.

"Sure you did. Well, you would have, if I had been what you thought I was." Arsha gave a light 'who gives a fuck' shrug. "You are pretending that you would never single someone out as a potential information pool, and pursue them until they fell in love with you." He was beginning to warm to the argument and he rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You know, kinda fucked with their heads some…" He jabbed an accusing finger. "…And all because you couldn't get it together enough to find out whether or not your target was male or female first but hey! No hard feelings, k 'baby'? It's what you get paid to do."

Ba'ith sucked in a deep shuddering breath to calm himself and he forced his eyes to focus on the elf's shimmering hair. He couldn't resist running his fingers through the long golden locks. He had always been a hair man and since Arsha wasn't struggling against his embrace, he thought he may as well make the most of it since it seemed that unless he did something drastic, they were going to go nowhere fast.

Suddenly a sly smile stole over his face … he had it. "You are in love with me."

Arsha scoffed incredulously. "Hardly!"

"You just said you were." Ba'ith hauled him tighter against his chest and rounded his intense gaze on him again.

Arsha bristled. "I was speaking hypothetically! As in, you would have had no qualms about pursuing 'someone' until they fell in love with you just so you could suck them for information. I didn't mean me in particular!"

"I'll pursue you until you fall for me then." Ba'ith growled. "Or I could always just get you drunk again. Now, dispel my disguise."

Arsha's eyes flared. "No."

"Why not?" The assassin slid his hand down Arsha's back until the tips of his fingers could trace the smooth rise of his arse under the waistband of his pants.

"Because…I have no desire to see you as a hairy human." Arsha squirmed to dislodge the hand squeezing his butt and driving him nuts but Ba'ith would have none of it.

"No, it's because you know you find beef-cake humans attractive…" Ba'ith ground his hips against Arsha's and the elf could feel the assassin's hard cock pressing hotly on his groin. "And then you will have no excuse to push me away."

"I don't need an excuse, Ba'ith. You are a first rate prick, that instantly qualifies you for the 'piss off' crew." Arsha tried to pry the assassin's mouth from his throat. "Get OFF me!"

Ba'ith chuckled and lifted his head so that he could look at his captive. "If that's true, what are you afraid of?"

Arsha tried to shrug out of the assassin's hold. "Who said I was frightened?"

"Then, dispel my disguise." Ba'ith raised his eyebrows smugly.

"Let me go and I will." Arsha fumed. "I need to use my hands."

Ba'ith smiled that bastard, sexy, lazy half smile – the one that made Arsha's nipples harden embarrassingly and his cock twitch uncomfortably under his tight pants. The assassin straightened slowly and then dropped his hands from the death grip they had held around Arsha's waist and arse, giving him just enough room to wave his wrist.

The human's grin broadened. "Prepare to declare your undying love for me."

Arsha gave him a bland, bored look. "I don't think so."

A glowing spiral of magic started at the assassin's feet and wound its way up Ba'ith's body, melting the façade of his elf camouflage. It looked quite funny actually, by the time it had reached Ba'ith's waist. The lower half of him was human, the upper was elf.

Arsha stopped the magic mid spell. "Well that's a good look, kind of like, half man half beast. I should leave you like that."

Ba'ith winked. "Guess which half is hung like a horse."

" Oh Ha ha." Arsha gave him a dry look to cover the smile that threatened to get rid of all of his hard earned anger. He activated the spell again.

"See for yourself. There's nothing better than an informed opinion." Ba'ith's deep, husky voice still sounded like expensive liquor, but now it was richer and had an edge to it that spoke straight to Arsha's cock.

The assassin suddenly growled with pain when the spell reached his chest and he bent forward. He now had a black moustache and goatee, a heavy fringe and his hair hung in two long, black braids down either side of his face to his chest.

Arsha recognised it as the style worn by humans who lived in the Highlands. For some reason he wasn't surprised that Ba'ith was a clansman. The assassin straightened to his full height, which was far taller than he had been as an elf. Far bigger… far broader…

…He's beautiful. So much for being a red haired step child! Arsha liked what he saw already, it wasn't a good start. "Why are you bending over, are you ok?"

Ba'ith raised his head and when he met Arsha's concerned gaze, he was glaring with the hardest, but most beautiful grey-blue eyes that the elf had ever seen. He literally took his breath away with his fierce primal beauty.

"No, I'm not ok. My nipples are fucking killing me. I uh…left my shirt somewhere…" Ba'ith raised a guilty eyebrow. "And they've been rubbing raw against my chest piece ever since. The disguise seems to mask the pain but as soon as it wears off, it's tit-hell again!"

Arsha threw his head back and laughed. "So that's why you didn't want me to kiss them?"

"Yeah. Even transformed into an elf as I was, they were still 'ultra' sensitive." Ba'ith grimaced and hissed painfully. Once he had subdued the pain though, a hungry look stole into his stormy grey eyes and he grinned at Arsha predatorily. "I didn't think you'd remember that night, as long ago and as drunk as you were."

Of course I remember it. It seems to be the only thing I have dreamed about for the last season. Arsha cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Let's get you out of those leathers." He gasped and his eyes flared when he realised how that must have sounded. "So I can heal you!"

Ba'ith grinned wide and eyed him up and down. "You'll have to take my chest piece off for me. Every move I make aggravates it."

Arsha rolled his eyes. "You are such a wimp."

Ba'ith chuckled. "Maybe, but you still want it."

He shot out his massive hands and wrapped them around Arsha's tight butt cheeks. He hauled the surprised elf forward until his legs were straddling his hard, thick thigh. The assassin growled.

Arsha stifled a groan. "The only thing I 'want' is to heal you."

Ba'ith ground Arsha's groin hard against him. "You should get your story straight with your cock before you try to lie to me."

"I thought it hurt you to move…" Arsha moaned as his length was dragged relentlessly up and down the ridge of rock hard muscles in Ba'ith's leg. Hardest to ignore though, was the assassin's own granite like bulge which was almost punching a hole in his hip.

Ba'ith nuzzled his neck. "It does. But this is worth the pain."

Arsha's spine was a mass of shivers. It was only because he had to remove armour so often to heal that his fingers were able to work deftly on the complicated buckles and trappings of the assassin's heavy chest piece.

The assassin's voice rumbled in Arsha's delicate ear. "Moan for me again, baby." Ba'ith dragged his tongue up the sensitive, shell-like flesh and kneaded his buttocks.

"Oh ye Gods…" Arsha groaned.

"Yeah … just like that." Ba'ith growled against Arsha's cheek.

"No, Ba'ith. I mean 'oh ye Gods' as in, 'oh fuck you're a mess'." Arsha braced his hands on the assassin's massive shoulders and looked over his mangled chest. "I can't believe you let it get this bad!"

"I've been in disguise for months." Ba'ith narrowed his eyes and bit his lip to hide his frustration. "I kept forgetting about it. Now where were we?" He angled his head to nibble Arsha's neck again.

"For crying out loud Ba'ith, you've just about bloody well rubbed them completely away!" Arsha lamented sympathetically as he took in the nipples of which all that remained were two raw, painful looking circles of grazed skin. Ba'ith's stomach was smeared with blood. "Get into the shower and wash that blood off."

"You are the healer, wash it off for me." Ba'ith leered and released him at last.

Arsha frowned and drew a shuddering breath that made the assassin pause in his seduction. "Ba'ith, please stop doing this to me."

"Stop doing what?" Ba'ith raised an eyebrow.

Arsha looked like a frightened bird and it melted the assassin's heart. He lifted his hand to brush the back of his fingers against the elf's soft, smooth cheek. "What are you frightened of, Arsha? You must know I'm not going to hurt you."

Arsha looked at him. "That's just it. You will, maybe not deliberately, but…" The elf swallowed hard. "You're going to break my heart. I just know it."

Ba'ith's face softened. "Not a chance, Arsha. I meant it when I said I wouldn't take a chance with you, that I was going to keep you."

"But…" The elf licked his lips nervously. "I have the wrong genitalia…"

The assassin raised his eyebrows and cupped Arsha's delicate jaw in his hands. "Listen to me Arsha. You have the perfect genitalia, it's what makes you 'you'. And I love 'you'…all of 'you'."

Arsha lips alternated between being pressed in a thin line and parting slightly to let out his shuddering breath. He kept looking away or closing his eyes every time Ba'ith tried to capture them.

"Look at me, hun." Ba'ith was gently insistent. "If you didn't have a cock you wouldn't be the person you are and I wouldn't have fallen for you. If chowing down on your dick means that I get to please you and hear you moan and scream my name then I can't wait. That's what it's about Arsha, do you understand? This isn't about just 'getting off', it's about making love." He held the trembling elf's face and slid his massive, calloused fingers over his fascinatingly soft, smooth skin. "And fuck…I love you Arsha…every bit of you. Even if I could, I wouldn't change a single thing."

"Don't play games with me Ba'ith. Please. I have no problem admitting I'm out of my league here." Arsha looked up pleadingly at Ba'ith and a solitary crystal tear slid down over his high cheek bones.

Ba'ith dipped his head and caught the droplet of salty moisture on the tip of his tongue. "I always thought that for me to take another man's dick in my mouth, I'd have to absolutely worship him." He released Arsha's face and unlaced his pants, and then he winked. "The cock never lies. Keep your eye on my sincerity meter."

Arsha's eyes flared slightly when he saw Ba'ith's raging hard-on. He felt his own flagging erection begin to show some interest again but he was too confused and scared for it to stand at complete attention. Ba'ith forced him to step back until he could rest his little round elfin arse on a plain table against the wall and then he pulled Arsha's shirt over his head and dropped it over his shoulder.

The human kissed his way down the elf's slender but shapely body. It was strong but delicate at the same time…ethereal ... Arsha hissed in a breath when Ba'ith closed his lips over his navel and tongue kissed it as though it were a mouth, tickling his stomach with his course goatee.

The corners of Ba'ith's lips curled up slightly in a smile and he met and held Arsha's eyes. "Keep your eye on the meter."

He unlaced Arsha's tight blue pants and pulled them lower over his tapered hips until he could see the base of Arsha's cock. The elf had no pubic hair and Ba'ith raised a surprised eyebrow. "You shave?"