FIC - Purity of Intention (22/22)

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Title: Purity of Intention (22/22)
Author: namarie120and arieltachna
Type: RPS / FPS crossover
Pairing: Diego / Orlando
Rating: NC-17
Warning: none
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, created for entertainment and enjoyment only. With all due respect, we do not own these characters, either the actors or those created by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. We just think it’s a fascinating world.
Feedback: would be wonderful
Beta: tularia
Summary: A cynical swordsman is hired to return a runaway – or so it appears
A/N: Thanks to tularia for the beautiful banner

Previous chapters




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"It really isn't anything serious," Eric repeated for at least the fifth time as the gypsy followed him doggedly toward the quarters the king had offered them for the duration of their stay at Lee's estates. Eric didn't think they'd stay long, but the Spaniard needed some rest before they could ride back to Madrid, even at a more leisurely pace. He didn't know how Alatriste was still standing.

"Unless your skills in healing surpass your skills in swordplay, I suggest you allow me to confirm that," Roux countered, admiring the graceful manner in which his companion moved despite his size. He smiled disarmingly as Bana's head whipped around to stare at him, making it clear he was only teasing.

"Be glad Orlando likes you," Eric growled defensively despite the smile the gypsy wore, "or we would test my skills in swordplay." He shrugged out of his shirt and vest. "Do your worst, gypsy."

"Some would say that is when I am at my best," the smaller man riposted, examining the wound. He found Bana's judgement was correct; the cut was not serious, beginning as a mere scratch on the upper bicep that deepened as it traced upward to a shallow score across the meat of the Inglés's shoulder. The sides of the cut were clean, to be expected from steel as sharp as the conde's, and the wound itself did not appear inflamed. Roux trailed his fingers gently over the score, feeling no unusual heat. "This should heal well," he said softly as the muscle flexed beneath his fingertips. Powerful men had ever been his weakness.

"I told you it wasn't serious," Eric declared, even as the touch of Roux's hand sent an unexpected shiver down his spine. He looked up at the gypsy sharply, wondering what magic the older man had in his fingers to garner such a reaction, but Roux's face bore no sign of any guile, leaving the Englishman mentally floundering. If it had been Caridad tending his wound, he would have thought nothing of his reaction, but Roux was no woman. Of that, he was certain.

The shock in the big man’s gaze confirmed what Roux had until now only suspected. Smothering a sigh, he reached instead for his herbs and bandages. Pouring some water from the ewer on the sideboard into a basin, he crumbled a mix of healing herbs into the water and dampened a cloth to bathe the wound before binding it.
Eric's muscles twitched as Roux cleaned the wound, though he would have been hard-pressed to say whether it was from the sting of the herbs on the cut or from fighting the urge to lean back into the gypsy's touch. Then the damp cloth was gone and Roux's fingers were back, spreading a thick, cool paste over the injury. "What's that?" he asked, confusion making his voice sharp.

"Merely a poultice, made with comfrey to speed healing," Roux answered. "Are you always so – agitated – over a cut that isn't serious?"

"I don't like being fussed over," Eric retorted, refusing to consider the true source of his unease. "And don't tell me I'm the first person to chafe at your medicines. I don't see Alatriste submitting easily to your attentions."

"Diego never submits easily to anything," Roux agreed, unrolling the bandage around Eric's broad chest with careful fingers. "Witness how long he fought against his feelings for Orlando."
Eric fought the images that assailed him at Roux's words. He didn't want to imagine his erstwhile charge in the arms of his lover, regardless of who submitted to whom. The thought was simply too disturbing. Even more disturbing, though, was the idea that Roux might once have shared similar embraces with the mercenary – and the fact that such a thought bothered him at all. "Did he fight his feelings for you as hard?"

Roux arched an eyebrow at Eric's reaction – it almost sounded as if the Inglés was feeling the pinch of jealousy. "Friendship is the one thing Diego has never fought," he replied, leaning closer to tie off the bandage.

Eric couldn't suppress the thrill of satisfaction at knowing Alatriste had no claim beyond friendship on the gypsy. "What magic is this?" he muttered, pulling away and turning to face Roux, arms crossed protectively across his chest. "What have you done to me that I react to you like a jealous lover? I've never sought the company of men the way Orlando has!"

"I have never needed a spell to attract a lover," Roux answered with an amused smile. "Are you surprised that strength is drawn to strength?" Bana's bewildered expression tempted him to step into those strong arms and show the other man what he had been missing, but the first move had to be Eric's.

"But why now?" Eric demanded even as his body thrilled at the thought that Roux might return this crazy attraction.

"That is a question even the wisest man cannot answer," Roux responded, feeling the tremor of Eric's muscle where his hand still rested on the bigger man's chest. He took a step closer, ready to back away if he felt Eric withdraw, but the Inglés stood his ground. "Does it matter?"

"I don't know," Eric replied honestly, closing his hand over the one against his skin. "I've never felt this way before. I only know I don't want it to stop."

"Only if you ask to stop," Roux agreed, lifting his other hand to the broad chest and raising his head to brush his lips softly against Eric's.

Eric's breath caught in his throat, his entire being focused on the sudden connection between them. Slowly, as if he had to convince himself this was really happening, he lifted his hands to the gypsy's shoulders and then into his light brown hair, tilting his head to better mate their mouths one to another.

~~~*~*~~~

"A powerful man?"

Diego muffled a grunt of pain as Orlando maneuvered the sweat-dampened tunic over his head. "After today, how can you still doubt yourself?" he asked, leaning back against the headboard of the luxurious bed in Orlando's quarters. "Even the King himself recognized it."

Orlando shrugged, uncomfortable with the King's gratitude, though it had only extended as far as praising his courage and agreeing to leave Diego in his employ, as he pushed at Diego's shoulder so he could examine the Spaniard's back. Between the wild ride and the fight with Lee, Orlando was sure his lover had to be bleeding. No red rivulets stained his skin, though. "Good," he said with a sigh of relief, "you haven't torn open any of the wounds. I would have had to call Roux, and I really just want to be alone with you right now."

That was a desire Diego definitely shared. "No doubt Roux has other things to command his attention at the moment," he answered, capturing Orlando's hand and drawing it to his chest. "As do we, no?"

Orlando spared a thought for the wound on Eric's shoulder, deciding it wasn't serious, or that if it was, Roux would send for them if he needed their assistance. Then he turned his full attention to the man in his bed. "We do indeed," he agreed, tilting his head to kiss Diego firmly, eagerly. He didn't think he'd ever get enough of Diego's taste, but thanks to their exploits today, it looked like he would have a lifetime to try. "Te amo," he murmured between nipping bites of his lover's lips.

"Para toda mi vida," Diego asserted, threading a hand into Orlando's curls to hold his head still and deepen the kiss. As weary as the duel had left him, the adrenaline still surged in his veins, driving the desire that was never absent in his lover's presence. His free hand worked at the fastenings of Orlando's doublet, seeking the warm skin beneath.

Orlando broke their kiss long enough to tear his tunic over his head, leaving himself bare to the waist. He had no patience with slow seduction now. He – they – had faced down death today, and he needed the connection between them to prove to himself that they had succeeded, that they had survived. Pushing his breeches off as well, he returned to the bed, kneeling over Diego as he pressed the older man into the mattress, urgency investing every line of his body.

Diego's hands skimmed over his lover's honeyed skin, urging him closer with every touch. His need was too strong to worship Orlando in the manner he deserved, but there would be time for that slow lovemaking later. Right now his body was demanding to possess Orlando in the most basic of ways, to re-stake his claim and reinforce the primacy of their union. Lifting his hips from the mattress, he thrust down his breeches far enough to free his straining erection, pulling Orlando down to rut against him urgently. "Mi alma," he rasped, desire stealing his breath, "need you now."

Yesterday, he would not have dared. A week ago, he wouldn't have dreamt of it. But today, flushed with success, high on the reality of breaking free of the shadow that had hung over his life for months, Orlando dared, reaching for the flagon of oil, not to give to Diego, but to slick his own fingers as they dropped between his lover's legs. "Let me," he requested, his fingers sliding over the tight pucker of muscle.

His body flexing instinctively at the intimate caress, Diego shifted his legs to open himself to his lover without hesitance. Normally a dominant lover, everything in his being longed to feel Orlando filling him, claiming him as the equal partners they were, in loving as in life. "Si," he assented, taking Orlando's lips in a hungry kiss. "Soy el tuyo."

Relief flooded Orlando along with the desire that already swamped his senses. He had not known how Diego would react to his request, but now, permission granted, he hastened to take the liberties he'd hesitated to take before. His fingers swiped back and forth across the clenching flesh, teasing, tantalizing, waiting for Diego to relax enough to let him in. He had no idea how long it had been since his lover last welcomed someone this way – he didn't want to think about anyone else touching his Diego. Regardless, he needed to take his time, to treat Diego with as much care as his lover had always showed him. Feeling the muscle finally give a little, he slid one finger inside, gasping as the tight heat scalded him. "You feel so good," he murmured, breaking their kiss to study Diego's face as he prepared him. He wanted to see every emotion cross the strong features.

Willing his body to relax, Diego hitched his hips to take the probing digit deeper. "More," he demanded, his hand gliding down Orlando's flank, encircling the shaft he would soon feel inside him. The initial burn of penetration fading, a single finger was not nearly enough to satisfy him. Only Orlando filling him could slake that hunger. "Want you – all of you."

"Soon," Orlando promised, adding a second finger, "just let me make you ready."

"I will always be ready for you, amante," Diego promised, reaching for the oil and slickening Orlando's cock. The quick intake of breath at his touch convinced him Orlando's need was as urgent as his own. "Now," he insisted, guiding the silken head to where the twisting fingers breached him. His tongue invaded Orlando's mouth in demonstration of how he would have him claim his willing body.

Orlando fought the urge to simply plunge into the welcoming heat. Impaling Diego slowly, he reveled in the sensation of being joined to his lover again. When he was fully seated, he paused, reining in his rampant passions, giving Diego a chance to adjust. The powerful body trembled beneath him, but as Orlando pulled back to study his lover's face, there was no mistaking his expression for anything but pleasure. Diego's eyes were closed, features set in a rictus of ecstasy, lips parted on a gasp beneath his heavy moustache. Lowering himself so their chests brushed, he pulled back slowly, only to thrust deeply again.

It was a different sensation to feel Orlando moving inside him, but to Diego the sense of communion was even stronger. Giving himself to Orlando in an intimacy he had seldom allowed any lover before, and never with this depth of emotion, every touch of their bodies strengthened the connection uniting them. Diego felt invincible – joined like this, there was nothing that could threaten them, no power on earth that could separate them. Orlando pushed deeper, brushing against the spot that made Diego hiss with pleasure. "There," he urged his lover hoarsely. "Harder."

Orlando complied eagerly, rocking his hips so that his cock rubbed back and forth over Diego's susceptible spot. That moment of consummation convinced Orlando finally of the truth of Diego's assertion before the King in a way his success against the Inquisition, Lee's discrediting, even the King's approbation, had been unable to do. In that moment, he finally felt like a powerful man. He slid his hand between their bodies to encircle the hard flesh that usually pleasured him so well. His control was growing thin, but he was determined to bring Diego joy first.

The clasp of Orlando's palm around his cock, coupled with the exquisite friction of his lover stretching him, proved Diego's undoing. With a wild cry, he spilled himself between them, his body convulsing around Orlando's with the power of his orgasm. Even after he had emptied himself, his hips continued to move, drawing out the blissful tremors as he sought to bring Orlando the same fierce rapture.

Orlando groaned as Diego's muscles milked his hard cock, pulling his climax from him in long, wrenching waves. His rhythm broke, his hips thrusting erratically as he filled his lover with his seed. His arms giving out, he collapsed at Diego's side, not wanting to exacerbate the older man's healing wounds. He pulled Diego with him so they remained locked in an embrace, bodies as close as two separate beings could be.

As much as he longed to sustain this moment of perfect closeness, his reserves of strength were exhausted and Diego's body demanded rest. Spooning Orlando in his arms, his chin nestled in a cloud of dark curls and his hand resting over his lover's heart, Diego slept.

~~~*~*~~~

"Well?" Íñigo demanded as soon as the door to Roux's apartments shut behind the four men. "What happened?"

"Lee is dead, the King is safe," Diego answered, pulling out a chair and seating himself gingerly at the table.

Taking pity on the boy's curiosity, Roux shared the tale with him and Javier in greater detail, ending with the King's expressions of gratitude to the four rescuers. What happened after that did not need to be shared beyond those involved.

"What happens now?" Íñigo asked, still marveling that his guardian had refused an offer to join the Royal Guard from the King himself.

"My father has asked me to relay a message to the English King on his behalf," Orlando replied, unable yet to hide his amazement at the change in his father's attitude in his regard. He had slipped from the bed he shared with Diego to heed his sire's summons, determined to stand up for himself for the first time. He had entered the sitting room where Lord Bloom waited, full of righteous indignation, ready to insist the older man give him the respect he had surely earned. Before he could even speak, his father had handed him the unsealed missive to their King which contained not only an accounting of the day's events, but also privileged information about the status of the negotiations with Spain and a recommendation that Orlando be given a diplomatic posting. "We will need to leave as soon as we can put things in order here. If all goes as planned, we will not be returning to Madrid any time soon."

Javier reached out his hands to clasp Diego's and Orlando's. "Then I must thank you, once again, for all your kindness to me," the older man said.

"What will you do now?" Diego asked.

"I am not sure," Javier answered slowly. "I fear I am still in danger from the Inquisition if I remain in Madrid, and I no longer have any family to return to on the conde's estates."

"You could come to England with us," Orlando suggested. "My family's estates are large enough to support another person, though we must leave with some haste. Perhaps Eric would wait and travel with you when you are well."

"Who said I was returning to England?" Eric asked archly, resisting the urge to reach for Roux as he spoke. He almost laughed as surprise replaced confusion on Orlando's face. Alatriste, he noticed, didn't seem surprised at all.

"The King offered the gypsies his protection in gratitude for our assistance," Roux added. "You would be welcome to stay with my people as well."

"I thank you for the offer, but there is nothing left for me here," Javier answered. "I would be honoured to serve you, Señor Bloom, in any way I can. I can read and write – though not English," he added sadly.

"You can learn English along with Íñigo," Diego suggested, ignoring the startled protest from his ward. "A nobleman's page would do well to speak several languages," he added, "especially if he expects to travel on his master's diplomatic missions."

His eyes as big as saucers, Íñigo glanced from the Capitán to Orlando, who nodded his encouragement. Íñigo grinned, even the prospect of more studies unable to quell his excitement at the thought of the new experiences that awaited him.

"Yes, come to England with us, Señor Montega," he urged. "It will be much better for both of us to learn together."

"We will see whether Javier is well enough to travel when it is time for us to depart," Diego said. "In the meantime, we have much to do in preparation."

Orlando rose at Diego's words, starting for the door. When only Diego and Íñigo followed him, he looked back at Eric in confusion. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"You obviously don't need me any more," Eric pointed out, though his words bore no heat. "We'll all be much happier if I stay here."

~~~*~*~~~

Orlando looked around the small rooms of Diego's apartment above the Tavern of the Turk. They would need a few days to set their affairs in order here before they could leave, but it wouldn't take them much longer than that. "Will you regret leaving your home, your country?" he asked, turning to face his lover, his expression serious as he sat on the bed in his stockings and breeches. "Everything happened so quickly that we really didn't have time to talk about it."

Tossing his garments over the clothes-press, Diego sank onto the bed with a sigh of relief, his muscles still protesting the activities of the past few days. "There is nothing and no one I care for leaving behind, save Roux, and I suspect circumstances will bring us together again," he answered, stretching out and drawing Orlando into his embrace. He wondered now how he had ever slept without his lover's warmth beside him. "Everything else I need will be accompanying me. What then should I regret?"

Orlando stripped off the last of his clothes and turned into the welcoming arms, nuzzling Diego's jaw before nibbling his way toward his lover's lips, joining their mouths as they would join their lives. "Nothing, it would seem," he agreed, "but I had to make sure. We are partners in this as in all things, and I didn't want you to feel slighted."

"I am most pleased to see your true worth recognized at last," Diego assured his lover. Especially by Orlando himself, though he did not add that aloud. "I find seeing you exercise your power most – arousing." He ground against his lover, offering empirical proof of his arousal.

Orlando bit back a moan at the erotic frottage. "Íñigo is still awake," he gasped, not wanting to create a situation that would embarrass all three of them come morning.

"Íñigo will need to get used to this," Diego retorted, resenting anything that prevented him from hearing his lover's sounds of passion. His lips sought out the vulnerable tendons of Orlando's neck, while his hands spanned the wings of his hips, increasing the sensual friction. "Since I do not plan to cease loving you any time soon."

"No," Orlando agreed, "don't stop." The brush of Diego's moustache over his skin sent shivers of desire through him, wiping away all thoughts of Íñigo, of the future, indeed of anything except what his lover was doing to him. He tipped his head back, offering his neck to the older man, needing more contact, more caresses, simply more.

"Never," Diego agreed, nipping down the graceful throat, pausing to suck at the pulse beating in the hollow between Orlando's collarbones before dipping lower, seeking the flat, sensitive nipples he loved to worship. "Let me hear you," he urged, the proof of his effect on his lover feeding his own desire.

Between the husky rasp of Diego's voice and his own emotions, Orlando had no hope of resisting that request. A heartfelt groan slipped from his lips as Diego's teeth and tongue toyed with his peaked flesh. His back arched, wordlessly urging his lover to continue.

After eliciting another deep moan from his attentions, Diego slid lower, teasing his moustache over the quivering skin of Orlando's abdomen. The heady scent of arousal drew him like a magnet to a lodestone, until he could lap at the source of the enticing muskiness. The wail that sounded as he carefully drew his teeth over the silky head of Orlando's cock made him swell with his own hunger, but he repressed his need, gorging himself on the taste of his lover's oozing shaft.

In the main room of the apartment, Íñigo rolled over on his narrow cot, trying his best to ignore the sounds coming from the other room. Only the Capitán's anger if he found that Íñigo had left the tavern at such a late hour kept him from slipping out to give the two men some privacy. As it was, he pulled the pillow over his head and resolved to find quarters far, far away from theirs once they began their travels. He didn't need the sound of his new master's begging or his guardian's muffled laughter in reply in his head.

"Please, Diego," Orlando whimpered, his hips held in place by the swordsman's large hands. He needed to move, to thrust into the moist heat surrounding his cock, but Diego wouldn't let him, set on torturing him all night long, it seemed.

Twisting his head so that the tips of his moustache brushed over his lover's sac, Diego worked his tongue up and down the twitching shaft that filled his mouth so deliciously. He'd need to give in to Orlando's pleas for relief soon, his own body's demands becoming too insistent to ignore, but he wanted to indulge himself in coaxing out a few more sultry moans first. Stretching out an arm, his fingers found the flagon of oil he'd left uncapped on the sideboard, dipping inside to coat them well. Hollowing his cheeks to increase the pressure, he trailed the oiled fingertips up the damp crease below his chin, tickling at the roseate opening.

Orlando fought hard against his imminent release, not wanting their lovemaking to end this way. Diego's fingers playing over his entrance made him long to be filled, and with something thicker and harder than his lover's fingers. The brush of the heavy moustache combined with the suction of Diego's sinful mouth, though, made it difficult to concentrate. "Close," he gasped, tugging on Diego's shaggy hair, trying to pull him up for a kiss and to give himself a much-needed reprieve. Diego, however, refused to cooperate.

Orlando’s admission was what Diego wanted to hear, and he redoubled his efforts, sinking his fingers deeper and flexing when he found the bump of soft tissue that made Orlando cry out sharply. He dragged his teeth up the steely flesh until he could circle the ridge below the head with his lips, sucking hard and then taking the entire cock as deep as he could, relaxing his throat until it nudged the back of his gullet. The salty taste teased at him and he swallowed around the head, growling deep in his throat in anticipation.

Orlando tried to resist. Truly, he did, but he had no defenses against such overwhelming sensations. His body bowing off the bed, he wailed his pleasure as his engorged cock released its pent-up fluid. Panting hard, he collapsed back onto the sheets, tremors still shaking him as Diego's fingers continued to probe and stimulate his sensitive passage. He wanted to offer to return the favour, but he couldn't catch his breath enough to form the words. Instead, he stroked his fingers through his lover's hair and hoped Diego would read his willingness in his eyes.

Nothing compared to the flavour of his lover filling his mouth, though Orlando's cries as he emptied himself gave Diego almost as much joy. Swallowing the last pulses of tangy fluid, he moved his fingers gently, prolonging Orlando's pleasure as he ensured his lover was well-prepared to receive him. The gasp as his rough fingertips rubbed the spongy mound made him consider bringing Orlando to a second release, but his own cock was throbbing too urgently to dally any longer. Letting the softened shaft slide from his lips with a final kiss, he pushed upward, kneeling over the delectable body lying indolently below him.

Without hesitation, Orlando spread his legs wide, offering himself to his lover. Languidly, he lifted his hand to encircle the rigid cock he hoped would soon be splitting him wide. "Soy el tuyo," he murmured, feeling his own erection begin to swell again in response to the continued stimulation.

"Y soy el tuyo," Diego agreed, his palms settling on the sleek hips, holding them down as he knelt between the long legs that welcomed him home. He let Orlando guide him in place and then lifted his lover's hand to his lips, tongue laving the hint of his own cream from the palm as he slid inside in one long, slow stroke.

Orlando gasped again as he was filled, the moment of communion as strong this time as it had been the first time, as it was every time. His hands slid down Diego's back to clasp his buttocks, keeping him close, completing the circle that held them. He rocked in time to Diego's thrusts, meeting every ingress with a push of his own, until the force of their movements set the bedsprings squeaking and the headboard thumping against the wall.

The clasp of Orlando's hot, moist flesh around him stealing his breath, Diego bit his lip as he plunged deeper with each stroke, his lover's moans encouraging him to move harder, faster. He threw back his head, his chest heaving for cooler air as he fought to hold back his climax until he could bring Orlando to the peak again, this time with him. Only when the shortened cries issuing from his lover's throat changed in pitch, to a tone Diego had learned meant he was close to release, did he let his head drop forward, his lips finding Orlando's roughly, taking his cry into his mouth as they soared together off the highest pinnacle of ecstasy.

His second climax shaking him like a dog with a bone, Orlando slumped onto the bed, every muscle limp as Diego thrust hard one more time before spilling inside him. His eyes closed as he nuzzled blindly at Diego's cheek, feeling the rasp of stubble against his lips. He floated on the edge of consciousness, wrapped in contentment and satiation, knowing from his lover's even breathing that he felt the same. He wanted to speak, but no words seemed powerful enough to encompass the depth and breadth of his emotions. He would just have to spend his lifetime showing Diego how he felt instead.

"Wherever you go," Diego rasped when he could speak again. He rolled them over, bodies still joined, easing his weight from his sated lover and wrapping him in a possessive embrace. "Wherever it leads, we will be together."

Comments

[ireth06.livejournal.com]

LOVEZZZ!!!

Your Alatriste is exactly as I interpreted him while watching the movie. A man with principles, not easily swayed. Orlando has grown immensely during his stay in Spain and Eric and Roux ending up together was quite a nice surprise, I hadn't seen that coming! Nice touch though!

Thanks so much for sharing, I'm sad to see them go! Have a good 2008, hugs and kisses!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Eric and Roux sort of snuck up on us too - but once it dawned on us, it was too good to resist. We're going to miss this world too - so much that we've already written a little epilogue to give us one last moment with them.

[ireth06.livejournal.com]

Yay! Will look out for it!!

[ahnjunae.livejournal.com]

A perfect end to a perfect story...cudos to both you and ariel for the wonderful gift you both have given! Look forward to seeing the epilogue!

Take Care and Happy New Year!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Thank you, we're so glad you enjoyed it - feedback like that is the best gift we can get in return!