The Inn was quiet when Cale and Yarrow returned to their room. Their evening out had been good medicine; local fare, casual conversation, a lengthy stroll in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Part of the fun had been trying to find their way back, in fact.
Now that they had returned, Yarrow slipped his arm from the crook of Cale's elbow as he opened the door. In silence they crept inside, mindful not to wake anyone. Though who they would wake was a mystery. It was winter, there were not a great many travelers through the town, anyone who was here would be in their own homes.
Cale closed the door behind them and bolted it. He could hear Yarrow behind him, shedding his outer layers, and he started to do the same. The coat he hung on the back of the door before he sat on the only chair in the room to undo his boots.
Cale caught Yarrow's eye across the narrow room, lounging on the bed, one leg tucked under him, his red hair sweeping down over one shoulder to fan in front of one glittering brown eye. The sight, as it often did, of his sweet smile, the delicate markings on his face, made Cale pause, returning that gaze with one of his own.
"You're beautiful," Cale said without thinking, and smiled when he saw one of Yarrow's delicately pointed ears tinge red with his blush.
"And you say you're bad at flattery," Yarrow chided him.
Cale chuckled softly, tossed his boots in the corner and stood. Yarrow scooted over so Cale could join him, and he obliged, one hand working at the laces of the opposite cuff on his shirt.
"Here," Yarrow interrupted his hand with his own, and Cale shifted to accommodate his long fingers, give them easier access to the stubborn strings.
"...Thank you," Cale murmured.
He could smell Yarrow's hair; a faint scent, like a fragment of a dream, fresh air and a hint of cloves. He found himself watching Yarrow's face as he focused on undoing the ties on his sleeve.
Cale watched Yarrow's lips twitch into a smile before he said, "you're staring, you know."
Cale quickly looked down at his sleeve with a laugh. "Apologies. Seems I can't help myself these days."
Yarrow deftly reached for Cale's other sleeve, and quietly helped him with that one too. Cale expected that to be all; now that his hands were free, he could work on his collar himself, but no. Yarrow only hesitated a moment, before Cale had the chance to pull away, and then his hands were at Cale's throat, gently undoing the bonds there.
Cale felt his pulse skip in his veins as Yarrow leaned closer. Again, his eyes were drawn to Yarrow's face, the delicate tilt of his lips, the line of his jaw, the set of his cheekbones, how one stubborn strand of hair refused to stay out of his eyes--
Cale reached out to gently push it behind Yarrow's ear, eyes ever on his face. As his hand lingered there, fingers slipping into Yarrow's soft, red strands, caressing along the side of his head, Yarrow's breath stuttered, ever so slightly, and his eyes lifted, catching Cale's stormy-eyed gaze with his own.
For a moment, time ceased to function. Cale's hand in Yarrow's hair, Yarrow's hands slowly flattening on Cale's chest. Their eyes met and held, and for a moment it felt as if they were breathing as one.
Despite the peace in the moment, the sweet lingering, the soft touch of Yarrow's hands on his chest, Cale's heart was beating as if terrified. Perhaps he was. He held in his hand the single most precious thing he'd ever known, the light on his darkest day, the smile that had pulled him out of the river of his own self-loathing, and... he didn't know what to do.
"Your heart is racing," Yarrow breathed, whispered, so softly Cale could barely hear it.
"I'm alright," Cale managed to answer, barely a whisper himself.
"Mine is racing too." Yarrow's smile had vanished, but it left his lips slightly parted, and his eyes slightly widened.
Gods he could get lost in those eyes forever. Part of him didn't want to move, but part of him...
Part of him was afraid of how much he wanted Yarrow. Desperately. Hungrily.
"We... don't have to... do anything, love." Yarrow managed to breathe, even as his eyes broke from their joined gaze, fluttered about the neckline of Cale's open shirt, slowly rose back to meet his gaze.
"I know," Cale said, even as he drew nearer, fingers lost in Yarrow's hair, gently moving about to the back of his head, carefully, cautiously coaxing Yarrow to him, as if seeking permission to continue.
Yarrow's hands swept up to Cale's shoulders, bare fingers glanced over exposed flesh, and Cale shivered. His breath caught in his throat as his desperation glinted need in the dark corners of himself, and whatever reflected in his eyes, gave Yarrow pause.
"I don't... I don't have to."
Cale felt his smile, softening at the corners, filling with warmth, even as they were merely an inch apart. He whispered against Yarrow's warm lips, a breath, a promise, "I want to. If you do, love."
Yarrow made a sound, a soft, pleased sigh, that ended with a kiss. Cale pressed his lips to Yarrow's and the same sound seemed to echo in his own chest with no place to escape. His skin lit with sparks as he tasted those lips, breathed in that hint of cloves and life and love.
Yarrow's hands circled around Cale's neck and pulled him closer, even as Cale's other hand dropped to circle about Yarrow's waist, a tangle of cautious, gentle affection, slowly strengthening to desire.
As Yarrow's fingers tangled into Cale's dark hair, Cale brushed the other man's lips with his tongue, and they parted to welcome him, the kiss deepening, drawing cale in.
The next breath they took together found them closer than before, noses brushing, bodies tense as bowstrings twined together. Cale hoped he read that yearning in Yarrow's eyes as a match for his own, did not dare question it, did not want to.
So he withdrew from the embrace, his stormy eyes holding Yarrow's gaze as he tugged up the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. He dropped it on the floor, and reached out to delicately pull the hem of Yarrow's shirt. As soon as it was untucked, Yarrow pressed his bottom lip between his teeth, arching up and back so that Cale could have an easier time of it.
He slid his hands beneath it, up under Yarrow's shirt, pushing it up as he ran his hands up along Yarrow's sides. Another sound, another sweet sigh escaped Yarrow's lips, and Cale's breath caught in his throat, but he didn't stop. He wriggled Yarrow's shirt free, and advanced, shifting on the end of the bed towards Yarrow, even as the other man scooted back, pressed himself into the bedsheets beneath him. When Cale was astride Yarrow, he bent, dropping his head down to kiss him once more, his dark curtain of hair slipping free to dance along Yarrow's red locks, his slender chest, his pale arms.
He could have kissed Yarrow forever, tongues dancing as they had danced before, warmth breaths passing between them in shorter pants of desire.
Cale sucked in a surprised gasp, breaking the kiss only to impulsively arch his back as Yarrow's hands danced up along his spine. Their bodies pressed together, and Gods it was glorious. They were both on fire, it seemed, it was a wonder they hadn't lit the room aflame.
"Are you alright?" Yarrow murmured.