Unconventional Love

After being taken up to their suite, Ash lay in the bed he shared with his husband, panting slightly as his mother-in-law ran cool rags over his half-naked form. He’d overheated on their ride through the woods surrounding their rustic mansion, mainly because all of his skirts didn’t allow air to flow very well. He wasn’t feeling too good now because his body temperature rising like it had was making him nauseous.

It wasn’t long before Andy came storming into their bedchamber, thanking his mother for caring for him while he took their mount back to the stables. She was gracious about telling him not to worry about it, that his bride was just as much a son to her as he was, and she was more than glad to do it. Without having to be told to, Amy decided to take her leave and quietly closed the door separating the bedchamber from the sitting area behind her, leaving them in peace.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh. It is okay, my love,” the young man said softly, soothingly, when he whimpered and tossed his head. “I am sorry. I should not have kept you out that long in this heat.”

“Mmmm,” he moaned softly, trying to get his hair off his face.

“Shhh. Allow me, Ashes,” Andy murmured. He gently took a brush and pulled it away from his face, tying the long raven tresses into a tail at his nape after he sat him up a bit. “Better?”

“Mmm hmm,” the young boy murmured, sighing softly. “It is still too hot.”

“We can go down to the stream for a swim, if you want,” his husband suggested. “I will not make you get dressed again for that, and there is no one around to see.”

“That sounds divine,” Ash answered, nodding as eagerly as he could. “Just hold and carry me gently. I feel ill from the heat.”

“When do I ever treat you with aught but gentleness?” he chuckled softly, gently lifting him from their bed bridal-style.

“I just do not wish to get sick on you, my love,” he told him, blushing slightly.

Chuckling, Andy carried him through their suite and downstairs, where he paused in the parlor doorway long enough to tell his parents where they were going. Amy warned him against completely submerging him at first, saying that would be too much of a shock for his system. She told him to wade in slowly, barely lowering him into the water a little at a time if he couldn’t wade in on his own. His husband told her that he understood, quietly thanking his father when Chris rose to open the front door for him, then headed to the stream just a few yards from their home.

Since he still didn’t feel well enough to walk on his own, Ash stayed in his arms and let him carry him into the water. Uncaring of whether he was soaked or not, he waded out up to his waist without removing a single stitch of clothing, then began to slowly lower his bride into the water.

The young boy gasped softly, the water chilly against his overheated skin, and clung to him like a much younger child. Concerned that he was shocking him too much, Andy asked if he was okay and started to lift him back up. He told him that he was fine, that the water, which felt good to his husband, was a bit chilly to him since he was overheated. Nodding his understanding, he continued lowering him little by little.

Moments later, he stood on his feet next to the young man, his arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Among the things he’d never learned to do, swimming was one of them, and he feared that if he let go, the gentle current would wash him away downstream. He heard his husband chuckle, his voice reverberating through his chest, as he kept a gentle grip on him and assured him that he was perfectly safe. In fact, Andy got him perched on a nearby rock where he couldn’t be harmed, then dove under so he was completely submerged.

“Andy!” he cried, gasping as he watched. Were it not for his own fear of drowning, he’d have tried getting him out.

“Oh!” Andy gasped when he surfaced again, a grin on his face.

“Don’t do that again! You scared the daylights out of me!” the young boy cried, slapping a hand to his chest.

“I am fine, my love,” his husband chuckled, wading back over to him. “I can swim just fine, and know better than to go where I suspect the current is too strong.”

“Still, you scared me,” Ash pouted, poking his bottom lip out.

“Aww, I am sorry,” the young man said, returning the pout as he embraced him. “I did not mean to do that.”

“Mmm,” he murmured, snuggling into his side again.

“There is an outcropping of rocks not too far away that makes a calm little pool,” he told him. “I can take you there and teach you how to swim, as well.”

Ash thought about it for a moment, then looked up and asked how they were going to get to said pool. His husband told him to lay down on top of him so they were pressed chest-to-chest and he’d swim to it on his back, letting the current do most of the work. Unsure of whether he wanted to do that or not, he bit his lip in thought, not realizing how it teased the young man before him.

Groaning, Andy turned away for a moment to get himself under control. It’d been quite a while, since before he left Ohio, since he’d had anyone to help sate his urges, and he hadn’t had a chance to do so himself lately. Between the chores he had around their home to take care of and his bride, he’d found himself too busy to bother.

Worried about the man he’d married, whether by choice or force, the young boy gently grabbed his chin and turned him to face him once again. He gently asked him what was wrong, which was when he pleaded with him not to bite his lip again. Of course he was confused as to why he’d make a request like that, but didn’t expect the explanation he got. Andy told him as gently as he could that watching him bite his lip made him want to do the same—as well as many other things. Suddenly realizing what he meant, he blushed furiously, causing his husband to chuckle.

He agreed not to bite his lip in front of him anymore if he could help it, but was still a bit unsure about laying atop him while he swam down to the little pool he’d mentioned. When it came right down to it, though, he really wanted to learn how to swim, not only because he enjoyed being in the cool stream on a hot day like this, but because he wanted to be able to do so safely. Ash had no desire to get washed downstream because he couldn’t fight the current, nor did he wish to drown as a result.

“All right, my love. Just stretch out atop me as if you were on our bed,” the young man instructed, laying flat on his back in the water. “Wrap your arms and legs around me, if you want. I will not let you fall in and drown.”

Nervous about trying such a thing, it took him a minute to swing his leg over him as if mounting a horse again. He noticed how Andy took a deep, gasping breath just before his weight caused his face to sink under the water, but he still blinked at him from under the surface. As quickly as he could manage without falling off in the deeper water, Ash stretched out so that his head rested on his chest, his limbs wrapped around his husband like a monkey. He heard him take another deep breath when his face resurfaced, and glanced up to make sure he hadn’t just sucked in a mouthful of water. The young boy smiled when he saw that he was perfectly unharmed and grinning at him.

“I am going to join the current now and let it do most of the work,” Andy told him. “You just hang on, and make sure I am not about to slam my head into a rock.”

“How am I to do that?” he asked uncertainly.

“Tell me if there’s one coming up. Since you are turned the opposite way, so we would be facing each other if we were standing, you tell me if I need to go to your right or left,” he answered. “Your right means that I need to steer us to my left, and the opposite is true, lest I get hurt.”

“O-okay,” his bride stuttered nervously.

“It is okay, my love. I will not let anything happen to you,” the young man promised him. “And now…we are off!”

He braced his foot on the rock he’d left his bride on a short time ago, then kicked away from it and joined the current. Ash gasped softly as he kept an eye out for any rocks that could hurt him, just as he’d asked, quickly alerting him when he saw danger. Just as he’d said, anytime he told him that he needed to steer them toward his right or left, the young man took the order opposite since they technically weren’t facing the same direction.

It wasn’t long before the young boy told him he saw what looked like a ring of rocks surrounding something up ahead, and he smiled. Andy told him that was the pool he’d been talking about, beginning to fight the current enough to swim over to the stream’s edge toward the bank as he spoke.

“See? That was not so bad, was it?” he chuckled softly.

Still a bit shaken up, his bride merely shook his head.

“Now crawl off me and hang on to that tall rock,” the young man instructed. “It is just small enough for you to wrap your arms around, but will not let you get sucked into the current on your own.”

Ash did as he was told, yelping softly when he felt the current tug at his petticoats.

“It is okay, my love,” his husband murmured soothingly, gently rubbing his back. “Give me your hand, and we will crawl over the rocks into the pool.”

Nodding as best he could, he allowed the young man to hoist him up over the boulders that formed the little pool’s barrier, just enough space between them for water to flow into and out of it. He was nervous about taking a stab at learning out to swim, but he knew Andy would never let anything happen to him. It was that trust he placed in his husband, trust no one else had ever gotten before, that gave him the courage he needed for this endeavor.

Notes