CHAPTER SIX - WITCH HUNTERS

"Are you naked?" Nate gaped as he stared at Emrys in the corner.

The older man glanced down at his mist-clad form. "Yes, yes, I am."

Nate blushed hotly. Why That was probably the least important thing about this moment. Yet his eyes kept trying to slice through the mist that surrounded the other man to see his bare skin. He could see one powerful shoulder and a slice of upper chest. Faint, but definitely there, were those slender white lines of scars that formed almost a delicate pattern flowing from the front to the back side of his arms and arching over his pectorals. Nate imagined the feeling of the ridges on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed hard.

"Nakedness is a peril of shapeshifting. You ought to be pleased. It levels the playing field between us a bit. Though I do find it rather my kink to be clothed when a beautiful young man is naked," Emrys mused.

"Shapeshifting. So the wolf and you and the party and last spring -- that was all you? All this time?" Nate asked.

He's the wolf! I wrapped my arms around him and begged him not to leave me. I ordered him up on my bed! All of these thoughts and others crowded Nate's mind. The wolf and Emrys being one somehow made him feel he knew the other man better and yet not at all.

"I did some reconnaissance last year and that's when we ... met for the first time," Emrys explained. He let out a laugh. "I believe Daniel nearly pissed himself when I came over to you."

"Did you know who I was?" Nate asked.

"I could sense what you were. I was drawn to you. Afterward, I confirmed your identity," Emrys explained.

Nate felt a twinge of disappointment somehow. That the wolf was Emrys was cool, but it meant that his supposed connection to nature wasn't as strong as he thought. It was a human being, not a wolf, that had sought him out for companionship. That it was an interesting human being was great, but he felt disturbed all the same.

"Nathaniel, you have power over the storms and many other things. I'm sure you could coax a wolf to come to you, but in this case, you coaxed a Frost and, believe me, that is a much harder endeavor," Emrys said.

"You're reading my mind again," Nate said with a self-conscious laugh.

"Your face, actually. You have very expressive features," Emrys said, but Nate had a feeling he was lying.

"So ... you're here. You drove off and then came back?" Nate left it at a question.

"Well, yes, in all my glory, I am here."

"Glory?" Nate raised an eyebrow. The older man was arrogant as all get out.

"Glory." Emrys said and stood up.

Nate forgot to breathe. The older man was gorgeous. He had long legs that were lean yet muscled, a taut waist, and powerful chest. The mist kept shifting and seemingly hiding Emrys' groin, but Nate could see that there was a thin line of hair from Emrys' pubic area up a few inches onto his muscled belly. Emrys swaggered over to him. The mist didn't only obscure the part that Nate suddenly desperately wanted to see, but also blurred out the scars. Nate squinted, trying to trace the pattern the scars made. He was sure that they did make one. Emrys' confident steps stuttered to a halt and there was something like a flicker of concern as he realized that Nate was looking at the scars. The mist grew thicker and Emrys dropped down at the edge of the tub, hiding most of his body from Nate's view. One of his hands curled over the porcelain lip . Nate pressed his front more securely against the tub's side, concealing his too interested body from the older man's view. He knew his cheeks were a nuclear red, but he tried to feign nonchalance.

Probably a little late for that. After all, we're both guys yet I've been staring at him like I've never seen another man naked before. He's not supposed to have anything I haven't seen, but he looks totally different than the kids in school. Probably because he's not a kid.

"What are you doing here?" Nate asked as the silence stretched out too long and Emrys' topaz gaze started to drift downwards into the water. His cock throbbed.

"Didn't I tell you that this wasn't going to plan? I'm sure I've said that a few times," the older man said with a smile. "You're clutching that tub like it might slip off of you, you know."

Nate deflected the question as his cock hardened more. "You didn't answer my question. Surely you don't just shapeshift, get up on someone's room and beg to come in without some kind of reason for doing so."

"I wasn't begging. I was ... asking. Ordering even. And you complied though you thought it quite mad to let a wolf into your room." Emrys chuckled.

"Let me guess: Emrys Frost doesn't beg?" Nate's voice went strangely husky.

A smile quirked Emrys' lips. "I've been known to do so in very rare circumstances."

"How rare?" Nate found himself leaning forward.

Emrys' breath puffed against his face as the older man leaned in, too. "It has to be something exceptionally good."

"You always have a strong reason for everything you do?" Nate asked. He felt a trill of excitement skitter down his spine as he sparred with the older man.

"Sometimes," Emrys said.

"And tonight?"

"I have plenty of reasons for sneaking into your bedroom, Nathaniel, and then following after you when you're about to bathe without there having to be some grand plan behind it," Emrys said.

Nate felt a rush of heat go through him. He wasn't imagining that Emrys was flirting with him. It was real. And he was even flirting back a little without making a total fool of himself. "While I'm sure seeing me naked is -- uhm, something to plan for, I don't think you went to all this trouble for just that."

Emrys trailed his fingers through the beads of water that lined the tubs' lip. "Seeing you sans clothing was not my real goal though it was an incentive."

Nate stuck out his chin, grabbed his courage, and said, "Hey, you're not the only one enjoying the view though you're cheating a bit with this mist."

The older man grinned and the mist curled around his throat then died down. "I did sort of get the feeling you wouldn't mind seeing me here considering your little fantasies about me washing your back."

Nate let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Can you read every thought I have?"

Emrys flicked water at him. "All your really loud and lurid ones, yes." He grabbed the brown sea sponge and waggled it in front of Nate's nose. "Do you want me to get you clean."

Nate's mouth went dry. "I --I don't care. If you want."

Emrys shook his head, his smile dying. "I'm an adult. You are close enough to one, but far enough to make me want a very straight answer from you. If you aren't sure then I won't do anything at all and everything will be fine."

The boy blinked, surprised at Emrys' serious as death tone. Yet it made him feel much more comfortable. He could decide whether they did anything that night. Emrys wanted him to be certain. He wasn't going to make anything happen that Nate didn't want.

"I'm sure," Nate said suddenly. He drew away from the tub's side and leaned forward, exposing his back. He felt both adult and childlike though another person hadn't given him a bath since he was about five.

"Brave boy," Emrys murmured.

The only sound in the room for a few minutes came from Emrys dipping the sponge into the water and gently bringing it up to Nate's neck. He moved it down Nate's back in slow, solid strokes that ended just above the boy's buttocks. Nate drew his knees into his chest as his cock grew hard and bobbed up. There was the lightest brush of Emrys' knuckles along his spine between every stroke. Nate shivered and closed his eyes. He rested his hands on the tops of his knees and laid his cheek on top of them.

"I'm going to be your teacher. I really shouldn't be doing this. Though if I had a hot teacher at your age willing to wash my back I wouldn't have turned it down," Emrys said.

Nate cracked a smile. "You're making two assumptions."

"Oh?" Emrys' reply was arch.

"Yeah. First, you're assuming I'm going to go to Dunhaven and, even if I did have the money, I totally am not missing out on my senior year," Nate pointed out.

"Yes, needing to be by Daniel's side all the time is undoubtedly a pressing concern," Emrys said.

Nate slanted a glance at him. Though Emrys' tone had been even, the words seemed to indicate that he didn't think much of Daniel. "It is. He's my best friend."

Emrys surprisingly nodded. "That is important. You must forgive me. I didn't have many friends. Actually, I didn't have any friends at your age. Still don't. So the usefulness of them is sometimes lost on me." Nate was going to ask why Emrys didn't have anybody, when the older man asked, "And the second reason?"

"Oh, uhm -- well, you're -- ah, assuming that you're -- uhm ..."

"Hot? Yes, I am. At least in your eyes. Your reaction to me walking over here told me that already," Emrys chided.

"Okay, so you are hot and -- and rule-breakingly worthy of doing things one shouldn't with a teacher," Nate agreed as Emrys slid the sponge so low that the valley between his ass cheeks was touched. Suddenly, he found himself unable to articulate whatsoever and his anus quivered. His cock was like an iron bar against his belly.

Erogenous zone found, Nate thought with an internal laugh.

"It's never the student who pays the price for getting it on with teacher so, I'm afraid, my hotness is really not the issue. At least, it's only tangentially the issue," Emrys mused. "It makes you open to the idea, but I've found that even the straightest of men can be seduced regardless of their arousal by the exterior."

"You seduce a lot of people?" Nate asked. He shouldn't care that the other man did. They'd just met. This could be a fun thing. Playing around. But still the fact sat there leaden in his stomach.

"I haven't in a while," Emrys said. "I've become far more choosey. Which brings me to the crux of the matter."

"What's the crux?" Nate asked.

"It's not my hotness, Nathaniel, it's yours," Emrys breathed into his ear.

The boy's eyes, which had been sliding shut again, widened. He let out a self-conscious laugh. "Me? Well, grandma did say I was looking pretty fine these days."

"Your grandmother's appraisal is right even if you don't quite believe it. Makes you all naive and easily led into wickedness," Emrys said with a wolfish smile.

"Isn't it my hotness that's leading you into wickedness?" Nate pointed out.

"It would be if I weren't already terribly wicked. I can't even reasonably muster any ambivalence about pursuing you shamelessly," Emrys said.

"You'd stop if I told you no," Nate pointed out, very sure that was true.

"Yes, non-con isn't my thing. Been there, had it done to me, didn't like it much," Emrys answered. That brittle smile was back. It hurt Nate to see it.

For a moment, a whole vista opened up for Nate. He imagined Emrys at his age. He envisioned him tied spread-eagle on a bed with his mouth his only weapon. But it wasn't enough. The image of a hooded figure mounting his body, the flash of a knife, and red blood welling along Emrys' white skin as the cuts that caused the scars were cut into his body had Nate shuddering.

"Yeah, that sounds awful," Nate agreed.

"Not to say losing control can't be fun and good, but consensual is important," Emrys said quietly.

"This -- this is consensual, you know," Nate said.

"I know." Emrys' smile was in his voice. "You tell me if it suddenly isn't."

"It's all good," Nate said.

Emrys' thumbs skittered off the sponge and caressed Nate's inner arm then trailed down his side. Nate held himself still so not to frighten Emrys away or make the older man think he didn't want what he was doing. Emrys dropped the sponge in the water and began to use his bare hands to slide up and down the water-slick skin of Nate's sides, arms and throat. Nate's breathing grew heavier and so did Emrys. Nate though wouldn't open his eyes to look at the older man. He wasn't sure what he was afraid would happen. He just knew that the intensity between them was already so hot that Nate feared he'd catch on fire if it got any more keen. Emrys fingers suddenly lightly caressed the line of Nate's jaw.

"I'm getting thirsty again." Emrys' throaty voice so very near had Nate envisioning the older man staring at his lips as he said it.

"You want to drink the bath water again?" Nate asked, slowly slitting his eyes open. Emrys was looking at his mouth and then sliding down to his now revealed hard cock. "Though there is the sink, too. Now that you have opposable thumbs you could drink out of that."

"But there's something so good tasting about bath water," Emrys said. His fingers feathered through the ends of Nate's hair. "So pure."

Nate's lips parted and he licked them unconsciously. "Really? Sounds ... intimate."

"It is. Ingesting them in liquid form." Emrys' hands were suddenly framing the sides of Nate's face. His wet fingers smoothed water across the boy's lips. "I'm really thirsty, Nathaniel."

One of Nate's hands rose out of the water and he wet Emrys' sculpted lips with his fingertips. "I am, too."

The kiss was stunning in its perfectness. Emrys claimed him with a skillful flutter of his tongue along Nate's lower lip that caused the boy to gasp and then the older man's tongue was inside his mouth. Stroking and tangling and liquid goodness. The water surged around his body as Emrys drew him closer. Nate's hands finally stopped futilely grasping the air and instead clutched at Emrys' shoulders. The strong muscles resisted his grip. Emrys' skin was silky inbetween the lines of scars. Nate rubbed his thumbs up and down those lines. His earlier desire to run his tongue over them suddenly burst on his consciousness. Emrys broke the kiss so that they could breathe and Nate turned his head. He kissed the center of Emrys' palm and then mouthed down towards the tempting wrist. A spike of arousal had Nate's precum squirting into the bathwater as his tongue just lightly ran over the first ridge of scar. He moaned and clutched Emrys' arm as the older man had suddenly stilled. Nate didn't want this to end.

He dragged his tongue up the spiraling scars that started at the base of the older man's palm and followed them up towards the interior of his forearm. Nate turned Emrys' arms up so that he could see the delicate pattern as he licked and sucked. The older man's terrible stillness and lack of breathing snapped Nate out of his aroused haze. He looked up with swollen, wet lips into topaz eyes that were filled with strange conflicting emotions.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Nate asked. Something cold twisted in his belly as Emrys pulled his arm away and sat back on his haunches a foot from the edge of the tub.

"No, it's fine," Emrys said. But his expression was unreadable and the mist thickly covered him again as if he was recreating his high-necked sweater.

"It's so not fine. You're like looking at me like I did something bad! Don't lie to me!" Nate's voice rose high at the end. "Just tell me what I did wrong! I won't do it again. I -- I'll be better next time. Just don't stop this!"

"Nate?" his grandmother's voice was muted through the door. "Are you all right, sweetie?"

"I'm good, Grandma. Don't worry!" Nate said and tried to impart some normality into his tone, but he knew he sounded raw and shrill still.

Nate and Emrys both turned towards the door and stared at the door knob. If she even cracked the door, she might see the older man and then the shit would really hit the fan. A wolf rather than a naked adult male in her bathroom would be preferable. The door wasn't locked, but if he had Emrys lock it now, it would make a heavy, clicking sound that she would hear and be upset about. He just prayed that she didn't invade his privacy at this moment.

"Are you on the phone in the bathroom? You know you could get electrocuted if you drop it in the bath," she chided.

"The call's over, Grandma. I put the phone on the ground," Nate lied.

Emrys' expression held amusement as he turned towards Nate. The boy gave him a 'be-quiet' look. This wasn't the time. Emrys mimicked Nate dropping a phone in the tub and failing as he was electrocuted. Nate shook his head in mock disgust at the older man even as he was biting back giggles.

"All right. Well, do you want a sandwich or a drink when you're done with your bath?" she asked.

Emrys nodded.

"I can get one myself, Grandma. I'm feeling sick still so is it okay if I eat it in my room and call it an early night?" Nate asked.

"Of course. But I'll get it ready for you. I'll even get your covers turned down," she said and he heard her footsteps pattering off.

"It appears to be a good thing that I didn't stay under the covers," Emrys said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Nate scrubbed the top of his head. His arousal had dropped away like it had never been though it stirred when he saw Emrys' stomach muscles ripple as he moved. But he quickly looked away, ashamed at wanting the other man when Emrys clearly didn't want him back.

"Nathaniel, you did nothing wrong." Emrys read his mind once more.

"It's the scars, isn't it?" Nate guessed. "I saw you were freaked about me seeing them in the car before, but I thought then and not that they're beautiful." He gestured towards the spiral he could see between wreathes of mist.

"You find them beautiful?" Emrys had one of his brittle smiles on.

"Yeah. I couldn't stop thinking about touching them. Kissing them." Nate slammed his mouth shut as he saw that his words were disturbing Emrys instead of making him feel better.

God, what if what I imagined actually was true? That Emrys was held down and cut? That he didn't want them? And here I am, talking about how they turn me on! Nate wanted to throw up as he considered that.

"You thought it was a vanity thing and wanted to assure me that you didn't care," Emrys said quietly.

"Sort of, yeah, and -- and yeah." Nate was definitely not going to talk about his fascination with them. He'd never want to hurt Emrys. The thought of how the scars had been made caused a sickness to well up in him, but as purely decorative, they accentuated rather than took away from the other mans' looks.

"Most people can't see them. In fact, you're the first in a very long time who could," Emrys said quietly. He leaned against the edge of the tub.

Nate's shoulders relaxed as the other man neared him. "I don't understand. Are they magic or something?"

Emrys' lowered his head and a lock of hair fell across his eyes. Nate found himself pushing that lock back. Emrys turned his face into Nate's hand and kissed it lightly. "I'm sorry that I froze on you. It was just unexpected. Not ... unwanted. I do want you, Nathaniel. Too much really."

"I didn't mean to startle you," Nate said.

"It's too your credit that you can," Emrys murmured. He wrapped one arm around the boy and drew him into an embrace. "But it confirms that I was right to come here tonight. The scars are actually a good segway to discuss why I'm here."

"So molesting me really wasn't in your plans?" Nate laughed lightly as he rested his forehead against Emrys' shoulder.

"No, well, partially. After I left you, I felt uneasy. Your use of magic tonight will not go unnoticed by the other families in Winter Haven and ... certain other individuals," Emrys said quietly. "I'm sure that all of them have been watching you as I have."

"So what I did with the storm sent up a magical flare to all of them that said: a new witch is here?" Nate asked, but even though he tried to keep it joking in tone, there was an uneasiness that underlay his words.

"Yes, that's exactly right," Emrys said and strengthened his hold on Nate. "There's one more thing I should have told you right away, but with everything else ... well, it got away from me."

"Oh boy, what's this other thing?" Nate asked. He curled tighter to Emrys.

The older man paused and then said, "Wherever there are witches, there are witch hunters."

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