Warning: Yep, it’s an –M– Chapter, so beware.

 

CHAPTER 173

 

Even if it were only a month since the last time Alexander and Hephaistion saw each other, for both of them, these days away, unable to feel the other, tasted to eternity. Eight months apart, 10 days together and, again, 30 days away. It was too much; neither was used to be separated, and least of all for so long. Since they were boys, slightly older than Achilles, they had always been together, sharing everything and it truly was an agony to find themselves waking up every morning only to find that their soul mate was not at their side. 

 

Every living creature needed air and water to survive, but, for them, the touch of the other, the soft caresses of their hands, the sweet taste of their lips, were even more necessary than food. Their bodies could live with air and water but their souls…the very core of themselves appeared to wilt a little more each day they were apart. Could this be codependency? Weakness? Were they less than men because they, literally, could not leave away from the other?

 

At this point of the their lives, at Hephaistion’s 29 and Alexander’s 28 years old, after 16 years together, they could not care less about labels. They were only sure of one thing: they loved each other, they were soul mates and would remain like this for the rest of their lives. In their hearts, without the need of words, they had known this always but in the same moment when the hipparch stepped inside the royal tent, not only their heart but their whole body reacted, flourished with life not only knowing that distance was slowly killing them, but also feeling how their whole being screamed with force, asking, begging, to be near the other.

 

For Alexander to watch Hephaistion standing in front of him was like being in front of an oasis after a month lost in the desert. It amazed him to find his always steady and firm hands trembling with emotion, his fingers throbbing, eager to feel the skin of his beloved but unable to touch him as long as Achilles were there, standing in the middle.

 

Was he a bad person for wanting to call the guard to take his son out of the tent? No, the King wanted to think he was not a bad person, just a very needy and horny one. But thank to all the Gods back at mount Olympus he managed to control that maddening urge to jump over his hipparch and smile while Hephaistion embraced him son, ruffled his hair and asked how was he.

 

Achilles answered something but Alexander was not listening, his eyes fixed on his beloved, unable to look in any other direction, and then, when Hephaistion looked at him he shuddered, finding in those dark gray eyes the same uncontrolled desire that was eating him alive. Without uttering a word he understood that his hipparch felt the same as he, he also wanted to touch him, eat him alive until the growling beast inside him were satiated. The King gulped, finding his mouth suddenly dry, and feeling the heat concentrating from his waist down.

 

—…daddy you have to tell me everything, did you have to fight against Spitamenes? –asked the Prince, happy to have his father again at his side, eager to talk to him and completely oblivious to the sexual tension taking place around him.

 

— No, Aki –answered Hephaistion— It was a very boring routine mission –he lifted his eyes to meet the King’s gaze— Nothing too hard –he purred the last word and Alexander opened and closed his hands, feeling a soft tickling running down his legs.

 

Despite the discouraging answer the Prince’s enthusiasm was not diminish.

 

— Still, I would love to hear everything –his son insisted— Have you eaten yet? I can call the servants and we’ll share dinner –he was going to open his mouth when… 

 

— Aki, I’m sure your father is tired –said Alexander, keeping his voice calm even if it was clear as water, for his beloved, that he was so aroused that was starting to be painful— Go to sleep and you’ll have a chance to ask whatever you want in the morning, let him rest. 

 

Achilles was disappointed and he did not move. He too had missed the hipparch and had so much to tell and so many things to ask, the Prince had hoped to spend the night with him, not this. Hephaistion appeared to read his mind and patted his shoulder, smiling sweetly at him.

 

— I promise we’ll talk all you want during breakfast, what do you say? –his son moved his head up and down, just as he used to do when he was smaller and that touched the hipparch’s heart.

 

— Fine, I’ll go to my room –said Achilles but before going, he turned to look first at the King and then at his father— But don’t think for a moment that you fooled me –he said seriously— I know you are not going to “rest”.

 

Hephaistion laughed. Yes, his son had definitely grown in all this time he had been away. The hipparch did not have a chance to catch up with all that had happened the previous year during his stay of 10 days at Maracanda because of what had happened with Kleitos; it was only now that he could fully appreciate that Achilles was no longer a child, even if his 11^th birthday was yet to come. 

 

— Health to you, son –said the hipparch still smiling and, finally, infecting his son with his good mood.

 

— Health to you, daddy –said Achilles. He laughed when his father tickled him on the stomach. 

 

As soon as they were alone, Alexander closed the distance between them, he was going to say something, make a remark about Achilles, but Hephaistion did not give him the opportunity. He kissed the King as if there were no tomorrow, as if the world would end in the same moment they stopped, as if they would die in the instant their lips were apart.

 

It had been an ordeal to wait, so close of each other and unable to touch while Achilles was with them. But now, they could finally satiate that hunger, to drink from the breath of the other, to feel their bodies pressed together, to experience that friction they like so much. How they arrived to Alexander’s bedroom? They had no idea, it had been truly a feat greater than the conquest of the Persian Empire, but there they were, after crashing and stumbling with the furniture and almost falling to the ground more than once.

 

The King shuddered when he heard his beloved sighing and moaning inside his mouth, and the very core of his soul burned when both fell on the bed. Hephaistion’s weight deliciously crushing him. Alexander looked for his thighs in desperation, letting a long sigh to escape from his lips as soon as he touched that creamy skin. How had he lived so long away from this beautiful creature? Only now he truly understood how much he had needed this.

 

— Phai… —the King whispered his name against his wet and swollen lips like a prayer, a plea, an enchantment full with promises of love and pleasure. And, in the same moment Hephaistion turned to look at him, when his dark gray eyes settled on him, he became the beloved, master and God of Alexander— Phai…

 

— Shush –the hipparch took his wrists, raising Alexander’s arms over his head and denying his King the pleasure of touching him, watching his face carefully while he rocked his hips against the blond in a decadent rhythm.

 

Hephaistion smiled like a wolf when his lover’s face was transformed into a mask of pure lust, it was a sight he had missed so much, only able to see it in his most intimate dreams, haunting him, unable to extinguish the desire that gripped his body every day and every night he spent away from his lover.

 

— Don’t…tease…Nn…Oh dear Zeus!…please…Phai…—the King moaned loudly.

 

Hephaistion licked the length of his neck, feeling his rapid pulse beneath and tasting the salty flavor of the blond’s skin, mix with the small beads of sweat. For a moment he savored the possibility of denying his lover what he wanted, he toyed with the idea of having Alexander writhing and begging under him. What a beautiful sight! He nipped and bit his lover’s neck, feeling his lover’s arousal against his own.

 

The King moaned with all the force of his lungs, he tried to free his hands from his beloved’s grip but it was useless. He needed desperately to feel him closer, and, in a vain attempt to have what he longed so badly, he arched his body. The hipparch felt his body trembling with unsatisfied lust, the beast inside him growled and howled asking to take what he had been denied for so long and he was unable to hold for much longer.  

 

— Spread your legs –Hephaistion ordered and Alexander, with his lips slightly separated, panting, his eyes half closed and 2 red spots burning his cheeks, obeyed.

 

With one hand Hephaistion hold the King’s wrists, and he licked his own fingers before burying them inside him, feeling how his lover’s body reacted so violently, so needy, that is was almost as if the blond’s desire had materialized in front of him; all his senses burned threatening to consume him. Their cloths soon became a nuisance for both, clinging uncomfortably to their oversensitive skins that only wanted to feel the other closely, but there was no time to take care of this.

 

The hipparch was not gentle, this time the only thing he was looking for was to drown his own desire, to take what he wanted as he wanted, and he buried himself inside his lover without giving him time to react, without care, just with pure animal need. But that was exactly what Alexander wanted, to feel the savage thrusts of his beloved, to scream with all his forces while Hephaistion took him as if he were only looking to hurt him.

 

That point where the desire and the pain met was something that could steal the King’s reason. For how long was Alexander there, hearing his own moans fussed with those of his beloved in a perfect harmony, the most beautiful music he had ever heard? Neither could tell later. They were just concentrated in feeling, their bodies melting and dissolving under merciless waves of pleasure. Hephaistion railed against his lover as if he wanted to merge their bodies, burying himself completely in that warm embrace, looking to touch the very core of his pleasure. 

 

The bed complained, cracking and grinding under that savage attack, but the King was sure he had arrived to heaven, watching that monument to perfection coming in an out of him so violently that at each thrust his whole body jogged and trembled until he was unable to hold for much longer. Hephaistion could feel the muscles of his thighs burning and aching from the effort of pushing inside his lover but he ignored it and soon he filled the blond, his whole body relaxing and the beast quiet at long last.

 

He took a moment before coming out of Alexander, wanting to enjoy a little longer that warmth, and then he lay on the bed, exhausted at the King’s side, trying to calm down the beating of his heart and overwhelmed by that whirlwind of sensations, listening only to their panting before they were able to utter a word.

 

— I missed you… –Hephaistion was the first one to talk, in a soft sleepy whisper full with love. He lied on his side watching Alexander through the disheveled locks of his silky hair, as if he had never seen something more beautiful and precious in his entire life.

 

— Me too –the King smiled like a child, so happy that he appeared to glow— I have to talk to your King, I am not pleased having you away for so long and so often.  

 

The hipparch laughed without noise.

 

— But at least –he looked for Alexander’s hand— I kept my word and came back as soon as I could.

 

— Yes, you did –the blond closed the distance between them to kiss him. It was a torture to have him so close and so far and, despite of their passionate encounter, his body kept asking to be near his beloved.

 

— So, how is everything around here? I heard you are stuck in what appears to be a long siege –whispered Hephaistion, caressing his lover’s cheek with his free hand, moving closer.

 

— Not a long siege, I can assure you that Sisimithres will surrender before you think –said the King, his voice full with confidence.

 

— What’s your plan?

 

— I’ll wait until Sisimithres has an idea of what are we doing at the foot of the precipices, and then, I’ll send Oxartes, a man he knows well, to negotiate the surrender of the city –the King explained, feeling his beloved’s fingers running up and down his cheek, playing with the locks of his blond hair— This will scare the hell out of Sisimithres and he will surrender.

 

The hipparch kissed him, a soft kiss that quickly evolved into several ones. He had not lied when he said he had missed the King, and he took his time to savor Alexander’s lips, nipping them and licking the corner of his mouth, forcing the blond to receive him until this was not enough and his lips slid through Alexander’s jaw, leaving a trail of kisses, the room filled with wet smacking sounds. The blond closed his eyes, enjoying that familiar sensation. It had been almost a year since they spent a moment like this and Alexander wanted to enjoy every single second. 

 

— And you? –asked the King in a whisper between kisses— You lost weight –he surrounded the hipparch’s waist and pulled him even closer.

 

— I have been busy –his beloved left another kiss on his lips.

 

— So busy that you don’t have time even to eat? –the blond scolded him. 

 

— Look who is talking –Hephaistion smiled against his lips—The man who doesn’t eat unless he is feed in the mouth like a baby.

 

— You only did that once –Alexander complained, making his beloved laugh softly. The hipparch caressed his cheek with the back of his hand— Phai?

 

— Mm?

 

— I don’t like to be away from you but…I fear we…—but Hephaistion didn’t let him finish, he trapped his lips again. He did not want to talk about this, about a future where their time together would be less each day, an uncertain future that would probably demand that they were apart for even longer periods of time. No, he did not want to talk about this.

 

As they grew older and more powerful both had more and more things to do, and both new their duty had to come first. It had to be like that, but Hephaistion did not want to waste time talking about it when they had the chance to enjoy a moment of peace. And the King understood the message because soon he stopped talking and returned his beloved’s kisses and caresses. What it really mattered in those moments was the present, the future could wait a little longer. 

 

— Do you remember when you used to sneak into my bed when we were at Mieza? –asked the hipparch, purring the words.

 

— Now, you are making me feel old talking like that about the past –said Alexander, sliding his hands up and down his beloved’s back— What makes you think I can’t sneak again into your bed? –he kissed the tip of his nose. 

 

— Well, first of all because we sleep together now –answered his beloved and the blond stopped his caresses. 

 

— You are an idiot –the King complained and both laughed— “We sleep together now”…that is the stupidest thing you have said in your life.

 

It took a moment for Hephaistion to stop laughing.

 

— I’m sorry, I forget that your majesty, King of Kings, never does stupid things –he said, feeling tickles when his lover slid his hand under his cloths.

 

— Of course not! Tell me one stupid thing I have done –Alexander challenged him.

 

— You try to kill Publius –answered the hipparch at once. 

 

— He insulted me! That was not stupid –said the King in his defense— It was the right thing to do, what kind of man accepts another man’s hospitality and pays the favor sleeping with his lover? 

 

— Aha, whatever. How about that time when you dressed yourself like a woman to rescue Ptolemy? –the hipparch reminded him.

 

— I was rescuing one of my friends, it was a noble deed –said Alexander proudly.

 

— Yes, but the reason of why we had to rescue him was stupid –said Hephaistion—Or have you already forgotten that you jumped on a boat, in the middle of a storm, to cross the river? You fell and the current dragged you. It was because of you that we had to jump into the river and thanks to that Ptolemy was captured. 

 

The King pouted.

 

— It was a miscalculation –he grumbled.

 

— And how about when Barsine tricked you and you had sex with her thinking that I had slept with Memnon? –his beloved reminded him— Or that other time when…

 

— All right! I said mention one, you don’t need to give me a list –the hipparch smiled.

 

— You are a bad loser.

 

— No, I’m not –they fell silent and laughed at the same time— Gods! How I missed you! –the King kissed him one more time and Hephaistion moaned softly when he felt his lover’s fingers finding their way inside him.

 

— Alex…?…—the hipparch sighed with his face burning.

 

Alexander felt how the entire body of Hephaistion shuddered and that made his own arousal to wake up again. He was the most powerful man on the planet, he knew it, but, to be capable to make a man so strong, beautiful and intelligent like his beloved moan and shudder in pleasure, that was what really made him feel the most powerful man on earth.

 

Is this true? Or is precisely this feeling what instead makes me the slave of my beloved? –he thought.  

 

— Phai, do you know what it really means to have power? –the question, so sudden, so out of place, took his hipparch aback while his body burned and tickled, feeling his King’s fingers playing inside him, and how his muscles contracted around him, his desire coming back to life.

 

— No…

 

— Hierarchy does not give you power –said Alexander, dragging the words as if he were looking to caress him with them— Knowledge, on the other hand, knowledge about other person is what really makes you powerful.

 

Hephaistion moaned softly, his breath quickened and his chest heaved against his King’s body.

 

— Then…following your logic…Mm…I have power over you…—panted the hipparch with difficulty, the heat inside him was washing away his coherent thought like a wave.

 

— Did you ever doubt that? –whispered Alexander in his ear. His beloved moaned a little louder and moved his hips down, looking to impale himself in those fingers— Tell me something my love, what did you do all this time we were separated? –his voice was still only a whisper but full with curiosity.

 

His beloved sighed. He understood the question without further explanation but he had to take a deep breath before being able to answer. 

 

— When the need to feel you was…Mm…too strong, I always…pleased myself…—a long moan interrupted his words when Alexander rubbed his hot spot, over and over again, enjoying that sight of Hephaistion losing control. That was such a sweet agony. And the beast he thought had been satiated woke up again, growling and demanding once again.

 

— Show me –asked the King and his beloved gave him a lazy and arrogant smile that only served to increase his beauty, that dangerous beauty adorned with the false innocence of his pink cheeks.

 

— Are you sure? –as an answer Alexander, took his fingers out. The hipparch winced uncomfortable, a sudden feeling of emptiness invaded him and the cold of the night bit his body that, until now, had been nicely resting next to his lover’s warmth.

 

The King moved away, reluctantly, he wanted to keep feeling his beloved next to him but he also wanted to see this, and he rested on four over his hipparch, watching him with attention.

 

— What do you think? –he answered with another question.

 

Hephaistion nodded and rolled to rest face up, holding Alexander’s gaze all the time.

 

— As you wish, King of Kings –he said in a voice that made the King’s entire nervous system dance.

 

This time his beloved took a moment to take off his cloths, throwing them to the floor until he remained fully naked before the uneven eyes of his lover, he spread his legs, bending his knees up, completely exposed and vulnerable, giving himself to him with an almost religious devotion. Maybe the King was right, maybe he had power over him but the truth was that he did not want to have power over his lover, he only wanted to be at his side, to make him happy. 

 

Hephaistion took 2 fingers to Alexander’s lips and the blond lick them, always holding his beloved’s gaze, letting him see the love and lust in those eyes of different colors showing different emotions. The was no better sight for the hipparch’s, and his chest heaved when his own hand ran up and down his length, his entire body reacting in an instant. It was a strange sensation, to feel his own hands while the object of his desire and the protagonist of all his hidden fantasies was there, watching everything. It was strange but it was, by no means, unpleasant. 

 

Hephaistion bit his lower lip, moaning and sighing, his thumb making circles on his tip just as he loved, his whole body writhing over the sheets and melting, it was almost as if he were dissolving, turning into liquid under the force of the emotions hitting his body like a merciless enemy. Soon it was impossible for Alexander to keep watching and he bent to lick his beloved’s erected nipple feeling that body he adored shuddering under him. 

 

— If you do that again, I can’t… assure you that…Mmm…I would be able to…—the hipparch moaned loudly when the King trapped his nipple, sucking it with force and brushing the tender skin with his teeth. It was too much.

 

For a moment Hephaistion stopped his own ministrations, he arched, his entire being screaming and asking to be touched, asking that the avalanche of pleasure didn’t stop. That was enough for the King and he thrust inside his beloved, each moan and sigh acting like an aphrodisiac for him. It had been so long since the last time Alexander felt that warm embrace around him that he could not stop, moving back and forth like a possessed.  

 

He held his beloved’s waist with force, kneeling and raising his hips to watch that beautiful creature arched, moaning louder and louder, twisting and screaming with all his forces, rocking his hips to match his rhythm.

 

— Don’t you…dare to…Mmm…stop…—moaned Hephaistion, taking his hands to hold his own thighs, spreading them even more for the King’s absolute fascination. He hammered inside him, filling him completely, reaching the very core of his pleasure and that drove the hipparch crazy, his mouth permanently opened looking for air.

 

In 8 months Hephaistion knew he could have bedded another, anybody, he could have whoever he desired, and Alexander would have never known; but he did not do it because of this, because the only one who could make him burn in pleasure and to ignite every inch of his body was the man he loved. A very simple reason that was incompressible for many.

 

By the time they were satiated they were so exhausted that the King fell asleep over his beloved, and that was exactly how morning found them: together and embraced.

 

XXX

 

After so long away from the main body of the Macedonian camp, it was strange for Kyros to return and continue with his routine as if they had never been gone, but he had to admit it was nice to be back, especially because, he had been away from Glycon for almost a year. The Theban had to admit that he never thought they would be still together after all this time, he was now 19 years old and even if it was true that neither, he or Glycon, had been entirely faithful to the other, sleeping with another person every now and then, that did not mean they had stopped feeling something especial for their first love.

 

Kyros smiled and shook his head, he would look for Glycon when he finished his duties that day. He walked through the ranks of tents carrying a bucket of water when the sight of someone, standing not far from him, erased his smile.

 

What is he doing there? –thought the Theban, frowning. He had never liked this person, even if he did not know exactly why, but he had a bad feeling.

 

Kyros would have loved to approach and hear what was this person saying but he had things to do and little time to waste. At last he entered in Hephaistion’ tent, leaving the bucket with water on the floor while shaking his head. He was still thinking in that person, considering the possibility of going back and see what was going on, when an idea struck him as hard as a rock.

 

— Yarsa! –he called the eunuch— Yarsa!

 

— What?! Why do you shout? Don’t shout, you don’t shout to me, who do you think I am? Your slave? –Xsayarsa came, talking really quickly in that horrible Greek of his. No matter how long he had been living with Hephaistion, his Greek remained as horrible as it was when they met, just before the battle of Issus, 6 years ago.

 

— Yarsa, what do you know of the King’s eunuch?…er…I think his name is Bagoas –said the Theban ignoring the eunuch’s diatribe, after years living with him, Kyros had learned to pay no attention to his complains, even if sometimes that proven to be truly a challenge.

 

Xsayarsa pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, as if the Theban had just pronounced the name of his archenemy. 

 

— Many things, starting with the fact that he is a gravedigger spider and a bitch –said the eunuch, crossing his arms— Why do you ask?

 

— I saw him on my way here –answered the Theban— He was talking with one of the Macedonian officers.

 

Xsayarsa snorted.

 

— It wouldn’t surprise me if he is bedding half of the camp –he said with contempt.

 

— I have a bad feeling about him –Kyros confessed, catching the eunuch’s attention.

 

— Why?

 

— When we were at Maracanda, do you remember that night when you were away with Atash arguing with a fabric merchant while I was with Glycon? –Xsayarsa nodded— Well… —Kyros took a moment to arrange his ideas— On my way back I had the impression that Bagoas was leaving Hephaistion’s room.

 

That piece of information intrigued the eunuch; what the Theban was saying was very important.

 

— That evil creature was leaving my patron’s room? Are you sure? –he insisted but Kyros shook his head.

 

— I’m not sure –he sighed— I just got the impression, but... I don’t know how to explain this and I feel stupid telling you this, but I have a hunch that Bagoas is planning something. He is always conveniently near Hephaistion. 

 

— Why you didn’t say anything before?

 

— I did not thought it were important –the Theban shrugged— And I forgot, until now.

 

— I don’t like this –Xsayarsa paced around, shaking his head, and making his several jewels jingled— The wretched eunuch is capable of many things, we’ll need to stay alert.

 

— Do you think we should tell Hephaistion?

 

—Tell him what? That you have a hunch? Sure! Lets bother our patron with hunches and feelings now that he is so busy –said the eunuch sarcastically— No. You and me will do this, we will find out what is this horrible creature planning.

 

Kyros was not sure this was a good idea but he thought it was better than doing nothing. He agreed.