FIC: Pull (3/4)
Sep. 19th, 2009 12:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
corilannamTitle: Pull
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 15,577
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Elements of mind control within a consentual sexual encounter
Summary: Merlin has spent his life running from the Pendragons, but destiny has other plans.
Chapter 1|Chapter 2
Arthur was also getting to his feet. He looked over at Merlin with wild eyes, mouth still open in shock. Even his hair was rumpled, like it looked when Merlin had--
He shut down the thought before it could take hold. There was no time to think about what he'd seen, or felt, or what it meant they were going to do if they lived that long. "Arthur, they're--"
"I heard." Arthur staggered a little against the table, ameliorating Merlin's annoyance at being interrupted. "We need a plan. We need to figure out how to defend this--"
The door slammed open.
Merlin spun, flinging a blast of power. He didn't get a clear look at the people he was attacking before the retaliatory impact propelled him across the room and into the wall.
"Well, well, that was almost disappointing," said a too-familiar female voice. "All these years chasing Emrys and here he is like a duck in a bucket."
"He's not what you've come for, Nimueh." Arthur's voice sounded far away, although when Merlin opened his eyes and lifted his head he saw that Arthur had positioned himself directly in front of Merlin.
He pushed himself to his feet for the second time in under five minutes and peered around Arthur's shoulder. Nimueh stood in the doorway, head to toe in red leather, with her hulking Sniff behind her. Merlin had always found Sniffs inherently creepy, but this one was something special with his huge black coat, his ravaged face and hate-filled eyes. This was Arthur's uncle?
"No, we've no more use for him now," Nimueh agreed unexpectedly. "But can't you just imagine how Lord Pendragon felt to discover that his favorite plaything, his own flesh and blood, had been stolen away from him?"
"I imagine my father felt unsurprised." Arthur's fingers wrapped around Merlin's wrist. The pads rested on his pulse, an unsettling intimacy. "He has always had more Watchers than just Morgana."
Then two of the chairs hurled themselves at Tristan and Nimueh. Tristan went down hard when his head hit the wall. Nimueh deflected the chair easily, but on pure instinct, Merlin held up his free hand and sent another shockwave of power at her. That caught her by surprise enough to send her backward out of the doorway to hit the floor as hard as she'd made Merlin hit the wall moments before.
"Guess she's not a Watcher, then!" Merlin started to crow, but Arthur was already dragging him out the door. He took a huge leap over the crumpled forms of the Division agents and the Dragon's guards, and Merlin followed with his own boost of power.
They barreled down the corridor. Behind them, Merlin heard the chairs being torn to splinters over Nimueh's shriek of rage.
They emerged to the front of the house where the server and a handful of early patrons gaped at them. "Get out," Arthur snapped, and Merlin couldn't be sure whether it was his tone or his mental shove that made them obey with impressive alacrity.
A second later Merlin was blown off his feet yet again, which was starting to get tiresome. That was enough to make the last straggling bystanders scream and run. Merlin also would have liked to run, but a new instinct made him understand why Arthur had not. Nimueh could not be escaped now, only stopped.
He rolled to his feet and this time sent an entire table at her head. She deflected it with a sharp gesture, but the one Arthur threw glanced off her shoulder and made her cry out in pain.
Merlin spotted the selection of fine single malt scotch behind the bar and decided the heavy bottles would look wonderful smashing against Nimueh's skull. He sent them flying with a thought, but they exploded halfway across the room. Nimueh didn't take her furious gaze from Arthur's face.
"Why are you fighting me, Arthur?" In contrast to the rest of her demeanor, her voice was silky and persuasive. "We've always been on the same side."
Arthur snarled and sent another table hurtling at her head. "Give it up, Nimueh. You're no Pusher."
"But wasn't I always the one who was kindest to you?" A flick of her eyes was all the warning Merlin had to duck before the table swerved and smashed on the wall behind him. "Poor motherless child."
"You were the reason I had no mother." Arthur's fury was palpable. This time he simply raised both hands and blasted her with pure power.
She lifted one hand in response and stood coolly as the shockwave deflected back on Arthur. He tumbled backward over a table. "You talk about family? You, who abandoned your father and now have murdered your mother's only brother?"
Merlin had not thought Arthur hit Tristan hard enough to kill him, but Arthur looked briefly stricken. Then his features froze over, making him look more his father's son than Merlin had remembered he could look.
"My mother wouldn't have known him." Arthur glanced briefly at the splintered wood around Nimueh's feet. "My father burned out his mind long ago. There was nothing left but my father's will."
The splinters moved upward in a rush, a makeshift dagger aimed at Nimueh's heart. It stopped a millimeter from her breast.
And too late, Merlin saw the light fixture shiver over Arthur's head. There was no time to warn or deflect before it crashed down onto Arthur, dazing him. The wires wriggled out of the fixture like snakes, then whipped around Arthur's body, binding his arms to his sides.
Arthur struggled, but the fight had already taken a toll on his strength. The animated wires slowly bent him backwards over a table like a human sacrifice while Nimueh turned her burning eyes on Merlin.
"Your blood was beautiful," she said. "I think I'd like to see more of it."
She lifted her hand and looked at the small lamp burning on one of the few intact tables. Electricity swirled over her palm, building into a ball of light that seared Merlin's eyes.
Frantically, he looked around. There was nothing that would slow her down for more than a second, not now that she had the scope of Merlin's abilities. Arthur would free himself, but not in time.
He looked at Arthur, met his desperate look, then looked above him. Nimueh raised her hand. He was out of time.
He reached out and seized her with his mind.
She gasped and jerked. His grip slid off her body, slippery like the bottom feeder she was. He had to grab her jacket, her belt, her boots and use them to propel her across the room--and up over Arthur's head into the ceiling.
Up into the bare wiring that had once powered a light fixture.
She kicked and thrashed, but couldn't free herself from Merlin's grip. The table beneath Arthur shook and started to lift.
Merlin looked into the ceiling and found the wiring. He saw where the electricity flowed and called to it with his own power.
Nimueh screamed.
Arthur stopped struggling and gaped up at the display over his head. Sparks showered down on him and the table nearly tipped over as Nimueh convulsed with the relentless current Merlin directed through her.
When her clothes began to smoke, when he was sure, absolutely sure that she was dead, Merlin let the power go back to its normal path. Nimueh's corpse fell to the ground at Arthur's feet. The table settled with a thump, and Arthur finally tore free from the wires. He stared down at the body, then looked to Merlin.
Merlin avoided his gaze. Pity or censure--he couldn't bear either, not with the power still shaking his body and the stench of her in his nose. Very calmly, he gripped the back of the nearest chair, then leaned over it and threw up all over the seat.
When he turned back around, Arthur was almost done untangling himself. He looked at Merlin again, and this time Merlin accepted the mixture of sympathy and awe. "There's more to you than I thought, Merlin."
Merlin wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. "If you tell me I'd make a good Division agent, I'm going to throw up again."
Arthur smiled faintly. "Go clean yourself up. I'll see if Tristan's really dead."
He felt like he should go with Arthur for support, but Arthur was already striding past him back the way they had come. Merlin was almost shamefully glad to have the few moments to himself in the loo. He rinsed his mouth and splashed water over his face, then stared into his own reddened eyes in the mirror.
Just this morning he had known with reassuring certainty who he was, where the sides lay, and which one he was on. Now he was risking his own life to protect Division's golden boy, their newest and most powerful weapon. He could not have torn himself from Arthur's side with or without the Dragon's visions and he didn't understand why.
He had just killed a woman, and he did not regret it at all.
When he came out of the toilet, all the broken furniture and other debris was stacked neatly by the door. Nimueh's body was gone and Arthur stood in the middle of the room, surveying it with a frown. Merlin had no intention of asking him any questions about it.
"Tristan was my own blood and the most relentless Sniff at Division," Arthur said abruptly. "He could have tracked me to the ends of the earth, but just because he's... out of commission doesn't mean they won't be able to find us."
"Your father will have Morgana back under control soon enough," Merlin guessed.
Arthur nodded. "She's always been able to Watch me. We need somewhere to go."
"Mine? You've never been able to find it before."
Arthur shook his head. "They have your friend by now. She'll tell my father whatever he wants to know, including your address and directions to your front door."
Merlin felt sick again at the thought of Gwen in Division custody. They'd spent years keeping each other safe, and now everything had gone pear shaped. Gwen was beyond his reach and the only thing he had left was this pain in the arse of a Pendragon.
He ran his fingers through his hair and tugged at it in frustration. Arthur's eyes followed the gesture in a way Merlin couldn't let himself think about now.
"It's always best to stay inside," he said. "But what kind of place would make it harder for her to track you?"
Arthur turned and paced along the bar. "Somewhere with a lot of people," he said at last. "Morgana always has trouble with crowds. She says the sheer mass of decision points gives her a headache."
Merlin nodded; he'd suspected as much in the past. "And maybe they'll hesitate before trying to take you down in public."
Arthur's mouth twisted. "I wouldn't count on that."
***
They ran from street to street and building to building until the crowds began to bustle again. "We should get back on the underground," Merlin insisted, but Arthur shook his head.
"Too long going in one direction, too easy for her to see. Morgana loves trains."
"Wish I'd known that years ago," Merlin muttered, though he half-suspected Arthur was still looking for excuse to hail a taxi. He was fully prepared to argue that if Watchers could see the results from the decisions you make, Morgana would have them the instant they gave an address to the driver.
But then Arthur tugged at his arm. Merlin looked up at the sign on the looming building and smiled. Not his usual haunt, but it would do for crowds.
"Look, let's go get a coffee," Arthur said. Merlin frowned as he followed Arthur's gaze to the cafe across the street.
"What--?" he started, then was abruptly pulled through the revolving doors of their original target. "Right. Fewer decisions. I'm not exactly new at this, you know."
He got the slightest hint of a smile in acknowledgement as a steady river of shoppers flowed around them. "You just keep getting lucky. I can't fathom how." Arthur peered at the escalator and nodded towards it. "Come on, higher ground can't hurt."
Merlin doubted it would help much, but he shared Arthur's need to do something. He followed Arthur to the escalator, trying to ignore all the shoppers around them and not think at all about the emblems on their shopping bags.
As they got on the escalator, more and more of those shoppers were starting to stare at them, bloody and bruised from the fight and hardly dressed like proper clientele in a posh London department store. Arthur was staring off into the distance, not noticing the stares. He probably felt perfectly at home, Merlin thought sourly, and considered his own options.
A pair of elderly women in ostentatious hats were gaping down at them in horror from the other escalator. As they passed, Merlin reached out with an experimental push. We are nice young men, dressed nicely and looking... nice.
Instantly they beamed over at him, full of approval. He smiled back politely. As they continued down, they bent their heads together, probably discussing just how nice those young men had been.
Merlin swallowed and felt his nerves settle back into place. Until his brief moment of partial success on the tube this morning, Merlin had never been able to push his thoughts onto someone else before. Then again, he had never been able to control electricity, either. Whatever he had done to Arthur, something had happened to Merlin as well.
He kept pushing anyone who looked at them as he followed Arthur up the flights of escalators to the top of the shop. It was easier each time until on impulse, he made a rather staid-looking man do a little jig to impress the bored toddler whose mother was focused on the lipsticks at the Chanel counter.
Arthur finally looked back at him with raised eyebrows. Merlin grinned back, gleeful and unrepentant. Arthur shook his head with the disdain of someone who had always been good at everything. Merlin repressed the urge to point out who had done the most saving of whom over the short hours of their acquaintance.
When they reached the top floor, Arthur stopped the first employee he saw. "Pardon me. How can we get to the nearest secure stockroom?"
The employee looked surprised, and then she didn't. "Go left past the small appliances and then straight back through towels and bedding until you see the corridor behind the last cashier’s desk on the right."
"Is there a key code?" Merlin asked, and she reeled it off.
"Thank you," Arthur said and let her go on her way.
Her directions brought them easily to the stockroom. The door came open with the code she'd given them. Several employees were working in the room and looked up at them with mild surprise.
"This room is off limits for the rest of the day," Arthur announced. "Special inventory, order of the general manager."
"You're all to have the rest of the day off," Merlin added. "And a pay raise."
Arthur frowned at him. "Really, don't overdo it."
"What?" Merlin said as the employees filed out past them with a total lack of suspicion and a great deal of good cheer. "It doesn't hurt to be nice."
The door closed and locked behind the last of the staff. Arthur held his hand over the lock for a minute, then ran his hands experimentally along the door frame. "I don’t know the first thing about shifting," he admitted. "But this should buy us some time."
Merlin watched him check the door again, then pace stiffly around the room. Arthur moved like a caged animal who might snap and make a lunge for the zookeeper at any moment. "Are you all right?" Merlin asked, making a fleeting grab for Arthur’s arm as he stalked by.
"I’m fine." Arthur shook him off and went to examine the nearest shelves of neatly folded towels. "This is all generic enough. Even Morgana will have a hard time pinpointing exactly where we are if she didn’t catch it when we came in."
Merlin walked over to him and gripped his arm harder. Arthur was trembling again, barely enough for Merlin to feel. "Arthur, if you want to talk about it--I mean, your uncle--"
Arthur turned, eyes boring into Merlin’s. Merlin took a step back, fighting sudden, overwhelming déjà vu. He expected Arthur to start yelling, or maybe punching, which would be understandable.
Instead, Arthur gripped Merlin’s arms and shoved him back against the wall. When Merlin tried to twist away, an invisible force pressed him firmly back.
He was about to fight back the same way when Arthur used a weapon he wasn’t expecting--his mouth, warm and incongruously gentle. Disarmed by surprise, Merlin stilled and stood with his heart pounding in his ears and Arthur’s mouth coaxing his lips open.
The kiss was dry and soft in contrast to the force that held Merlin pinned to the wall. He could have broken either, but he stayed until the tips of their tongues brushed and Arthur tried to press deeper into his mouth.
Then Merlin turned his head away. He shoved Arthur back with a reluctant mental effort, though he allowed Arthur to keep his arms pinned to the wall. "What the hell are you doing, Arthur?"
Arthur stood stiffly for a moment, until he let out a long sigh and pressed his face against the exposed line of Merlin’s neck. "You saw it, just like I did. We were here. You and I together, just like this, in your dragon’s dream."
And there was his déjà vu. The remembered sensations were nothing to the heat of Arthur’s breath on his neck, but both made him shiver. He closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, reached out with his Watcher’s sight and asked a question.
The vision consumed him immediately. Bare flesh touching, grinding, joining, here against this gray-bricked wall. It lacked the sensory immersion of what the Dragon had shared, but was no less vivid for it. What he was doing was unmistakable, who he was doing it with, even more so.
His eyes flew open with a gasp, then he gasped again. Arthur’s hand was between his legs, massaging his cock through his worn jeans.
"You saw it again, didn’t you?" Arthur’s voice was rough in his ear. "I did, too, before. Destiny, didn’t he call it?"
"I don’t believe in destiny," he lied. Though whether he did or not, that wasn’t the relevant question to him now. He wasn’t sure if he even liked Arthur yet, but he wanted him powerfully.
The Dragon hadn’t seen that they must do this, only that they would. Someday, Merlin really wanted to prove the Dragon wrong. Someday, when he wasn’t hard for the man offering to fuck him.
His hands were still pinned to the wall, but he had his own power. He thought about the thick ridge of Arthur’s cock under the soft trousers and how much he wanted to rub it the way Arthur was rubbing him.
"You know Watchers can only see the results of the decisions that we choose--" Arthur’s words broke off with a grunt. Merlin had never had the fine control to use his telekinesis like this before. It was heady, arousing--or maybe that was just the way Arthur’s breath was rough against his neck.
Merlin turned his head and nudged at Arthur’s face until they found each other’s mouths again. They kissed and ground into each other until Arthur tore away. Every breath shook as he rested his forehead against Merlin’s.
"Whatever decision I made that brought me here, it isn’t one I can undo," he said. "And I wouldn’t."
Merlin laughed, just as shaky. "You seem to think this might possibly be a good idea."
"Merlin." Arthur freed his hands. Merlin obligingly brought them to Arthur’s body. "Of all the visions I’ve seen in Morgana’s little book over the years, or in my own head since I woke up this morning, this is the only one I’ve actually wanted to come true."
"All right. I guess we should get something out of this destiny lark," Merlin answered before sinking into Arthur’s mouth once more.
After that, it was simple enough to make the clothing peel away from each other’s bodies, moving each other without touching except to kiss. Merlin finally closed his fingers around Arthur’s cock. It was potently erect, but not as much as he wanted it.
"Get hard," he ordered. "Really hard. I want you stiff and dripping so I know you really want to fuck me."
Then he pushed the words directly into Arthur’s mind. He didn’t relent until he saw Arthur’s pupils dilate and felt his cock go gratifyingly rigid in his hand.
"Hard enough for you?" Arthur growled and took a step back.
Before he could protest the distance, Merlin was whirled around and shoved face first against the wall. They had nothing to use, no protection or lubrication. Merlin was too aroused to give a damn, but he couldn’t stop a hiss of discomfort as Arthur pushed a dry finger into him.
Arthur stopped and they stood together in silence except for their short, anxious breaths. Merlin almost giggled with hysteria as he wondered if any of their emerging psi talents included conjuring lubricant from thin air.
Then Arthur leaned forward and spoke low and rough in his ear.
"You’re wet and loose," he said and the words sank into Merlin’s mind like they belonged there. "You’re relaxed and eager, and I’ll slide into you like silk."
Merlin shuddered from the words and the way they were pulling at his reality, trying to shape it. He fought to let the compulsion settle, to allow Arthur to push it into him.
"You won’t feel any pain while I’m fucking you." Arthur started pushing his finger in again, and this time Merlin felt only an easy, natural slide. "All you’ll feel is your bones melting with the pleasure of having me inside you."
"Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?" Merlin said--or started to, before the melting pleasure began right on cue.
Arthur’s finger pulled out, then two worked back into him. Merlin groaned and rested his forehead on his arm, bracing himself against the wall. He pressed back onto Arthur’s fingers and undulated his hips to get them deeper. He hadn’t known the space inside him was empty until Arthur started to fill it.
"I know you don’t really need this anymore." Arthur pulled his fingers back like they had all the leisure in the world, then pushed back in the same way. "But I think I really like finger fucking you."
"Selfish arse," Merlin said with another, very different hiss as Arthur’s fingertips stroked softly inside him. They had found a very nice spot that was only making matters more urgent.
Arthur laughed, smug despite the hitch in his voice. "From where I’m standing, I’m not the one with the greedy little arse."
Merlin couldn’t help laughing in return, shaking his head against his arm. "All right, I’ve had enough of you, Pendragon, I really have."
Arthur snorted against the back of his neck. "You haven't had nearly--"
His whole body seized. His fingers curled, unconsciously and deliciously, in Merlin’s arse. Merlin grinned and threw his head back in triumph. Arthur surged mindlessly against him.
Merlin sent the mental push again, this time elaborating out loud. "You’re frantic for me. Your cock hurts from wanting to fuck me. You’re going to take your fingers out and then you’re going to put your cock in and fuck me as hard as you can. And I’m going to be the best you ever had."
A low groan vibrated against his shoulder. Arthur’s fingers pulled out and clutched at Merlin’s hip. He was fighting the push, but the head of his cock already prodded against Merlin’s hole.
Merlin reached again into Arthur’s mind. How warm and welcoming Merlin would be. How tight and sweet his passage around an invading cock.
Then he stopped pushing and simply, instinctively, pulled.
Arthur surrendered. He sank into Merlin, let himself be pulled deep. But when they settled into fucking, he set his own rhythm, determined but unhurried.
After only a few thrusts, Merlin squirmed with the need for greater satisfaction, but no touch physical or mental made Arthur hasten the pace. Worse, Arthur’s push was still there in his head--every thrust spread that melting pleasure through his lower body. Bliss without completion, perfect for a long bout of lovemaking.
But Arthur wasn’t his lover and Merlin just wanted release. He dropped his hand to his cock and worked himself into a sharp rise toward orgasm.
"Oh, no." Arthur buried himself deep and bit at Merlin’s ear. "Not without me, you don’t."
Merlin was so distracted by the sensation that he didn’t recognize the push until it was too late. He snarled and bucked against it, but it had already woven itself in amongst the rest of the commands Merlin had let Arthur set in place. Merlin tried again to shove it away. Arthur merely thrust into him again and strengthened the push while Merlin was distracted by the new wave of pleasure.
He gave up and let Arthur shove him hard up against the wall to continue fucking him. It felt good, so good, even with climax out of his reach. But he was not going to let Arthur bloody Pendragon have the last word. Two could play this game.
Arthur was focused on making sure Merlin submitted to his dominance. A tiny push of his own was almost too easy to slip into Arthur’s mind. Merlin waited a moment, then smiled and tipped his head back onto Arthur’s shoulder.
Pleased with Merlin’s submission, Arthur kissed him slow and intoxicating as he rocked into him in a sweet, steady pace. They were committed now to seeing this through.
Merlin closed his eyes to enjoy the feelings, the rightness of the union. He slowed his strokes on his cock to match the lazy pleasure Arthur was giving him from behind.
He let go of his cock and reached back to grope at hot skin when Arthur began to thrust faster. They grappled at each other, hands slipping on the sweat of their bodies. Merlin let out moan after moan as Arthur’s cock did its work inside him and his flesh responded as Arthur had dictated.
Arthur thrust faster still, skin slapping skin in a growing frenzy. His hands settled on Merlin’s hips, fighting to hold them still as Arthur pounded into him. It was exactly the hard fucking Merlin had wanted, and Arthur had ensured that the pleasure was incredible, exhilarating.
But Arthur himself only groaned in frustration. When he finally stopped, still hard and unsatisfied, Merlin grinned. The penny had finally dropped.
"You little fucker," Arthur said, his voice equal parts admiring and furious as he dropped his head onto Merlin’s shoulder.
"Don’t worry. You’ll come." Merlin reached up to pet the sweaty blond hair. "As soon as I say you can. But in the meantime, I think you ought to fuck me some more. I was really enjoying that."
Grumbling, Arthur stirred back into motion. Merlin sighed as he felt the pleasure resume with the strong pumping of Arthur’s cock inside him.
"I hope you haven’t forgotten that your climax is contingent on mine," Arthur panted into his ear. "I thought you were the one who was so eager to come."
"You showed me the error of my ways. It’s been a long day; a good long shag is just the thing."
Arthur grunted and sped up, as if he could overcome the push if he just fucked Merlin hard enough. Merlin dropped his head until it hit the wall and grinned maniacally. The harder Arthur fucked him, the more intensely the pleasure rose. Merlin’s legs started to shake with it, his knees trying to buckle under him.
"That’s it, build it up," he groaned. "I want your balls bursting with more come than you’ve ever shot in your life."
Arthur choked, but he was beyond any thought of resisting that push. All his body could do was obey Merlin’s command, building up his load until Arthur was crying out with the need to release it.
"Perfect," Merlin said dreamily, reaching back to pet Arthur again, pushing his fingers through Arthur’s hair with every thrust. "You’re going to come and come and come."
They stayed locked in intercourse, on the precipice of orgasm but unable to tip themselves over. Finally, Arthur gave a pathetic whimper and buried his face in Merlin’s shoulder again. "Please."
"Not so hard to be polite, is it?" Merlin took a last moment to enjoy the throbbing pleasure in his over-stimulated body. Then he moved his fingers down to gently squeeze the back of Arthur’s neck. "Go on, then. Come."
Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin’s chest and buried himself one last time with a grateful sigh. His body shook around Merlin, as though the other man was all that was holding him together as he came.
His come pumped into Merlin in endless warm spurts. No lack of lubrication now, Merlin thought as Arthur gave a convulsive thrust and wetness began to slide down the back of Merlin’s thighs.
Experiencing Arthur’s release made him dizzy with the need for his own climax. His cock was swollen red and wet with precome, but he still couldn’t get to the peak. He wanted--he needed--
Arthur’s hand closed around him, stroked firmly up over the head, and then the first spurt of Merlin’s come spilled over Arthur’s fist. Merlin groaned with the relief of every pulse. "Fuck. Oh, fuck, yes."
It took a long time to finish coming. When they were finally both spent, Merlin slumped forward against the wall. Arthur stayed inside him, tight against his back. They stood there, clinging to each other with the come still slipping in cooling trails down Merlin’s legs.
Chapter 4
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 15,577
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Elements of mind control within a consentual sexual encounter
Summary: Merlin has spent his life running from the Pendragons, but destiny has other plans.
Chapter 1|Chapter 2
Arthur was also getting to his feet. He looked over at Merlin with wild eyes, mouth still open in shock. Even his hair was rumpled, like it looked when Merlin had--
He shut down the thought before it could take hold. There was no time to think about what he'd seen, or felt, or what it meant they were going to do if they lived that long. "Arthur, they're--"
"I heard." Arthur staggered a little against the table, ameliorating Merlin's annoyance at being interrupted. "We need a plan. We need to figure out how to defend this--"
The door slammed open.
Merlin spun, flinging a blast of power. He didn't get a clear look at the people he was attacking before the retaliatory impact propelled him across the room and into the wall.
"Well, well, that was almost disappointing," said a too-familiar female voice. "All these years chasing Emrys and here he is like a duck in a bucket."
"He's not what you've come for, Nimueh." Arthur's voice sounded far away, although when Merlin opened his eyes and lifted his head he saw that Arthur had positioned himself directly in front of Merlin.
He pushed himself to his feet for the second time in under five minutes and peered around Arthur's shoulder. Nimueh stood in the doorway, head to toe in red leather, with her hulking Sniff behind her. Merlin had always found Sniffs inherently creepy, but this one was something special with his huge black coat, his ravaged face and hate-filled eyes. This was Arthur's uncle?
"No, we've no more use for him now," Nimueh agreed unexpectedly. "But can't you just imagine how Lord Pendragon felt to discover that his favorite plaything, his own flesh and blood, had been stolen away from him?"
"I imagine my father felt unsurprised." Arthur's fingers wrapped around Merlin's wrist. The pads rested on his pulse, an unsettling intimacy. "He has always had more Watchers than just Morgana."
Then two of the chairs hurled themselves at Tristan and Nimueh. Tristan went down hard when his head hit the wall. Nimueh deflected the chair easily, but on pure instinct, Merlin held up his free hand and sent another shockwave of power at her. That caught her by surprise enough to send her backward out of the doorway to hit the floor as hard as she'd made Merlin hit the wall moments before.
"Guess she's not a Watcher, then!" Merlin started to crow, but Arthur was already dragging him out the door. He took a huge leap over the crumpled forms of the Division agents and the Dragon's guards, and Merlin followed with his own boost of power.
They barreled down the corridor. Behind them, Merlin heard the chairs being torn to splinters over Nimueh's shriek of rage.
They emerged to the front of the house where the server and a handful of early patrons gaped at them. "Get out," Arthur snapped, and Merlin couldn't be sure whether it was his tone or his mental shove that made them obey with impressive alacrity.
A second later Merlin was blown off his feet yet again, which was starting to get tiresome. That was enough to make the last straggling bystanders scream and run. Merlin also would have liked to run, but a new instinct made him understand why Arthur had not. Nimueh could not be escaped now, only stopped.
He rolled to his feet and this time sent an entire table at her head. She deflected it with a sharp gesture, but the one Arthur threw glanced off her shoulder and made her cry out in pain.
Merlin spotted the selection of fine single malt scotch behind the bar and decided the heavy bottles would look wonderful smashing against Nimueh's skull. He sent them flying with a thought, but they exploded halfway across the room. Nimueh didn't take her furious gaze from Arthur's face.
"Why are you fighting me, Arthur?" In contrast to the rest of her demeanor, her voice was silky and persuasive. "We've always been on the same side."
Arthur snarled and sent another table hurtling at her head. "Give it up, Nimueh. You're no Pusher."
"But wasn't I always the one who was kindest to you?" A flick of her eyes was all the warning Merlin had to duck before the table swerved and smashed on the wall behind him. "Poor motherless child."
"You were the reason I had no mother." Arthur's fury was palpable. This time he simply raised both hands and blasted her with pure power.
She lifted one hand in response and stood coolly as the shockwave deflected back on Arthur. He tumbled backward over a table. "You talk about family? You, who abandoned your father and now have murdered your mother's only brother?"
Merlin had not thought Arthur hit Tristan hard enough to kill him, but Arthur looked briefly stricken. Then his features froze over, making him look more his father's son than Merlin had remembered he could look.
"My mother wouldn't have known him." Arthur glanced briefly at the splintered wood around Nimueh's feet. "My father burned out his mind long ago. There was nothing left but my father's will."
The splinters moved upward in a rush, a makeshift dagger aimed at Nimueh's heart. It stopped a millimeter from her breast.
And too late, Merlin saw the light fixture shiver over Arthur's head. There was no time to warn or deflect before it crashed down onto Arthur, dazing him. The wires wriggled out of the fixture like snakes, then whipped around Arthur's body, binding his arms to his sides.
Arthur struggled, but the fight had already taken a toll on his strength. The animated wires slowly bent him backwards over a table like a human sacrifice while Nimueh turned her burning eyes on Merlin.
"Your blood was beautiful," she said. "I think I'd like to see more of it."
She lifted her hand and looked at the small lamp burning on one of the few intact tables. Electricity swirled over her palm, building into a ball of light that seared Merlin's eyes.
Frantically, he looked around. There was nothing that would slow her down for more than a second, not now that she had the scope of Merlin's abilities. Arthur would free himself, but not in time.
He looked at Arthur, met his desperate look, then looked above him. Nimueh raised her hand. He was out of time.
He reached out and seized her with his mind.
She gasped and jerked. His grip slid off her body, slippery like the bottom feeder she was. He had to grab her jacket, her belt, her boots and use them to propel her across the room--and up over Arthur's head into the ceiling.
Up into the bare wiring that had once powered a light fixture.
She kicked and thrashed, but couldn't free herself from Merlin's grip. The table beneath Arthur shook and started to lift.
Merlin looked into the ceiling and found the wiring. He saw where the electricity flowed and called to it with his own power.
Nimueh screamed.
Arthur stopped struggling and gaped up at the display over his head. Sparks showered down on him and the table nearly tipped over as Nimueh convulsed with the relentless current Merlin directed through her.
When her clothes began to smoke, when he was sure, absolutely sure that she was dead, Merlin let the power go back to its normal path. Nimueh's corpse fell to the ground at Arthur's feet. The table settled with a thump, and Arthur finally tore free from the wires. He stared down at the body, then looked to Merlin.
Merlin avoided his gaze. Pity or censure--he couldn't bear either, not with the power still shaking his body and the stench of her in his nose. Very calmly, he gripped the back of the nearest chair, then leaned over it and threw up all over the seat.
When he turned back around, Arthur was almost done untangling himself. He looked at Merlin again, and this time Merlin accepted the mixture of sympathy and awe. "There's more to you than I thought, Merlin."
Merlin wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. "If you tell me I'd make a good Division agent, I'm going to throw up again."
Arthur smiled faintly. "Go clean yourself up. I'll see if Tristan's really dead."
He felt like he should go with Arthur for support, but Arthur was already striding past him back the way they had come. Merlin was almost shamefully glad to have the few moments to himself in the loo. He rinsed his mouth and splashed water over his face, then stared into his own reddened eyes in the mirror.
Just this morning he had known with reassuring certainty who he was, where the sides lay, and which one he was on. Now he was risking his own life to protect Division's golden boy, their newest and most powerful weapon. He could not have torn himself from Arthur's side with or without the Dragon's visions and he didn't understand why.
He had just killed a woman, and he did not regret it at all.
When he came out of the toilet, all the broken furniture and other debris was stacked neatly by the door. Nimueh's body was gone and Arthur stood in the middle of the room, surveying it with a frown. Merlin had no intention of asking him any questions about it.
"Tristan was my own blood and the most relentless Sniff at Division," Arthur said abruptly. "He could have tracked me to the ends of the earth, but just because he's... out of commission doesn't mean they won't be able to find us."
"Your father will have Morgana back under control soon enough," Merlin guessed.
Arthur nodded. "She's always been able to Watch me. We need somewhere to go."
"Mine? You've never been able to find it before."
Arthur shook his head. "They have your friend by now. She'll tell my father whatever he wants to know, including your address and directions to your front door."
Merlin felt sick again at the thought of Gwen in Division custody. They'd spent years keeping each other safe, and now everything had gone pear shaped. Gwen was beyond his reach and the only thing he had left was this pain in the arse of a Pendragon.
He ran his fingers through his hair and tugged at it in frustration. Arthur's eyes followed the gesture in a way Merlin couldn't let himself think about now.
"It's always best to stay inside," he said. "But what kind of place would make it harder for her to track you?"
Arthur turned and paced along the bar. "Somewhere with a lot of people," he said at last. "Morgana always has trouble with crowds. She says the sheer mass of decision points gives her a headache."
Merlin nodded; he'd suspected as much in the past. "And maybe they'll hesitate before trying to take you down in public."
Arthur's mouth twisted. "I wouldn't count on that."
***
They ran from street to street and building to building until the crowds began to bustle again. "We should get back on the underground," Merlin insisted, but Arthur shook his head.
"Too long going in one direction, too easy for her to see. Morgana loves trains."
"Wish I'd known that years ago," Merlin muttered, though he half-suspected Arthur was still looking for excuse to hail a taxi. He was fully prepared to argue that if Watchers could see the results from the decisions you make, Morgana would have them the instant they gave an address to the driver.
But then Arthur tugged at his arm. Merlin looked up at the sign on the looming building and smiled. Not his usual haunt, but it would do for crowds.
"Look, let's go get a coffee," Arthur said. Merlin frowned as he followed Arthur's gaze to the cafe across the street.
"What--?" he started, then was abruptly pulled through the revolving doors of their original target. "Right. Fewer decisions. I'm not exactly new at this, you know."
He got the slightest hint of a smile in acknowledgement as a steady river of shoppers flowed around them. "You just keep getting lucky. I can't fathom how." Arthur peered at the escalator and nodded towards it. "Come on, higher ground can't hurt."
Merlin doubted it would help much, but he shared Arthur's need to do something. He followed Arthur to the escalator, trying to ignore all the shoppers around them and not think at all about the emblems on their shopping bags.
As they got on the escalator, more and more of those shoppers were starting to stare at them, bloody and bruised from the fight and hardly dressed like proper clientele in a posh London department store. Arthur was staring off into the distance, not noticing the stares. He probably felt perfectly at home, Merlin thought sourly, and considered his own options.
A pair of elderly women in ostentatious hats were gaping down at them in horror from the other escalator. As they passed, Merlin reached out with an experimental push. We are nice young men, dressed nicely and looking... nice.
Instantly they beamed over at him, full of approval. He smiled back politely. As they continued down, they bent their heads together, probably discussing just how nice those young men had been.
Merlin swallowed and felt his nerves settle back into place. Until his brief moment of partial success on the tube this morning, Merlin had never been able to push his thoughts onto someone else before. Then again, he had never been able to control electricity, either. Whatever he had done to Arthur, something had happened to Merlin as well.
He kept pushing anyone who looked at them as he followed Arthur up the flights of escalators to the top of the shop. It was easier each time until on impulse, he made a rather staid-looking man do a little jig to impress the bored toddler whose mother was focused on the lipsticks at the Chanel counter.
Arthur finally looked back at him with raised eyebrows. Merlin grinned back, gleeful and unrepentant. Arthur shook his head with the disdain of someone who had always been good at everything. Merlin repressed the urge to point out who had done the most saving of whom over the short hours of their acquaintance.
When they reached the top floor, Arthur stopped the first employee he saw. "Pardon me. How can we get to the nearest secure stockroom?"
The employee looked surprised, and then she didn't. "Go left past the small appliances and then straight back through towels and bedding until you see the corridor behind the last cashier’s desk on the right."
"Is there a key code?" Merlin asked, and she reeled it off.
"Thank you," Arthur said and let her go on her way.
Her directions brought them easily to the stockroom. The door came open with the code she'd given them. Several employees were working in the room and looked up at them with mild surprise.
"This room is off limits for the rest of the day," Arthur announced. "Special inventory, order of the general manager."
"You're all to have the rest of the day off," Merlin added. "And a pay raise."
Arthur frowned at him. "Really, don't overdo it."
"What?" Merlin said as the employees filed out past them with a total lack of suspicion and a great deal of good cheer. "It doesn't hurt to be nice."
The door closed and locked behind the last of the staff. Arthur held his hand over the lock for a minute, then ran his hands experimentally along the door frame. "I don’t know the first thing about shifting," he admitted. "But this should buy us some time."
Merlin watched him check the door again, then pace stiffly around the room. Arthur moved like a caged animal who might snap and make a lunge for the zookeeper at any moment. "Are you all right?" Merlin asked, making a fleeting grab for Arthur’s arm as he stalked by.
"I’m fine." Arthur shook him off and went to examine the nearest shelves of neatly folded towels. "This is all generic enough. Even Morgana will have a hard time pinpointing exactly where we are if she didn’t catch it when we came in."
Merlin walked over to him and gripped his arm harder. Arthur was trembling again, barely enough for Merlin to feel. "Arthur, if you want to talk about it--I mean, your uncle--"
Arthur turned, eyes boring into Merlin’s. Merlin took a step back, fighting sudden, overwhelming déjà vu. He expected Arthur to start yelling, or maybe punching, which would be understandable.
Instead, Arthur gripped Merlin’s arms and shoved him back against the wall. When Merlin tried to twist away, an invisible force pressed him firmly back.
He was about to fight back the same way when Arthur used a weapon he wasn’t expecting--his mouth, warm and incongruously gentle. Disarmed by surprise, Merlin stilled and stood with his heart pounding in his ears and Arthur’s mouth coaxing his lips open.
The kiss was dry and soft in contrast to the force that held Merlin pinned to the wall. He could have broken either, but he stayed until the tips of their tongues brushed and Arthur tried to press deeper into his mouth.
Then Merlin turned his head away. He shoved Arthur back with a reluctant mental effort, though he allowed Arthur to keep his arms pinned to the wall. "What the hell are you doing, Arthur?"
Arthur stood stiffly for a moment, until he let out a long sigh and pressed his face against the exposed line of Merlin’s neck. "You saw it, just like I did. We were here. You and I together, just like this, in your dragon’s dream."
And there was his déjà vu. The remembered sensations were nothing to the heat of Arthur’s breath on his neck, but both made him shiver. He closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, reached out with his Watcher’s sight and asked a question.
The vision consumed him immediately. Bare flesh touching, grinding, joining, here against this gray-bricked wall. It lacked the sensory immersion of what the Dragon had shared, but was no less vivid for it. What he was doing was unmistakable, who he was doing it with, even more so.
His eyes flew open with a gasp, then he gasped again. Arthur’s hand was between his legs, massaging his cock through his worn jeans.
"You saw it again, didn’t you?" Arthur’s voice was rough in his ear. "I did, too, before. Destiny, didn’t he call it?"
"I don’t believe in destiny," he lied. Though whether he did or not, that wasn’t the relevant question to him now. He wasn’t sure if he even liked Arthur yet, but he wanted him powerfully.
The Dragon hadn’t seen that they must do this, only that they would. Someday, Merlin really wanted to prove the Dragon wrong. Someday, when he wasn’t hard for the man offering to fuck him.
His hands were still pinned to the wall, but he had his own power. He thought about the thick ridge of Arthur’s cock under the soft trousers and how much he wanted to rub it the way Arthur was rubbing him.
"You know Watchers can only see the results of the decisions that we choose--" Arthur’s words broke off with a grunt. Merlin had never had the fine control to use his telekinesis like this before. It was heady, arousing--or maybe that was just the way Arthur’s breath was rough against his neck.
Merlin turned his head and nudged at Arthur’s face until they found each other’s mouths again. They kissed and ground into each other until Arthur tore away. Every breath shook as he rested his forehead against Merlin’s.
"Whatever decision I made that brought me here, it isn’t one I can undo," he said. "And I wouldn’t."
Merlin laughed, just as shaky. "You seem to think this might possibly be a good idea."
"Merlin." Arthur freed his hands. Merlin obligingly brought them to Arthur’s body. "Of all the visions I’ve seen in Morgana’s little book over the years, or in my own head since I woke up this morning, this is the only one I’ve actually wanted to come true."
"All right. I guess we should get something out of this destiny lark," Merlin answered before sinking into Arthur’s mouth once more.
After that, it was simple enough to make the clothing peel away from each other’s bodies, moving each other without touching except to kiss. Merlin finally closed his fingers around Arthur’s cock. It was potently erect, but not as much as he wanted it.
"Get hard," he ordered. "Really hard. I want you stiff and dripping so I know you really want to fuck me."
Then he pushed the words directly into Arthur’s mind. He didn’t relent until he saw Arthur’s pupils dilate and felt his cock go gratifyingly rigid in his hand.
"Hard enough for you?" Arthur growled and took a step back.
Before he could protest the distance, Merlin was whirled around and shoved face first against the wall. They had nothing to use, no protection or lubrication. Merlin was too aroused to give a damn, but he couldn’t stop a hiss of discomfort as Arthur pushed a dry finger into him.
Arthur stopped and they stood together in silence except for their short, anxious breaths. Merlin almost giggled with hysteria as he wondered if any of their emerging psi talents included conjuring lubricant from thin air.
Then Arthur leaned forward and spoke low and rough in his ear.
"You’re wet and loose," he said and the words sank into Merlin’s mind like they belonged there. "You’re relaxed and eager, and I’ll slide into you like silk."
Merlin shuddered from the words and the way they were pulling at his reality, trying to shape it. He fought to let the compulsion settle, to allow Arthur to push it into him.
"You won’t feel any pain while I’m fucking you." Arthur started pushing his finger in again, and this time Merlin felt only an easy, natural slide. "All you’ll feel is your bones melting with the pleasure of having me inside you."
"Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?" Merlin said--or started to, before the melting pleasure began right on cue.
Arthur’s finger pulled out, then two worked back into him. Merlin groaned and rested his forehead on his arm, bracing himself against the wall. He pressed back onto Arthur’s fingers and undulated his hips to get them deeper. He hadn’t known the space inside him was empty until Arthur started to fill it.
"I know you don’t really need this anymore." Arthur pulled his fingers back like they had all the leisure in the world, then pushed back in the same way. "But I think I really like finger fucking you."
"Selfish arse," Merlin said with another, very different hiss as Arthur’s fingertips stroked softly inside him. They had found a very nice spot that was only making matters more urgent.
Arthur laughed, smug despite the hitch in his voice. "From where I’m standing, I’m not the one with the greedy little arse."
Merlin couldn’t help laughing in return, shaking his head against his arm. "All right, I’ve had enough of you, Pendragon, I really have."
Arthur snorted against the back of his neck. "You haven't had nearly--"
His whole body seized. His fingers curled, unconsciously and deliciously, in Merlin’s arse. Merlin grinned and threw his head back in triumph. Arthur surged mindlessly against him.
Merlin sent the mental push again, this time elaborating out loud. "You’re frantic for me. Your cock hurts from wanting to fuck me. You’re going to take your fingers out and then you’re going to put your cock in and fuck me as hard as you can. And I’m going to be the best you ever had."
A low groan vibrated against his shoulder. Arthur’s fingers pulled out and clutched at Merlin’s hip. He was fighting the push, but the head of his cock already prodded against Merlin’s hole.
Merlin reached again into Arthur’s mind. How warm and welcoming Merlin would be. How tight and sweet his passage around an invading cock.
Then he stopped pushing and simply, instinctively, pulled.
Arthur surrendered. He sank into Merlin, let himself be pulled deep. But when they settled into fucking, he set his own rhythm, determined but unhurried.
After only a few thrusts, Merlin squirmed with the need for greater satisfaction, but no touch physical or mental made Arthur hasten the pace. Worse, Arthur’s push was still there in his head--every thrust spread that melting pleasure through his lower body. Bliss without completion, perfect for a long bout of lovemaking.
But Arthur wasn’t his lover and Merlin just wanted release. He dropped his hand to his cock and worked himself into a sharp rise toward orgasm.
"Oh, no." Arthur buried himself deep and bit at Merlin’s ear. "Not without me, you don’t."
Merlin was so distracted by the sensation that he didn’t recognize the push until it was too late. He snarled and bucked against it, but it had already woven itself in amongst the rest of the commands Merlin had let Arthur set in place. Merlin tried again to shove it away. Arthur merely thrust into him again and strengthened the push while Merlin was distracted by the new wave of pleasure.
He gave up and let Arthur shove him hard up against the wall to continue fucking him. It felt good, so good, even with climax out of his reach. But he was not going to let Arthur bloody Pendragon have the last word. Two could play this game.
Arthur was focused on making sure Merlin submitted to his dominance. A tiny push of his own was almost too easy to slip into Arthur’s mind. Merlin waited a moment, then smiled and tipped his head back onto Arthur’s shoulder.
Pleased with Merlin’s submission, Arthur kissed him slow and intoxicating as he rocked into him in a sweet, steady pace. They were committed now to seeing this through.
Merlin closed his eyes to enjoy the feelings, the rightness of the union. He slowed his strokes on his cock to match the lazy pleasure Arthur was giving him from behind.
He let go of his cock and reached back to grope at hot skin when Arthur began to thrust faster. They grappled at each other, hands slipping on the sweat of their bodies. Merlin let out moan after moan as Arthur’s cock did its work inside him and his flesh responded as Arthur had dictated.
Arthur thrust faster still, skin slapping skin in a growing frenzy. His hands settled on Merlin’s hips, fighting to hold them still as Arthur pounded into him. It was exactly the hard fucking Merlin had wanted, and Arthur had ensured that the pleasure was incredible, exhilarating.
But Arthur himself only groaned in frustration. When he finally stopped, still hard and unsatisfied, Merlin grinned. The penny had finally dropped.
"You little fucker," Arthur said, his voice equal parts admiring and furious as he dropped his head onto Merlin’s shoulder.
"Don’t worry. You’ll come." Merlin reached up to pet the sweaty blond hair. "As soon as I say you can. But in the meantime, I think you ought to fuck me some more. I was really enjoying that."
Grumbling, Arthur stirred back into motion. Merlin sighed as he felt the pleasure resume with the strong pumping of Arthur’s cock inside him.
"I hope you haven’t forgotten that your climax is contingent on mine," Arthur panted into his ear. "I thought you were the one who was so eager to come."
"You showed me the error of my ways. It’s been a long day; a good long shag is just the thing."
Arthur grunted and sped up, as if he could overcome the push if he just fucked Merlin hard enough. Merlin dropped his head until it hit the wall and grinned maniacally. The harder Arthur fucked him, the more intensely the pleasure rose. Merlin’s legs started to shake with it, his knees trying to buckle under him.
"That’s it, build it up," he groaned. "I want your balls bursting with more come than you’ve ever shot in your life."
Arthur choked, but he was beyond any thought of resisting that push. All his body could do was obey Merlin’s command, building up his load until Arthur was crying out with the need to release it.
"Perfect," Merlin said dreamily, reaching back to pet Arthur again, pushing his fingers through Arthur’s hair with every thrust. "You’re going to come and come and come."
They stayed locked in intercourse, on the precipice of orgasm but unable to tip themselves over. Finally, Arthur gave a pathetic whimper and buried his face in Merlin’s shoulder again. "Please."
"Not so hard to be polite, is it?" Merlin took a last moment to enjoy the throbbing pleasure in his over-stimulated body. Then he moved his fingers down to gently squeeze the back of Arthur’s neck. "Go on, then. Come."
Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin’s chest and buried himself one last time with a grateful sigh. His body shook around Merlin, as though the other man was all that was holding him together as he came.
His come pumped into Merlin in endless warm spurts. No lack of lubrication now, Merlin thought as Arthur gave a convulsive thrust and wetness began to slide down the back of Merlin’s thighs.
Experiencing Arthur’s release made him dizzy with the need for his own climax. His cock was swollen red and wet with precome, but he still couldn’t get to the peak. He wanted--he needed--
Arthur’s hand closed around him, stroked firmly up over the head, and then the first spurt of Merlin’s come spilled over Arthur’s fist. Merlin groaned with the relief of every pulse. "Fuck. Oh, fuck, yes."
It took a long time to finish coming. When they were finally both spent, Merlin slumped forward against the wall. Arthur stayed inside him, tight against his back. They stood there, clinging to each other with the come still slipping in cooling trails down Merlin’s legs.
Chapter 4
