Page 29 of Love, Will

Yours,

Rich”

I turned the folio round and saw Henry’s name instead of mine. That bastard, I swore to put my fist up his nose the next time I saw him. He not only lied and sneakily tricked the Earl, but made him so upset, because he thought I wanted to leave.

When I realised the matter of my Lord’s anguish, it felt as though the sun shone inside my chest. Henry’s discontent wasn’t caused by the kiss. He was upset because he thought I was leaving and plotting with Richard to get away from him. I smiled widely, but before I could display my grin, I felt Henry’s glove on my face, slamming me hard across the cheek.

“How dare you laugh at my pain!” he shouted again, tears coming down his face. “How dare you!” He looked at me with amazement and a dash of disgust, like he couldn’t believe I dared to mock him in such a painful situation.

I did not care for propriety anymore; so I stepped closer to him, grabbed him by the neck and pulled him close to me, to my mouth, and started kissing him. Our lips conjoined and recognized each other from the first second of them touching. They took control and began caressing one another, tongues following soon after. First gently, barely brushing and then scraping deep inside.

I released Henry’s nape, which I had strongly grabbed and relaxed my palm on his face, grazing his jaw with my thumb and forming slow, lazy circles on his neck. Both his hands travelled to my back, pulling me towards him as if he wanted his chest and mine to become one. We shared a long, unashamed series of kisses, stopping from time to time to look into each other’s eyes or smile, then continue yet again.

By the time we finished devouring each other, our lips turned numb and purple, swollen with the other’s taste still lingering. We remained embraced, pressing our foreheads together as if our partner was the pillar who sustained our entire existence. Henry looked up at me and whispered, “I love you.” Then, so slowly, rested his head on my shoulder.

I held him tight, caressed his long hair and placed a kiss on his earlobe. “I love you too, Henry.”

We spent the entire day in the study, skipping dinner and only asking for some cheese and wine, having the picnic I so desperately dreamed about right there on the floor. We ate and kissed and hugged some more, caressing each other gently, almost chastely, worshiping every new part of the body we unveiled throughout the day.

“What happens now?” Henry asked, while kissing the fingers of my right hand. He said he always wanted to do that, ever since he saw how they were covered in ink most of the time from my careless writing sessions.

“We live, and we love,” I said, smiling.

For the following months, I wrote Henry a sonnet every day andThe Rape of Lucrece was published with a love dedication to the Earl for the whole of London to read, but only for us to understand.

“Will,

The plague danger has passed and the theatre will be reopened next week. We have rebooked your room at the inn.

Meet us on Saturday with your newest plays.

Finally, something good happened, eh?

Richard”

That afternoon, Henry and I had a long conversation about our situation and how we wanted to continue, now that I was to return to the theatre house. We had spent the past few weeks kissing in hallways, caressing each other on the fields or holding hands in the garden at times we knew all servants were elsewhere. But London was a different matter.

We were both risking our lives should anyone suspect a sentiment bigger than friendship connected us, so we decided to continue as patron and playwright. With me living at the inn and visiting him whenever an opportune moment arose.

On my last day at the villa, I arranged all the documents and letters into extensive files and sorted through all his correspondence. Henry popped in and out, visibly affected by my departure and trying not to look too bitter. He allowed me space to gather my belongings and say my goodbyes to Keith and some footmen I had become friends with and only asked to spend time with me at supper. When I arrived in the dining room, he was already there, waiting for me, at the top of the table seat beneath the portrait that could not reflect his beauty on that particular night.

His hair was down, and he wore only a white shirt, untied at the neck along with a simple pair of black trousers, that looked too casual on that godly form of his. My love greeted me with a sad smile, which I returned and sat on his left, like I always used to. He transferred his smile from me into the wine cup from which he drank deeply, then sighed.

“I will miss you, Henry,” I gasped out, knowing there were things we needed to say for both our sanities. I had a heaviness in my stomach that pressed on my insides, making it painful to breathe. I knew he must have felt the same because he remained silent, staring into his wine cup and not in my direction.

The table was filled with food, dried meats, boar, cheeses and fruit, even apricot pastries, my favourites, but we did not care. I looked down at my plate, playing with a piece of sausage while Henry kept sighing and drinking.

“Promise me nothing will change between us,” he finally murmured.

“Henry, I am unconditionally infatuated with you and I will love you until my soul is melted in the barrels of hell.” I did not care about the maids behind us. They had heard every single conversation we ever had and one more condemning gesture did not make any difference, so I reached out and grabbed his hand over the table.

At first he remained still, then his fingers started caressing mine and we slowly stroked each other’s skin for a few minutes. I enjoyed and tried to memorize every touch, every callus made by the sword in his palms, not knowing when I would be able to touch him again. He sighed and let go of my hand, standing from his seat with determination.

“Follow me,” he whispered and started to leave the dining room.

I did as told and rose from my seat as well, slowly walking after him, unsure as to where we were going until I realised we headed up the stairs leading to the floor where our chambers were.

Henry walked slowly, trying not to make noise and listening for my steps behind his own. Sometimes he turned his head just slightly and threw me a reassuring side smile. I found myself in front of a delicately carved wooden door with Henry pushing it open, taking a step in and urging me to join. With the silent invitation, he left the door open and walked towards a massive wooden bed, sculpted with lions and Greek elements on all four pillars. He threw some cushions on the floor and splayed himself on the bed, then turned towards the door to search for me, his glance wide and sincere.

I entered the room and slowly, so slowly, pushed the door closed, making sure there was no one in the hallway to see me. I approached the Earl and remained standing in front of him. He threw me the most beautiful smile, then moved to the side of the bed, making enough space so I could sit down with him and reached for my hand, which I gladly gave him.

He eagerly grabbed it, holding it like a treasure, and kissed my fingers one by one.

“This is the hand that brings it all to life,” he said, while caressing my index finger with the tip of his tongue. Heat rose inside my body, on my lower abdomen and pulling through my back, all the way down. Henry’s eyes darted towards my pants. It was now visible how I felt and the effect he had on me.

My muse smiled, pleased, and stood from the mattress, still holding my hand. We were facing each other and only a few centimeters lingered between our lips. Henry was breathing into me deeply and I parted my lips to receive that life giving air. I leaned to him and rested my hands on his hips, pulling him towards me, pressing our chests together and kissed him.

His tongue scraped the roof of my mouth, claiming it. Overbearing passion trapped us to the point where Henry grabbed my back, leaving marks in his trail while I pulled his hair, wanting more of him, trying to go deeper into that kiss. I felt Henry’s excitement grazing onto my own, almost ripping his pants open, and I wanted to touch that part of him. I looked down to see the growth, and he murmured, “Look at what you do to me, Will.”

One look forced me to let go of the reins of civility and pushed him onto the bed, straddling him and pressing myself hard on him while pinning his arms up and pushing my mouth onto his. I licked those lips and worshipped his neck, filling it with kisses and tasting the sweat behind his earlobe. Henry’s moan gathered fire in my insides, which begged for release.

He pulled my hair and scratched my back, dragging me closer onto him and pressing our bodies together, his legs wrapped around my thighs, squeezing my hips and pulling the shirt off my back. I shifted just a little, allowing him to undress me as I did the same, pulling at his shirt while trying not to lose his mouth in between movements.

Henry pushed himself upwards, making me lose my balance, falling on the side of the bed. He ground over my hips, feeling the hardness of me and rubbing himself against the already sensitive area. His hands moved slowly, dragging his fingers lower and lower on my abdomen, while kissing the marks he left behind. His mouth was moving towards my groin and I could not get enough of his soft lips and moist tongue on me. I got harder and harder, almost begging for release when he finally grabbed me and squeezed tight, leaving mercy aside.

“Henry…” I rasped. But he said nothing and unbuttoned my pants, allowing my solid part to spring out and meet the object of its desires.

“Henry…” I could barely breathe. “Please, I don’t think I will be able to stop this time.”

“We are going all the way this time, Will,” Henry uttered the words while rubbing my cock. I gasped and finally, after all these months of repressed desire, allowed myself to be fully ravished by the man I loved. His hands explored parts of me he didn’t have access to before, and I moaned with exquisite pleasure. The Earl pressed his mouth on mine, clashing our tongues and teeth together while his fingers moved tightly around my end.

I could not bear it any longer and had to do the same to him. I had to feel his length in my hand and caress that velvety toughness. So I pulled my body upward and laid him on his back, pinning his abdomen with my left arm while using my other one to unbutton his pants. As soon as I did, his member jumped out, hard and silken and desperate for attention. I did not know what and how to do it, but I remembered some of Richard’s tales and my own experiences at the brothel, so I grabbed it with my hand and rubbed gently, then touched the tip with my tongue.

My lover escaped a pleading sound, which gave me hope and more courage. I must have been doing something right. He wanted to rise from the bed but I pinned his chest and continued to lick around, first slowly but then deeper, opening my mouth wider and taking part of him in my mouth. He splayed out on the bed and started moaning again. Sometimes I could hear little gasps or him trying to mutter world like, “Fuck Will...that’s….” or “Oh God…” Which gave me encouragement and reminded me of my own satisfactory sounds, so I knew he must be enjoying himself. Henry’s cock twitched and thickened and I knew he was close to release so I started squeezing and rubbing harder until his joy left a white proof in my hand.

I admired him as he gasped for air, his face flushed and eyes wide. “Come to me, Will,” he whispered, extending his hand to reach mine and pull me into the bed. He rested on his back and spread his hips wide enough to allow me on top of him. I lay on his chest and kissed his pectorals, caressing his shoulders while he gently scratched my back.

“I want everything with you, Henry,’’ I breathed.

“Me too, Will,” he replied, pulling my face towards his mouth and kissing me again, this time harder, more passionate. I grabbed his jawline with my fingers, cupping his face, and kissed him wildly, my lips crushing into his.

I couldn’t kiss him deeply enough, could not pull him closer enough to calm that ravenous desire. The sentiment must have mirrored through him, because he clasped his hips harder on me, making our erect members touch each other, then he slowly turned his back on me, stretching under, pushing his curves in front of me.

I grabbed him by the sides of the hips and rose on my knees, making him bend over on his own and embraced him from behind, resting my head on his back. I slowly kissed every inch of him that I could reach and gently caressed his back while playing with his erect member from behind.

Henry moaned and took my cock with his free hand, squeezed and rubbed to make it as hard as his own already was, then pulled it towards his behind, showing me the entrance. I nudged at it and paused, trying to calm the fire burning inside me and admiring Henry’s shape, his ass and curly long hair falling on his back. I had desired this man for years and he would finally be mine.

I pushed inside him slowly, trying to make my way into the tight space without causing him pain, using my own saliva to ease my member through. At the first contact, he groaned, his muscles tightening around me, but after a few seconds, his form relaxed and allowed me to enter him.

Once I filled him with me, I halted, giving his body time to adjust around mine, before I pulled back slightly and pushed in again, faster and deeper this time, keeping my movements calm enough to let him get used to me. I caressed his back, and he stretched his hand, grabbing mine, our fingers intertwined, urging me to move again, thrust again, slow and deep until all my length reached inside Henry.

Only then I stopped and bent over to kiss his back while rubbing the tip of his length. He groaned, and I knew it was alright for me to continue, so I moved inside him, harder and faster, pushing into him all the need, all the urges and repressed fantasies I had kept hidden. I slammed into him, hard and fast, grabbing his hips for support and moving with veracity, until the very last strand of strength in me became faded and appeased.

He was gasping and grabbing the side of the bed column, moaning with each pounding stroke. “Faster, Will…” he breathed.

So I pumped ravenously into him, for all the times I dreamt about if and for all the days we had to stop our desire from fear of the world and fear of ourselves.

“My beloved,

I am afraid I must postpone my visit to London for a few days. I received an urgent order from court, as Her Majesty wishes to see me immediately. I miss you with every part of me; I miss your lips and your touch.

I promise to come to you as soon as I can; I need more Will.

Love,

Yours always,

H”

“My love,

I heard the news, all of London is talking about it, please, I beg thee reconsider, five thousand pounds is an enormous price to pay and I shan’t be responsible for the loss of your future and title. You must accept the marriage and I will always eternally love you from afar.

Please reconsider.

With all my heart,

Will”

“My dearest,

A world with titles and beautiful mansions that lacks the presence of the man I so deeply love is not what I desire. Mother and the Viscount are discussing with the Queen to allow me to keep the titles and only pay the fine for disobeying Her Majesty. Will, you are my everything. I will gladly pay my fortune to have you next to me tonight.

I will be with you soon.

H”

“My shining star,

The memory of your lips illuminates my darkest moments. I cannot avoid feeling conflicted. I have nothing to offer you, only my heart and soul, which will eternally be yours. I miss you like the wilted August crops miss the drops of rain. Every night I dream of your embrace, your body on mine.

I adore you, Henry.

Eternally,

Will”

“To the poet of my heart,

What we lived is worth more than all the coin in England and I burn with the desire of your embrace. I shall be with you in a few days. Make sure your needn’t act in any plays, I will not allow you to leave the bed.

Cannot wait to make you mine,

H”

I was too tired to stay with the men after the afternoon’s play, so I went to the innkeeper to ask for a bowl of stew and some ale to be delivered to my room. I knew it would cost me a shilling, but at that moment I cared little for coin and only wanted to stay in my bed and think about Henry.

“Supper is already up, Master Shakespeare!” the innkeeper said. “As requested by your guest.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “My guest?”

“Yes, Master, a young man with long wavy hair, very well dressed. He said he is a patron to the theatre or something like that?”

I smiled widely and thanked him, skipping three stairs at a time to get to my room. When I unlocked the door, I found Henry laid on the bed, wearing only a long shirt over his naked legs. He smiled seductively and said, “Wonderful love story tonight at the theatre. Care to show me how it’s done?”

I jumped on him, pinning him to the bed, and found his lips in a split second, pressing my tongue into his mouth, eagerly and avidly, showing him how much I missed his taste. He grabbed my hair and pulled briskly, moaning into my mouth.

“Is this how you kiss the men at the theatre, Will?” he huffed, offended.

“We did a pastoral tonight.” I breathed into his mouth, not wanting to let him go. “And it’s only you I kiss like this,” I added, reassuring him.

“Are you only planning to kiss me tonight?” he purred, lifting his shirt to remain completely naked under me.

“I plan on doing a lot of things to you tonight,” I said while grabbing his already hard cock.

For the following six months, my Earl and I tasted true freedom.  After paying the fine to the Queen, he managed to keep his title but his mother, the countess and his step-father the viscount decided it was best for him to live in London and be close to the court to attend meetings and events as and when needed. Of course, Henry accepted immediately. This way we could be close to each other without raising suspicion, so he remained at his London residence while I stayed in my usual room at the inn, visiting him as often as I could.

There had been mornings when I arrived late to the rehearsal because the Earl demanded passionate morning sex and I remained locked in his chamber until I fulfilled my duties, or surprise visits at the theatre in which Henry would just appear out of nowhere in the stalls and make me forget my lines.

I remember one time; we were doing Henry VI, and he just sat on the stalls on the left side gallery, knowing I would immediately spot him and started eating a peach with sensual wickedness. I was in the middle of a monologue when my eyes jumped on his lips, licking and sucking the sweetness of that fruit after which he proceeded to lick his fingers, so torturously slow, one by one until his lips turned red and all the sweetness gathered on his mouth. I completely lost sense of where I was and only focused on the urge that every single part of me demanded, to walk to him and kiss that naughty mouth of his. Fortunately, Richard, who was on the stage at the time, whispered the lines to me and I repeated after him, bluntly, unable to shift my eyes from my beloved.

That night, I became the peach and Henry licked every part of me, lovingly mocking the playwright who forgot the lines he himself created.

“This is what you do to me, you wicked, beautiful man,” I whispered as I filled him from behind, bending on his back to be able to smell his hair.

He moaned in approval and a few seconds later he breathed, “I like being a priority.” After I spilled inside of him, I turned him round and kneeled in front of the man who had become my all, kissing his abdomen.

I looked up to see his face. “Henry, you are more than a priority, you are my everything and I so...love you,” I murmured between kisses, making him chuckle and tease the poet who could not put two words together at the sight of his muse.

“Do you love me more than theatre?” he smiled lazily, caressing my cheek.

“Henry, I love you more than life.”

My beloved came of age on the 6th of October 1594 on a rainy Thursday and we celebrated the night together. In the morning he had to leave for the court as the Queen and nobility would celebrate him becoming a man with a feast and dance to which, of course, I was not invited.

So, Henry insisted on spending the night of his twenty first birthday in my arms, if we could not spend the entire day together. I was joyous when he suggested it as I did not expect him to postpone his visit to the court by morning and give me the valuable time instead.

I went to his house as soon as the play finished and found him waiting in the dining room, with a feast of all my favourite foods, white shirt, hair loose. Since we started being together, he stopped wearing elements of propriety in my presence and only kept on the bare minimum to make him look dressed enough. We both knew those clothes would not stay on him for long, so there was no point in keeping vests, jackets and jewelry, which would only delay us in our passion.

We dined and talked, just as we used to do in the days when friendship was our only connection and when Henry ordered the cakes to be brought up, I reached for my satchel and pulled out a block of pages wrapped in the nicest green ribbon I could find in the shop and handed them to Henry, slightly ashamed.

“What is this?” he smiled, surprised.

“It is a birthday present,” I murmured.

“A present? Will!” He grabbed the pages excitedly.

“I am sorry it is not more,” I whispered, ashamed. I would have bought him the Queen’s crown if I could.

After examining the pages, I heard him saying, “Will, I don’t need any more jewelry or fine clothes. I have a lifetime of that. And they will fade or rip apart, but your work will live forever.” He was delighted with his present and kept turning the pages, reading only a few lines each time.

“I will read it on the road tomorrow and think of you. What is it about?....Romeo and Juliet?”

“It is about how much I love you.” I smiled when our eyes met. “Put in a dramatic play for the theatre,” I added.

“For the theatre?” his eyes widened. “You will play this? At the theatre? My play?” Henry gasped excitedly.

“Only if it pleases you.” I nodded.

“Let me show you how much it pleases me,” he grinned and stood abruptly, the not-so-subtle signal we had grown accustomed to. I knew where he was going and that I was supposed to follow him to his chambers so I rose from my seat as well and took a few steps towards the door when I bumped into Henry returning abruptly into the dining room. “I forgot my present.” He smiled and reached for the pages left on his side of the table, then walked past me with a smile. He climbed the stairs slowly, holding my play to his chest as if it were a valuable possession, his hair flurrying in the air. I waited a minute and then proceeded up the stairs myself, forgetting about all the cakes that remained abandoned on the table. I reached his door and eagerly pushed it open to find Henry by the window, looking into the horizon.

After taking a minute to admire my loved, I locked it from the inside, then walked towards my Earl and reached for his waist. He relaxed in my arms as I held him tight from behind while touching his neck with my lips to leave a trail of kisses.

“I will become a man tonight,” he whispered.

“You will,” I said, continuing to kiss his neck and making my way to his earlobe.

He sighed, visibly worried. I felt a heaviness on his chest and knew he was anguished from all the responsibility coming into his path, so I squeezed him harder in my arms. He relaxed and turned to face me, resting his hands on my shoulders.

“Then let me become a man in your arms,” he murmured and kissed me so painfully slowly, as if he wanted to stop time and make this night last forever.

I followed his rhythm and let him take the lead. I would not ravish his body, but worship him in every way I could. I laid him on the bed and caressed every part of him with my tongue, focusing on that hard velvety member until he forgot his worries and moaned with pleasure, pulling hard on the bed sheet whenever I took him into my mouth. After he emptied his troubles into my hands, he became more passionate and savage, taking control in a way he never did before.

My love was on top of me, playing with my hard member, when he halted and stared into my eyes. “Will, I want you tonight,” he said while bending towards my lower self to follow what I had just done to him.

“You have me, Henry,” I moaned as I felt his tongue on me, playing in wide circles.

“I want to do everything to you,” he rasped before taking me deep, so deep, into his mouth.

I gasped. He sucked me so strongly that I could almost barely say, “Do to me what you will.” Before losing control of myself and stretching on my back. I could not last much. He was so devotedly pleasing me; I would spill in seconds.

“Henry…” I moaned. He did not stop. “Henry, I am about to finish,” I almost shouted, trying to remove his mouth from me. His arms pinned me to the bed, pressing both his palms on my abdomen and preventing me from moving while continuing to suck rapidly on me. I could not contain myself and spilled onto his tongue while growling like a beast caught in a trap. The Earl did not seem to mind at all and continued to tingle me with his tongue until I rode the last waves of my pleasure.

I looked at him, ashamed, but he gazed back and smiled, wiping his mouth. “There is yet another thing I want to do to you tonight.” He smirked wickedly before turning me on my back and grabbing my hips. I bent over on a set of pillows and exposed all of me, while slowly separating my legs to give him better access.

He approached from behind until I felt his hardness poking at my backside. Henry bent over on top of me and kissed my back. “I love you,” he whispered while positioning himself.

“I love you birthday boy,” I murmured and took a deep breath to show him I was ready.

He grabbed my hips and slowly started penetrating me, millimeter by millimeter, stopping often to allow me to adjust to his thickness and bending over to kiss my back. I continuously moaned, sometimes with pain and sometimes with pleasure, until all of Henry’s length reached inside me. He pressed hard, joining us to make sure I had taken him in completely and let me know there would be no more pain.

When I relaxed my back, he gently scratched it and pulled back slowly, then pushed in again. One by one, his thrusts became faster and deeper, until he was savagely pumping into me. I moaned in pleasure and pain. Henry’s thickness was not easy to have inside, yet I hardened at the thought of being filled by him and enjoyed the brushing sensation of having his cock splay me so deeply.

The clock on the hallway struck twelve and while the gongs shouted the time, Henry deepened and increased in velocity until he spilled inside me with a barbaric roar. After a few seconds, he pulled back and dropped next to me on the mattress, panting from the effort. I rolled to face him and smiled. “Happy birthday,” I whispered.

He kissed my brow and grabbed me in his arms, caressing my ribs with lazy strokes.

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