Claude wiped away a tear and raised his head to look at Ashton. The brunette wanted Claude to meet the Ururun and Gyro from his stories...And continue his ‘education’. He was still in the dark about most things, but Claude was a very good teacher and Ashton was a VERY good student, once he got over his embarrassment.

Unfortunately for Ashton, Claude always seemed to stop just as it was getting interesting. Several times, Ashton wanted to scream with frustration when this happened. He wanted more, but he had no idea what more exactly was. Not with another male at least.

The reason Claude had been laughing so hard was that Ashton had been pinned on his back by a playful Gyro. The dragon had been usually cheerful; and when she saw Ashton, and Gyro had pounced on him like a cat on a mouse. Ururun had rolled his eyes and shook his head in disgust, not bothering to leave the comfort of their cave.

Claude, on the other hand, couldn’t contain his amusement at the situation. It was very considerate of him, but the blond just couldn’t help bursting out in uncontrollable laughter at the scene before him.

Gyro was almost a hundred times bigger than the Anchors heir, but the way she was perched on his back...she might as well have been an oversized dog. If dogs had wings, tails, scales, claws, and fangs, of course. The brunette looked so cute and helpless that, Claude couldn’t help wondering what he would look like if something, or someone else was on his back.

"Why do these things happen to me?!" Ashton wailed miserably. "Claude! Help!"

Shaking his head, Claude trotted over to where Ashton was. The blond had no idea how he was going to pull this off. He knew pushing Gyro wouldn’t do any good, so he tried pulling Ashton out instead, but with little success. He took a step back to evaluate the situation.

A dragon that weight a great deal more than him and Ashton combined was perched happily on Ashton’s back, not hurting him in the process, with Ashton begging to get free. Normally, Claude would have just fought the dragon and lead it away from the victim, but Gyro was Ashton’s friend, if a person could think of a female dragon as a friend. Which meant that he couldn’t use that tactic or hurt Gyro in any way. The blond warrior was at a lost at what to do. Luckily Ururun came to the rescue.

Ururun, fed up with this stupidity, got up and walked over to where Gyro was. Using the flat side of his head, the blue dragon whacked Gyro so that she lost her balance and stumbled to the side a bit. While Gyro was tipsy, Claude quickly pulled Ashton to his feet and led him further out into the clearing. By the looks of things, Ururun and Gyro were going to be busy with each other in a moment, the annoyance in Gyro’s eyes told Ashton that she was not a happy dragon anymore. He urged Claude on, without words, to go farther into the forest. Claude nodded and led the way back to their campsite. When they reached their destination, only then did Claude feel that it was alright to talk.

"Gyro seemed to be in a good mood," Claude joked. Ashton was dusting himself off, but he stopped to glare at Claude.

"I’m glad you’re so amused," Ashton mocked. He raised one eyebrow in question and gave Claude the best smug look he could manage. "I thought guards were supposed to protect the one that hired them."

"From things that would injure you," reminded Claude, not losing his cool. "Not from an over-excited dragon."

Ashton scowled at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "I hate you," he said plainly. That caused Claude to get a coy look in his eyes.

"You hate me, huh?"

In two strides, the blond was at Ashton’s side. The blond warrior pulled the brunette closer by wrapping his arms around Ashton’s waist and reeled him in. Ashton was startled by Claude’s actions, but he made no move to leave. In fact, if anything, Ashton stepped closer to Claude, the scowl replaced by a sensual smile. He knew what was coming. He was ready for what was coming. "Let me try to change your mind then," Claude said, right before kissing Ashton gently on the lips. Practically melting into the kiss, Ashton leaned into Claude’s body, wrapping his arms around the smaller man’s chest.

Ashton closed his eyes. Now that he knew what he was doing at this stage of the game, he wasn’t shy about getting started. Flicking his tongue against Claude’s bottom lip, he asked for entrance, which the blond easily gave. Claude put his tongue to good use. Soon, the two of them were in the middle of a heated, wet tongue war.

Normally the rustle of leaves wouldn’t be enough to catch Claude’s interest, yet something told him to take notice of it. Slowly breaking off from the kiss, Claude focused his attentions upon where the sound came from. Ashton groaned softly and sought out Claude’s lips once more, but a hand over his lips stopped him. Blinking, the brunette opened his eyes to see what was going on. The worried look on his guard’s face made Ashton realize that he wasn’t thinking about kissing anymore.

Ashton removed Claude’s hand and called his name. "Claude?"

"Stay quiet," Claude instructed. "There’s something out there."

"It could just be a rabbit or something," Ashton suggested. Yet he did back off to give Claude room in case he had to fight. The two stood no more than a few steps apart, tense, for a good three minutes. When the tension drained out of Claude’s body, Ashton sighed softly.

The mood was ruined, but at least nothing had happened. Although the blond warrior still felt uneasy, at least now he knew for certain that there was someone watching them. Trying to play it cool, Claude leaned over and gave Ashton a quick peck on the cheek, before whispering in his ear.

"There’s someone in the forest. Act normal, but be careful." Ashton nodded slightly and, reluctantly, pulled away from the blond.

"Well, the mood’s been ruined. What can we do now?" Ashton asked, straightening his clothes. He did his best to force his mind and body to think of something else other than what this ‘lesson’ with Claude would lead to. On the outside, he managed to do pretty well in controlling himself, but on the inside... It was a good thing that Ashton wasn’t the one who would have to defend the two of them if anything happened.

"We could always go back to see Gyro," Claude suggested, running a hand through his hair. Ashton gave him a quick look that said, ‘you have got to be kidding.’ Claude snickered, which only served to make Ashton even more peeved. "Or not."

"We might as well start heading back home, since there’s nothing left to do here." Ashton hoped that once they reached home Claude would be more persuaded to start another lesson.

Claude shrugged and moved to gather their belongings. While Claude was busy dong that, Ashton glanced into the forest; trying to see if he could spot what had given Claude the hint that they were being watched. A flash of red caught his eye before it disappeared. That must have been what the blond warrior had seen. And if Ashton had been able to catch it...

He swallowed and wished he hadn’t left his swords at home. Claude was his guard, but he didn’t want the blond to get hurt because of him. Now he knew why everyone said not to become too friendly with your guard or guards, some people needed more than one.

But Rena was close friends with Dias, but then again she also had her little bit of magic to help him. As did Noel... Ashton swallowed again and prayed that there would be nothing in the forest that Claude, or he himself unarmed, couldn’t handle.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Ashton inquired, coming over. Until they were safe, out of this forest, Ashton had promised himself that he wouldn’t leave the blonde’s side.

"You can help me carry these things, " suggested Claude. He stood up and tossed Ashton a rolled up blanket. Just as Ashton caught the blanket, it seemed that the person in the woods decided to come out. For what reason, the Anchors heir couldn’t fathom.

"Well. Well. What have we here? Anchors! Good to see you again. How are your parents? Still well, I hope?" a voice said loudly as the person came out of the bushes.

Ashton and Claude turned to the voice. They saw the last person they ever expected to ever see again. There was Yarou, coming out of the forest with the smuggest look on his face. Ashton heard Claude mutter curses under his breath, some that would make even a sailor swear chastity, and looked at the blond worriedly. Unconsciously, the two of them moved closer together and away from Yarou.

"But Anchors, you must tell me. What are you doing out here, in the middle of nowhere, with a sex slave of all people as company?" Yarou inquired, eyeing Claude. "They can’t be good for much other than a lay, if they’re even good at that."

"What I do and who I go with is my business alone and I don’t think I have to share it with you. And I’ll have you know Yarou, Claude has been hired as my guard," Ashton told him. "He’s good enough to skewer you if you try anything, and there’s nothing the law can say against it. I’ll claim it was an act of self-defense."

"I’d like to see him try," another voice added. "He’ll probably fail, like last time. What you have there, Master Anchors, is nothing more than a pretty face, trying to do more than he can."

This time, it was Shin who stepped out into the clearing. The man had the same smug look on his face as Yarou. Ashton felt an uneasy something settle in his gut at the sight of them sharing the same look. All that could spell for him and Claude is trouble, with a capital ‘T’.

"Hello Claude," Shin called, in a voice that practically dripped with oil and filth. "What are you doing out here in a forest so far away from civilization? I thought you’d be either training with some roughs in a bar, or watching me, waiting for the right chance to kill me. You did promise to kill me as soon as you got free of me."

"I owe a debt to someone. I intend to repay that debt before taking you down with me to hell," Claude bit out. "So, I’m not completely free yet. You’d better be glad for that because that’s the only reason you’re still alive right now."

Claude was focused more on Shin and didn’t particularly pay any special attention to Yarou. Ashton didn’t think that was the smartest thing in the world for the blond to do. While Shin had been the one who owned Claude, Yarou had the reputation for being merciless. That made Ashton more wary of him than of Shin. It also helped that Ashton knew Yarou and what he could do, while Claude knew Shin and what he was capable of.

"What are you doing here Yarou?" Ashton demanded, looking the man straight in the eye. "I don’t see any reason for you to be here. In fact, how do you even know of this location?"

Yarou gave a small chuckle and winked at Ashton. Ashton just glared harder at him. "I believe that I, as well, don’t have to tell you why I’m here. As for knowing about this location... Well, I simply followed you two here." When he was done talking, Yarou licked his lips. The brunette noticed the predatory glint in his eyes, but he had no time to think about it as Yarou started to talk again. "Besides, there’s something that I want to do that would be much easier to do where there is no one around to hear two young men cry for help."

"What the?" But Ashton was never able to get his question out because something caught Claude’s eye and instinct took over.

"Ashton!" Claude drew his sword, shoved Ashton aside, and seemingly slashed at the empty air. Ashton stumbled a few steps before he was able to regain his balance. When he looked again, brushing his bangs away from his face, at Claude’s feet lay two pieces of a single broken arrow.

Ashton’s eyes widened. He snapped his head towards the direction that Claude was looking. That’s when he realized that the person who had launched that arrow wasn’t hidden anymore. Nor were they alone. Yarou and Shin smirked as countless henchmen and women stepped out of the forest and encompassed the entire clearing.

Ashton swallowed and rushed to Claude’s side. Whatever happened, the brunette was never going to let the blond out of his sight, or get too far away from him.

I don’t know why, but I feel that if I let Claude out of my sight now, I’m going to loose him. Ashton thought. The two young men readied themselves and stood in their normal fighting stances. Yarou and Shin seemed to pay no attention to the brunette’s mood, or the blonde’s for that matter.

"Before we can get to the fun I have planned, I’m afraid we are going to have to separate you two," Yarou stated. "Shin? Would you tell these good people to do their jobs? I want to find a good spot to watch the show." Shin’s mouth curved into a predatory half-smirk. By some silent signal that neither Claude nor Ashton picked up, all the fighters surrounding them charged and attacked.......