By Aramis

Nicolaus, an old friend of Iolaus, had arrived in town. Mind you, 'friend' was not the word Hercules would have used to describe him. It had been three years since they last met, but Hercules immediately felt his old dislike and mistrust of the warrior rekindle.

Nearly as tall as Hercules, with jet-black ringlets to his shoulders and green cat's eyes set in a sardonically handsome face, Nicolaus made a striking picture. However, it was his hands that drew the demigod's hostile gaze. Nicolaus couldn't seem to keep them off the hunter. The whole time they were talking he was petting Iolaus, stroking his arm, grasping his hand, shoulder or even his thigh, to emphasize what he was saying. He was even blatantly twisting Iolaus' curls around his fingers. Hercules and Xena caught each other's eyes and grimaced together. This was one thing they definitely agreed on: they didn't like Nicolaus.

The odd thing about it was that the hunter didn't seem to notice Nicolaus' attentions. He carried on chatting to everyone as though there was nothing either amiss or pleasurable happening to him. Gabrielle, who was meeting Nicolaus for the first time, also seemed oblivious of the warrior's actions as she chatted happily to him. He was certainly going out of his way to be pleasant to her, something he never did when dealing with Hercules or Xena. Finally, Gabrielle offered to take the newcomer on a guided tour of the town and he accepted as if it was the best invitation he'd ever had. If Xena hadn't been firmly convinced that Nicolaus' interest was the golden hunter, she might have intervened at this point.

"Are you coming, Iolaus?" Nicolaus asked, actually extending a hand to help him rise.

Iolaus reached for it, but then hesitated and glanced at Hercules. He'd been aware of Hercules' eyes upon him for some minutes and wondered what the demigod wanted. Hercules shook his head almost imperceptibly. "I'll join you later."

As soon as Gabrielle and Nicolaus had departed, Hercules rose and said, "If you'll excuse us, Xena." She nodded. He started to move off. "Come on, Iolaus!"

"Hang on a sec, Herc, I've got to finish my drink."

"*NOW!*"

Iolaus looked at Xena and smiled and shrugged. He followed Hercules through the door. To his surprise, as soon as the door closed behind him, a hand clamped onto his arm. "*OW!* What are you grabbing me for?" The demigod made no reply, but hastened up the stairs dragging the hunter after him. He reached their room, flung the hunter inside and slammed the door behind them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Iolaus stared at him in amazement. "What on earth are you talking about, Herc?" he asked, in puzzlement.

"The way you were behaving downstairs."

Iolaus' brow wrinkled. "What did I do?"

"It's more what you didn't do."

"Herc, you're not making sense."

"Sitting there in public letting that ... letting Nicolaus caress you as if you were his bloody catamite."

"What's wrong with what he was doing? He wasn't hurting anybody."

"That's your opinion!"

"Well he wasn't! He likes to touch me and it doesn't worry me."

Hercules broke in with, "Yeah, and what else do the two of you do if you're like that in public?"

"Nothing else and if we did it wouldn't be any of your business," the hunter retorted, heatedly.

"Iolaus, it's embarrassing. I want it to stop. Tell Nicolaus to keep his hands to himself."

"No! Why should I upset him?"

"Iolaus, do as I tell you!"

"No, I won't! Why should I?"

"Do it or you'll be sorry."

"*NO!*"

Hercules felt a red mist of rage engulfing him. Why did Iolaus always have to dispute things? Why couldn't he do what he was told? Without conscious thought, he grabbed the hunter's right arm and twisted it up his back, slamming him forward into the wall. "Damn you, Herc, let go of me!"

"Are you going to obey me?"

"*NO!*"

Hercules twisted harder. Iolaus' face was now white with pain. He bit his lip and winced, but made no sound. Hercules applied more pressure. Tears of agony began to roll down the hunter's cheeks, but he was determined he wasn't going to make a noise. His head was spinning, his vision blurring and his arm felt like it was on fire. The demigod gave a final twist and Iolaus cried out and fainted.

When he came to, he found himself lying on the bed, with his wrists tied together and bound to the bed-head and his legs splayed and tied to the bed-end. "What the hell ..."

"You're finally awake are you?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Herc?"

"I'm about to teach you a lesson in obedience."

"You've got no right!"

"I've got every right." He put a hand down on Iolaus' buttocks and, with a start, the hunter realized he'd been stripped. He began to struggle. Pain coursed through his right arm and he knew it was broken again. He guessed Hercules didn't know what he'd done.

"Please, Herc, my arm ..."

Hercules interrupted, "I'm not interested in anything you've got to say unless it's a promise about Nicolaus."

"But, Herc ..."

"No, Iolaus! You've brought this on yourself," he said, as he raised Iolaus' belt and brought it down across the hunter's buttocks.

The beating continued for some time. Tears of shame, upset and anger ran down the hunter's pale face. His buttocks and thighs were bruised, red and burning. Finally, a stroke brought blood and the sight brought the demigod to his senses. The red mist dispersed rapidly. Hercules stopped, looked down at the hunter and felt his heart contract. What on earth had he done and what right had he to do it? He'd never done anything like this to anyone, let alone his best friend. He quickly cut the blond free. Iolaus continued to lie where he was, his face buried in the pillow, sobbing quietly. Hercules gently rolled the hunter over on to his back. Iolaus squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to the wall.

Hercules reached out and touched the hunter's cheek. Iolaus flinched as if expecting a blow. "Iolaus." Hercules spoke softly. "Iolaus." No response. "Please open your eyes and look at me."

"*No!*"

"Iolaus, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ... shouldn't have ... I don't know why I ..." His voice trailed off.

Iolaus' incredibly blue eyes opened. They were bright with tears. "I'm s-sorry, Herc."

"You don't have to be. I'm the one that's at fault."

"I just wish ..."

"What?"

"Nothing." He closed his eyes again.

"Iolaus, it's just that ... just that ... I don't ... I don't know what to say."

The hunter muttered something.

"What?"

"Say I ... I love you." Iolaus' voice was a mere whisper.

Hercules froze. The words penetrated slowly. "How did you know what I wanted to say?" he asked, in amazement.

"I didn't. I just hoped."

Hercules' heart began to sing. "Oh, Iolaus, I do love you and I always have, but I didn't fully realize it until today. I've never felt comfortable seeing you with women, but seeing you with another man was too much."

"Herc, I've always known you were first with me, but I didn't dare hope that you'd love me in this way. I didn't say anything as our friendship was too important to me to risk."

Hercules bent forward and gently kissed the hunter's tantalizing lips. He'd never tasted anything so sweet. He felt Iolaus' mouth opening and then a tongue flicked teasingly across his lips. He opened to it. As they deepened the kiss, Hercules' hands began to explore the hunter's body. They inched down and eventually found evidence that the hunter was very excited indeed. He was tinglingly aware that Iolaus was also caressing him, although using only one hand. He was too involved with the sensations of the moment to query this.

He stood up and shed his clothing and then reached down and turned the hunter onto his side. He lay behind him lightly caressing his penis and thighs until Iolaus begged him to do more. He then took his friend in hand and began to milk him. Iolaus exploded against his hand in a violent orgasm. Hercules then pushed Iolaus onto his stomach, spread his friend's slender thighs and knelt between them. He used the hunter's cum to coat his own penis and then slid into his friend. Iolaus started to panic a bit, at the size of the member entering him, and tried to pull away, but Hercules clutched his hips firmly so this was impossible. He then began to move in and out, gradually increasing his pace and deepening his penetration. At first Iolaus struggled against the pain, but then he was caught up in the rhythm and excitement began to mount. He began to push back to meet the demigod's thrust. "Harder!" he gasped.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he could no longer think. He could only feel. Wave after wave of sensual pleasure and exquisite agony washed over him as Hercules pounded into him. They climaxed together. Iolaus had never, never felt like this. This love was like a tempest threatening to sweep him away.

He wasn't even aware that Hercules had turned him over until he felt kisses raining all over his face and neck. Reality intervened harshly at that point, as Hercules put a hand down on Iolaus' right arm to steady himself. White hot agony shot through the hunter and he cried out. Hercules rose immediately, all concern. "Iolaus, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay, Herc," Iolaus gritted, "it's j-just my arm."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it got broken again before ... before ... when ..."

Hercules looked stricken. "Iolaus, why didn't you tell me? I didn't mean ...You should have ... Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I was going to, but ... but ..." He hesitated wondering what he could say that would make Hercules feel better about what he'd done. Then he smiled a wobbly smile and continued, "But then something I'd only dreamed about began to happen and I forgot all about it."

"Oh, Iolaus, I do love you," Hercules murmured, gathering his friend carefully into his arms.

It was suppertime before the two finally emerged. Three pairs of eyes were riveted upon Iolaus' sling as they approached the dining table. "What happened?" Gabrielle asked.

"Just a little accident," the hunter replied.

"Are you all right?"

"Never better." As he spoke, he glanced up at Hercules and gave a blazing smile of such passion that Xena could not help but feel that Nicolaus' earlier behavior paled into insignificance beside such a public avowal of love. Then, as if the new state of affairs needed any emphasis, Hercules draped a proprietary arm around the hunter's shoulders and hugged him tightly to his side.

Xena glanced swiftly at Nicolaus and saw a look of devastation pass swiftly over his features before a neutral mask replaced it.

Fortunately, Gabrielle was oblivious to all this. She launched straight into an account of the day's events and this provided the other four with a chance to quietly adjust to the new situation or, at least, to adopt an appearance of having done so.

The End

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