Shooting Star

by Clonesgirl

---

“Sir, did you see it?”

Indeed Captain Sir Edward Pellew had seen it - a brilliant shooting star that in mere seconds left a trail across the heavens only to disappear from view in the darkness of the starboard horizon.

“I did, Mr Hornblower.”  He glanced at his companion to see his profile illumined by the light of a lantern, his face still raised to the canopy of stars above them, his eyes closed.  Youth’s eternal optimism, he decided, noting for the thousandth time the young man’s beauty.  Deliberately, he stepped closer, his voice soft.

“Making a wish, Mr Hornblower?”

Hornblower’s eyes opened and he turned to face his commanding officer, his gaze steady as he murmured, “Yes, sir.”

“Then I pray that your wish comes true, sir.”

“No matter what it is, sir?”

Pellew’s gaze was equally steady.

“No matter what it is.”

*

At the end of watch Edward Pellew decided to deliberately tempt fate for he, too, had made a wish.  In his opinion it was no doubt a foolish one, but he had made it nonetheless.  If the young man had noticed he had no doubt assumed that his Captain had wished perhaps for the safety of the ship, the well-being of her crew, or an end to the war.  However, far from these idealistic notions, he had wished only for one thing - he had wished for the impossible.  Against his not-inconsiderable will, he had wished that this very night he might hold the
beautiful young man in his arms.

Longing for Hornblower’s company and yet unable to show favouritism, Captain Pellew was trapped.  His thoughts were consumed by his youthful lieutenant and he knew it.  Breaking with his customary behaviour to the extent of asking the shy young stripling to his quarters once a week at the end of watch was as far as his own self-imposed discipline would allow him to go.  He dared not ask for more, yet how he yearned for it.  His dreams were haunted by forbidden images of lust and tenderness for he could not escape from his sole
obsession even in sleep.

He had kept their conversations light, allowing Hornblower to ask him private questions which he always willingly answered.  In turn, he had delved into the younger man’s life, wanting to know more and still more and never satisfied.  Tonight he noticed that Hornblower seemed to be studying him closely, though indeed he had oft caught the young man watching him when he thought himself unobserved.  So, at change of shift, he had invited Hornblower to his quarters for a glass of port, deliberately putting his fate - and that of his companion - in the lap of the gods.

Sitting on opposite sides of the table, the two men sipped their port quietly.  ‘Indefatigable’, riding a gentle swell, was at peace with the night, her endless babble - the creaking of her wooden hull and the sounds of her sails flapping in a soft breeze - reassuring the two men that all was well with her, for she was the world that they had chosen.  She was the mother that they protected, succoured and defended with their lives.

"May I ask, sir, have you ever been in love?"

Somewhat startled, Pellew looked sharply across the table at his young lieutenant before answering quietly, "Yes.  Yes, I have.”

I have, and I am, he thought, gazing into the very eyes of the object of all his affection.  Somehow he managed to keep his voice normal as he found himself inquiring the same of his companion.

“I...”  Hornblower looked down briefly, as though searching for the appropriate words.  “Yes, sir, I believe I have - and am,” he added, his voice so low as to barely be audible to the senior officer.

But who is it that you love, my dear one? his Captain dared not inquire.  Who is it who owns your heart?  Some pretty girl you left behind?

“The one who owns your heart is most fortunate, Mr Hornblower.  Does she realise it?”

“Uh, no, sir.”

Captain Pellew took a sip of port, his eyes never leaving those of his companion.  “How so, Mr Hornblower?”

Hornblower gave a small shrug of embarrassment.  “I... have not spoken of it, sir.”

“Dear me.  I trust that this situation will not continue indefinitely.  Is your intended then reluctant?  Or is there some other impediment?”

“I... am not sure, sir.”

“Forgive the impertinence but do you then believe that the lady might spurn you?”

Hornblower took a deep breath.  “It... is a possibility.”  He looked down at the table top, his gaze forlorn.

“Captain, may I enquire how...?" he faltered.  "How do you... make your feelings known when... when you are unsure if they could ever be returned?" he asked awkwardly, his long fingers fiddling with the stem of his goblet and turning it around.

Pellew took the question seriously, studying his young officer carefully.  "In your opinion, sir, is the situation hopeless?"

Hornblower swallowed and hesitated before answering, "I pray not, sir."

"In that event, sir, you must be bold.  Faint heart never won fair lady.  You must have the courage of your convictions.”

Hornblower's eyes closed for a moment before his chin lifted, his large eyes meeting those of his captain, his gaze intense.

"I would hope that I have the courage, sir."

Pellew gazed back at him, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his sensual mouth.  "Then take action, sir.  Be forthright, and take what your heart desires."

"Yes, sir.  I shall do as you say.  I..." for a moment he gazed at the polished surface of the table, "...I shall be forthright then, bold even, and if it costs me all that I hold dear, then so be it.”

Costs him?  Dear God!  Edward Pellew found his heart thudding.  If only the young man’s love might be for him.  Somehow he managed to keep his voice calm.

“Mr Hornblower, if your intended should turn you down, then she is not deserving of the love you bear her.”

Hornblower shook his head.  “Surely, sir, people are spurned in love every day.  Why should I be any different?”

“Because you are an exceptionally gifted young man, fair of face and pure of heart.  If you... should be spurned - and let me say that I do not believe for one moment that you will be - then you must not despair but find another, one who is deserving of all that you have to give.”

Pellew sipped his port, his eyes all the while never leaving his companion’s as Hornblower absorbed his words.

“Has it occurred to you that the one your heart so desires might also love you most dearly but perhaps be shielding those tender emotions for the sake of... fear?”

“Fear, sir?”

“Fear of being spurned - even imaginary fears - may cause people to remain silent for years.  Many fear so greatly that they never speak their heart at all and so never know if they might have been accepted.”

Pellew observed his companion as Hornblower absorbed his words.

“I... believe that you may be right, sir.  Perhaps it is better to speak.”

Edward Pellew could not help but smile at the determination in Hornblower’s voice.  “And damn the consequences, eh?”

Hornblower’s lips pursed as he nodded.  “Consequences be damned, sir.”

Pellew’s gaze conveyed his amusement and admiration.  “Indeed, sir!”

Hornblower drained what was left of his port, placed his glass on the table and took a deep breath before turning once more to his commanding officer, his lips set, his chin lifted.  To Edward Pellew, who had long studied the facial expressions and mannerisms of the younger man, this meant that he had come to a decision.  As Hornblower rose to his feet he expected the young officer to ask permission to leave, however, his companion remained silent and, instead of leaving, walked around the table until he stood behind him.

In silence, the sound of his excited heart beating in his ears, Edward Pellew resisted the urge to turn and see what his companion was doing, instead remaining seated in the firm belief that whatever the young man had planned he would not have long to wait.

Listening keenly, he heard Hornblower’s footsteps cease right behind him and knew that he was standing very close indeed.  After a moment of expectant silence he felt his shoulders grasped and firmly held.

For Pellew, the feel of his handsome young officer’s warm, long-fingered hands on his shoulders left him stunned.  Yearning to enquire if this truly meant what he could only assume that it meant, he was yet speechless, thunderstruck by the absolute courage and fortitude of the one who was most dear to him in all the world.  Hornblower’s simple act of placing his hands on his shoulders caused the breath to catch in his lungs.  His eyes closed as for the first time he dared to hope that this fetching youth, who had so captured his heart from the day he first came aboard, might feel the same way.

After what seemed an eternity to the experienced, older man, the softly spoken words, “You urged me to be bold, sir,” drifted down to fall like healing rain on the parched soil of his soul.

“And to damn the consequences.”

“I believe I just have, sir.”

Edward Pellew smiled as he let out the breath he had been holding, his former distress draining out of him in one long, quiet sigh as he endeavoured to breath normally once more.

Quietly, he rose to his feet and turned to face the one who owned his heart, his companion’s hands slipping from his shoulders as he did so.  Years fell away as blood pounded in his veins and he wanted nothing more than to crush this dear and beautiful young man against him and hold him forever and a day while pouring out all the feelings that had gnawed at his lonely heart for so long.  Instead he stood quietly, barely a foot of space separating him from the one who gazed at him with such hope in his eyes.

"What did you wish for, Horatio?" Edward Pellew found himself inquiring, his own forbidden wish of some twenty minutes earlier coming closer with every moment.

“You, sir.”

The spell seemingly cast over both men now held them in a web of delicious, pounding anticipation, each knowing that nothing but the sighting of an enemy vessel could have stopped what was to come.

The older man found his hand being taken and held warmly as Hornblower brought it to rest over his heart.  "Feel it, my Captain.  Feel it beating so hard as though it would jump right out of my breast."

Edward Pellew wanted to die with joy.  He yearned to cherish the lush, sensual mouth and taste voluptuously of its imagined sweetness.

"Captain, you urged me to be bold, sir, and so I tell you that my heart belongs to you.  It is yours.  Do with it as you will."

For the length of a sigh Pellew’s eyes closed, as though drinking in the words of his companion.

“Can you feel it as it beats for you?” Hornblower continued.

His commanding officer’s answer was as soft as a sigh of happiness.  “Yes.  Oh, yes.”

“For so long it has demanded that I speak," Hornblower continued, giving the hand he still held against his breast a squeeze, "... and tell you of its secrets.  Captain, can you understand?”

Edward Pellew reached up with his free hand and touched his finger to Horatio’s full lips, only to have his finger captured and kissed with utmost reverence.

“My dearest Horatio, how could I not?”

As though the touch of those lips unleashed something caged; something that yearned most desperately to be free, he found himself grasping the intrepid young man who stood so boldly before him declaring his love and offering him his heart's desire, crushing him against his own heart - and finding his near-savage hold more than returned.

For an age, they luxuriated in the fierce embrace as though defying the world, their country and its laws, their differing ranks and ages and the fact that, according to society at least, one of them should have been of the female gender.  Neither was able to hold back the words held in check for so long.

“I was so afraid, sir.”

“Shh, my love, my dearest boy.  You are the bravest soul I have ever known and I would not - could not - spurn your love no matter the cost to both of us.”

“Oh, sir!”

“No more ‘sir’.”

“Yes, my Captain.”

Smiling, Edward Pellew shook his head in exasperation as his beloved boy ran exploring hands up and down his back.

After long fervent moments their ardour finally gentled as each absorbed the other’s complete acceptance and released the fears which had held them prisoner and prevented their speaking for so long.

As the older man pulled back a little to gaze at Horatio’s face he saw the incredibly large, expressive eyes bright with tears in the lamplight, the full, gentle mouth quivering with emotion.  As he continued to watch, the huge eyes overflowed and wetness left glistening trails down smooth, hollow cheeks.

“Forgive me, sir, but I never dreamt...”

“What was it that you never dreamt, my sweet?” his Captain enquired, his voice so gentle that the ship’s company, accustomed to hear him bark orders from the quarter deck, would never have believed it.

“That you would ever accept me; that you would ever return my feelings.”

“My dearest Horatio, were I to reject you I would be the biggest fool that ever sailed the oceans,” he found himself murmuring, catching the drops of moisture on his lips as he pressed kisses to his companion’s cheeks and tasted of his salt tears.

For the younger man, the touch of his Captain’s fervent lips to his cheeks was ineffably sweet, the gentle assault continuing even after his own tears ceased, releasing his tongue to utter the words of his heart.

For Edward Pellew, the younger man’s whispered endearments quenched but did not slake his thirst for he knew even then that he would always desire to hear more.

Finally, he could wait no longer.  Grasping his companion’s face, he gazed intently into the wide eyes, seeing only openness and acceptance there.  The full, ripe lips, still wet with tears, were parted, begging for kisses that he was only too glad to bestow.  His tenuous control crumbling, he found himself murmuring, "Will you give me a kiss me, my love?”

“As many as you wish, sir.  However, you should know that I am sorely inexperienced so I must beg your indulgence for my clumsiness.”

Pellew smiled, his hands running along his companion’s sharp jaw.  “Only do as your heart desires, dear lad, and you will please me beyond all measure.”

“Oh, yes, sir.  I shall do my best.”

Pellew shook his head fondly, happier than he could ever remember being as his companion’s luscious pink lips touched his own in a kiss as light as the wings of a moth.  Then again.  And again.  Finally a little deeper.  Deeper still, sucking and sliding deliciously against his own. There followed the hesitant touch of a light, playful tongue that skimmed lightly along his lips, dipping inside a little to taste him until he captured it to suck on it voluptuously as the younger man pressed ever closer.  Of their own accord, his hands slid lower to grasp the firm, rounded globes of the enticing buttocks and press their already swollen groins together.

For a moment in eternity they pulled back from the kiss, their eyes meeting, both understanding the inevitability and the finality of their actions.  In a heartbeat everything had changed and there was no going back, now or ever.

As his beautiful companion’s shining eyes met his, and the sweet mouth and strong arms offered the warmest welcome he had ever known, Edward Pellew leaned forward once more and kissed his finest and most courageous young officer, watching the darling boy’s eyes close in utmost rapture as he accepted his Captain’s questing tongue, allowing it to roam his mouth and explore where it would.

“My dearest boy, your kisses taste of wine, and boyhood and innocence.”

Horatio smiled and murmured, “I don’t want to be innocent, sir,” as he returned the kiss, his tongue begging admittance to his captain’s mouth, his whole being absorbing the sight, taste and scent of the man he had vowed to devote his life to.

Of their own volition, their hips ground together, their mutual desire almost too much for the older man who was now as eager as a young stripling.  For his younger lover, having his beloved captain in his arms at last, feeling the man’s strident desire and knowing that it was for him alone finally proved too much.

Hornblower’s soft cry sounded almost wounded to Edward Pellew and he held him firmly as he was wracked by intense orgasm, accompanied by an agonised groan of denial and sheer absolute bliss.

Pellew decided that if he had ever needed proof of the young man’s desire he had it now a thousand-fold in the form of the young beauty, slumped and near-fainting in his arms.  Deliriously happy, and barely managing to hold his own desire in check, he pressed kisses to the sweet boy’s cheeks.

“My Horatio,” he murmured.  “My dearest Horatio.”

Gradually, his companion appeared to come to his senses.

“Oh, God!  Oh, sir, forgive me.  I never....”  He shook his head in mortification and endeavoured, without success, to withdraw.  However, his Captain had him in a firm grip.

“Hush, my love.  Hush.  Look at me.”  Pellew waited until his inexperienced lover raised his head and gazed unhappily into his eyes.  “Horatio, you are beautiful beyond compare and your desire is a wondrous thing.  You astound me, my dear.  Let me show you.”

So saying, he began to unbutton his lover’s breeches.

“Sir?”

“Shh.”

The man proceeded to pull down his damp drawers and kneel on the deck before him.

“C-Captain?”

“Shh, my dear.  Allow me.”

Horatio’s large eyes widened as without preamble a wet tongue licked at his private parts, and his manhood was taken into a warm mouth and suckled gently.

“Oh, s-sir!  Sir, you must not!” he protested.

Pellew briefly ceased his activities to gaze up at the face of his lover.

“Is there a problem, Mr Hornblower?” he inquired in all seriousness.

Momentarily lost for words, Hornblower’s mouth opened and shut before finally managing, “It... It is not seemly for a Captain to... to...”

“To kneel before his lover and relish his spend knowing that I was the cause of it?  And I was, was I not?” he added.

Now completely lost for words, his lover could only nod, gazing down at him, a look of incredulous wonder on his face.

As Pellew resumed his activities he felt his lover’s large, gentle hands stroking his hair.

As the gentle licking and suckling continued Hornblower found himself once more becoming aroused and marvelled at his body’s recuperative powers.  At the same time he realised that, although he had achieved satisfaction - albeit unwittingly and, at least in his own mind, gracelessly - his captain had not, and it was up to him to do something about it.  However, the feel of the warm mouth taking him so wonderfully was clouding his brain.

“Captain?” he managed.  “Captain, please, you must allow me to bring you pleasure - in whatever way I can,” he added.  “Please?”

He grasped the older man by the arms in an endeavour to raise him.

Reluctantly, Pellew released his prize, loving the way it now stood tall and jutting, the rounded bollocks now swollen in his hand as he gave them a final light squeeze before rising to his feet once more.  His own urgency had abated somewhat as he had knelt but now, in the face of his lover’s renewed desire, it made its presence known once more.

“Will you share my bed, my darling?”

His lover’s answering smile was all the answer he needed.

“My Captain, I would be honoured to share your bed, but...” With his eyes he indicated above decks.

“Leave it to me.”  Pellew indicated his private quarters, his lover’s lips once more covering his own before the younger man slipped through the door and closed it behind him.

Somewhat distracted and willing his arousal to abate, at least for now, Captain Pellew sent for Mr Hether, shortly informing him that he was retiring for the night and begged that he would inform his servant that his services would not be needed further until morning.  Hether saluted smartly and left.

As the outer door closed Pellew gazed out of the stern windows at the blackness of the night, once more listening to his ship.  Assured that all was well with her, he removed his coat, deliberately relinquishing the symbols of rank and authority for tonight he would have no need of them.  As desire coursed through him once more he also remembered the boy’s innocence and complete trust.

“Dear God, let me never betray his trust,” he whispered, gazing at the slit of light now coming from under the door to his private quarters.  Beyond that door the most beautiful lover anyone could wish for waited for him.  Beyond it lay his future.

He opened the door.

*  *  * *** *  *  *