Deity Boyfriend: Peregrine Part Two (complete)

True love’s kiss. Whoever believed such a thing who wasn’t still on their mother’s breast? It seems as ridiculous a notion to me as any other fairy tale. But this is my son, and I would try anything to see that he is brought back safe to me.

I move my things into the mansion. It seems that here, Theo is able to rest rather than staying in a constant unblinking wake. I do not like I have to be around Peregrine, but I have very little choice in the matter. Whatever issues he holds with me are not pertinent to saving my son.

I keep up my work and continue to make medicine for the village, although the fog has not let up. It seems that, as with Theo’s condition, the fog is tied to the discovery of Peregrine’s head. How a kiss is going to solve that problem, I don’t know.

I’ve continued the clearing of the mansion. I’ve filled the pantry with more than booze, and I work on cleaning it bit by bit as I go. I even have the front door repaired, after its earlier dissolution. 

Peregrine just lurks. He stalks around the place, a ghost of his former self. When I first came here a young man, he was a powerful figure, lean and thin, but very strong. His long limbs were toned and his arse was something I greatly admired. Now, he has heft in his stomach, and his arms are more doughy than hard. His arse, too, has gotten bigger, softer, probably sadder, but I have yet to see it exposed. He was once a noble warrior, but now he is a sad wastrel wallowing in despair. 

I invite dozens of people into the mansion, seeking out ones who were close to Theo, ones I assume had a relationship with him. Poor Theo has quite a few lovers, and some are willing to set foot in the mansion, but others are too terrified to even come to the gate. Each one I invite in, I ask to kiss Theo. Some do, others don’t. It becomes disheartening to me when Theo still refuses to wake. How will I ever find his true love? It’s impossible! But I persist. I keep inviting people inside, and it doesn’t matter who they are. Travelers from out of town, older people, younger people. I start offering money as a reward, or free bottles of medicine to entice people to come inside. It isn’t enough. Theo is still asleep.

I am starting to give up. I feel so hopeless in this situation. In a world so full of people, how am I supposed to find just one who can save my son from this fate? A needle in a haystack seems easier to find than this! I am losing hope, and fast. It doesn’t help that Peregrine is stalking around the place, frightening those I bring in and mocking me all the while. 

I read old books of fairy tales, hoping to find a clue to the true love mystery. Aside from leaving Theo in the woods unattended to get sexually assaulted, I’m not sure what I can do! I go over every story, and still it seems like a lie to me. But Theo is real. He is no princess cursed by an evil witch, he is a beautiful young man and my son. I am the princess lost in the woods, surrounded by an awful fog that won’t disperse. All I can do is wander endlessly until I save my son from this fate. I would do anything at all, but what if there is nothing to be done?

One morning while I am eating, Peregrine sweeps into the room. He is at least wearing more clothes than normal, and he actually looks presentable. He used to dress so nicely when we were together, in a fine jacket that showed off his thin waist, and tight trousers that showed off his ass even more. I doubt either of those exist anymore. 

“What are you doing?” I glare at him. “Why are you dressed like that?”

He sniffs. “I am in my home.” He turns about, gesturing to the walls. “I can dress however I want. Why are you dressed like that?” He points a spindly finger at me.

I’m wearing my usual attire, not clothes he would have ever seen me in back in the old days - all black, with thick gloves for work, and a high collar around my neck. 

“You look ridiculous,” Peregrine laughs.

“I’m a doctor now,” I grumble at him. “This is what I wear when I am making medicine and tending to the sick.”

“Are you still on about that?” He cracks his knuckles. “All I ever heard before you left was about how sick those people were. They’re still in such a state? Perhaps it is nature telling them they should die and never return.”

“You would just let them die.” I slam down my toast onto the plate. “Yes, they are still sick, but I have been able to help them, and I am still trying to help them.”

“Well, you’re going to have to make a decision at some point.” Peregrine points another knobby finger in my face. “Between those sick fools and your son.”

“How dare you?” I stand from my seat and turn to him with balled fists. “You’re just trying at every turn to hurt me, aren't you? Yes, I left all those years ago! It should have been obvious to you how strongly I felt for those people. They were my family, my friends. Of course I wanted to help them and make their lives better.”

“But you could have stayed too!” Peregrine spits. “What was so horrible about staying and helping them?”

I feel struck, and I back down.

Peregrine chuckles in his small victory. “It wasn’t that you wanted to play hero, was it?” he asks. “You wanted me to come and chase you. You always had a flair for the dramatic, and you still do.”

I glare up at him.

“Don’t give me that pretty little look.” He wags his finger in my face. “You always had to be dramatic, always had to have that extra punch. You dress in all those black clothes and that stupid turkey-looking mask because you like the drama and mystery of it.” He taps his fingers against his neck. “I bet that’s why you kept that kid too.”

“I did not!” I roar at him. “Theo is precious to me!”

“But it’s more dramatic, isn’t it?” Peregrine sneers. “I won’t poke too much at the open wound that is your son. But let me poke at my own wound just so you can see how much it hurt me.” He jabs his finger into his chest. “You left. Yes you did, for your own reasons. But I knew you had other reasons, ones you probably still won’t admit, even to yourself.” 

Peregrine chuckles to himself as he wraps his fingers around his throat. “You’re selfish and spoiled,” he sighs. “But I suppose that was my fault, in part. I gave you everything, no questions asked. You wanted to play hero for your village, because it wasn’t enough the first time.”

“The first time?” I blanch.

“You were an offering to me, remember?” Peregrine sweeps his fingers under my chin and lifts it up. “You caught my attention and the villagers realized it. Little did they know that’s exactly what you wanted. You thought that when they gave you to me, I would bless their poor little hearts.” He fakes a sob and his hands flutter over his chest. “It was a victory for you.”

I take a rattling breath as I try to temper my anger. My knuckles pop as I flex my fingers and the heat rises from under my collar. “You’re twisting everything just to hurt me.”

“Maybe things have changed for you. I don’t know, because I don’t know you anymore, Amsden.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “You only saw me as a beauty,” I seethe. “You just saw me for my appearance. You never truly got to know me or understand me. Yes, I was spoiled, but only because you had to placate me.”

“I loved you.” Peregrine keeps his anger at bay, but I can tell he is like a volcano ready to erupt. His neck is smoking, and his veins press closer to his skin. “That is how I knew all of this. And of course I placated you! I was a headless abomination and you were a vision from heaven!” Both his hands extend towards me. “Even still, you are!”

I look away from him and lower my head. 

“Tend to your sick villagers,” he scoffs. “Look after your son.” He shakes his hand in the air. “You’re here. Think about that.” He leaves the kitchen and I return to my seat.

That evening after I take care of Theo, which now includes trimming his fingernails and toenails as well as his hair, I find the iron box. Peregrine kicked it under the bed at first and, thinking it was useless, I let it stay there. I take the box downstairs to Peregrine’s nest, which he has rebuilt beside the fire despite the fact that I have gotten rid of all the disgusting blankets and pillows.

“Throw it back in the river,” Peregrine sighs dismissively. “It serves to only upset me.”

I set the box down beside him. “What was it doing chained down at the bottom of the river?” I ask quietly. “Did you even know it was there?”

Peregrine refuses to answer me.

I sit down on the floor beside his bed and sigh heavily. “You are making this so hard on me! Why?”

“Why does it have to be easy?” Peregrine murmurs. “Because you think you deserve that courtesy?”

“Tell me the truth, Peregrine,” I scoff. “Give me one honest answer and I will return it to you in kind.”

Smoke rises in wisps from the stump of Peregrine’s neck, and he turns his body back towards me. “Only if you go first.” He sits up. “If it wasn’t for your son being sick, would you have ever returned to me?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know if I ever would have returned. And that’s the truth of the matter.”

Peregrine sighs. “Fine, then.” He sets his bottle of liquor aside. “My head was in the river because I put it there.”

“What?” I gasp. “Why?”

“Because I betrayed my siblings in order to get it.” He hiccups. “I also hate it.” He takes up his bottle again, but I snatch it away. “Give it back!”

“You don’t need this.” I place the bottle out of his reach. “What good will it do for you anyway?”

“Whatever I want it to!” He tries to snatch it, but I have placed it too far away. He goes for it again, leaning over me, and nearly reaches it. I move back, hitting his arm so that he is knocked off-balance. His arm hits against me as he falls, causing me to fall back against the bottle of liquor. My back rests in a pool of amber liquid, while Peregrine has me pinned to the floor. The weight of his body is familiar from many shared nights together. 

“Damn you!” I knock him off and sit up. “I’m soaked!” I strip away my shirt.

Peregrine grumbles under his breath as he sits up. “That’s all your fault! You could have just let me have my drink rather than tease me with it.” He goes quiet suddenly. 

I scowl at him. He may not have eyes, but I can still feel him staring. “What are you looking at?”

Peregrine’s fingers brush against my arms, which are covered with incision scars from blood letting. “Your skin was always so perfect.”

I wrench my arm away from his touch. “I was just pale. It was nothing special.”

“What have you done to yourself?” Peregrine leans in close to me. “All these scars on you. What could you possibly be thinking?”

“I did it to help!” I tell him, pushing against his chest. “You made me immortal and it did something to me. My blood is able to save those people.”

“So dramatic,” Peregrine sighs. His hands stroke down my bare chest. “Just like I said before.”

“Let me go.” I watch his hands travel down my skin, and I am brought back to my youth. “You need to stop,” I moan.

Peregrine chuckles. “See? The body remembers.” His thumb rubs my nipple. “The body is completely honest.” His palm moves over the growing bulge in my pants. “It is asking politely for what it wants.”

“You’re disgusting.” I put my head back and take deep breaths.

Peregrine removes the laces from my pants and lets my prick out. “Still a beautiful rose.” His long fingers coil around the shaft and pump it slowly. “Remember this?” he breathes. “I used to love playing with you for hours just to watch you writhe and drool for me.”

I brace my palms behind me and look down as his hand swirls over the tip. “We should stop now.” But I have no intentions of stopping at all.

Peregrine laughs. “You’re lying again, all while your cock is hard in my hand. Run away if you want. There’s the door.” He points with his free hand. Then slips his fingers under my chin. “But you want this, don’t you? You long for that memory of when you would crawl into my bed and beg me to touch you.”

“Perri,” I gasp.

“Perri?” He laughs. “Since when am I Perri again?” His fingers move away from my prick, and he admires it as it twitches with my pulse. “Such a desperate thing you are.” His finger swirls in the jewel of precome at my tip. 

My lashes flutter and I let out a pathetic whine. I really am desperate. I have not been touched since the last time I was with Peregrine. I have forgotten how much I loved to be touched, to be spoiled, to come on his fingers.

Peregrine strokes me again, rubbing his fingers up and down before squeezing the tip. His chuckle is dark as he watches me. “Come on now,” he moans. “I know what you want.” His stroke becomes faster. “Come.”

I cry out, my hips bucking into his palm. The first splash coats my chest, the second coats his fingers, the third smears on the inside of his palm. My whole body is liquid as I fill his grasp. He holds up his hand, then uses my wet clothes to wipe it clean. 

“Been holding back, have you?” He moves, opening his robes to reveal his cock to me. “So have I.”

I look at it longingly, remembering it as an old playmate. I glance up at Peregrine, who seems mighty proud of himself. “Have you bathed?”

Peregrine sniffs. “What does that matter?”

“I won’t be touching you unless you’ve had a proper bath.” I stand up before him, naked, my long black hair falling messily over my frame. 

Peregrine’s hands run over my body, and I smack them away.

“You’re crusty and nasty. Who knows what is on you.” I bite my cheek as I feel a surge of power. “Get up.”

Peregrine snarls. “I wash, and you’ll give me what I want?”

I nod and touch his neck. “We’ll see how well you clean up.”

We go to his old bedroom, which has remained untouched much like mine did. I lay naked on his bed, remembering the feeling of his sheets against my skin. Peregrine goes to his bathroom, promising to clean himself properly. Who knows how long it has been for the pitiful soul. Probably decades. He might be in there for a good long while.

I am still breathless from before. It has been so long since my last orgasm I had almost forgotten what it was like. Now, I am salivating for another, even if it’s given by Peregrine. I can feel my arousal bloom again as Peregrine leaves the bathroom. I prop myself up on my elbows, watching his cock bob between his thick thighs.

“You got fat.” I crawl on all fours to the edge of the bed.

Peregrine grabs the crown of my head, then laces his fingers in my hair. He pulls my hair hard then slaps his cock across my face. “Keep your mouth shut.” He pushes himself into my mouth, and he tastes like soap and rosewater. I moan against him, slobbering as he pushes himself against my cheek. He pulls my hair harder, forcing me close until my nose touches his stomach.

“That’s it,” he laughs. “You’re still so good at this.”

My eyes are watering. I’m nearly gagging, but it’s such a good feeling at the same time. As he pulls away, he slaps my cheek with his cock again. I catch my breath, mopping up the slobber around my mouth.

“Need to warm up?” Peregrine laughs.

“No, I’ve got this,” I pant. I take his cock into my mouth again. He holds my hair, pulling it as he pushes himself down my throat again. I hate how good these feels.

Peregrine soon leaves himself in my throat. His seed is thick like pudding, and he shoots it on my face and chin as well. My scalp is sore from how hard he pulls my hair, and it takes me a while to recover from his onslaught. 

After I clean up in the bathroom, I realize I’m still quite hard. I walk back into the bedroom where Peregrine has settled himself under the covers. I join him, snuggling against his side and kissing his neck. 

“Where did this affection come from?” Peregrine laughs.

I bite his shoulder and straddle his thigh. I grind my cock against him. “I guess it isn’t so bad you got fat,” I pant. “You’re nice and soft now.”

“Still a horny little monster,” he moans. “Keep at it if you must.”

I move between his thighs, spreading them and rubbing my cock between the cheeks of his ass. “You’re oiled,” I grin. “Were you waiting for me?”

“I have been!” he growls. He balls up his fists into the sheets. 

I slip my cock against his pucker. “Do you still love me?”

“I don’t know,” he sighs.

I push myself inside him, and he tightens around me. I push his legs back so his knees bend. His ass is softer, but I like the feel of it. I drive down into him, taking a pleasure that has been too long denied. Peregrine moans, gripping the sheets as I move inside him.

There were many nights like this one before. We stayed up all night making love, touching one another, and having our fill. We’d sleep in and start all over again with breakfast. We found it hard to keep our hands off one another, and it’s a memory I have forced myself to suppress for so long.

I drive myself into Peregrine, wanting to go harder and harder. I slap his ass and he cries out. I slap it again and he whimpers like a puppy. As I start to shake, I dig my fingers into his ass, gripping hard until the trembles cascade down my spine.

I release deep inside him, overflowing him. Peregrine is panting and whimpering, his stomach smeared with his own release. I think he came the second time I spanked him. I lay back down, both of us on our backs with a foot between us. We lay in silence, staring up at the ceiling as our breaths even out. 

After a while, I glance over to Peregrine and wonder if he is asleep. I look back up at the ceiling and decide if it is best I leave.

“Where are you going?” Peregrine’s voice is like it used to be, sensuous and smooth. I glance back over my shoulder as he stretches out his hand across the sheets to me. I place my hand over his. 

“I don’t belong here anymore. I chose to leave it.” I lace my fingers with his. “I stole one last night.”

Peregrine chuckles. “You sure did.” He tugs me back into bed. “But wasn’t it nice?” He presses his fingertips against my lips, the way he used to kiss me in the old days. 

“We can’t go back,” I whisper.

“But we can move forward.” Peregrine laughs. “Stay with me again, Amsden.”

I sigh deeply and close my eyes. “Won’t it be dramatic?”

“You have no idea.” Peregrine pulls me close to his chest. “I’m sorry I never came to find you.”

I press my head against his chest. “I’m sorry I left.”

In the morning, Peregrine isn’t in bed. Instead, I find him sitting at the dining table with his head across from him.

“What are you trying to do?” I ask.

The long white hair flows off the table, and the face of the severed head is no longer covered. The way his jaw is and how his mouth is affixed reminds me of a grasshopper with fangs. His eyes are widely set and seem a little bulbous, adding to his grasshopper features.

“I kept trying to put it back into place.” He sounds irritated. “But no matter what I do, it just…” He scoffs and grabs his head. He puts it on and as he moves his hands away, it plops onto the table and rolls away.

“I don’t mean to sound smug, but wouldn’t the right way to reattach a head be to sew it back on?” I pick up his head and smooth the hair away from his face.

“What makes you say that?” Peregrine crosses his arms against his chest.

I smirk. “I’m a doctor.”

Peregrine sneers. “You are smug.”

I take my kit and prepare it to stitch his neck back together. I’ve never sewn a head back on, but I suppose there isn’t a wrong way to do it in this case. Peregrine sits still as I move around him, making tiny, neat X’s along the seam. 

“It stings.” His voice is muffled now, since his head is sitting on his neck. 

“I would say so. You have a needle going in and out of you.”

Peregrine chuckles.

“Just because we fucked again doesn’t mean you get to be perverted.” I come to the last stitch but before I can finish it, a flame shoots out. It is followed by billowing smoke which fills the room. As I fan the smoke from my face and find a window to open, Peregrine is coughing and spitting.

“My mouth tastes terrible!” Peregrine comes to the window, wiping his mouth. “Disgusting.”

He seems much taller than before. Then again, he does have a head now. His eyes are pitch-black and filled with light-colored veins. He looks at me and breaks into a big smile. 

“Never seen me in this light, have you?” He poses for a moment and rubs his chin. “I haven’t had my head on in centuries.”

“It shows.” I look him over. “But why would you put it back on?”

He dips down, pressing a kiss to my lips. His small fangs feel sharp, but I like the feeling. I press close to him, wrapping my arms around him as the kiss deepens. In all the years we were together, we never kissed before now.

“Just to kiss?” I laugh.

“Shut up,” he snarls. “I have other reasons. Not just ones to spoil you.”

I kiss him again. “I need to go check on Theo and take care of him.” I pat his cheek. “I’ll come and thank you properly once I am done.”

Peregrine smirks. “Take your time, I need to take care of things of my own.”

I go upstairs and to Theo’s room. I start off as I usually do, cutting off what has grown from his hair. It takes a while, but soon I am able to put it into a braid again. After that, I start to clip his toenails and fingernails. As I take his hand, his fingers tighten around mine. I lose my breath and a moment later, Theo grumbles.

“Father Amsden, what time is it?” He sits up from the bed. “I feel so strange.”

Tears pour from my eyes and I cannot stop them. I grab Theo up in my arms and hug him tight. “I’m so happy to see you!” I sob. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

“What’s wrong?” he gasps. “Did something happen?”

“It’s a long story,” I cup his cheek between my hands and kiss his forehead. His amber eyes are back, and his beautiful face is shining through. “I am just so happy you are all right!”

“Where am I?” Theo looks around. “What place is this?”

“As I said, it is a very long story. But you have only just woken up and must be hungry.” I go to stand up and see Peregrine standing in the doorway. He blows me a kiss.

I gasp and cup my hand over my mouth. “You asshole!” I throw myself at him, tackling him and knocking him down. I start throttling him. 

“Father Amsden!” Theo shouts in alarm. He jumps out of bed and tries to pull me off of Peregrine.

“True love’s kiss, my ass!” I slap Peregrine upside the head as he sits up. “You put me through hell!”

“I wasn’t sure about it!” Peregrine snaps.

“Father Amsden, who is this?” Theo huffs once he finally has me restrained. 

I gaze into Peregrine’s eyes as a euphoric feeling rises up in my chest. “My true love. As much as I hate to admit it.”

I stand with Theo, and Peregrine rises with us. I take Theo’s hand in mine. “This is Peregrine,” I reply. “And Peregrine, this is Theo, my son.”

Theo brushes his white hair from his face. “Hey, we match,” he chuckles nervously. 

Theo and I remain at the mansion with Peregrine. We make repairs to the place, slowly returning it to its former glory. We eventually turn the downstairs into a hospital where I am able to treat my patients. As time goes on, people are not affected by the disease and soon, in a generation or two, it vanishes.

I know it has something to do with Peregrine’s head, although he won’t confess to it. After all, it had been in that river for probably a century. Who knows what he was doing to the people. At least now, it seems the disease is fading from memory.

Eventually, Theo decides to go out into the world for himself. When he returns, he brings with him a beautiful creature he calls his true love. Now, I would say this is the part of the story where we all lived happily ever after, but that is not so much the case. We have happy moments, such as our grandchildren and great-grandchildren coming into the world. But there are also unhappy parts, stressful parts. Peregrine and I continue to fight, but we always make up in time. This is not a fairy tale, nor are there any princes or princesses. The ever after is simply that - we live ever after.