DISCLAIMER:
The characters belong to MCA/Universal and were used without permission. No copyright infringement was intended and no money was made.

WARNING:
This story contains explicit m/m sex and moderate bdsm.

You can find more stories by Aramis at Nephele's Herculean Slash page.

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Bluffing
by Aramis

Hercules stood outside the heavy oak door of Iolaus' room in a frenzy of indecision. Because of the thickness of the door, the voices within were maddeningly indistinct even for one blessed with exceptionally acute hearing.

'Gods, what if I'm wrong?' he thought. 'Iolaus will be furious with me.'

However, all his instincts were screaming to him that the hunter was in trouble, trouble of his own making, but trouble nonetheless.

He made a lightning decision. No matter what Iolaus said, and an irate hunter was a vocal hunter, he could not take the risk. He raised one muscular leg and booted the door in.

The sight before him made him pause momentarily with shock as his worst suspicions were confirmed.

Iolaus was standing naked in the middle of the room, his back towards Hercules. His arms were stretched above his head, with his wrists tied tightly to a rope hanging from a beam. The blond had been forced onto tiptoes to try to reduce the strain on his wrists.

However, it was the other man who had his immediate attention. Tall and muscular, the man was standing behind the hunter, clutching a short-handled whip in one hand.

He saw all of this in an instant as he charged forward. The man swung to face him and then started to hurriedly back away, babbling something. Excuses? Apologies? Complaints at the intrusion? The roaring blood in Hercules' ears blocked out all sound as the furious demigod moved swiftly towards him.

Hercules raised one large fist and seized the man by his shirtfront, intending to smash him into oblivion. However, even as he did so he realized that the hunter's creamy back was unmarked.

Then Iolaus' desperate voice penetrated the mists of his anger. "Herc! Herc! I'm okay! He hasn't hurt me!" The blond was very aware how close Hercules was to losing control of his strength and he knew all too well the regrets that always followed the rare occasions on which that happened. .. Fighting down the urge to pulverize the man's face, the demigod merely dragged him to the door and flung him out. "Don't let me see you again," he snarled and then turned back into the room, slamming the door behind him.

He leaned against it, looking at the errant hunter. He had warned the little blond that the man looked a nasty piece of work after he had seen the two drinking together a couple of days before, but Iolaus had laughed off his concerns. "What's wrong with having a few friendly drinks with someone?" he had asked. Then he had proceeded to make his usual jokes about the demigod being like a mother hen with one chick.

There had been no reasoning with him. Not that Hercules could really do that anyway, as he had no evidence to support his contention, just a feeling of great unease. Contumacious as ever, the little blond had then deliberately gone out of his way to befriend the man.

Well, here he was suffering his just deserts or at least he would have been had Hercules not arrived so opportunely. "I hope you have learnt a lesson from all this," Hercules observed.

Iolaus had been unable to turn himself to face the door and so could not see his friend and, if the truth was known, did not want to face him. Not only was the position uncomfortable, he was embarrassed by the state in which the demigod had found him and was very much on the defensive, being all too well aware that his friend had every right to say 'I told you so' and probably would. As a result, he petulantly exclaimed, "C'mon, Herc, don't bother with one of your boring lectures. I've heard it all before. Just cut me down."

Hercules had been starting forward to do just that, but when he heard Iolaus' words and the impatience in his voice, where gratitude would have held a more appropriate place, he stopped short.

"C'mon, Herc, what are you mucking about for?" Iolaus demanded, now trying unsuccessfully to turn to face the demigod to see what the hold up was.

Hercules bent down and picked up the whip. "You know, Iolaus, a little thanks would not go amiss here," he commented casually.

"Huh? Okay, thank you, Hercules," he said, in a voice that sounded like a child parroting a parent who had insisted, most unreasonably, upon politeness. "NOW CUT ME DOWN!"

Without thought, Hercules flicked the whip out so that the tip stung Iolaus' arse. It was not hard enough to mark him, but the blond exclaimed "Ow!" in surprise and outrage.

"I can see some uses for this little toy," Hercules commented.

"Damn you, Herc, untie me!"

"Iolaus, I would have thought that someone in your position would, in the interests of self-preservation, be a bit more ..." He was going to say "circumspect in his demands", but Iolaus interrupted him.

"Self-preservation? Aw, c'mon, Herc, you're not going to do anything to me. You know you're not."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Hercules retorted, tracing a line down Iolaus' back with the whip handle.

But the ever-stroppy hunter did not take the hint. "Come off it, Herc, you know you always threaten me, but you never *do* anything except lecture me. I wish you would. Anything would be better than those boring, repetitive lectures."

"Anything?" Hercules asked, grinning broadly as several alternatives suddenly occurred to him that he was certain the hunter would not really favour.

Iolaus opened his mouth to say yes, but then it struck him that there was a note in Hercules' voice that he had never heard before. Hercules had sounded almost flirtatious. No, that could not be right. He must be hearing things. Sure he was not above using that tone of voice himself when trying to cajole the demigod into forgiving his latest misdemeanour or into agreeing to some undertaking that he was dubious about. It usually worked well because it got Hercules all flustered, as he did not know quite how to respond. No, he must have misheard. The demigod would not have the guts to tease him in that manner, but now that he had thought of it, he could not resist taking that line himself.

"Well?" Hercules inquired innocently. "Did you mean it? Anything?"

'I'll just call his bluff,' Iolaus thought. He wished they were face to face so he could flutter his indecently long eyelashes at his friend. "Of course," he answered sweetly, "you know I'd always let you do *anything* to me." He almost giggled as he waited for the demigod's embarrassed reaction to that sally.

However, for once, Hercules felt he had the advantage in their banter. For one thing Iolaus could not see his blush and for another Iolaus was definitely not in a position to dominate proceedings. Often he would deliberately stir the demigod up with his cheek and then dart off into the bush for safety. Today he had no escape and he knew it, though even that did not stop him trying to gain the verbal initiative as usual.

Without speaking, Hercules moved to stand directly behind the hunter. "You said anything," he whispered, so close that the hunter could feel his breath warm against his ear.

*That* was definitely not how things were supposed to go. Iolaus shivered involuntarily. 'Old Herc's catching on to my little games,' he thought, 'but I'll bet he'll chicken out before I do.'

"And I meant it," he replied firmly, exulting inwardly at how steady his voice sounded.

"Oh, good, you won't mind if I do this then. I remember how much you used to love me doing this when we were kids."

As he spoke, Hercules ran his hands lightly down the blond's sides.

"Ah! No tickling! <giggle> You know <giggle> I hate that. No, don't!"

"But you said *anything*," Hercules commented ingenuously.

"I didn't think you'd do something as childish as that."

"What can I do then? You don't want to be tickled or lectured and definitely didn't seem to like it when I flicked you with the whip. What do you suggest I do to teach you a lesson then?"

The hunter went quiet for a moment as though deep in thought. In reality he had, of course, already decided to pay Hercules back by embarrassing the hell out of him and he knew he just *had* to see the demigod's face when he made his suggestion. "Look, Herc, I hate trying to talk to you when I can't see you. Come around where I can see you."

"Okay." The demigod obediently moved to stand right in front of the hunter.

"Lean down, I want to whisper."

"Why? Nobody else can possibly hear you."

"I just want to."

"All right," Hercules said in his long-suffering voice.

"Closer."

"Is this cl-mmmph."

In spite of his wariness, Hercules had been caught completely off-guard by the kiss. He stepped back hurriedly and the incorrigible hunter went in for the kill. "Why don't you fuck me ... hard?" he murmured huskily, his azure eyes sparkling with mischief.

For a moment, Hercules was absolutely lost for words at the incredible suggestion. His mouth gaped open. Then he spotted the gleam of triumph in the hunter's eyes. 'That damned little ratbag thinks he's beaten me,' he thought, 'and, for once, he's not going to.' Somehow, he managed to say, "I wondered about that, but I thought you would feel it was in the category of cruel and unusual punishment."

Iolaus gulped down his surprise at this unexpected response and said airily, "Oh, no, I don't think that at all. I think it would be a most appropriate lesson under the circumstances." In truth, his mind was in a whirl, as all the certainties in his life seemed to be crumbling. The ultra-conservative and super moralistic demigod could not possibly be considering ... 'Nah! He's just having me on,' he reassured himself. "Are you going to do me here or can we use the bed?" he asked with exaggerated casualness, as if discussing an issue of no more importance than whether his friend would like a second glass of ale.

"I don't mind. Which would you prefer?"

"The bed! My arms are getting a bit tired." *That* was very much an understatement. The pain in his wrists and shoulders was by now quite intense, although he had managed to push it temporarily to one side in the fun of his verbal fencing with his friend.

Hercules felt a twinge of conscience. He knew that he should not have left the little blond tied like that for so long but, he reminded himself, Iolaus was largely responsible for the delay. After all, had he been properly contrite instead of demanding, Hercules would have freed him straight away. Of course, then this interesting contest of wills would not have developed. He did not believe for one moment that the hunter was serious in his suggestion, but Iolaus would have to admit this and back down because there was no way that the demigod was going to be the first to cry quits.

Although usually the most amenable of men, Hercules could be very stubborn on occasion and Iolaus would have said it was one of his more unpleasant traits. The demigod preferred to think of it as laudable determination to make a stand for what he considered was right and he considered that Iolaus needed to be taught a lesson. He had often warned the blond that his unruly tongue would be the death of him. Unfortunately, usually that comment merely served to encourage the saucy hunter into greater cheek. Okay, today he would give him a good fright and show him the consequences of his behaviour.

He undid the rope from the beam and Iolaus staggered forward against him. Hercules quickly clasped his shoulders in case he fell. They remained like that for a few minutes.

The returning circulation was painful and, at first, it was all Iolaus could do to keep from gasping at the pain. His eyes watered and he bit his lip and managed to suppress any groans. Finally, he trusted his voice enough to ask, "Aren't you going to untie my wrists?"

"Sorry," the demigod apologized and hurriedly freed him. His conscience smote him as he saw Iolaus wince and observed the rope masks on his wrists. "Are you sure you want to ... um ... er ... go through with it?" he asked, glancing at the bed.

The hesitation filled the hunter with renewed glee. Hercules was already getting cold feet. "Yes .... unless *you'd* rather not," he added magnanimously.

"No, I'm quite happy to go ahead. Let me help you." In one swift motion, he swept the stunned hunter into his arms and deposited him on the bed.

Things had certainly gone further than the blond had anticipated. He had been sure Hercules would chicken out quickly and that the back down would provide him with a great subject for future teasing. However, he was still confident that he would win.

However, Hercules had one major advantage that the hunter did not and one that that wily individual would never have suspected him of having in a thousand years. He had had sex with a male. It had been years before, during the lonely couple of years when Iolaus had been travelling in the East. He had actually quite enjoyed it, although he had had a nagging feeling that the act was unnatural and so should have been distasteful to him.

"How did you end up in that position anyway?" Hercules asked, as he watched the hunter rubbing his sore wrists.

'Ah, a delaying tactic. Herc's trying to slow things down in the hope I'll chicken out, but there's no way I'll do that,' Iolaus thought. "Tisarchus had been dropping quite a few hints about how we could enjoy ourselves and I'd been ignoring them," he explained. Mischief shone in his expressive eyes and he hurriedly lowered his lashes to hide them as he added virtuously, "because I'd been saving myself for you."

Hercules nearly burst out laughing at that blatant lie and the prim expression that went with it, but somehow he choked it down and asked, "So what happened next?"

Mistaking Hercules' heightened colour for embarrassment rather than an attempt to suppress a laugh, Iolaus congratulated himself on his latest shot and continued, "I think he must have slipped something into my drink as I suddenly felt very dizzy. I said I needed some air and headed outside and the next thing I knew I was up here in my room. I don't know how long I'd been out to it, but he had already got me tied to the beam and he told me he was going to warm me up before ... before he fucked me."

"Okay, while we're on that topic, which way up would you prefer to be?"

"You choose," Iolaus replied, smiling sweetly. "I want to do *whatever* you want."

"Over on your front then."

"Fine," Iolaus said, while actually thinking, "Damn, tactical error! I should have chosen because now I can't watch his face.'

He was about to roll over when the demigod asked, "Is there any lubrication?"

That question jolted the hunter. Iolaus felt uneasy at the matter of fact way Hercules was speaking. It sounded like the demigod actually knew what he was about. At this point, according to Iolaus' plans, he should have been blushing furiously and babbling with embarrassment rather than calmly asking such things. "I-I d-doubt if Tisarchus planned to use any, given his notions of foreplay."

"Oh, well, I guess it will have to be spit then."

The quick solution, so casually offered, at last fully alerted the hunter to his danger. "You've done this before!" he blurted accusingly.

"Of course!" Hercules replied smugly, enjoying the sudden pallor and the look of panic on his friend's face as the truth sunk in. "I thought you knew that."

"N-No ... you n-never said. W-When? Who did you ..."

"That would be telling. Anyway, what does it matter? Let's get on with it."

"B-But ..."

"Could you roll over?"

Iolaus did not move. "Um ... Herc, I ... I don't ..."

"Hurry up will you." Hercules was really starting to enjoy himself. It was fun teasing the hunter for a change.

He looked down at the beautiful, pale face, in its frame of golden curls. Iolaus' azure eyes were wide with apprehension. It was amusing to see the hunter who was normally so confident, and who was certainly far more experienced with women than the demigod, acting like a nervous virgin.

It was so different to his previous time with a male. The beautiful youth with whom he had had the brief affair had been very experienced and had known all the tricks likely to arouse a man. Hercules could picture him vividly, the long blond curls, the creamy skin. 'His eyes were wrong,' Hercules reflected. 'They were green and he was really too tall.' Suddenly he froze. What did he mean by *wrong* and *too tall*? 'Oh, gods,' he realized, as he looked down at the hunter, 'he wasn't Iolaus.'

Now for the first time he consciously recognized the deeply repressed desire. He had been missing Iolaus so much when the youth had made his first overtures to him and he had surprised himself greatly by his willingness to respond sexually to a stranger, especially a male. Now he knew the truth. The youth had been no more than a substitute for the love of his life.

He had not been aroused until this point, but suddenly his cock stirred as he realized the truth. He wanted the hunter and had done so for years.

Watching from under lowered lashes, the relieved hunter observed his hesitation and sudden pallor and, unaware of the true cause of these, smiled to himself, 'Ah, Herc's getting cold feet at last. That story about having done this before must have been a lie to frighten me. I'm amazed he managed to get this far. He's a better actor than I gave him credit for, but he's chickening out now and I'm going to win.'

Accordingly, he twisted onto his stomach in one swift movement, spread his legs wantonly, and said, "C'mon, Herc, what are you waiting for?"

Hercules looked down at him, his eyes feasting on the beautiful, creamy globes so tantalizingly displayed for his perusal. His penis strained against his tight leather trousers as he debated what to do.

He greatly feared that the little blond had no real desire to have sex with him and had just been indulging in one of his elaborate sessions of teasing and had got carried away with his mischief. However, since he had admitted he was not inexperienced he felt he had given the hunter a fair warning that he was not going to be the one to back down. He did not know that Iolaus had decided that that was just a story, so now he wondered, 'What if this is what Iolaus has been wanting all along and he's not been game to say so directly in case I got mad with him?'

However, regardless of what Iolaus wanted, the demigod knew his own mind at last. 'Besides,' he comforted himself, 'if I start to touch him and he objects I can always say truthfully he asked for it and put the blame on him.'

He reached out a tentative hand and ran a finger down the cleft of Iolaus' buttocks. He felt Iolaus tense and realized he was starting to close his legs. To forestall that he quickly climbed onto the bed and knelt between Iolaus' thighs. He opened his fly, releasing his straining penis.

Then he reached down and slowly inserted a questing finger into his friend. The reaction was immediate. "Ow!" Iolaus cried, though he was shocked rather than hurt, "What are you doing?"

"Just preparing you, Iolaus. Just relax. You're very tight and I need to stretch you a bit." As he spoke, his other hand moved beneath the hunter to caress his balls.

Iolaus ran a nervous tongue across lips suddenly gone dry. "Herc, I d-don't think I ..."

"It's okay, Iolaus, just lie still."

At that moment, Hercules' organ brushed against Iolaus' thighs. Iolaus gasped as he recognized just what was touching him. Realizing that that reaction could not be faked, he now knew there was no longer the slightest hope that Hercules had merely been bluffing to frighten him and he now had to deal with the consequences of the game he had initiated.

He was faced with a dilemma. He could ask Hercules to stop and he was sure that, regardless of his state of arousal, the demigod would not force himself upon him or he could pretend that he had been serious all along and go through with it. He always hated to have to back down, but he was very scared of allowing the demigod to proceed. He had seen Hercules naked countless times and had observed the size of his organ in its flaccid state. It had appeared formidably large even then. He dreaded to think what it must be like now. However, he did love Hercules and if the demigod genuinely wanted sex with him and had believed the desire to be mutual, how embarrassed and hurt he would be if Iolaus suddenly announced he really had had no intention of having sex with him and that it had all been just a joke that had gone too far. How could their friendship survive that?

While his thoughts whirled, the demigod, emboldened by his silence, which he took for acquiescence, inserted another finger.

Gulping, Iolaus managed to find his voice and, without realizing he had actually made a decision, asked apprehensively, "Will it hurt?"

The answer was not reassuring. "Yes, it could be quite painful at first, especially without proper lubrication, but you *will* enjoy it, I promise."

"W-Will you stop if it hurts too much?" Iolaus ventured, knowing all too well that that was easier said than done.

"Yes, of course," the demigod responded, thinking, 'Gods, I hope he doesn't ask and that I can stop if he does.'

Hercules decided that he had better try to get Iolaus aroused before he went any further as that way he would hopefully be more accepting of any discomfort. Accordingly, he withdrew his fingers and gently rolled the blond onto his back. Then he leaned forward and buried his face in the hunter's golden curls. These had always fascinated him and he had longed to touch them without understanding the more deeply hidden desires that went with that one.

He located an earlobe and sucked at it. Iolaus gave one of the giggles that the demigod loved and protested, "Herc, that tickles!"

However, that was nothing compared to his reaction when the demigod began to nibble at the sensitive junction between neck and shoulder. That had the hunter gasping, writhing and pleading for Hercules to stop and yet not to stop.

Hercules began to rove over the blond's body, deliberately seeking out all the places that caused the most extreme reaction from his victim.

After long minutes of this tender torment, the writhing hunter was not only rock hard, but was even starting to think that anything might be better than having the demigod continue with his teasing. Anything that would relieve the unbearable tension that was building in his exquisitely tortured body.

Then, realizing his partner's desperation, Hercules moved his hand to Iolaus' penis and began to milk it. Iolaus exploded helplessly after only a couple of strokes and lay gasping and shuddering, hardly aware that the demigod was using the come to coat his fingers so he could continue Iolaus' preparation.

Suddenly, Iolaus felt himself being rolled onto his stomach again. Powerful hands gently spread the creamy globes of the hunter's delectable arse. Iolaus whimpered involuntarily and tried to pull away as the first digit entered him, but there was nowhere to go. "Keep still," the demigod whispered huskily.

Another finger joined the first and then a third. Iolaus tensed. 'Oh, gods, no! I can't!' he thought, somehow stopping himself from voicing his fear.

Meanwhile, Hercules was so aroused by the delicious sight before him that he was finding it difficult to go slow. All he wanted to was to plunge into the little blond, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to keep his passion under control so as not to frighten the hunter any more than he was. "Relax, Iolaus," he murmured. "Just keep calm and breathe out."

Then he moved his hands to the hunter's slender hips and began to push his way slowly past the tight ring of muscle.

Iolaus could not believe how much it hurt. He clenched his fists until the knuckles showed white and bit into the pillow to try to stifle his moans of pain. All his being was concentrating on that one small tortured part of him. The incredible sense of fullness threatened to overwhelm him. 'He's splitting me in half,' he thought wildly, even while aware that the idea was irrational.

Hercules started to withdraw and Iolaus drew a breath of relief, only to have the demigod move in again, rocking into him and gradually increasing the tempo of his thrusts.

Pinned helplessly under his friend's weight, Iolaus felt tears streaming down his face as he tried desperately to suppress the screams rising in his throat. Then it became all too much for him and he cried out in pain and distress and began to struggle futilely to extricate himself.

Lost in his ecstatic enjoyment of the act, Hercules barely registered the sound, muffled as it was by the pillow. He, though usually so sensitive to the needs of others, was lost in a haze of sensual pleasure. Indeed, interpreting the sound as encouragement, he gave a harder thrust and hit the prostate.

A shaft of fire rent the hunter's loins. His world spun out of control as a maelstrom of pleasure such as he had never experienced engulfed him. He couldn't breath, he couldn't think. Lost in a black void, illuminated by sudden pin-pricks of bright light, he was screaming his head off and begging the demigod incoherently to thrust harder, to stop, to ... to ... gods to do he didn't know what.

The noise his partner was making pushed the demigod over the top and he came hard, collapsing forward onto Iolaus. He lay there panting with exertion and crushing the slight body into the mattress.

Then recollecting himself, he carefully withdrew and rolled over. He pulled the unresisting Iolaus to him, murmuring endearments. Iolaus instinctively curled into his embrace, while Hercules rained kisses upon him.

The little blond was trembling with reaction and drenched with sweat. He felt absolutely exhausted, completely drained of energy. Without a word he fell soundly asleep, to the relief of the demigod, who had started to think rationally about what had happened and to wonder if he might have misinterpreted his friend's wishes. 'If he's relaxed enough to sleep, he can't be too upset," he decided.

*****

When Hercules awoke the next morning, he reached for Iolaus intending to cuddle him but, to his consternation, the hunter was gone. Worried, Hercules immediately jumped out of bed and began to dress hurriedly. 'Gods, I hope he isn't upset about what we did,' he thought. 'I don't think he intended things to go far as they did.'

He was just starting towards the door when it opened and the hunter entered. "Hell, I'm sore," Iolaus complained, limping across the room. "I think I'd have been better off if you'd used that whip on me."

Unsure how to play things, Hercules decided to respond in kind. "If you hadn't been so stroppy you could have escaped with a lecture."

"What do you mean *escaped*? Nothing is worse than one of your boring lectures."

"Seriously though, Iolaus, are you sorry that we ... ah ... that we ..."

"Had sex?"

The demigod nodded.

"M-Maybe ... I-I don't know, Herc." He lowered his head, shielding his face with his mop of curls.

Crestfallen and worried that he had really hurt his friend, the demigod started to apologize. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, I ..."

However, Iolaus continued as though he had not spoken. "I kn-know you liked it but ..." He trailed off.

"But?" Hercules prompted automatically, although he did not really want to hear what he feared the little blond would say.

"But I think we'd better do it a few more times so I can give you my considered opinion on the subject," Iolaus said, raising his head and grinning cheekily as he watched Hercules' expression change from distress to joyful relief. "Got ya, Herc!" he giggled.

Hercules swooped his beloved tormentor into his arms. "Iolaus, if you think your arse is sore at the moment, be warned it's nothing compared to what it's going to be," he exclaimed, the happiness in his face and the fervour of his embrace totally undermining his attempt to reprimand his troublesome lover.

The End.