he listened, appreciating the explanation of peregrine's words and the honesty therein. for a traditional man, the ebon leader was careful with his words, and curious, not rejecting out of hand a pairing that would have never resulted in children. he was silent for some time after his leader had finished speaking, ending with an inquiry that led lasher into contemplation.
children were never the end desire of my couplings, he said simply. i am fond of them, but had i found myself the sire of offspring, i would have been obligated out of duty to remain with their mother. this i would have done without hesitation, and loved whatever children came from that love, as you did, but ... perhaps you are a better creature than i. less selfish. he glanced to peregrine as he spoke, knowing fully that if the devil allowed him into such sanctums as mind and heart, the issue of his body, the children he had sired, would be equally set upon a pedestal in taltos' mind.
i did, he answered softly. our was a passionate lovemaking. it is different than lying with a woman, lasher explained, his gaze returning to the glow in peregrine's eyes.a female body is softness and curves, and gentle cries, a submission to a male's passion. to be with a man is to embrace a body much like your own, hardness, steel, and you meet one another with the same violence, instead of one yielding to the other. there is no yielding between men, only a fight for dominance, even in the dimmest of chambers.
a gentle sigh broke from him then, a rueful thought of eismitte. but in the basest of senses, it is much the same. one will take, and one will give. between men, however, there is the opportunity to share the roles of he who gives and he who takes, as there is not with a woman. ears flicked in the male's direction, and he fell silent, wondering what peregrine was to make of all this.