In space, no one will hear them moan.
A Men in Space story. The job was supposed to be an easy one for Captain Kar and his two-man crew: land the Danaus on the deserted moon, appropriate a few boxes of precious chromore, and jump out of the system before the Guardians could get to them. Even Will and Jay’s inability to keep their hands off each other for any length of time should not have been too much of a problem. They discover too late it’s the laineards’ mating season. The resulting sexual pheromones begin to affect them as soon as they step off the ship. With Will and Jay losing their minds to lust, and Kar himself blinded by visions of the two men he has wanted for months, things suddenly get much harder than expected. Their only hope for not ending up in jail is to get out of there before the Guardians find them. Except an open loading dock contaminated the air inside the Danaus. And Kar will have to resort to drastic measures to keep Jay and Will apart long enough to escape…
Warning: The Lodge does not endorse or otherwise approve of this sexually charged M/M/M rendition of one of its elite members cavorting with the crew of a thieving spaceship while under the influence of pheromones-induced, overwhelming and all-consuming lust.
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. Samhain Publishing, Ltd. 577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520 Macon GA 31201 Moonlust Copyright © 2010 by Kallysten ISBN: 978-1-60504-885-7 Edited by Sasha Knight Cover by Kanaxa All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2010 www.samhainpublishing.com
Moonlust Kallysten
Dedication
To Mary, queen of the anteaters and first reader extraordinaire.
Chapter One
In the vastness of space, the two ships came together as smoothly as ballet dancers from Fra’is—not that Kar had ever seen any of those. Only the wealthiest members of the Lodge could afford such entertainment. He glanced at the navigation station on his right and wondered if Jay had ever seen a ballet before leaving that world and his last name behind. Jay was humming a fast tune under his breath, his gaze darting over the navigation controls that flashed in front of him. “Ever gone to see a ballet, Jay?” Jay raised his head a fraction, enough that Kar knew he had heard him, but the humming continued. Two seconds later, a loud clank announced they had made contact with the Cisseis. “Magnetic locks engaged,” the computer said. Its voice was female today, and there was a singing quality to it that disconcerted Kar. He sighed and threw a tired look at Jay. “You messed with the synchro program again?” Jay’s clear blue eyes turned to look at him as he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above him. “Sounded too much like my posture instructor. Never could stand the bastard.” Snorting, Kar rose from the captain’s chair and strode out of the cockpit, Jay on his heels. “And the voice before that sounded like your aunt—” “Third cousin.” “Aunt, cousin, the fucking president of the Lodge, I don’t care. Just leave the damn synchro alone.” Jay’s heels thumped behind him, and Kar glanced back. Fingers bent against his forehead, Jay was saluting him as neatly as any Guardian Kar had ever seen. His smirk, however, spoiled the effect. “Aye, Captain.” With a shake of his head, Kar started forward again, ignoring his navigator’s antics. Will was waiting in front of the living quarters, a bemused expression on his face. That was all Kar needed now, more lip from his crew. He walked faster and passed Will with a glance that dared him to say a word. Will didn’t seem to mind and fell into step with them, hands in his pockets and his long strides easily matching Kar’s rapid pace until they were side by side. “I’m not saluting you,” Will said. “Just so we’re clear.” Kar raised his eyes to the ceiling, then frowned as he spotted a trail of rust on a pipe and made a mental note to check it later. One more thing to check. He loved his ship, but the damn thing sure didn’t seem to love him back. “No one asked you to salute.”
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“So it’s just Jay then?” Will’s drawling voice sounded caught between amusement and curiosity. “Nobody asked Jay to salute either.” Kar massaged his temples, two firm fingers on each side. There were days when he thought he’d have been better off slaving over a patch of dirt on his home planet. Then again, fourteen years spent without stars under Carelleion’s two suns and three moons had been quite enough. “Will you two open the nexus doors or do I have to do everything on this ship?” “Well, it is your ship,” Jay said with a devious grin, but he went to the first door’s manual controls just the same. They had arrived in the cargo bay, and Kar stopped in front of a metal door. Jay’s careful navigation had aligned the Danaus and the Cisseis so that the magnetic strips on each ship’s nexus interlocked. All they needed now was to open two doors on this side and for the crew of the Cisseis to do the same thing on their side, and the trade could begin. Feet planted solidly on the metal floor of his ship and his arms crossed over his chest, Kar took a deep breath. They had good merchandise to trade, and the Cisseis usually gave fair prices. Everything would go just fine. He inclined his head when Will and Jay looked at him. Jay’s fingers flew over a line of manual switches, deactivating the doors’ secure locks. When the alarm beeped once, Will grabbed the wheel in the center of the door and turned it. His face reddened at the effort, and the horizontal scar on his cheek seemed even paler in contrast. The pressurized door opened inward with a whisper of rushing air. Will adjusted the fingerless gloves on his hands and entered the nexus to open the second door. When he came out to stand by Jay’s side, the nexus had become an open corridor between the two ships, twenty-five yards long and wide enough for two men to walk abreast. Kar could already see the captain of the Cisseis, Dav Lyenne, striding toward him with a brilliant smile plastered on his face. Wide pants in a violent shade of green were tucked into his boots. They clashed horribly with a bright red shirt. “Karmykel!” Lyenne emerged from the nexus and stopped, striking an ostentatious pose, arms raised so that the triangles of fabric attached to his sleeves framed him like wings. “It has been too long, my friend.” Kar forced a tight smile onto his lips and held out his hand to Lyenne. Friend was not a word he would have used to describe the other captain, but he wasn’t about to say as much before they started trading. The way Kar saw it, they did business together, and things stopped there. He had trouble trusting people who smiled too freely, or who flaunted clothes they could only have acquired on one of the Prime Planets. Black pants and a simple black shirt had always served him right. On that, his crew followed his lead, though as he glanced at them, he wondered, as he so often did, how Jay could bear to wear pants so snug. They looked even tighter, he was chagrined to notice, when Will’s hand was stuck in the back pocket. Couldn’t they behave?
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He forced his eyes back to Lyenne and gave his hand a firm shake. “Too long, indeed. I heard you don’t follow local trade routes regularly anymore.” Lyenne puffed up his chest. “You’ve heard right, at that. I’m moving up in the universe.” His arms rose again, as though the extra fabric on his sleeves somehow signified anything other than his foolishness. “But I’ll always trade with old friends. What do you have for me?” Kar led him to the first stack of cargo boxes and undid the clasps on one of them before flicking the lid open. Lyenne stepped closer to examine the saffra powder. Some traders vaunted the quality of their goods until they were blue in the face; Kar preferred to let his merchandise speak for itself. While Lyenne rubbed a pinch of spices between his thumb and forefinger, Kar looked back at his crew and couldn’t help rolling his eyes at them. Will had pushed Jay back against the wall and was leaning into his neck, murmuring words Kar couldn’t hear but that made Jay’s lips curl into a lazy smile. Kar cleared his throat loudly, and the two men threw guilty glances at him as they straightened. At least, Kar wanted to believe they felt guilty. He had no desire to repeat that painful conversation about business, personal matters, and the many ways the two should not mix on his ship. “I trust that you have the paperwork for this,” Lyenne said, oblivious to the byplay behind him. “I always have paperwork.” Even as far away from the Prime Planets as they were, no trader worth his ship would be caught without the credentials for anything he wanted to sell. It didn’t matter so much that the paperwork was authentic as long as the forgery looked good enough. Planets in the outer systems weren’t too inquisitive as far as paperwork went, but they still insisted on the proper credentials to accompany any goods traded to them. Guardians looked at those credentials a lot more closely when they boarded a trade ship for inspection, but Kar tried his best to avoid systems where he knew the Lodge kept a Guardians outpost. Lyenne nodded absently. “Anything else?” Kar frowned as he gestured Lyenne to the second, larger stack of boxes. It was unwise to show too much interest in a potential trade, of course, but Lyenne wasn’t very good at hiding his thoughts. The fact that he wasn’t raving about the quality of the saffra—and it was of a damn good quality, Kar was no fool to trade for junk—didn’t bode well. “Raw moonsilk from—” Lyenne let out a dramatic sigh. “Moonsilk? Raw moonsilk? No one trades for that anymore. You don’t keep up with fashion, do you?” He looked Kar up and down, his nose wrinkling in distaste. “It’s all about colors, my friend. The brighter, the better. Now if you had chromore to trade with that moonsilk, I’d take the whole lot from your hands.” He shook his head and clucked his tongue. “It pains me to leave you with non-tradeable goods, really.” Kar clenched his teeth. He had traded high for that moonsilk not two weeks earlier. Part of him wanted to call Lyenne on the lie, but he couldn’t afford to offend him, not when the Danaus was on her last
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box of food. How long until his crew tired of it and quit? Unlike Kar, neither of them was used to going hungry. His gaze drifted behind Lyenne, and he crossed his arms again. Jay and Will were back at it. Will’s fingers were tracing the tattooed lines that encircled Jay’s throat like a necklace. Any second now, it’d be his lips on Jay’s skin instead of his fingers, and another one of these purplish bruises would bloom. Kar hated those bruises—and he hated that he could never stop staring at them. A muscle ticked in his jaw. If these two didn’t cut it out, he’d trade them instead of the moonsilk. Hell, he’d even pay Lyenne to take them off his ship. “I know this is not what you wanted to hear,” Lyenne said, misinterpreting his growing annoyance and drawing Kar’s attention back to him. “But as I said, if you had chromore…” Again, he was smiling too widely. Kar’s patience was running thin. “I don’t have chromore, nor do I know where to find it.” At that, Lyenne beamed. “What a coincidence! I just happen to know where you can…acquire some. I’d go myself, but these days I try to keep a low profile, if you know what I mean…” Kar had a pretty good idea what Lyenne meant. He knew where one could steal this chromore but didn’t want to dirty his hands by doing the stealing himself. As a rule, Kar didn’t like to steal. Even this far from the Prime Planets, Guardians patrolled all mining operations that belonged to the Lodge. “I don’t have the weaponry or the engine speed to take on Guardians.” “Ah, but who’s talking about them?” Lyenne gestured dismissively. “They have some sort of festival on the main planet right now, and the entire moon will be deserted for five more days. The refining factory will just be waiting for you.” Kar had been called many things since embarking on a ship as a wide-eyed kid close to twenty years earlier, but no one had ever called him stupid who hadn’t lived to regret it. It was extraordinarily convenient that Lyenne happened to know where to find chromore and would impart this knowledge to Kar at the precise moment when the mineral lay unguarded. Kar wondered if Lyenne had suggested this business opportunity to others already—or if Kar was the first who had looked desperate enough to accept. “Four large boxes of food for the saffra,” he said, easily sliding in the strong tones of trading. “And twenty thousand credits for the moonsilk and the chromore when I come back.” He had expected Lyenne to protest the price of the saffra and was surprised when he thrust a hand at him. “Done. But for that price, I want at least fifty boxes of chromore.” They shook on it. “Will.” Too busy mouthing Jay’s neck, Will didn’t hear Kar calling for him or didn’t care to reply. This was getting tiresome. “Will! Get your ass over here and carry the saffra over to the Cisseis now, or ask Captain Lyenne if he’s got room on his ship for you.”
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Will raised his head and turned an amused look to Kar, his lips set in a smile just shy of derisive. With a mock salute, he went to grab the lift. Jay joined him and helped him pull the first box onto the flat bed of the lift. Lyenne chuckled and clapped Kar on the back. “Quite a crew you’ve got there, my friend. I bet there isn’t a dull moment on your ship.” Kar glared at him, but Lyenne, his eyebrow suddenly rising in surprise, didn’t notice. His eyes were on Jay. He licked his lips before saying in a very low voice, “It’s funny, I could have sworn those tattoos looked like—” “The Lodge,” Kar cut in abruptly. “But don’t go mentioning that to him. Touchy subject.” Lyenne’s chuckle this time was weak, as though he were not sure whether Kar was joking or not. “I’ll send the food over. And the coordinates.” At that, he took regal steps back to his ship, waving his hand over his shoulder. Teeth clenched, Kar stomped over to the stack of saffra and pulled a box from Jay’s hands. He gave him a harsh look and tried to ignore the red mark on his neck, which was half on the tattoo, half off. Damn them. “Cockpit. Now. The Cisseis is going to transmit coordinates.” Jay shrugged. “The computer’ll catch that.” “Go to the cockpit, Jake. Or find another job.” Jay’s full lips tightened into a thin line. His eyes darkened, no longer a summer sky, now a rising storm. He considered Kar for a few seconds, his back straightening slowly until he stood ramrod straight. “I never went to see the ballet, Captain. Would you like to know why?” Suddenly, his words were crisp, each syllable detached and smooth. Behind him, Will shook his head and smiled, but he continued working. Kar said nothing. “All things that are worth having are worth having on your own terms,” Jay said in the same tone. “I didn’t go to see the ballet. The ballet came to me.” Despite being a couple of inches shorter than Kar, he managed to stare him down before he turned on his heel and walked away. Somehow, in his simple pants and sleeveless shirt, he managed to look more stately than Lyenne in his flamboyant attire. “Posture instructor, no shit,” Kar muttered, and helped Will stack up the saffra. Will raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “What was that ballet stuff about, then?” Kar shrugged. “How would I know? You’re the one who fucks him.” Will’s baritone laugh filled the entire cargo bay, echoing back to them. “You shouldn’t have called him Jake.” Hoisting the last box on top of the others, Kar groaned. “I know.” “He’s going to be a pain for days.” “I know.”
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Will started guiding the lift down toward the nexus, but he looked back at Kar, dark eyes gleaming mischievously. “I guess I’ll have to put him in a better mood.” Kar watched him go and shook his head. Sometimes, he really wanted to fire the two of them and fly solo. Surely no amount of loneliness could be worth the daily torture these two inflicted on him without even knowing it.
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Chapter Two
When Jay reclined far enough in his seat, making the bolts that held it down creak and complain, all he could see was stars. The walls over his head and in front of him were solid metal, like the rest of the Danaus, but here the smooth panels doubled as screens. At that moment, they might as well have been glass. He had turned on all of them—let Kar complain about wasted energy—and they reflected perfect images of what lay beyond the hull of the ship. They were too far from any system Jay had visited while growing up so the constellations weren’t anything he recognized, but stars were old friends, wherever he went. Distant and cool, maybe, sometimes too silent, but always present. “Receiving coordinates.” Jay ignored the computer’s announcement with a flash of satisfaction at his small rebellion. He didn’t need to be there to receive that data. Kar had just been trying to piss him off. “And he did that quite well,” he muttered to himself. “Jealous bastard. Just because he isn’t getting any…” The flash of an idea burst into his mind. He sat up abruptly, already grinning, and turned to the computer panel to the right of the navigation display. The Danaus was a fine ship, but rudimentary. Its systems had been outdated long before Jay had decided that hacking was a lot more fun than programming. His instructor had disapproved, especially after Jay had snooped in his personal files and found a few very enlightening videos. Years later, his mother still blamed the incident for Jay’s preferences as far as the gender of his partners was concerned. He was the only person he knew who could match her stubbornness—and dared to. He fiddled with the synchro program for a few moments before he asked, “Computer, report on all life systems.” The computer droned on about air, water, pressure and so forth. Jay ignored the words but focused on the now-male voice, adjusting the pitch and speed, and even tweaking the system so that the remnants of a Carellese accent colored certain sounds. He soon had the perfect voice and stopped the computer in the middle of its inventory of all the little things that needed fixing on the ship. That list of things to fix seemed to lengthen every time Jay heard it. Nothing life-threatening, but a long list just the same. They needed credits, and a lot of them. He glanced at the coordinates the Cisseis had
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sent them, wondering what they would be hunting for this time. The name of the system felt vaguely familiar, but before Jay could try to remember, Kar’s voice rose from the comm. “Jay. The nexus is sealed. Release and start us on a course to the coordinates the Cisseis sent.” He didn’t acknowledge the order, but he still followed it immediately. Kar could complain all he wanted. The truth was, Jay and Will did their work, and they did it well. A few pressed buttons caused them to part company with the Cisseis. Jay looked at the coordinates again and plotted the first jump. The navigation computer checked his data automatically before revving the engines. The low, bone-rattling noise would be warning enough, but he opened the comm anyway and announced curtly, “Jump in five.” Five seconds later, he executed the jump command. The Danaus seemed to lurch forward, then everything was still for a split second. The arrival was the part Jay liked the least. On a ship this small, the abrupt stop was often enough to make you stumble if you weren’t careful. His chair creaked. He plotted the next jump—they would need about twenty more to reach their destination, with a few minutes of rest for the engines between each jump. The ship was about to make its third jump when Will walked in. He just had time to sit in Kar’s chair before the Danaus did its lurch-still-shudder dance. Jay threw him a quick smile in the middle of charting the next jump. “So what was that thing about the ballet?” Will asked when Jay angled his chair toward him. With his arms thrown behind his head and grasping the edge of the chair, his biceps were thrown into sharp relief against his short-sleeved shirt. “The what?” Jay replied distractedly. “Oh. Nothing.” “That wasn’t nothing,” Will insisted. He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs, and looked at Jay intently. “Most of the time you pretend you’ve never even set foot on a Prime Planet. And suddenly you spout something about going to the ballet? Do you even like ballet?” Jay’s irritation, which had faded with the practical joke he had prepared for Kar, floated back to the surface of his mind. Will should have known better than to question him—like Kar should have known better than to call him Jake. That was his father’s name and he would be damned if he wore it one more day. “Whether I like ballet or not was not the point,” he said, the words coming out like cracks of a whip. “And I didn’t go.” He gave Will a look that clearly warned him against continuing and pivoted toward the navigation controls. A few seconds before the next jump, he revved the engines. “You didn’t go, you had them come to you.” Will paused. From the corner of his eye, Jay could see him frown. “What was it you said? On your own terms?” Ignoring him, Jay flicked on the comm. “Jump in five.” “What does that even mean, on your own terms?”
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He stabbed the jump control with a finger and turned to glare. The look was totally lost on Will, who answered it with his sweetest smile. Jay consoled himself when the smile wavered as they jumped. “Come on, now,” Will said afterwards. “I’m just trying to understand. Understand you.” His eyes and attention back on jump calculations, Jay snorted. “You make it sound like I’m this deep mystery. I’m not. I’m just like you. I wanted to fly. I am flying. End of story.” He frowned uncertainly at his math and followed the cursor as the computer checked his work. Everything cleared out, and he nodded to himself. As he started turning back toward Will—he could never ignore him for very long—his seat pivoted under Will’s grip on the back of the chair. Will stood over him, dark eyes gleaming. “You’re flying on a small ship that’s falling apart at about the same speed we put it back together, when you could have bought the best starship on the Troen docks. You could have bought an entire fleet of starships.” And that, right there, all this questioning, was the reason why Jay didn’t like talking about his past. No one ever understood. No one could understand that hadn’t been born in the Lodge. He wished he could have left his old life completely behind him, but no amount of money would convince anyone to remove the five tattooed lines that twisted around his neck, branding him as a member of the Lodge. You could run away from the Lodge, but it never fully let you go. He understood why, of course. Since his childhood, he had been trained, taught, molded into the decision maker the Lodge needed him to be. He wasn’t just an investment, he was also one of the wheels needed to make the entire system run smoothly—and never mind if he thought that the system was flawed, granting unimaginable riches to a few while leaving a billion others to scratch the surface of arid rocks not to die of hunger. Unconsciously, he raised his hand to his neck and scratched at the tattoo, stopping only when he noticed Will’s too-understanding eyes following his gesture. “Fly the best starship money can buy and then what?” He forced his hand back onto his lap, curling it into a fist. “Go back every night to a mansion so big that I can barely find my wife and kids? Decide every morning how many people will starve that day when I set the price for grain? Spend my days with people whose deepest concern is whether their new jewelry will outshine mine? Believe me, no Troen starship would have brought me as far as the Danaus has.” Will slowly straightened up and crossed his arms. He tilted his head as he observed Jay, his expression softening. “On your own terms,” he murmured, showing he understood now. Jay nodded sharply and looked away. He’d never felt more exposed in front of Will—including the times Will had been seated balls-deep inside him. The feeling was new, and not as unpleasant as he would have expected. He didn’t mind so much that Will was trying to figure out more than what he liked in bed. That, too, was unexpected. He had started returning Will’s interested looks because he had thought it’d be a fun way to pass time, but it was quickly becoming more than that.
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“You know, when I first got onto this ship I thought you were just a pretty face,” Will said, unknowingly echoing his thoughts. “The more I get to know you, the more I realize I underestimated you.” Not unpleasant, but just the same, Jay brought the conversation back to known ground. “Sure you did.” He cupped his groin suggestively. “I’ve got a pretty dick too.” Will’s burst of laughter was bright and warm as sunshine. “You most certainly do.” Jay glanced at the controls. The next jump was seconds away. He revved the engines. “I’d even say, I’ve got a worshipable dick.” Will snickered. “Is that even a word?” “You’re saying my dick is not worshipable?” Without waiting for an answer, he flicked the comm on just long enough to give Kar the five seconds warning. Will grabbed the edge of the navigation console. “I’m saying…” His voice trailed off when the ship jumped. When they stopped again, he staggered a little but quickly regained his balance and his voice. “You know what, you’re right.” His mouth already open to ask what he was supposed to be right about, Jay glanced at him, only to see him drop to his knees. He laughed in surprise. “What are you…?” He lost his words when Will shuffled forward, sliding underneath the navigation console in front of him. Already, Will’s fingers were dancing against his crotch, awakening his cock with the lightest touch, even as he undid his pants buttons. Without realizing what he was doing, Jay spread his thighs to give him more room. “W—Will?” Clever fingers slipped inside his boxers and coaxed his dick out in the open. The contrast between the gentleness of his fingers and the slight roughness of the leather gloves covering his palm was always startling. Will glanced up from beneath the console. To Jay, his eyes suddenly seemed as dark, as vast, as full of stars as space itself. “What does it look like I’m doing?” Will said with a wicked grin. He flicked the tip of his tongue against Jay’s semi-hard cock. “I’m worshipping.” “Now?” Jay croaked, his hips shifting forward without his consent. Will gave Jay’s cock a light tug, and it answered by hardening further in his hand. “Why not now? It’s not like we’re in an asteroid field or something.” The flat of his tongue ran from the base of Jay’s cock to the very tip and back. “But you might want to plot the next jump before Kar comes in to ask why we’re not moving.” Jay’s fingers clenched on the edge of the console, and he looked down just in time to see Will’s tongue skim against the tip of his cock and lap at the bead of precome there.
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“Jump?” The word came out in a strangled moan. Only when he heard it did he understand its meaning. “Right. Plot ju—” He took in a shaky breath when Will nuzzled his balls through his boxers. “— jump. Can do.” He pried one hand off the console to type numbers in. He had to close his eyes briefly to get a grip on himself. Will had just licked a twisting path all over his cock and was now blowing softly along it. “Oh God.” Will chuckled. With his mouth closed over the crown of Jay’s dick, the vibration was sheer torture. He pulled away with a wet pop to say, “The name’s Will.” Jay used the reprieve to correct two mistakes in his calculations and finish. With a sigh of relief, he let the computer deal with them and slid his hand to rest at the back of Will’s head, urging him forward. His hair was fine as moonsilk. “Shut up and worship.” With another chuckle, Will drew Jay’s cock into his mouth and swallowed around it. Jay closed his eyes. His hips thrust forward once, but Will’s hand at the base of his cock squeezed, demanding that he stop. The hand followed Will’s mouth when he slowly moved back up his cock, and he pumped it a few times as he asked, “Isn’t it time for a jump?” Jay’s fingers tightened over Will’s hair before he could control himself. He cracked an eye open and saw that it was indeed time. With extreme reluctance, he let go of his hold on Will and, in the same movement, flicked on the comm and revved the engines. “Jump in five,” he announced, gasping on the last word when Will swallowed around his cock again. He pressed the jump command blindly, his eyes closing again, and moaned Will’s name.
~*~ “Will… Yes… More…” Even with the dull rumble of the engines, so close now as Kar changed an air filter in the machine room, Jay’s breathy voice was all he could hear. A jolt of pure need coursed through him before his mind even registered the words, and he found himself staring at the comm console on the wall. The red light on the upper left side indicated that the line was open in the cockpit. Shaking his head, he focused on the filter again and finished sliding the cover in place. Then he stood and dusted off his knees, glancing at the comm again. That Jay was in the cockpit did not surprise Kar. They had been jumping for more than half an hour, and there were still many jumps ahead of them. That Will was with him was probably not that surprising, either. But that they would— A louder, wordless moan caused the short hairs at the nape of his neck to rise. He started toward the cockpit. No, he really wasn’t all that surprised that they would screw in the cockpit in the middle of jumps with the comm open. He wasn’t surprised that they were screwing, period. Will’s first question when he had visited the Danaus as a prospective recruit had been, “So, is Blue Eyes 16
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just your nav, or is he more than that?” Kar had known how things would end the moment he had hired Will. Maybe, if he was honest with himself, he had hoped they would end this way, so that he would be able to stop wondering what it’d be like if Jay were more than just his navigator. The last thing he needed was to get involved with a member of the Lodge. That would not end well. Kar had never heard of anyone else born into the power and wealth of the Lodge rejecting everything that was their birthright to wander from system to system, but he could not imagine that the Lodge would let Jay go free so easily. He knew too much about the inner workings of the Lodge to be allowed to simply walk away forever. Maybe they would give him time to realize he had made a mistake, but Kar didn’t doubt that, sooner or later, Jay would return to the fold, willingly or not. Kar had decided when hiring him that he would take advantage of his knowledge as long as he could, but when the Lodge finally sent its Guardians to bring Jay back, Kar would not be foolish enough to stand in their way. Better if someone else made that mistake, someone like Will, someone who couldn’t be a day older than eighteen even if his work license claimed he was twenty-five like Jay. The cockpit was only a few feet away, and Kar stopped, resting a hand on the wall as he composed himself. He could hear Jay’s continuous moaning behind him through the comm and ahead of him through the open cockpit door. He breathed in deeply and let the air out through his clenched teeth. Even here, a hint of musk drifted in the air. His cock had hardened uncomfortably in his pants, but he refused to touch it even to adjust himself. He was going to barge in there, scare the hell out of them, and teach them a lesson in humiliation. Then, maybe, they’d stop acting like oversexed teenagers. It wasn’t like they didn’t have a bed to share. Walking as quietly as he knew how, he moved on to the cockpit, his mouth already opening for reproaches. It closed with a snap when he reached the door. From behind and to their right, he couldn’t really see much more than Jay’s profile and very little of Will as he kneeled in front of him, but Kar’s imagination provided him with graphic details. His cock responded with a painful twitch, and it was all he could do not to let his moan join Jay’s. He leaned against the side of the door and peered in, unable to take his eyes off them. Jay’s head was tilted back, the tendons of his neck strung tightly. The bruise Will had planted there earlier stood out against his pale skin. His mouth was open and his breathing was ragged, stopping every few seconds on a gasp. His hands were beneath the console, hiding what little of Will’s face Kar could glimpse. The wet sounds of Will’s mouth went straight to Kar’s dick, and he couldn’t stop himself from pressing his palm against it. He relished the pressure, imagining it was another’s hand on him, another’s mouth—Will’s mouth, his impossibly dark eyes looking up at him as he swallowed around him, just like he had to be doing to Jay now, to make him moan so loudly and— Biting the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t make a noise, Kar forced himself to take a step back, then another one, until he couldn’t see them anymore. He could still hear, though—Jay’s harsh panting
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slowly calming down, then wet kissing noises and words that he didn’t want to listen to. He hurried down the corridor and turned left toward the living quarters. He closed the door of his cabin behind him and, his fists tight at his sides, regained control over his breathing. When he had, he pushed the call button on the comm console. “Jay?” He was relieved to hear his voice come out at its normal pitch. “We haven’t jumped in a while. Engines giving you trouble?” There was a mutter, and then a shrill noise when Jay tried to turn on his already-broadcasting comm. After a brief pause, he said in a voice that was just shy of breathless, “No, not the engines, I… My math is getting rusty. I had to check our jumps so far. We’ll start moving again in a minute.” “Okay. Warn us when you’re ready.” Kar could hear a muffled laugh before Jay muttered, “Will do,” and closed the line. As he let himself fall on his bed and unbuttoned his pants, Kar could only wonder why he hadn’t called Jay on his lie. Why he hadn’t interrupted him and Will. He wondered, mostly, what he would have liked best—being in that chair or beneath that console.
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Chapter Three
Once they were within three jumps of their destination, a freshly showered Kar called to his crew to join him in what served as the ship’s kitchen, dining room and all-purpose room. A cold shower had done wonders to clear his mind, and when the three of them sat around the small table, food piled high on their plates, he could look at Will and Jay without remembering what he had witnessed. Or at least the memories stayed at the back of his mind rather than devouring his every thought. With a shake of his head, he focused on the two matters at hand: eating and planning. The food was standard fare, dried grain squares, meat slices, small pieces of dehydrated fruit. It all tasted the same, really, if you paid attention to what was in your mouth, but the textures gave the illusion of variety. At any rate, for once, it wasn’t rationed. The planning didn’t take much time at all. Kar explained what Lyenne had told him and laid out a basic course of action. They’d check out the moon in question to see whether it was truly deserted, land near the mining facility, and be in and out of there with their bounty in less than half an hour, which was the time anyone on the main planet would need to reach them. When he was finished with both the food and his explanation, Kar pushed his plate away and rested both arms on the table. Across from him, Will had wolfed down two plates already and was helping himself to a third one. He had been paying attention while Kar talked, nodding every so often to show he understood, but now he seemed focused on his dinner. Kar’s mind tried to supply an image of what that same full-lipped mouth had been savoring not two hours earlier, but he pushed the thought away. He cleared his throat and turned his eyes toward Jay on his right. Leaning back in his chair, Jay was playing with a grain square and flipping the inch-wide piece of golden-brown food from finger to finger—the same fingers that had been curled in Will’s hair not that long before. Small flakes were detaching from the square with each pass and falling over the fruit cubes left on his plate. He turned to frown at Kar. “That seems too simple.” Kar nodded once. “I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing.” “What’s wrong with simple?” Will asked in between two swallows of food. “You’d rather have to fight?” Kar grimaced and refrained from advising Will not to talk with his mouth full. “I’d rather know why it’s so simple.” He pushed his chair away from the table and stretched his arms above his head. “It seems weird that they’d just abandon the mine altogether for a week.”
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Will shrugged as he refilled his glass with water. “We had a festival like that back home. For three days there was no trade, no work, nothing but dances and food and games.” The words and the barely hidden fondness behind them made the sudden image of a younger Will pop into Kar’s mind. He imagined him lean and lanky, with awkwardly large feet and hands he hadn’t yet grown into and didn’t know what to do with anymore. Had he danced with pretty pig-tailed girls during that festival, or had he liked boys better even then? Kar almost asked the question before thinking better of it and looking at Jay again. The grain square was gone. He had speared a piece of fruit on his fork and was nibbling on it daintily. It seemed like a gesture made for real fruit, not dehydrated, flavorless food rations. “Is that something the Lodge would do?” Kar asked, not liking that he had to bring the topic back on the table, yet seeing no way around it. “Close a mining operation for a festival?” A muscle ticked in Jay’s cheek. From the corner of his eye, Kar saw Will become very still. He ignored his reproachful look and waited for Jay’s answer. It came in a tightly controlled voice after Jay bit through his last piece of fruit and washed it down with water. His Adam’s apple bobbed over the tattooed lines around his throat as he swallowed, and they almost seemed to move of their own accord like small snakes. “You can only exploit people up to a certain point. You’ve got to give them hope every now and then. Something they can look forward to.” Kar tore his eyes away from the tattoo and poured himself a drink of water, trying to regain his countenance. It wasn’t often that he heard the Lodge in Jay’s voice, but every time he did, he understood a little better what it was Jay was fleeing. “Right.” He took a sip of the tepid water. “So it’s possible that it really is that easy. Good to know.” He stood and cleared away his plate and glass before returning what was left of the food to the refrigerated box. Will watched him do so with a wistful look, even though there was still food on his plate. “What I don’t get,” he said as he broke a grain square in two with a small cracking noise, “is why the Cisseis wouldn’t take advantage of it if it’s so easy.” Kar leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Captain Lyenne doesn’t mind trading for ill-gotten goods, but he’s not much into stealing himself. He sees himself climbing all the way up to the Lodge.” Jay’s loud snort brought Kar’s and Will’s eyes to him. “That man is a fool.” He sneered. “What he was wearing? That’s the way they dress fools on Prime Planets. Some tailor played quite a joke on him.” Will guffawed, while Kar allowed himself a smile. A small smile. He didn’t like Lyenne very much, true, but neither did he like the idea of a fellow captain being unknowingly ridiculed. “Then I guess you two can be glad I didn’t dump you onto his ship.” He tried to inject sternness into his words. “Which I’ll be forced to do if—”
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The feet of Jay’s chair scraped the floor when he pushed away from the table and stood. “The refrain is getting old, Captain.” He rinsed his dinnerware like Kar had, brushing against him in the process. Kar slid a little farther along the counter. “You’re not going to get rid of us that easily,” Will added. He had finally finished eating and patted his stomach with satisfaction. “You can’t fly the Danaus by yourself.” “You think so?” Crossing his arms, Kar stared them down, one after the other, without much visible effect. “I’ve done it before. I could do it again.” “Of course you could. And you wouldn’t even get lonely, would you?” Picking an imaginary piece of lint off his shirt, Jay gave Kar a sly look. The challenge in those words and that look was unmistakable, reminding Kar all too acutely that he had admitted, when hiring Jay, of being tired of having only the bland voice of the computer for company. That first week, he had talked to Jay practically nonstop. Unable to hold Jay’s knowing gaze, he cleared his throat and looked away. “Just do your jobs,” he said gruffly, “and we can get that money to repair the ship. I know you’d rather get the cash but—” “Says who?” Jay asked, interrupting him again. “Would you rather have cash, Will?” Will answered his smile in kind. “I’d rather have consistent hot water in the showers than cash, actually. The hot-cold routine is getting old. How about you?” Jay returned to the table. He lifted up his chair and turned it around to straddle it. “I want a new nav chair before mine collapses with me in it.” Kar had told himself he wouldn’t mention it, but the opening was just too good, especially after Jay had given him that look. “Maybe if all you did was sit in that chair, it wouldn’t need replacing.” His eyes shifted from one to the other and back, his eyebrows raised challengingly. Will was slowly turning crimson, and he busied himself with cleaning up what was left on the table. Jay, on the other hand, returned his look calmly, as though daring him to be more explicit. “Half an hour,” Kar muttered. “And then we do the final jumps.”
~*~ Will had just joined Kar and Jay in the cockpit when Jay announced the final jump. He gripped the edge of the cockpit door and clenched his teeth. He didn’t mind a couple of jumps, but twenty of them in little more than three hours had twisted his stomach upside down and inside out—either that, or he was getting hungry again. As the Danaus shuddered to a stop, the screens turned very bright, before instantly dimming. The computer had recognized a sun ahead of them and adjusted the brightness of the screens to preserve their eyes. “Only moon of the fifth planet,” Jay murmured as though to himself. www.samhainpublishing.com
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It was too risky to jump this close to a planetary system, but the Danaus made good speed with its regular engines. Jay pulled up the navigation lever, which was recessed during jump flights. His fingers curled around the H-shaped control almost lovingly. Will had to give himself a shake to tear his eyes away from Jay’s hands and to the screens in front of them instead. He could see several planets now: a large, ringed one far below them, a dark speck on the edge of the orange sun, and the planet that the Danaus was now approaching, a mass of white clouds hiding what lay beneath. Kar’s fingers flicked over the controls in front of him, and sounds erupted in the cabin, captured from the planet’s communication system. A lot of music, snatches of speeches, and over and over, a chanted refrain: “fertile moon festival.” “So far, it’s just as Lyenne said.” Kar’s fingers played over his controls again, and one of the screens ahead of them now showed a computer image of a planet—no, a moon, Will realized. The same moon that was rising on the left of the planet, green and majestic. “I’m getting a lot of life forms,” Kar continued, “but it looks like animals. Nothing human there.” He observed his readings for a little longer, peering at the red dots concentrated in large groups over several areas of the moon, before giving a big sigh when Jay said his name questioningly. “Okay. Take us in.” The ship’s trajectory arched gracefully out of the planet’s orbit and toward a course that would seem designed to fly around the mining moon and use its gravity to gain speed. Rather than escape its pull, however, the Danaus, under Jay’s careful touch, gave the illusion of being tugged in to the surface opposite the planet in a rather jerky manner. Will had to grab on to the back of Jay’s chair to avoid being thrown off his feet. The maneuver was designed to serve as cover, should someone be watching. They would have appeared to have engine problems as they were trying to fly away. From where Will stood, still holding on tight and trying not to fall, the story was convincing. They breached the moon’s atmosphere with a bang, and the entire ship seemed to groan with effort. At first, they were going too fast for Will to make out much, but soon Jay started reducing the speed and details of the moon below them became clearer. Will watched with wide eyes, filling his mind with colors after months spent in space. “Computer,” Kar said briskly, “basic check of external air quality and pressure.” The computer started rattling off numbers at once, but Will didn’t hear any of it. All he heard was the voice—Kar’s voice. On his left, Kar jerked in his chair, his head snapping to look at Jay. Biting down on his lower lip not to chuckle, Will glanced down. Jay’s mouth was twitching as though he were trying not to smile, his eyes still locked on the screen in front of him. “I told you,” Kar said slowly, ice cracking in each of his words, “to leave the synchro program alone.”
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Jay let the grin pierce through both his lips and his tone. “You did. But you enjoy the sound of your own voice so much I thought you’d like this.” Kar sprang from his seat, prompting Will to take a couple of steps back. He’d intervene if it looked like they’d fight, but knowing them, it’d only be a shouting match, and he had no interest in standing in the middle of it. “I can’t believe this! Do you even know the meaning of the word respect?” “You want a simple definition or a comparison of the meaning in different civilizations?” Jay asked, deadpan. “How about you show me some? That’d be a nice start.” They continued to argue, but Will tuned them out. As he had realized within days of first coming aboard the ship, they always argued, and it was tiresome. They reminded him of his parents sometimes, needling each other about the smallest thing, waiting to see what it would take to make the other crack this time. He turned his attention to the landscape outside and watched avidly, taking in blue-green hills, gentle slopes and the occasional river snaking along the prairie, glittering like jewels under the sun. The two moons above his home planet were dead rocks, too insignificant to be terraformed, but the territory around his village had been like this—nature spreading as far as the eye could see, virtually untouched. He missed it, he realized with a pang, and could hardly believe what he felt. He had only left months earlier, his mind full of all the worlds he wanted to explore, all the things he wanted to see. He hadn’t seen much more than the inside of the Danaus, if he was honest with himself, but that same honesty also proclaimed that he was fine with the way things had turned out. Jay had mentioned earlier wanting nothing more than to fly. Maybe he had been right. Maybe the journey was what mattered, and not the ports touched on the way. Something on the screen caught his eye, a growing mass of grays and browns that seemed to be the only thing moving in the stillness of the moon. No, not the only thing. There were dozens of them— hundreds—and as the ship flew over them, Will could see they were animals. Covered in thick fur, with four solid legs and a short tail, they spread out over an entire plain in pairs. “Look at that.” He pointed at the screen on their right. Jay adjusted his flying so the animals were soon directly in front of them. Each pair was fighting, Will could now see, the largest animals pushing at the smaller ones with their flanks or curled horns. “What are those? They’re huge.” Their focus now entirely on the screens, both Kar and Jay seemed to forget they had been arguing. Arms crossed, Kar walked closer to the screens, then wordlessly pointed at another pair ahead of them. Jay slowed the ship and descended so they could have a better look. “Laineards,” he said suddenly. “Bred for their wool. Really expensive. The meat too, actually. Never knew they were so aggressive. I wonder what could have set them off fighting like that.”
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Glancing at him, Will briefly wondered if this was just a bit of trivia Jay had gathered through his travels, or if there had been a lesson, in that long-gone past he had left behind him, about laineards and their value as a commodity. “If we see one getting killed,” Jay continued, “we could land and—” “They’re not fighting,” Kar said in a voice that sounded strange from being too casual. “Of course they’re fighting,” Will objected. “What are you…?” His voice trailed off as he understood, and he let out a quiet, surprised little, “Oh.” He could see now that the larger of the two beasts wasn’t trying to trample the other one as he had first thought. Instead, it was mounting it—mounting its female. Will realized with some embarrassment he was tilting his head to get a better view. His embarrassment faded, replaced by amusement, when he saw that not only had neither of his companions noticed, but they were both looking at the amorous display with the same intense curiosity. He chuckled, and both their heads snapped up. Kar cleared his throat. “How about we find that mine and get to work?” Moments later, they had left the fenced-in laineards behind and were descending toward a gray building put in sharp relief by the reflected light of the planet. Will was first in the cargo bay, already opening the loading dock before they had even fully touched down. The wind brought in a burst of fresh air, and Will breathed in deeply as he guided a lift down. After being confined to the ship for two and a half months, it was nice to set foot on a planet. Even nicer when the grass was lush, the air crisp and pure. He was taken by the sudden urge to pull off his shoes and run, just to feel the dewy grass beneath his feet. Kar’s heavy steps clanking on the metal platform behind him stopped him. Work first, he reminded himself. And if they worked fast, he might have time to convince Jay to take off his shoes too, and even all of his clothes, maybe. It’d feel heavenly to lie down naked in the grass—or to do more than just lie down, actually. He adjusted his hardening cock in his pants and followed after Kar and Jay, already grinning in anticipation.
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Chapter Four
Jay’s surprised burst of laughter made Kar look back at him and Will suspiciously. When he found them walking innocently side by side, Will pushing the empty lift and Jay fiddling with a blade of grass he had picked up, he sniffed and turned back to the path they were following toward the mine. Jay could have landed closer to the facility, but he figured a few minutes outside would do them all good. Apparently, the fresh air was giving Will ideas. “So?” Will asked quietly when Kar had gained a little more ground on them. “What do you think? The grass, you, me?” Jay chuckled. “It’d be nice, but we won’t have time.” With a loud sigh, Will angled the lift so that he was soon walking right next to Jay, their arms touching with each step. “We could make time,” he murmured. “Where’s your sense of adventure?” “It took a hike the last time Kar yelled at me.” Which wasn’t technically true—getting Kar to yell at him was usually fun—but they were, after all, in the middle of an illegal operation. There would be time for more enjoyable activities later, with or without grass beneath them. From the corner of his eye, Jay could see that Will’s lips had settled into a pout. That wasn’t playing fair. He could never resist the pout, and Will knew it all too well. Ahead of them, Kar had reached the building’s entrance and was examining the door. On a whim, Jay grabbed the back of Will’s neck and pulled him in for a quick kiss. The quick kiss, however, lengthened considerably when Will’s tongue darted past his lips to caress his palate. Jay hummed softly into his mouth. Lying down in the grass for a quick romp didn’t sound like such a bad idea, suddenly. “Come on, cut it out, you two.” Jay broke off the kiss to look at Kar, not entirely sure what he was talking about. Will’s mouth settling on his neck was entirely too distracting. Kar shook his head in exasperation. “Jay? The door?” Jay blinked, and things cleared up a little. He came forward—and jumped with a yelp when Will pinched him. Rubbing at his ass, he threw him a nasty look and finally reached the door. Kar’s expression was murderous. “We’re just playing,” he said, patting Kar’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t get mad.”
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He was surprised when Kar didn’t move away from his touch—and surprised at his own reluctance when he had to let go to open the door’s control panel. He tried to focus on what he was doing, but it was remarkably difficult to figure out which wire to cut. He could feel Will’s eyes on him—they were always on him, always following him around, undressing him, caressing him, always on him unless they drifted to Kar. He could also feel Kar’s very presence, his body so close that his heat radiated toward Jay. That was odd, but not unpleasant. Kar was usually very careful to keep his distance, only coming close enough to loom over Jay when he was mad for some reason or other. Sometimes making him mad seemed to be the only way— “The door, Jay. We’re waiting.” Jay blinked and forced his mind back to what he was doing. The black wire. Of course it was the black one, why was he hesitating on something this easy? The handy all-in-one tool he carried everywhere did its job, and the door slid open with a murmur of well-oiled metal. Kar walked in first and let out a low whistle. The mining facility was immense, and what they could see was only the warehouse part of the installation. At the very back of the cavernous room, a dark opening would lead to the actual mine—Jay could tell from having visited other mines similar to this one. It didn’t matter to them now, though, not when boxes filled with chromore seemed to be waiting for them in the packing area. Kar’s hands shook lightly as he pushed his lift to a pile of boxes. He flicked a lid open and checked the contents, nodding his approval. “All right,” he said quietly, as though fearing he’d be overheard. “Let’s start by loading this lift. We need at least fifty. At twenty per lift, that’ll take three loads.” The boxes were heavy, but with the three of them working together, they made fast progress. Jay and Will worked together on one side of the lift with Kar opposite them. Every time Kar’s back was to them, Jay would reach to brush his fingers against Will’s back, his arm, his thigh—his ass. When he didn’t, Will did the same to him. Each touch, given or received, sent little jolts of pleasure coursing through Jay, and he lost track of what he was doing, his arms working automatically even as his mind planned out the many things he’d do to Will when they had a few minutes to themselves. Before long, the lift was stacked high with boxes, and Kar was looking at it with a satisfied smile. He wiped sweat from his brow and nodded at Will. “You bring the first lift back to the ship. Empty it and come back for a second load. Jay and I will load this one, and then we’ll all return together.” “I should go with him,” Jay said at once, trying not to sound too eager. “We’ll unload and come back faster that way.” Kar’s face twisted in a grimace. “Faster? Only if you don’t spend your time groping each other. I think—”
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But Will didn’t let him finish. “Of course we won’t. We’ll be right back. Come on, Jay, we’re losing time.” Before Kar could protest or even veto the notion, Will grabbed Jay’s wrist with one hand and pulled him along, while he pushed the lift in front of them. They were halfway to the door before Kar called out, “Don’t make me come after you and drag you back here.” Neither of them answered, though Will’s gloved hand tightened briefly on Jay’s wrist, causing goose bumps to erupt all over his skin. He let go when they passed the door to get a better grip on the lift, and Jay made a little sound of displeasure. “When we get to the ship,” Jay said, his voice gravelly, “I’m going to fuck you.” Will narrowly missed tripping over his own feet as he looked at him with burning eyes. Jay gripped the lift’s handle, his hand pressed against Will’s, and together they hastened their steps. “Why wait ’til the ship?” Will asked. “Just do it here.” The idea was all the more appealing because the ship, although no farther than five hundred feet away at the most, seemed suddenly as distant as the Prime Planets. Jay didn’t slow down, though, and neither did Will. “I’m going to rip your pants off and just push my way inside you,” Jay continued after a few seconds, breathing heavily. He could see it in his mind, could already taste Will’s skin on his tongue when he’d bite his shoulder—not too hard, just to make him gasp and shudder under him. “Would you like that?” He was close to panting now, and his trousers felt entirely too tight as his cock hardened and twitched. “Would you like me to take you hard and raw and—?” Will moaned. “Please.” His face was flushed, his eyes shiny with need. “Please, God, yes. I want that.” Jay let go of the lift with one hand and dropped it to palm Will’s cock. It strained just as much as Jay’s in the confines of the fabric. Will took another stumbling step and let out a little mewling noise. “Don’t stop,” he begged. “Keep touching me.” Jay wanted to tell him that he couldn’t have stopped even if he had wanted to, but his tongue felt thick, his mind too foggy to form words. He wanted to touch Will with the same desperation Will wanted to be touched; wanted—no, needed—to feel him arch under his hand, feel his cock, so hot and so hard, feel the smoothness of his skin. It was all he could do not to wrench Will’s hands off the lift and throw him to the ground. He remembered Will murmuring about the fragrant grass earlier and how soft it would be beneath them, as if it had been a dream. But no, the ship was right there, only a few seconds now… They opened the cargo doors and pushed the lift up the loading dock, Jay’s hand still palming Will’s cock. They managed to lead the lift to the back, where they would pile the boxes of chromore, but that was as much as Jay could bear. He pried Will’s hands from the handle and pulled him to his body for a frantic,
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sloppy kiss. Will’s eyelids were half closed, and beneath them his pupils were wide, leaving only a thin rim of brown. Breaking the kiss, Will pressed his face to the crook of Jay’s neck, licking along the tattooed lines as he so often did. His words came out in breathy little moans that felt like caresses. “Touch me. Please, Jay, please. Touch me.” His own hands were clutching at Jay’s back, sometimes tugging as though to pull his shirt off, sometimes merely pressing Jay closer to him. “I’ve got you.” Jay punctuated his words by giving Will’s cock a tight squeeze. He had slipped his hand inside Will’s pants and was stroking him fast, Will’s repeated pleas urging him on. “So fucking hard… Did I make you this hard? Was it me talking to you that did it?” Will’s answer was an incoherent babble in which Jay’s name and “please” battled for the place of honor. “Not going to last, are you?” Jay’s free hand came to hold Will’s waist. “’S all right. You can come fast now and later we’ll take it slow. Real slow. I’ll be so deep inside your tight little ass, you’ll feel me for days.” Will groaned against his neck, and the sound went straight to Jay’s dick. He tightened his hand in reaction. Will’s hips jerked uncontrollably, and thick, hot ejaculate covered Jay’s hand as Will keened. “That’s—” Jay’s own orgasm took him by surprise. Entirely focused on Will’s pleasure, Will’s needs, Will’s cock, he had forgotten his own, forgotten the throb of blood demanding relief and the tightness in his own pants. His pleasure was as swift, bright and deafening as lightning and thunder striking together. His body shuddered against Will’s, and he found himself wheezing and laughing in surprise. “Not quite as planned, huh?” Will murmured against his neck, his smile coloring his words. Jay chuckled breathlessly. “Not quite, no.” He pulled his hand free from Will’s pants and brought it to his lips. He licked Will’s come with broad swipes of his tongue. The musky smell and strong flavor made his spent cock give a faint twitch in his wet, sticky pants. Will raised his head and watched him with wide, hungry eyes. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” Jay grinned. “Why don’t you show me?” Raising trembling hands in front of him, Will took a couple of steps back and laughed weakly. “If we don’t unload this damn lift and go back, Kar is going to dump us on the first planet he finds, and he won’t check whether the air is breathable before he does.” Jay wanted to protest—fuck Kar and his endless threats—but as he regained his breathing, he had to concede that Will was right. “Later,” he said as he started unloading the lift. “Later,” Will repeated, and it was more than a promise.
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~*~ “They’re taking too long.” Kar’s words echoed against the room’s high ceilings. He felt his solitude even more acutely. “They’re taking much too long,” he repeated as he hoisted another box of chromore onto the lift, but neither his own voice nor the physical strain were enough to distract him anymore. He knew why they were taking so long. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in his mind. How could he not know, when images danced in his mind, each of them sending sparks of electricity down his spine? Memories and daydreams were mixing together until he didn’t know anymore what he had seen, heard, guessed or only imagined. An oval-shaped bruise, not quite red and not exactly purple on Jay’s throat. Jay’s thumb tracing that thin scar on Will’s cheek just hard enough to feel its texture. Will’s muffled moan when a cock slid deeper into his mouth. Jay’s neck arching back in pleasure. His cock sliding alongside Will’s, both equally hard. One hand closing over both cocks and stroking them together. Another hand exploring lower, finding the tight ring and pushing in carefully. Jay’s rough voice—or was it Will’s? It was hard to tell—moaning Kar’s name, demanding that he do it, now, faster, more… A strangled moan passed Kar’s lips, and he leaned a hand against the pile of boxes to regain his balance. He closed his eyes and shook his head, but the images were still there, fluttering flashes of color and sound, moving to the accelerating rhythm of his heartbeat. Unable to stop himself, he gave his cock a fast stroke over the fabric of his pants, then a second one. It was all he could do to stop there. He was so hard it was almost painful, and he could feel a growing wet spot directly over the head of his cock. He opened his eyes again and tried to get a grip on himself. He took a few slow breaths through his nose, exhaling through his mouth, then pushed away from the boxes. He had a job to finish. He complained too often about Will and Jay not doing what they were— His legs buckled beneath him, and he fell to his knees. Thinking of Jay and Will had redoubled the images swirling through his mind, and he moaned again, this time loud enough that the sound echoed through the room. “Have to…” Whatever he was trying to convince himself he had to do—get up, finish loading the lift, go back to the ship—the thought disappeared from his mind in a flash of lust. He could practically feel Will’s calloused fingers pulling his cock out of his pants, could smell Jay’s musky scent as he pressed himself against Kar’s back. He didn’t even have to close his eyes anymore, the fantasy was clear as day, and it wouldn’t disappear until it had played out.
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“Okay,” he panted, out of breath. Feverishly, he unbuttoned his pants and guided his cock out, hissing as even the most careful touch was already too much. “Okay. I’ll do this and then I’ll finish working. It’ll take just a minute.” It didn’t even take that long. The first stroke of his fist pumping his cock wrenched a sob of mixed pain and pleasure from him. At the second, he came in long spurts of pearly white that streaked his hand and the floor in front of him, the sweet agony of his orgasm blinding him. Black flecks danced in front of his eyes and he felt lightheaded, but the images were gone—no, not gone, just buried again at the back of his mind. He took a deep breath and tucked himself in with fumbling hands. Whatever had taken hold of him, it was gone now. His vision was clearing and in just a second he would— “God, that was hot,” Will said in a low, throaty voice. Kar blinked furiously until shapes appeared in front of him. Just a few feet from him, two sets of hungry eyes were fixed on him. Will was trembling in Jay’s embrace and seemed to be both leaning forward toward Kar and angling his body back to press against Jay behind him. One of Jay’s hands rested on Will’s crotch, massaging slowly, while the other had slipped beneath his shirt. Will’s hands were reaching back to clutch at Jay’s ass. Kar’s cock came back to life, hardening so fast he had to bite his lip not to groan aloud. “Don’t mind us, Captain,” Jay said, his lips brushing Will’s neck with each word. “Don’t let us interrupt.” His hand moved underneath Will’s shirt, and at Will’s sharp intake of breath, Kar imagined fingers closing over his own nipples and twisting, making him— “Stop.” He couldn’t have said if that word was for them or himself. He gasped and, drawing on what was left of his strength of will, pulled himself to his feet. “Stop that.” This time, the words were for his crew. “We’ve got a job to finish. Stop it and help me.” He turned away from them to grab another box of chromore. When he faced the lift and them again, they hadn’t moved. He swallowed hard and clenched his fingers more tightly on the box. “I said stop. Will. Help me.” Will’s face was a cross between ecstasy and painful physical need. His eyes found Kar’s and seemed to plead—for release or for his understanding, Kar didn’t know. “I can’t,” Will said, almost sobbing. “I’m trying but—” “I can’t stop either,” Jay panted. His hips were thrusting erratically against Will’s backside. When Kar realized it was taking all his self-control not to join them, a flash of understanding came to him. Something was affecting them, turning them into walking hard-ons. They had to get off this moon—and fast.
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Chapter Five
Thinking was an arduous task. Kar’s mind was hazed, his vision blurry as fantasy tried to superimpose itself over reality. It didn’t help that Jay and Will were wrapped around each other just feet away from him. “Get a grip.” He wanted to yell at them, but what came out sounded like a needy plea. He did his best to firm up his voice and tried again. “Move away from each other and try to clear your minds.” They looked at him through dazed eyes, both of them taking fast, shallow breaths. A pang of need resonated through Kar, and he was taking a step toward them before he even knew it. He attempted to stop himself, then gave in and finished crossing the distance toward them. His hands wanted to grab, knead, tear clothes away. He forced himself not to do any of this—and it might have been the hardest thing he had ever done. Instead, he pulled them apart with enough force that they each stumbled back a few steps. They looked at him with similar angry, needy expressions, their mouths already opening to protest, their hands reaching toward each other again. Kar stepped in between them and raised a shaky hand toward them both, palms out, stopping them. “Something is affecting us,” he said, as strongly as he could manage, and did his best not to think that if he moved just a few inches one way or the other his hand would settle on a strong chest. Will’s or Jay’s, it didn’t matter at this point as long as he got to touch, as long as— He let out a small, frustrated cry. “Can’t you see it?” He looked at Jay, then whipped his head toward Will. They were both looking at him as though he had grown a second head. “This is not normal. There’s something playing with our minds and bodies, making us hard, making us—” “Want,” Jay interrupted abruptly, and Kar needed a couple of seconds to realize Jay was finally getting it. “That’s why it’s so hard to stop touching.” “That’s it.” Kar dropped his hands, relieved that Jay sounded a little more grounded. “It’s got to be in the air. We’ll be fine once we get back to the ship.” Jay nodded. Kar turned to look at Will, but was less pleased by his torn expression. “But I need—” he started, only to be cut off by Jay. “We all need it,” he said, his voice like silky sin. “Come on, Will. Just a few minutes and we’ll be on the ship and I swear I’ll blow you so hard you’ll pass out.”
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Kar had to close his eyes at the sudden onslaught of images Jay’s words had summoned. Jay on his knees, one hand on Kar’s balls and the other clamped at the base of his cock, his mouth wet and tight as it sucked and slid further, and those deep blue eyes looking up at him, so clear and— “Kar!” A light shove against his arm pulled him out of the fantasy, and he found that he was pressing his palm against his cock. He jerked his hand back as though burned and avoided Jay’s too-knowing gaze. “Let’s get out of here,” he mumbled.
When Kar explained that something was affecting their behavior, Jay’s first instinct was to deny it. He wanted Will—he wanted to come again—and that was all there was to it. Nothing abnormal or strange about it. He looked at Will’s face, and saw the same need, the same want reflected back at him. That wasn’t anything new, either. Will sometimes seemed to be insatiable, and Jay did not mind that fact one bit. There was something to be said for stamina. It was watching Kar that finally convinced him that maybe, just maybe, they were not acting normally. He wasn’t naive enough to think their captain had no sex drive. He even had a hunch that Kar always became grumpy or flat-out angry when they necked in front of him because he hadn’t been touched like that in longer than he’d admit if asked about it. But the thing about Kar was, he kept his cool. Oh, he’d let out his anger and yell, of course, but whatever else he felt remained hidden. There were no lingering looks, no accidental touches, no unconscious signals born of frustration and desire. Now, though, all these things were there. His eyes were bright and feverish as he looked from Jay to Will, his hands shook even as he tried to keep them apart as if he were fighting with himself not to reach for them. His face was flushed, like it had been when he had brought himself to completion just moments before. Just that, Jay now realized, should have been enough of a clue. Kar was all about business. Jerking off in the middle of an operation when his crew could walk in on him at any moment wasn’t like him. Neither was suggesting that they leave before they finished what they had come for. And so, Jay couldn’t help blurting out, “What about the chromore?” Kar looked at the boxes still waiting to be piled up on the lift they had brought back, then at Will. He grimaced at the sight of Will shaking with need. “We’ll never make it. The faster we get out of here, the better for all of us.” “We don’t have enough boxes yet,” Jay objected, clinging to the idea of the chromore so he wouldn’t be tempted to cross the few steps that separated him from Will and make him feel better. “If we don’t have enough for the Cisseis, all of this will have been for nothing.” Kar eyed Will again. Jay followed his gaze, and under their combined scrutiny Will seemed to stand a little straighter. “I…I can do it,” he said, his voice still shaking but not as much as before.
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Jay wasn’t sure whether Will was trying to convince them or himself. He had the sudden urge to show him how proud he was, kiss him full on the lips, even stroke the hard cock that was pulling at Will’s pants. He passed a hand over his face, wiping away the sweat that had formed on his brow. “We’d better do it fast,” he said, rasping, and both Kar and Will nodded before getting to work. There were no sneaky touches this time, no teasing at every opportunity. Every time one of them accidentally brushed his arm or fingers against someone else, they jumped as though shocked, each mumbling apologies before returning to work. By the time they finished loading the second lift, they were all noticeably hard and flushed. The only thing sustaining Jay was the little litany playing out in his head. Just need to get to the ship. Then I’ll fuck Will into the floor. And Kar too. One then the other. Or maybe both at once. Just need to get to the ship first.
~*~ “The cargo doors are open.” Kar’s words cracked like a whip, and he could see from the corner of his eye Jay and Will grow still instantly. He turned fully toward them and glared. “Why are the cargo doors open?” They glanced at each other, and the flash of lust that passed between them left the air crackling with electricity. “We…forgot?” Will said thickly. Kar shook his head in disbelief. “You forgot.” “We might have been a little…” Jay licked his lips and struggled to finish, “…distracted.” “Right.” Kar had known why they were taking so long to come back. He had been certain they were stealing a few moments to enjoy each other’s company. Even now that he knew something was affecting them, he was still angry. Only angry, he assured himself. Not jealous in the slightest. He clenched his fists and turned resolutely toward the ship again, leading the way up the loading dock. In his mind’s eye, images were dancing again. “We’ll talk about this later,” he threw over his shoulder. Later, he repeated to himself forcefully, when the idea of taking his hand to their bare asses as punishment stopped being so appealing. “Computer, analysis of external air. Focus on unusual compounds.” Arms crossed, he waited for the computer’s answer while surveying Will and Jay. They had each pushed a lift up into the cargo bay, and they came to a stop at the same moment. Kar could feel the tension mounting as they looked at each other. He dug his nails into the skin of his arms and snapped before they could cross the three steps that separated them. “Jay, close the door. Will, you start unloading the lifts.”
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They jumped at the order. Will gave him a scathing look, but he started working while Jay returned to the dock and retracted it to close the door. “Nontoxic animal compounds detected,” the computer announced, and Kar frowned at hearing it speak again with his voice. That would be another spanking, if he let himself act on his instincts. “What type of compounds?” Jay asked as he returned toward them. “Pheromones.” A small light of comprehension twinkled in Jay’s eyes. He looked up at Kar, who had reached the same conclusion. “The laineards.” “It’s got to be,” Jay agreed, then answered Kar’s next question before he could voice it. “That was never part of any lesson they made me memorize.” They shared small, wry smiles that drew a low growl from Will. Abandoning the boxes, he walked to Jay and cupped his face in both his hands. His kiss was fierce, possessive, and Kar had no doubt that it was a message meant for him. Just like he had no doubt that joining in would be delightful. He cleared his throat and looked away from them. “Computer, analysis of internal air quality. How much of the ship is contaminated by the animal compound?” “One hundred percent.” He groaned. This wasn’t good. “How long to filter the compound out?” “Estimated time to filter the compound from the air: six hours and three minutes.” Kar’s swearing was drowned out by the sudden blare of an alarm. Will and Jay emerged from their kiss to look at him but did not separate. Kar could only imagine how warm their touches were. “Computer, report,” he breathed, tearing his eyes away from them yet again. “Spaceships detected in approach of the moon.” Kar swore a second time. “We need to get away and fast.” He looked at Jay and struggled with himself not to reach toward him. Would it be so bad, really, if he curled his hand at the back of Jay’s neck, right over the tattooed lines, and pulled him in, drew him to his mouth, bit those thin lips gently until they plumped up with blood and— He shook his head and tried to shake off the images. He felt a little drunk, and he had to focus on the still-ringing alarm to remind himself of the situation. His gaze turned critical as he took in Jay’s flushed neck and trembling hands. He looked exactly like Kar felt—ready to give in. “Can you fly?” Jay scoffed. Even in this state, his pride remained untouched. “Of course I can fly.” “Why are you still standing here then?” he grunted, holding on to his determination with his fingernails. “Cockpit. Now. Fly us out of here.”
Without thinking, Will started to go after Jay. The cockpit would be fine. He’d just slide beneath the console again and suck Jay’s cock while he took them off this moon.
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“Oh no you don’t.” Kar’s hand gripping his arm brought Will to an abrupt halt. He looked at the white-knuckled hand, then followed the arm all the way to Kar’s face. His lips were tight, as tight as his brow as he frowned at Will. “The boxes. We’ve got to finish securing them.” Will glanced again to the corridor that led to the cockpit and sighed when he realized Jay had disappeared. He didn’t want to secure those damn boxes. He wanted… He needed… His gaze returned to the hand still firmly holding on to him. The touch was strong, and sure of its own strength. He licked his lips and nodded dumbly. “Okay. The boxes. Got it.” Kar finally let go of his arm, and Will had to swallow back a small whimper. He turned to the lift that was still full and started unloading it while Kar worked on the other one. Will worked at a quick pace, barely even feeling the weight of the boxes he lifted and stacked up on the magnetic strip that would hold them all together. As soon as he was finished, he would go to Jay. This would only take minutes. Just a few minutes more, and then Jay would be his to touch, his to kiss and caress and pleasure. And he would be Jay’s. The entire ship shuddered as the engines came to life. This was Jay, Will chanted inside his mind. Jay was getting the ship off the ground, his long, strong fingers curled over the control levers, just like they’d be curled around Will’s cock soon. Kar had finished with the other lift and was stowing it away. He came back to help Will secure the last few boxes before the acceleration could send them rolling throughout the cargo bay. “Computer,” Kar said just as they were finishing, “how long to filter the air in the cockpit if it’s locked down?” Locked in the cockpit. Will’s dick twitched at the thought. His hands shook so badly he had some trouble lifting the next box. Locked in the cockpit with Jay. “Estimated time to filter the air in the cockpit: seventeen minutes and thirty-two seconds.” Eight more boxes. Eight more boxes and Will would go to Jay. Just eight— “Computer, immediate cockpit lockdown.” Will’s head snapped up. He looked at Kar with wide, incredulous eyes. “No!” Kar ignored him. “Priority filtering on the cockpit air. Do not open until the entire ship is free of the animal compound.” His voice faltered but he quickly added, “Not even if I give the order myself.” Will dropped the box in his hands and stomped around the lift. He grabbed Kar’s shirt and shook him. He didn’t care anymore that Kar was his captain, that he weighed a good thirty pounds more than Will, all of it muscle, or that he was taller than him. All he cared about was that Jay was behind a locked door, and Kar had just thrown away the key.
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Chapter Six
Will’s eyes were dark as coal and burning. His hands tightened on Kar’s shirt, but they trembled when he shook him. “What did you do?” he cried out, at the same time as the comm came to life. “Kar, you asshole! Why did you lock me up?” Very quickly, being careful not to allow the contact to linger, careful also not to touch Will’s skin, Kar pushed him away, his hands flat on Will’s chest. For the briefest instant he could feel steel strength beneath his hands, and his memory unhelpfully kicked in to supply a visual. Bronze skin ripened by the sun like fine grain, stretched taut against a lean but muscled chest. Two small circles, just a shade darker, still puckered and tight from the assault of cold water. Will had been toweling his hair dry with one hand and gesturing with the other, his pants hanging low on his hips and his shirt still unbuttoned. He had been protesting about the showers, and how he hadn’t signed up for this. The entire time, Kar had been too busy making sure he kept his eyes on Will’s face and his hands in his pockets to hear a word of what his new crewmember had said. Kar took a shaky breath and chased the memory away. Maybe, if he hadn’t kept his distance then, things would have been different now. Maybe Will wouldn’t have cared that Jay was locked away, maybe he would have turned to Kar with desire rather than anger, maybe— These thoughts, too, Kar did his best to dispel. He had had his chance and very deliberately let it pass. Will’s skin had paled since that time. He had grown used to the fickleness of the showers. More importantly, though, he and Jay had become lovers. Turning his back on Will, Kar strode over to the comm panel on the wall behind the stack of chromore boxes and opened the line. Jay was still sputtering invectives and curses. “Fly us out of here, Jay,” he said in the strongest voice he could manage. Jay’s outrage only redoubled. “I could have—” “You could have what?” Kar shouted directly into the panel. He banged his hands on each side of it. “Flown with Will in there?” Jay’s answer was almost a growl. “Yes.” He turned around to look at Will. He hadn’t moved since Kar had pushed him away. His body was shaking with need—or was it anger still? His gaze was so sharp Kar almost wanted to check himself for cuts.
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“No,” he breathed. “No, you couldn’t have. You couldn’t have kept your hands off each other for two minutes, never mind fly.” Part of that was his own fault. He had told them they needed to get back to the ship. He had listened to Jay promise Will the fuck of a lifetime to keep him focused, and he hadn’t protested, not for a second. He’d let their libidos work on overdrive without ever thinking that getting to the ship might not solve everything. He had been lucky enough to get Jay behind the navigation controls before he and Will had moved any further than a kiss. Hollow banging noises startled him. He jumped, as did Will, and they both looked toward the nexus door from which the sounds seemed to originate. “What was—?” Will started, but more scraping noises cut him short. “The Guardians,” Kar said quickly. “They’re trying to lock onto the nexus to board us.” He turned to the control panel and glared at it as though Jay was standing in front of him. “Jay, they’re right alongside us! Why aren’t you jumping?” Jay cursed under his breath. The next second, without any warning, the ship jumped. Caught unprepared, both Kar and Will staggered, though neither of them fell. Kar came close, but he grabbed the handle of the lift and used it to remain upright. A box shifted on the bed of the lift while another one tumbled to the floor with a loud metallic noise. “What the hell, Jay!” Kar yelled as he struggled to regain his footing. “You told me to jump, I jumped,” Jay yelled back. “Now open the damn door.” “I can’t. And the Guardians were too close; they’ll follow our jump. Keep going until you lose them.” Jay let out a roar of rage. “I said open the fucking door, Kar.” “He can’t,” Will said, turning his face to the comm but his eyes settling on Kar again. “He told the computer not to.” The anger was still there, ringing like metal on metal in each of Will’s words. Kar wasn’t used to this. Of his two crewmen, Jay was the one who had very little patience and who lost his temper at the slightest provocation. Kar supposed it came from twenty-odd years of getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it, and he had made it a point of pride to teach Jay that everything was not always that easy. Will, on the other hand, had never shown any anger that Kar had seen. As he watched Will’s pinched lips and his bright-red ears, Kar suddenly remembered hearing Jay ask whether Will had received the scar that ran over the width of his cheek in a fight. Will had laughed and denied it, claiming he had learned the hard way not to look too closely at an engine that was still running. Kar had never doubted the truth of this explanation— never until that moment. “You think the damn computer will stop me, Kar?” Jay’s tone was scornful now. “I can do what I want with that— Damn!”
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His curse was their only warning. The ship lost speed abruptly, then immediately accelerated again. The engines complained with a screeching noise. Still holding on to the lift, Kar managed to keep his balance while Will staggered forward. “You think I don’t get it?” Jay’s fury rang louder and brighter with each word. The engines screeched more loudly this time, and Kar’s stomach tried to climb up his throat as the ship twirled. Will still hadn’t regained his footing, and the maneuver caused him to stumble sideways this time. If he fell, Kar realized in a flash, he might hurt himself on the stack of boxes. An injury was the last thing they needed now. He let go of the lift and reached out for Will, catching his arm and pulling him back and away from the boxes. “You locked me up so you could have him for yourself. Jump in two.” As soon as Jay finished talking, the ship jumped. Already destabilized, Kar lurched forward and bumped hard into Will. They fell together, and Kar landed on top of Will, knocking the wind out of the both of them. Will blinked several times—Kar could have sworn he felt the air moving with each flutter of his eyelashes. He felt a lot more than that, actually, and Will’s body beneath his was hot and hard. Kar’s nerves were raw from the full-body contact, and it only made him crave more. It was all he could do not to start bucking against Will’s crotch. He looked into Will’s wide eyes and watched him lick his lips. With very slow, very deliberate movements, he rolled his body off Will’s. “Did you lose them?” he asked, gasping. Jay cursed again, which Kar interpreted as a no. “If you don’t lose them, they’ll send Will and I to jail, and you back to the Lodge.” It was more likely they would all end up in jail, but a little more incentive couldn’t hurt. As he lay on the floor, his stomach continued to roll along with the ship. The box that had fallen off the lift slid and bumped against his arm. With a groan, he sat up and stashed the box on top of the others, where the magnetic strips would hold it regardless of the ship’s movements. There were a handful of boxes still on the lift. He threw a glance toward Will to ask him to help but changed his mind when he saw Will’s frown. He was on his feet again and was observing Kar with his head tilted to one side. The anger seemed to have drained right out of him. “What Jay said…is it true?” Kar wanted to shake his head, but he couldn’t muster the strength to do so. He gestured to the corridor behind Will and muttered, “Just go to your quarters. Jay will join you soon enough, and you can still jerk off until he does.” He turned back to the lift and the boxes, but even now he could still feel Will’s eyes on him.
Moments earlier, rage had burned through Will’s mind and body, leaving trails of fire in its wake and demanding that he hurt Kar, hurt him like he was hurting Will by keeping him away from Jay.
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A few words changed that and transformed his anger into confusion. Had Jay truly seen Kar look at him that way, or was it only his own frustration speaking and turning into jealousy? He watched Kar stack the last boxes and lock the lift away, his mind jumping from question to question without ever stopping. How could Kar keep working when just seconds ago as they had fallen to the ground together his cock had been so hard? How could he even think and argue with Jay when he was so aroused? Was it true that he was interested in Will? Had he really locked Jay away to be alone with Will? Will could hardly believe it. He’d have noticed. Jay would have said something before. And Kar just wasn’t one to look at his crew that way. Was he? “Is it true?” he asked again when Kar had finished clearing up the cargo bay. Kar squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, it was with a weary and cautious look. “It doesn’t matter.” Will rubbed his hands together. His palms felt clammy and itchy beneath the gloves. He tugged them off and shoved them inside his pockets. “It matters to me.” “No. It doesn’t. What matters to you is Jay. What matters is that you can’t have him right now and your body will just take any substitute instead. So use your fucking hand. You’ll have him back in six hours.” He glared at Will, his chin high and trembling. “I won’t come between the two of you, do you hear me?” He was panting as hard as though he had been running when he finished his tirade. Sweat pearled on his brow, and his eyes gleamed. He held his fisted hands rigidly at his sides, and small tremors shook his body. “I hear you,” Will murmured, but that wasn’t the entire truth. He had heard Kar’s words, but he also thought he understood everything Kar wasn’t saying. “I’ll…” Kar shut his eyes tight again, and Will wondered what vision he was trying to chase away. “I’ll go to my quarters. I suggest you do the same.” He started walking past Will with the slow, stumbling steps of a drunken man. Without work to do, it seemed harder to dominate the lust that affected all of them, but he was still doing it. For a second, Will could only admire him and his self-control. He was far less impressed with the lies, however. He grabbed Kar’s wrist and stopped him. The skin-to-skin contact sent molten lava roiling through Will’s veins, and he gasped, as did Kar. “Do you want me, Kar?” Kar blinked very fast. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Will had the sudden impulse to lean in and kiss his throat to feel it move under his touch. “No.”
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Kar’s denial would have been more convincing if he had tried to pull free from Will’s grip in any way. Instead, he turned fully toward him, though he didn’t move any closer. Will did, taking a small step that narrowed the distance between them. Kar’s pupils were fully dilated, and he swallowed hard. “Is that the truth?” Will asked, murmuring the words as though speaking too loudly might scare Kar off. Kar’s answer was the same, but this time it came out as a breathless whisper. “No.” Will’s right hand remained tightly closed over Kar’s wrist, while the left one settled on his chest, right over his heart. It was beating almost hard enough to break free. He slid his hand down, over hard abs that quivered under his light touch, finally coming to rest on Kar’s erection. He pressed into Will’s hand for a split second before shifting his hips away. “Do you want me to stop?” Will asked as he squeezed gently. Kar’s lips worked soundlessly before he finally pushed a word out, so quiet now Will might not have heard him if he hadn’t been leaning in already. “No.” Releasing Kar’s wrist, Will took his hand instead and linked their fingers together. Kar’s hand was larger than his, thicker, his calluses more rugged. It was perfect. Will continued to move closer until his lips were just brushing against Kar’s with every breath they took—and then he waited. Kar only hesitated for a couple more seconds before he pressed his mouth to Will’s with a harsh groan. More curses rose from the comm, but Will was soon too lost in sensations to pay them any mind.
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Chapter Seven
With an enraged gesture, Jay lowered the sound of the comm so he wouldn’t hear the small gasps and moans rising from the cargo bay anymore. “Damn you, Kar. You’ll pay for this.” Pay for what, Jay didn’t really know at that moment. For locking him in the cockpit alone or for taking Will as his own? He couldn’t have said which was worse. Frustration burned through his veins like acid, but how much of it was simply denied lust, and how much was pure jealousy? The sound was gone, but Jay’s mind continued to churn out images of what they might be doing. He didn’t want to know, not really, and he certainly didn’t want to see, and still he heard himself mutter, “Mid quadrant one. Display cargo bay.” The screen directly in front of him blinked to life. Part of him hoped they’d left the bay already and found their way to the living quarters. Or maybe, if he was lucky, they’d be hidden from view by a stack of boxes or— Jay groaned. No such luck. As chance had it, Kar and Will were in front of the surveillance camera, slightly off-center but close enough Jay could see the tension in Kar’s fingers as they cupped the back of Will’s head. They were kissing. Jay licked his lips and leaned forward in his seat. With Will’s back to him, he couldn’t really see much more than the constantly changing angle of their tilted heads. Kar’s eyes were closed, and he looked younger. He held Will to him with both hands, the fingers of the right one threaded in his hair while the left rested chastely at the small of his back. Jay could just guess where Will’s hands were: one curled around Kar’s neck, strong yet gentle, and the other on his chest, probably, his thumb running back and forth over one nipple, then the other. A painful jolt radiated from his cock, and he pressed his hand tightly against it. He’d been hard for too long. He craved relief. But not by his own hand, not like this, not alone while— “Pursuing ships have jumped on our vector.” Jay growled at the computer’s announcement, both because he had hoped he had shaken the Guardians and because at that instant, Kar’s voice was the very last thing he wanted to hear. Why had it seemed like such a good idea to program the synchro this way? “Lower quadrant four. Display radar.” The bottom right screen shifted from a view of the sun the Danaus was orbiting as closely as its shields allowed, to the rotating representation of the ship and its immediate vicinity. There were only two
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other ships on the radar, still at some distance. Jay searched for the third one, but after a few seconds he nodded in satisfaction. He’d lost one of the three ships that had been chasing them. Only two left before he could find a way to open the cockpit door and go kick Kar’s ass. He glanced at the other screen at the thought and winced, immediately realizing his mistake. His hand moved toward the controls that would turn off that camera, but he forgot what he was doing when he watched Kar tug Will’s shirt out of his pants and over his head. Kar’s hands returned to Will’s back at once, sliding over skin that was perfectly smooth, Jay knew, descending lower and under the waistband of Will’s pants. He tore his gaze away and breathed in deeply. The air in the cockpit had to be clean by now. He was not a slave to his dick anymore. Nothing forced him to keep watching them. His hand hesitated toward the shut-off command, but it retreated without erasing the image on the screen. “Mid quadrant four. Display map of the closest solar systems.” He found what he needed in seconds. It wasn’t the closest system, but it would work fine. Keeping his eyes resolutely downcast, he started calculating his next move. Jumping this close to a sun had scared a Guardian. He’d try doing it again and take things from there. One of the Guardians was accelerating, no doubt to get in front of the Danaus once more and force it to slow down. The second one was approaching on the nexus side for another attempt at grasping the Danaus. If they managed to capture the nexus, there would be no more jumping, and the game would be over. Jay started a new evasive maneuver, this time rolling down and to the right when the last time he had angled the ship to the left. He glanced at the cargo bay image even as the familiar warning fell from his lips. “Jump in—” His mouth was dry suddenly, and he didn’t know what he had been about to say anymore. Will and Kar were on the floor now, both of them bare-chested, Kar propped on his forearm over Will. They lay sideways toward the camera so that Jay could see everything. He could see their tongues dueling as they kissed. He could see Kar’s hand, wrapped over both their cocks, holding them together as he bucked against Will, as Will arched into him. They hadn’t done more than free their cocks, hadn’t even shoved their pants down, and Will’s hands, hidden beneath the fabric, were kneading Kar’s ass and pulling him closer. Jay took in a shaky breath and muttered, not caring anymore if they heard him, “Jump now.” He pressed the jump control and forced himself to keep his eyes on the computer screen in front of him. Two more jumps would take them to another sun, smaller than the last but with a warmer surface temperature. The Danaus had better heat shields than the Guardians’ ships. Those were made for speed, while the Danaus was a transport and exploration class. As long as they didn’t stay there too long…
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His calculations made, he looked at the time. A few more moments before he could coax another jump from the Danaus. His eyes drifted to the cargo chamber view even as two dots appeared on the radar. “Pursuing ships have—” the computer started, but Jay interrupted it abruptly. “Acknowledged.” Jay had to be imagining it, but the computer’s last word sounded reproachful. He knew quite well that tone of voice coming from Kar. He usually didn’t mind it. But right then, he didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear Kar at all, didn’t want to know what words his lips were forming, so close to Will’s own. His fingers crept toward the comm controls, and he increased the sound gradually. “Are you close?” Will made a little grunting noise. “Talk to me, Will. Is this—” He bucked harder against Will. Jay groaned. “—good?” “Yes,” Will moaned, even as Jay hissed the same word. This was what his first time with Will had been like—messy kisses, frottage, him trying to pull more than grunts from Will’s reluctant lips. They had been against a wall rather than the floor, and still fully clothed, but he remembered the desire on Will’s face, recognized the way he kept scrunching his eyes and opening them again as though afraid Kar would disappear if he stopped looking. They kissed again, their mouths meeting harshly enough to bruise. Jay forced himself to look at the computer display. It was time to jump. He pressed the control without bothering to give a warning. He doubted they’d hear him if he did. The Danaus jumped. Twin cries rose from the comm. Jay wanted to look at the screen so badly that he was shaking, but he couldn’t. If he timed it right, the next jump might be the last one they needed to shake off the Guardians—and if he messed it up, it would be their last one, period. He calculated the jump and checked his math before allowing the computer to check it again. The warning he had expected came up. He just had time to override it before the computer announced the arrival of the Guardians. They had jumped closer to the ship this time, no doubt tiring of the chase just like Jay was. He didn’t wait for them to engage the Danaus and started evasive maneuvers right away, twirling left and right, sliding above them and under, making sure to keep close to them so that his jumping vector would be perfectly readable by their computers. It was the best bit of flying he had ever done. And no one was even there to notice. It was time. The ship jumped, and as he pressed the control, Jay turned his eyes to the cargo bay screen. They had rolled over, Will lying between Kar’s thighs now, as they exchanged slow, almost lazy kisses. The frantic bucking from earlier was gone. They must have come. The screens around their image became very bright before dimming again. The computer gave the warning Jay had expected.
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“Danger. External heat shields will begin failing in three minutes forty-nine seconds.” Watching Will’s hand rake through Kar’s hair, Jay passed a hand over his head. He grunted, then asked, his voice shaking, “Entire front quadrant, display radar.” The image from the lower quadrant enlarged, taking up the entire space in front of him and swallowing the cargo chamber. The Danaus was at the center of the screen, the sun immense right above it, but that was all. There was no sign of the Guardians’ ships. At the very least, they would need to adjust their jump coordinates, giving Jay enough time to hide. “Computer, give me a map of the system.” None of the planets were inhabited, but the second planet’s third moon hosted a small colony. If the Guardians scanned the system for life forms, the colony’s signals would hide the Danaus. He flew the ship directly toward the moon. He couldn’t afford to lose any time now. He slowed down before entering the atmosphere to prevent the tell-tale bang, and landed in a ravine at some distance to the closest village in that area of the moon. The radar image was still on the full screen, now widened to show the entire solar system. No other ship had appeared. Jay’s fingers marked the trickling seconds by tapping on the console in front of him. The Guardians still didn’t jump in. “Lower quadrant four, display cargo bay.” The cargo area appeared, but it showed nothing more than a stack of chromore boxes. “Computer, identify location of Captain Karmykel.” “Captain Karmykel,” Kar’s voice announced, “in living quarters, area B.” Jay didn’t ask where Will was. Area B was the room he and Will shared. He also didn’t ask whether the air in the cockpit was clean. He was still horny—after what he had seen, he’d be hard until he came—but the sheer urgency had faded. At no moment, though, had he felt like he had been drugged and forced to do or say anything. It had been him in charge of his body the entire time, not just his dick and his need to come. If he hadn’t already wanted Will, he didn’t think he would have touched him. And as for Kar…only the uncertainty of whether Kar liked men that way or not had kept Jay’s hands off him. That, and the proximity of an all-too-eager Will. But if he had kept that much control on himself, there was no reason why Kar and Will couldn’t do the same. That meant that, whatever they were doing now, it was what they wanted, deep down, without inhibitions or fears stopping them. “Kar, you greedy bastard,” he muttered, amused despite himself. “You had to take him in my bed, did you?” Shaking his head, he started fiddling with the synchro program. “Computer, identify components of the air outside the ship.”
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The computer started listing gases and percentages, its voice shifting along with Jay’s careful touches on the controls. He stopped when the voice was androgynous, soft-spoken and pleasant to the ear. Looking again at the radar, he waited a few more minutes. The Guardians had abandoned the pursuit for good. There was no reason for him to remain in the cockpit.
~*~ Kar wasn’t sure how they made it back to Will’s room. He just knew the floor in the cargo area was far from comfortable, and when Will suggested a bed might be nice, the idea seemed entirely reasonable. They wiped their mixed semen off their stomachs with their shirts, hiked up their pants, and started toward the living quarters side by side. Within three steps, though, they had their arms around each other. Two more, and they were kissing. By the time they entered the door to Will’s room, they were both naked, and as hard as before. “I want to suck your cock,” Will murmured along the shell of Kar’s ear before giving it a small lick. Kar bucked his hips toward him, and their cocks brushed against each other. “No one…” He grunted. “No one’s stopping you.” His hands on Kar’s waist, Will guided him backwards until the edge of the bed pressed at the back of his thighs. Kar sat down, his legs spreading right away. Will knelt between them, a hand on each of his knees and a look of pure hunger etched on his features. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first walked aboard this ship,” he said, and proceeded to lick a long stripe from the root of Kar’s cock to its wet, shiny tip. Kar threw back his head and gasped. “As I recall, it was Jay you asked about.” Will chuckled, his lips right next to Kar’s balls, and the vibration made Kar claw at the sheets. “Didn’t say I didn’t want him too.” Kar looked down in time to see Will press a closed-mouth kiss to the very tip of his cock. He groaned, and Will looked up at him. His lips curled into an impish smile that tugged at the scar on his cheek. He opened his mouth and covered the head of Kar’s dick. A memory rose to the surface of Kar’s mind when he wove his fingers into Will’s hair, his hands following his movements and not guiding him in any way. He remembered watching this very same act from the outside of the cockpit, remembered wondering what it would be like to be in Jay’s place. He knew now. As Will’s left hand caressed the inside of his thigh, sometimes drifting all the way to his balls, and his right hand slid up and down his cock, stroking what his mouth didn’t cover, Kar knew—and he knew exactly why Jay had looked so blissful. He struggled to keep his eyes open and on Will when all he wanted was to shut them tight and let pleasure explode behind his eyelids. He also struggled to keep his hands gentle when every last fiber of what he was demanded he guide Will tighter against him, force his cock deeper down Will’s throat. He was www.samhainpublishing.com
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rewarded by Will’s eyes remaining locked with his as he worked his way up and down Kar’s cock, teasing it with lips, tongue, and when Kar was sure he couldn’t take any more, the barest hint of teeth, right under the crown where every touch was like fire licking at Kar’s skin. Kar was speaking before he even knew it. “Come up here.” He shifted his hips back on the bed, and Will’s mouth let go of his cock with a wet popping noise. He guided Will to kneel over his lap so that their cocks were together again, brushing against each other as though greeting an old friend. Will groaned, and Kar captured his mouth at once, slipping past his lips to seek his tongue. Will lost no time in returning the kiss, his lips and tongue slow and gentle when earlier they had been frantic. His hands were splayed on Kar’s chest, at times caressing with the lightest of touches, and at times pressing his nails in. Kar couldn’t remember when exactly Will had removed his gloves, but his hands were smoother than he could have dreamed of. He held one of Will’s hands in his and, breaking the kiss, brought it to his mouth. He kissed and licked each finger before drawing them into his mouth one after the other. Will, who had buried his face into the crook of Kar’s neck, hissed lightly against his skin before sucking on it. A flash of increased need spread through Kar at the thought that he would soon be marked like Jay so often was. He released Will’s hand and grabbed his hips, pulling him closer so that their cocks were trapped together between their bodies. Will arched into him with a moan, his head thrown back and baring his throat. Kar trailed wet kisses over his neck and to his shoulder. His hands were on Will’s ass now, caressing and clutching. His fingers brushed along the crack of his ass, sliding down until they found his puckered hole. Will let out a low, guttural groan and became very still, his hands clenched tight on Kar’s shoulders. His eyes, wide and full of need, were locked with Kar’s. Almost reverently, Kar circled Will’s opening with the tip of his moistened index finger before slipping in. Will shuddered against him and swallowed heavily. He moaned again, louder now, when Kar pushed his finger farther in. A few shallow thrusts caused him to hum. Feeling emboldened—it had been a long time, after all, and Kar had almost been afraid he had forgotten what to do—Kar pulled out and pressed two fingers against his hole. “Wait,” Will murmured. Stretching toward the head of the bed, he slipped his hand beneath the pillow and retrieved a small, see-through package of lube and protection agent. A thin smile rose to Kar’s lips. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know which of them had brought this aboard his ship, though he was beginning to suspect Will hadn’t been as innocent when he had joined his crew as Kar had believed. Will tore the packet open with practiced ease and squirted half of it onto Kar’s waiting fingers. The other half he squeezed into his own hand, and barely let the gel warm before he wrapped his hand over Kar’s cock and his own. Kar hissed and reached around him again, pushing two fingers against Will’s ass.
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The muscles there twitched but parted easily, allowing Kar to spread the lubricant. He crooked his fingers, hunting for the spot that would make Will melt under his touch, but Will had other plans already. Holding Kar’s cock firmly in his fist, Will raised himself on his knees. He tilted his hips until he was poised over Kar. The angle was awkward, though, and his free hand guided Kar sideways. Soon, Kar was lying down on the bed, his hands tight and trembling with need on Will’s hips. Then, and only then, did Will lower himself onto Kar’s cock, one excruciatingly slow inch after another. He stopped when he had only half of Kar’s cock inside him and raised himself higher until only the tip remained in. Kar started protesting, but all that came out was a shocked grunt. Will had slammed his hips down and taken all of him in. They stayed still for an instant. His mouth open and panting, Kar tried to adjust to the heat and tightness that now encased his dick. Surely, if Will started moving now, Kar would come at once. There was no way he could last, not when it had been so long, not when he wanted Will so much, not— Will raised himself again and started moving, his hips finding a new angle with each movement. Kar snapped his mouth shut and bit his lip, trying to distract himself from the pleasure he could feel rising in his balls. He was tempted to shut his eyes as well but he couldn’t bear to, not when Will’s hands were running over his own chest, scratching at his flat nipples and making them peak and darken. Kar wanted to touch him, but if he let go of his tight hold on Will’s hips, he was sure he would come apart. “Touch yourself,” Kar panted, half begging, half ordering. Will shuddered at the words. He blinked and found Kar’s eyes again. His look was pure lust. “Touch yourself,” Kar repeated, the words rough and needy. “Show me what you like. Fuck yourself on my cock and touch that lovely dick of yours for me.” As though in a trance, Will nodded slowly and lowered his hand to his cock. He fisted it even as he started thrusting himself faster onto Kar’s dick until his movements were all but a blur to Kar’s narrowed eyes. It was too much, Kar wanted to warn him. He couldn’t last much longer, not even if he tried to stave off his rising pleasure. “Go ahead,” Will said, his eyes burning, as though reading his mind. Kar cried out before he even knew he was coming. Of their own accord, his hips thrust up while he held Will in place, holding him tighter as he pumped his cock inside him. Pleasure rolled over him in waves of sensation, blinding him with bright lights. His blood was roaring in his ears, drowning out every other sound. He blinked several times to clear his vision. Will’s hand was clenched at the base of his own cock. He shook and threw his head back, closing his eyes tight, but he didn’t come. Breathing fast, he looked back at Kar. His eyes were blazing with the pleasure he was denying himself. Kar eyed his cock, the tip of it shiny with precome and lubricant. “What do you want, Will?” His words came out as a growl.
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Will licked his lips and blinked very fast. “I… I think…” He swallowed hard, his lips moving but without a sound. Kar raised a hand to his face and traced the white scar with his thumb. “Come on, boy, tell me.” Will shivered, and his hand slipped a little on his cock, not quite a stroke, yet enough to pull a quiet moan from his lips. “Do you want to come down my throat?” Kar continued. “Do you want me to jerk you off, or would you rather—” “A thank you for saving your sorry asses would be a nice start.” His eyes widening in shock, Kar turned toward the bedroom door, barely aware that Will was doing the same thing. Jay was standing there, stark naked, his hand loosely wrapped around his erect cock. “And then,” he continued, “you can show me just how grateful you are.”
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Chapter Eight
When he walked in, Jay had fully intended to make both men take care of his needs in any way he saw fit and for as long as he wanted them to. When he saw them, however, and in particular when he saw Will teetering on the edge of orgasm, his plans changed. They had time, after all. “Don’t you dare come yet,” he told Will sternly as he approached the bed, his cock bobbing in front of him. He could see Will’s throat work up and down as he swallowed, but Jay’s attention was on Will’s dick, dripping with precome and looking painfully hard in Will’s tight fist. Jay motioned for Will to lift himself off Kar—they both let out small sounds of loss when Kar’s softened cock slipped out—and under Jay’s direction, Will sat on the edge of the bed. Kar sat up as well, settling at Will’s side with his legs folded and his body angled so he could see both Will and Jay. Lowering himself to his knees, Jay gently pried Will’s fingers off his own cock and replaced them with his own. “Now,” he said, and lowered his lips to touch the tip of Will’s cock. “You can come now.” Will’s hips jerked forward at the words, and his cock slipped into Jay’s waiting mouth. He started to suck lightly, and Will’s head fell back. Kar’s hand curled around his neck and drew Will to rest against his shoulder. Kar’s other hand tentatively rose toward Jay and, light as a feather, settled at the back of his head. Jay kept his eyes on Kar and sucked a little harder, feeling Will’s cock jerk already in his gentle grip and on his tongue. Another suck, and Will’s keening wail accompanied the thick spurts of come that filled Jay’s mouth. He continued to pull on Will’s cock, drawing every last savory drop from him, enjoying the taste of him but also the feel of his flesh trembling and softening in his mouth, the sound of his hurried breathing, the sight of his pleasure as he rested boneless in Kar’s embrace. Kar’s hand fell away from Jay’s head to stroke lightly against Will’s heaving chest. Jay finally let Will’s cock slip from his mouth. He could feel a drop of semen sliding down his bottom lip and onto his chin. He wiped it off with his thumb and started to bring it to his mouth, but then he noticed Kar’s hungry, wide-eyed look. He held his thumb out to Kar and gave him his best come-hither look. “Want a taste?” Something that sounded very much like a growl rose in Kar’s throat, and he leaned forward, his lips parting just enough for his tongue to come out and lick the drop of semen. A second growl resounded, muffled when his mouth closed over Jay’s thumb. He sucked on it lightly, his tongue swirling around it as
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though around a cock. Jay’s heart picked up speed, and his cock made itself known to him again. He curled a loose fist around it and gave it a few tugs until Kar let go of his thumb with a soft, wet noise. “There’s more on his lips,” Will said quietly, as though in confidence, turning his head into Kar’s shoulder to speak close to his ear. “Don’t you want more?” Kar nodded jerkily and, clasping Jay’s shoulders, drew him up onto the bed next to him. He licked Jay’s lips with tiny flicks of his tongue that reminded Jay of a stray cat he had taken in as a child. He hadn’t been allowed to keep that cat very long. Good thing he made his own decisions now. Will’s hand closed on his neglected but hard and dripping cock, and he gasped. Kar used the opportunity to slip his tongue past his parted lips and hunt down the last remains of Will’s come inside his mouth. It wouldn’t take much more than this, Jay thought dazedly, not when he’d been waiting for so long, not when Kar was caressing his tongue, not when Will was pumping his dick in slowly accelerating motions. He shut his eyes tighter and tried to reach an orgasm that had been delayed for too long—only to be thwarted when a second hand closed at the base of his cock. He moaned in protest against Kar’s retreating lips. “Shhh…” Kar murmured. “You don’t want to finish before we even start, do you?”
Kar could only be grateful that, for this at least, Will obeyed him without question or delay. He lay down at his command, drawing his legs up with a hand hooked behind each knee before Kar could even ask. The sight he made, open and still breathing hard from his orgasm, made Kar almost rethink his idea— almost. He had buried himself into Will’s ass already; now he wanted Jay. “Go right ahead,” he whispered, right into Jay’s ear. “He’s stretched out and slicked for you.” Jay licked his lips and moved forward on the bed on his hands and knees, his cock already pointing toward Will’s hole. Will’s hand reached between them and guided him to his opening, and in one swift thrust Jay was in, sliding in easily and pulling twin moans from his throat and Will’s. He bent down even as Will arched up, and they shared a brief but deep kiss, Will’s hand holding his neck for a second before it slid over his chest. Will’s legs came to rest against his shoulders. The next instant, Jay pulled out almost all the way and slammed his cock back in. Kar could have sat there and watched them, but he had watched too much already. He wanted in. He quickly found another packet of lube and, fumbling a little in his haste, tore it open. His fingers slick with lube, he touched Jay’s ass, pressing against his entrance but without breaching it yet. Jay stilled and glanced back, ignoring Will’s protests. His face was inscrutable. Kar licked his lips, both from nervousness and excitement. “Do you want me to stop?” Jay didn’t hesitate for a second. “No. God, no.” “Good.” Kar added lube to his fingers and pressed in two at once. “Because I’m not sure I could.”
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Jay made a low, hissing noise, but he pushed back onto Kar’s hand before thrusting inside Will again. Kar forced himself to stretch Jay thoroughly while Jay continued to fuck Will with slow, harsh thrusts. When he couldn’t bear it anymore, he withdrew his fingers and smeared what was left of the lube onto his erection. Jay stopped, just long enough for Kar to push inside him in an agonizingly slow motion, then started moving again, his thrust pushing him into Will’s ass then onto Kar’s cock. Kar slapped his ass once, chastising. The sound of his hand hitting Jay’s flesh was clear and sharp in the room. “My game now,” he said simply, and set a fast, punishing rhythm that drove him deep inside Jay’s ass—and Jay deep inside Will’s. He remembered earlier—it felt like days ago—having thought he might have to punish Jay with a spanking. This was not what he had meant at the time, but it worked quite well too. One thing was similar to a spanking, though—he couldn’t wait to see how much time would pass before they started begging.
~*~ Will managed to stay still for what felt like an eternity—five or six minutes at the very least—before he had to move, had to touch. He tried Jay first, since he was closest, caressing his arm down to his hand, then his thigh and back up toward his resting cock. “God, Will, give me a minute.” Will pouted at that, but seeing how Jay’s other arm was thrown over his eyes, it didn’t help. Abandoning Jay for the moment, he turned his eyes and fingers to Kar, who lay, eyes closed, with his head resting on Jay’s chest and his hand on Jay’s shoulder. Kar didn’t even stir when Will caressed the curve of his hip, and his cock remained hidden beneath him. Will grimaced and dropped his hand to his own dick, only to grimace again. He was a mess. With a quiet sigh, he gingerly sat up and stood, walking slowly out of the room and to the washing room next door. His ass tingled with each step, but he relished the soreness, and his cock grew heavy between his thighs as he replayed in his mind how he had become so sore. He cleaned himself quickly—small mercy, the water was warm for once—and returned to the bedroom with a wet washcloth. He took care of Jay first, curling the warm washcloth around his cock before dropping it gently between his thighs and to his ass. Kar was next, and Will had to climb on the bed and kneel over their legs to coax him onto his back. He then cleaned lube and semen from his cock and smiled to himself when it gave a small twitch. “There we go,” he murmured, still caressing but a little more insistently now. Kar opened an eye and looked at him with a faint smile. “Ah, to be seventeen again…” He chuckled quietly. Will huffed and crossed his arms. “I’m eighteen.”
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Only when the word had passed his lips did he realize he had just admitted being barely old enough to work in space. It was too much to hope they hadn’t taken notice, and indeed Jay was raising his head to look at him in surprise. “You’re only eighteen?” he said. Will swore he had heard just a trace of awe in Jay’s voice. He nodded, wary. Jay whistled softly. “Kar, you shameless bastard. You’re robbing the cradle now? He could be your son.” Kar snorted and reached over to cuff Jay on the head. “I’m not that old, you idiot.” “So you say, but the young folks seem to have tired you out.” This time, Kar grumbled. He sat up and gave Jay a dirty look. “I’ll show you tired out.” At that, he leaned forward toward Will and, after pressing a peck to his mouth, trailed his lips down Will’s chest and to his cock—which immediately took notice and stood up for the attention. Behind Kar, Jay sat up and winked at Will. Laughing soundlessly, Will dropped the washcloth to the floor. He reclined on the bed and closed his eyes. Earlier, he had been ready to burst when Jay’s mouth had closed on him, and every touch of his lips or tongue had treaded the fine line between pain and pleasure. Now, the same touches from Kar’s mouth— the same and yet entirely different—were nothing more and nothing less than pleasure. The bed shifted, and soon another mouth—dry lips but soft too—pressed against his own. He hummed and granted Jay entrance into his mouth, but could do little more than let himself be kissed, not when Kar alternated slow, deep sucks and faster ones, just on the head of his cock, that robbed him of all strength and thought. He started to protest when Jay pulled away and ended the kiss, but Kar sucked a little tighter at that moment, and Will forgot what it was that had upset him. Resting on his elbows, he watched Kar with hooded eyes, enjoying the sight of him almost as much as he did the feel of his mouth and tongue. Only when Kar abruptly stopped and lifted his head did Will realize something else was going on. He looked up, past Kar’s suddenly tensed back, and could guess more than he saw what was happening. “No,” Kar said as he looked back at Jay behind him. “I don’t do that.” That, Will guessed from the conspicuous lube package lying open and empty on the side of the bed, was Jay’s fingers inside Kar’s ass, preparing him for his cock. He licked his lips. He wouldn’t mind seeing it happen and thought he would try to convince Kar to let Jay fuck him. But for all his protests, Kar wasn’t moving away from Jay, merely glaring. Jay, on the other hand, was smiling his most wicked smile. “Are you sure?” His voice was sweet and tempting, honey and sugar dripping from each word. Will wished he could have seen what was happening behind Kar, but he could guess. Kar’s trembling and the soothing motions of Jay’s left hand on his back were downright captivating, and Will found himself idly pulling at his cock, all thoughts of demanding Kar continue his blowjob forgotten.
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Kar’s eyes closed, and he shook his head. His hands had closed on the bed, bunching the sheets. Every muscle of his prostrate body seemed tensed and ready for flight. Will sat up and laid a gentle hand on his cheek, careful not to startle him. “Come on,” Will whispered, leaning in to brush his lips against Kar’s pinched ones. “I promise you’ll like it. Jay is really good.” Kar moaned against his lips, and Will could only wonder if it was from his words, his soft kiss, or Jay’s touch. Jay grabbed his shoulder and pulled Kar upright before making Kar turn toward him. Jay cupped his face much like Will had and whispered, “It’ll be all right. We’ll make it real good for you.” Will caressed Kar’s back as they kissed, keeping his touches soothing, however much he wanted to slide down and touch Kar’s ass just like Will had. Seconds passed before Kar said, so low that Will almost didn’t catch it, “Okay.” He started turning back toward Will, but Jay stopped him, his hands tight and shaking a little on his biceps. “Stay right where you are.” Will understood at the same time as Kar did. His dick twitched its approval, and he groaned. Kar glanced back at him, his eyes burning as he blinked very slowly. “Okay,” he said again, and turned to Jay for another kiss. Will resumed running his hands over Kar’s back, broad touches meant to soothe him. With each pass, his touch extended a little lower to include his ass cheeks. When Kar seemed to have relaxed, Will spread his cheeks to expose his hole. Taking hold of his cock in one hand, he ran the tip against the slick, puckered entrance to Kar’s body. Kar immediately jerked and tensed at the touch, his ass clenching tight. This wasn’t going to work, Will thought, frowning, not as long as Kar remained so nervous. “Will you suck me?” Jay murmured, already lying back in front of Kar. As soon as Kar lowered his head to Jay’s cock, Will knew what Jay was doing: giving Kar a distraction—not that he wouldn’t get anything out of it himself. Kar’s head started bobbing up and down, and almost at once, his body relaxed. Will once again aligned the tip of his cock and Kar’s hole. This time, when he pushed in—painfully slow so he wouldn’t scare Kar but, oh, how he wanted to be fully in and fast!—Kar’s body accepted him. Already shaking at both the idea of being inside Kar and the very fact of it, Will thrust gently, sliding his cock a little deeper inside the tight passage each time until his balls were pressed against Kar’s ass. He forced himself to stop then, and leaned over to kiss Kar’s shoulder. “How’s that?” he asked, his voice trembling. Kar’s only reply was a grunt, which Will decided meant, “Get on with the program already.” He was all too happy to do so. Drawing back, he gripped Kar’s hips a little more forcefully and took his first real thrust. He delighted in the muffled moan he pulled from Kar, but he wanted more. He did it again, and again, angling his hips a little differently each time until the moan turned into an outright cry and
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he knew he had found Kar’s prostate. He picked up his pace then, his balls smacking against Kar’s ass with each thrust. He watched Jay over Kar’s shoulder. He couldn’t see much of the actual blowjob, but he could hear the suction noises and the quiet hums from Kar’s throat. Having been on the receiving end of these careful attentions not that long before, he knew quite well what they felt like. If he had needed a reminder, though, he would have only had to look at Jay’s face. His features were tight, locked at that moment in mixed pain and ecstasy before pleasure won and submerged everything else. Under Will’s gaze, his hands came to cup Kar’s face and he started thrusting his hips forward, slowly at first, then gradually faster when Kar didn’t protest. He found himself envying them both: Jay for getting to fuck Kar’s mouth first, and Kar for pleasuring Jay in a way that Will couldn’t. Remaining still and allowing his mouth to get fucked was a trick Will had not mastered—at least not yet. Stimulated by the tight heat around his cock as much as by Jay’s blissful expression, Will started losing his rhythm. He closed his eyes and draped himself over Kar’s back, his thrusting shallower but faster now. His right hand slid over Kar’s hip to find his cock. It was hard as steel, Will was pleased to discover, and the tip was drenched in precome. He began jerking Kar off in time to his thrusting, breathing hotly at the back of Kar’s neck. Will tried to delay his orgasm a little longer. He wanted to feel Kar come, wanted to feel his ass constrict around him and squeeze every last bit of pleasure from his body and— Will’s hips jerked uncontrollably and he buried himself deep into Kar’s ass. Head tilted back, Will let out a wordless cry even as fiery pleasure coursed through him and he came. Two seconds later, Kar’s dick pulsed in his tightened hand and covered it in his ejaculate. Kar was shaking beneath him, and he grunted— and then it was Jay’s turn to join them, gasping Kar’s name and a string of meaningless invectives. This time, when they collapsed together, arms and legs shifting lazily until they were all comfortable, there were no more caresses or questing hands. This time, Will thought as his jaw cracked on a mighty yawn, they would sleep. Or at least they would sleep for a little while.
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Chapter Nine
Kar wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he woke up, but his head felt clear. His eyes still closed, he took in a deep breath. The air reeked of come and sweat, but strangely enough, the smell wasn’t all that unpleasant. He could feel a body pressed alongside his and very badly wanted to open his eyes and check whether it was Will or Jay. It didn’t matter, though, he told himself forcefully. It was all over. He sat up on the edge of the bed. He wanted to get up and leave Jay and Will to each other, but he wasn’t sure he could stand quite yet. “Computer,” he said quietly, “report on filtering.” The computer adjusted its volume to that of Kar’s words. The voice, though, took him aback, and he had to ask it to repeat. His voice was gone—thank God—replaced by smooth tones that could have belonged to a man or a woman. It worked quite well for a computer, actually. “Filtering completed. One hundred percent of the ship is free of animal compound.” Someone yawned behind him, and Kar couldn’t resist. He looked back and gave Jay a tight smile. “So, you outflew the Guardians, forced your way out of the cockpit and found time to reprogram the synchro. I don’t suppose you fixed the shower too?” Jay seemed oddly pleased. He sat up on the bed, his back to the wall, seemingly unconcerned by his nudity. Will snuffled in his sleep and shifted until his head rested on Jay’s thigh. “Well…I did do some spectacular flying.” His grin sharpened into something teasing. “Which no one will ever know about, seeing how you were a complete bastard.” A day earlier, even hours earlier, that last word would have been a curse on Jay’s lips. Now it almost sounded affectionate, and Kar found himself growing uncomfortable. The pheromones were gone, and they had to find their way back to what their relationship had been before all this. Kar’s gaze dropped to Will, and he tilted his head toward him, hoping to remind Jay whom he should turn to now. “You couldn’t have done it if Will had been in there with you. You know that.” Jay looked down at Will. His eyes were still closed, but a tiny smile tugged at his lips, making it clear he was awakening. Kar watched as Jay threaded his fingers through Will’s hair and pulled gently. “Messing with the synchro is not that complicated,” Jay said, changing the subject. “Even you could learn to do it.” Kar snorted and stood, stretching carefully. His backside felt a little sore, but it wasn’t all that unpleasant. “Your faith in my abilities is always heartwarming.” Without a look back, he stepped out of the room. His clothes and Will’s—along with Jay’s—were strewn all over the corridor. He really needed a
Kallysten
shower, but before he took one, he wanted to check where they were and what was going on outside. He picked up his pants and had just slipped one leg on when Jay’s voice rose from inside the room, just loud enough for Kar to hear him. “But I didn’t force my way out of the cockpit.” Kar finished pulling up his pants and buttoned them before walking back over the threshold. He frowned at Jay. “What do you mean?” Jay’s smile widened just a little. “The computer opened the door just like you told it to. When the filtering was completed.” Kar shook his head slowly. “But it said six hours—” “Six hours in space,” Jay interrupted him. He all but sounded triumphant. “About seven minutes when on a moon with breathable air. Just open the vents and phew.” He raised his hands and waved his fingers. “There go the tricky pheromones that made our dicks take over.” Will, whose eyes had been open, sat up next to Jay and absently pulled the sheet to cover his lap. He scratched his cheek with a finger, looking as mystified as Kar felt. “So when you joined us…” His voice trailed off, and he raised a questioning eyebrow at Jay, who nodded. “The air was clear, yes.” “That doesn’t mean anything,” Kar said quickly, the words thick on his tongue. “It still was in our systems and—” “I don’t think so,” Jay cut in. “I got clear-headed pretty fast in my locked-down cockpit.” Will frowned as he looked first at Kar, then at Jay. “So what we did, the three of us…” Again, he didn’t finish, but they all knew what he was talking about. “What you two did on your own,” Jay said slowly, reaching to caress the thin scar on Will’s cheek, “that might have been the pheromones.” Kar’s throat felt very dry but he pushed a word out anyway. “Jay.” “But once I came in—” Wanting to get his attention, Kar stepped closer to the bed. His voice, this time, was louder. “Jay.” Jay blinked as he turned to look at Kar. “What?” But Kar didn’t know what to say anymore. He passed a hand over his face. “Don’t. Just…” He sighed. “Don’t. It’s best if we forget this ever happened.” Jay’s eyes widened, and he practically leaped off the bed. Kar was acutely aware, all of a sudden, that Jay was stark naked, while he wore nothing more than pants. He tried to keep his eyes on Jay’s face, but found his eyes drifting to his neck, and that red mark over the tattoo. “Forget it?” Jay said sharply. “Why would I? That was a damn good bit of sex. Why would I want to forget it? Why would you, for that matter?”
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Moonlust
Before Kar could say a word, Will stood as well. He rested a hand on Jay’s shoulder, and the other on Kar’s arm. Kar unconsciously jerked away from the touch, and immediately regretted it. It was better that way, though. Couldn’t they see it? “He doesn’t want to come between us,” Will said softly. “Isn’t that what you said, Kar?” Crossing his arms, Jay rolled his eyes. “But you’ve already come between us. And you seemed like you enjoyed it too. I bet you’d like it to happen again.” Kar wanted to deny it, wanted to step away from them and hide, but he was suddenly unable to speak or move. All he could do was stare at them, his gaze drifting from Jay to Will. “Is that true, Captain?” Will asked, a slow smile spreading on his lips. Kar’s cock twitched as he remembered Will asking the same thing hours earlier. “Would you like to do this again?” he continued. Kar couldn’t answer. He turned a wary look to Jay, expecting to see jealousy or anger, finding instead a quiet amusement. “I accused you of lusting after Will’s ass, but that wasn’t the entire truth, was it?” His eyes were shining, but not in anger. When his arm dropped to encircle Will’s waist and draw him closer, it wasn’t in defense, Kar thought. It looked more like an invitation. Kar took in a shaky breath and threw caution to the wind. “You do have a pretty ass,” he muttered. Will laughed aloud, while Jay grinned. “It’s about time you noticed.” A weight seemed to lift off Kar’s shoulders, and he reached up to cup Jay’s neck in his hand, his thumb pressing lightly on the bruise. “Who said I didn’t notice before?” Despite his casual shrug, there was something in Jay’s voice that hinted that he hadn’t liked the lack of attention. “You never said anything.” Kar drew back his hand so he could trace one of the lines on Jay’s neck with a finger. “One of these days,” he said, regretting the words even as they passed his lips, “you’re going to tire of all of this, and you’ll go back to the Lodge. I thought it’d be better if I stayed away.” Jay frowned at that, but it was Will who answered. “Maybe we need to make sure he doesn’t get tired of us, then. I’m sure we can find ways to amuse him.” “Amuse him?” Kar repeated, trying very hard not to grin and spoil his affected outrage. “I’m still your captain. You two will amuse me.” Jay’s hand came up to cup the back of Kar’s head and pull him in. His eyes had never seemed so clear. He stopped just short of giving Kar a kiss. “You’re saying you don’t want us?” he asked, challenging. “No. I’m saying anything worth having is worth having on my own terms.” He kissed Jay first, then Will, before dragging them both to the shower. It was too small for the three of them, and the water was icy cold, but none of them minded in the least.
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~*~ The Cisseis was at the rendezvous point two days later, and the arranged trade went off without a hitch. Lyenne’s eyes widened a little when he saw that Kar had more chromore than they had bargained for, and he agreed to pay a premium for that. Soon, Jay and Will started to pile the boxes onto the lifts while Lyenne and Kar stood a short distance away. “So how did it all go?” Lyenne asked after Kar had finished counting the money. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lyenne, but a good trader always counted twice. “Everything went fine,” he said, allowing himself a small smile as he glanced at his crew. “Just like you said.” “Really?” There was just enough surprise in that word that Kar’s suspicions were confirmed at once. Lyenne had known exactly why the moon was deserted, and he hadn’t bothered to inform Kar. That was something Kar would remember in their future trades—if he ever traded with the man again. “I mean,” Lyenne added, perhaps realizing he had given himself away, “I’m glad to hear that. Always a pleasure doing business with you. And speaking of business…” His eyes turned to where Jay had just laughed at something Will had said. “Would you mind if I talked to your navigator? I thought, since I need contacts into the Lodge—” “Ask him if you want, but be ready to hear no.” He could see that the certainty in his words troubled Lyenne, and for a moment he seemed to hesitate, his body poised as though to spring toward Jay, yet immobile. Kar found it rather amusing. Hadn’t he been the same for months, wanting someone so much he didn’t think he should be with? Sometimes it was good to be proven wrong. “Have you ever been to see a ballet, Lyenne?” he asked out of the blue. Lyenne started back in surprise before looking at Kar as though he were mad. “What?” Kar couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “No, I didn’t think you had. You should try it sometime. I hear it’s excellent. But you might want to change before you do.” Lyenne’s expression was now utterly perplexed. He sputtered. “Change? Change what?” Deciding he had teased him enough, Kar shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just go help my crew so you can be on your way to the Lodge a little faster.” As Kar stepped toward Jay and Will, both of them turned to look at him. Will’s grin lit up his whole face, bright and refreshing. Jay’s was more subtle and touched his eyes just as much as it did his lips. Without wondering for a second what they saw in his own smile, Kar smiled back.
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About the Author
Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue (and catch!) the love of her life. She has been writing for fifteen years, and always enjoyed sharing her stories and listening to the readers’ reactions. She has followed her muse into space, into the past and the future, into worlds filled with vampires and magic, and can’t wait to see where they will find love next. To learn more about Kallysten, please visit http://original.kallysten.net. Listen to her free podcast: Kallysten Audiobooks on iTunes. Send an email to Kallysten at
[email protected] or join her Yahoo! group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kallysten/.
Submission isn’t an option—it’s a full-time job.
Crimson © 2010 Ethan X. Thomas A Men in Space Story Humiliated by the betrayal of his former Master, Lieutenant Benjamin Kraft will do anything to bring the drug czar Tazu to justice—anything but kneel again. Forget passion too. He’d rather risk daily grow-op raids. Then, just when Tazu is finally within reach, an ambush wipes out Ben’s entire squad and threatens the life of his partner—a partner he never realized he cared about, much less loved. As a member of a former slave race known as starlings, Adam’s speed and strength make him a valuable asset to the police force even as his blue skin inspires prejudice and derision from the other officers. Ben’s always been able to look past that, so what’s changed? Suddenly his partner is rude at every turn. Ben may try to get rid of him, but too bad; Adam won’t be scared off. He has his own reasons for wanting to bring Tazu in, and he’ll do it even if it means putting Ben in his place. Even if it means acting as Ben’s Master on their next mission: an investigation on a planet where sex is everywhere, and where whips and chains are the norm… Warning: This title may prove addictive. It contains explicit m/m sex, leather chaps, latex shorts, and slippery goodness.
Seduction is his only chance for freedom…and love is a death sentence.
Feral © 2009 Joely Skye Even among shifters, Ethan is a rare breed. So rare, he’s spent the last eight years in hiding from the werewolves who once captured and tortured him. Now a tranq dart has cut short his feral existence. Waking in human form in a locked room is more than a living nightmare…it’s reliving his worst one. Yet in the troubled eyes of one of his captors, he senses a weak link. One he can use to escape—by seducing his jailer. Bram’s life as pack omega isn’t easy. As long as he obeys his alpha he is protected. However, there are some things he just can’t bring himself to do. Keeping a precious cougar shifter prisoner is one of them, especially one who has somehow managed to capture his heart. Setting Ethan free could be a death sentence for both of them, for Bram’s pack doesn’t take betrayal lightly. And the alpha is set on revenge. Warning: Explicit m/m sex and violence.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Feral: Ethan didn’t react to Bram’s entry, even when he approached the bed. Bram stared down, wishing he knew what to do. Let him go free. It was the obvious answer and Bram didn’t trust it. If Bram opened the doors and let Ethan walk out of the building, he wouldn’t get far. There was a razor-wire fence that surrounded the pack’s headquarters. Yes, a legacy from Gabriel’s paranoid rule, but the thing was, Doug had never seen fit to tear it down. One day it might protect us from the government had been his last explanation. Bram retreated and sank down into the corner, directly below the camera and out of its eye. Sure the camera was switched off, but under the circumstances, it didn’t hurt to be overcareful. “What are you doing?” Ethan spoke to his arm still covering his face. Bram tossed several answers around in his mind and couldn’t find anything he liked. He settled on, “I don’t know.” Lifting his upper body so he rested on his elbows, Ethan looked across at Bram, then glanced up at the camera. He briefly closed his eyes before he rolled off the bed and came over to Bram on all fours. Stalked over, Bram thought, and there was grace in it. Day-old stubble adorned Ethan’s jaw and his badly cut hair stuck up haphazardly. The bones of his face were too sharp, even if he had put on a bit of weight since staying here. Bram thought he was so beautiful and could never tell him.
“Are we out of sight?” Ethan asked softly. Bram nodded. He had hunkered down in the corner with his knees up, his legs blocking Ethan, who had stopped just out of reach. “My cat wants out, out of this room, out of this body.” Ethan’s gaze burned, which made Bram feel hot. “But I think that might be a death sentence here.” “No one is going to kill you.” Ethan’s mouth twisted. “That’s what Gabriel once told me.” “Doug is no Gabriel.” “And yet, I am still his sacrifice, no?” Bram wanted to shake his head, but he remembered that there were people out there who Doug said would take care of Ethan. Was that a sacrifice? “I don’t think so.” “I suppose I should take some comfort from the fact that you don’t appear to want me to be a sacrifice.” “I don’t,” Bram whispered. “What do you want, Bram?” The air seemed to thicken, a tension, and Bram didn’t know where to look. Ethan’s gaze refused to let go and while usually it was a good thing to look away from someone and cede way, that wasn’t the case here and now. Ethan was no werewolf. Instead he was a captive cougar asking for something Bram was in no position to give. Freedom. Pulling himself up into a crouch, inches from Bram, Ethan reached out a hand and placed it on Bram’s knee. He tried to stifle his reactive shudder but didn’t succeed. Ethan waited until Bram got used to the heat of his hand on his knee. “Bram?” asked Ethan in a low voice. Bram gave up pretending he was unaffected. “It’s hard to breathe.” Cocking his head, Ethan regarded Bram as if trying to interpret a foreign language. “You held me, not that long ago. You held me repeatedly.” “That’s different.” “Okay.” In one movement, Ethan turned and slid sideways in between Bram’s knees, a surprising invasion that Bram couldn’t resist. Then Ethan turned so they had their familiar embrace, his back resting against Bram’s chest. He should push Ethan away. It was the right thing to do, but slowly and carefully Bram wrapped his arms around this thin stranger who jerked in the hold even while moving deeper into Bram’s lap. They were awkward and difficult with each other, but Bram did not want to let go. Neither did Ethan, for Bram could smell his desire.
“Your cat is…?” Bram didn’t know how to ask if Ethan’s cougar was desperate to get out. “Okay. For now, anyway.” Ethan turned his head to lay his cheek against Bram’s chest. “You’re okay, you mean.” “I’m not okay, you must know that. But…this is better. Can you tell me why I like to hear your heart beat?” It was an oddly wistful question and Bram felt completely out of his depth. Was he supposed to even answer? Well, he couldn’t. Ethan gave a shuddery sigh that echoed something inside Bram. “I don’t really think you’re okay either, Bram.” Bram held Ethan tighter, and breathed in Ethan’s scent. There was something a little wild and foreign, something cat, or maybe just Ethan. It turned Bram on. Ethan had to know, had to feel his erection pressing against the small of his back. Bram nuzzled Ethan’s neck in apology, and Ethan repeated, “Okay.” “Okay what?” He didn’t answer, simply leaned back, head against Bram’s shoulder to rest there. Bram shouldn’t, but he raised one hand and stroked that long neck. Ethan groaned, turned his face into Bram’s neck and licked the skin. Bram jittered in reaction and Ethan said, “Shhh. Settle down.” Before Bram could declare that was impossible, Ethan slid his tongue along the dip above Bram’s collarbone, and Bram jumped again. “You have me at a disadvantage.” Ethan spoke against Bram’s throat. “So many disadvantages. You can smell my arousal, but my sense of smell is not quite so acute. On the other hand, I can hear your heart beating too fast, your breath going in and out quickly.” Bram clamped down hard on Ethan so he couldn’t move. “Why are we like this together?” There was a kind of wonder in Ethan’s voice. Bram cleared his throat. “I’ll let you go.” “I don’t want to be let go. But I need you to help me. You know that.” “Doug,” began Bram, but didn’t know what to say beyond that. Doug was in charge, not him. “Doug is going to kill me.” “No.” Bram didn’t believe it, and wouldn’t allow it. “Like Gabriel.” “Doug despised Gabriel. They’re not at all alike.” “I think you’re wrong.” “You haven’t been hurt,” Bram pointed out. “Not physically, but this containment is hurting me. I need out, Bram.” “Even if I let you out of here, you wouldn’t escape. We’re at the pack headquarters.” Ethan’s entire body stiffened. “Oh God. Not here again.” “It’s not like last time,” Bram insisted.
“No. Because last time someone helped me get away.” Despite himself, Bram stroked Ethan’s face. A kind of silent promise because Bram couldn’t say anything. While he hoped his loop of tape was still running, there was always the awful possibility that Doug had returned and was listening. “Oh,” said Ethan, voice toneless. “I really thought you might help me. I thought I could be more persuasive than this. Out of practice. Out of practice with a lot of things.” “Patience,” Bram mouthed, subvocally, and Ethan jerked his head around, trying to make eye contact. “The camera has sound?” Bram let his eyelids fall in assent. Ethan fought to turn full around to face Bram, fear in his expression, in his scent. “Doug has made it clear he will punish me.” His voice rose. “Doug—” Bram cut him off with a kiss. Not very elegant, not like how Ethan had kissed him earlier, it seemed almost a fight, a clash of mouths, and Bram angled his body away to prevent Ethan from leaning into him. But Ethan had to shut up. Breaking the kiss, Bram met Ethan’s gaze and mouthed, “I’ll take care of it.” “By fucking him.” “Enough.” Bram glared. He should get out of here, but Ethan looked a little crazy with fear. Suddenly the cat turned away, sliding his sweats down as he settled back against Bram again. Bram watched as Ethan brought his right hand down to his own hard cock to jerk himself off, and Bram’s dick turned to steel. “Hold me while I get this out of my system,” murmured Ethan and Bram slung an arm across Ethan’s ribs and held fast. “I need this. God knows I need something.” Ethan’s dick was weeping pre-come and he began to pump himself. Bram couldn’t speak, he just breathed Ethan in and nuzzled the cat’s neck and didn’t let him go. He’d never held on to someone while they jerked off. In fact, doing so had never occurred to him though his skin suddenly felt electric.
Truth. Lies. A century-old mystery. What a tangled web…
Love Like Ghosts © 2009 Ally Blue A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story At age eleven, Adrian Broussard accidentally used his mind to open a portal to another dimension. Now, ten years later, he’s successfully harnessed his strong psychokinetic abilities. In the process, he’s learned the lessons which have become the guiding principles of his life. Absolute truth. Absolute control. Always. Sticking to his personal code of ethics has never been a problem, until two chance meetings—one with a hundred-year-old ghost, one with a handsome, very-much-alive man—turn his orderly existence upside down. Having grown up in a family of paranormal investigators, Adrian is intrigued by the spirit of Lyndon Groome and determined to solve the mystery of his death. Greg Woodhall, however, affects Adrian in unpredictable ways. Not only does his every touch challenge Adrian’s hard-won control over his abilities, his company quickly becomes a light in Adrian’s lonely life. As the mystery surrounding Lyndon’s death turns sinister, Adrian’s relationship with Greg deepens into something serious. Something Adrian wants to keep. But intimacy isn’t as easy as honesty, and when the heart’s involved, the line between right and wrong can blur. Warning: This book contains a gory ghost, a haunted castle, nerdy college parties and gay sex enhanced by psychic powers.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Love Like Ghosts: Staring into Greg’s stony face, Adrian felt his barely controlled anger tip and spill. It was almost a relief to grab Greg by the shoulders, shove him across the room and slam him against the wall hard enough to tear a sharp cry from him. A surge of guilt made Adrian wince, but he didn’t loosen his grip. “I don’t care what you personally believe about the stupid fucking ghosts,” Adrian growled, his nose inches from Greg’s. “All you have to know is that I believe they’re real, and that I am telling the truth about what I did and did not do.” He gave Greg a shake, hard enough to hopefully get his point across but not hard enough to hurt him. “Listen to me. I will never. Ever. Lie to you. That’s a promise. Got it?” Greg just stared without answering, his breathing fast and harsh in the thick silence. Adrian’s stomach plummeted into his feet. He’d screwed everything up. It was bound to happen eventually, he’d known that all along, but still, he’d hoped… A pained whimper was the only warning he got before Greg snatched a double fistful of his hair and yanked him into a hard, hungry kiss.
In an instant, all Adrian’s anger and frustration melted away in a firestorm of pure lust. Clamping one hand onto the back of Greg’s neck and grabbing his ass with the other, Adrian plunged his tongue deep into Greg’s mouth. Adrian’s psychokinesis, already unstable, erupted into a cascade of miniature explosions inside his mind. The air around him heated until his skin began to burn with it. His control hanging by a thread, Adrian gathered the crackling energy to him and twisted it until it became a vague, sensual caress sliding along his torso. The soft not-quite-touch felt so damn good. Adrian shuddered, the hand on Greg’s neck climbing upward to tangle into his hair. A rough groan bled from Greg’s throat. His hips rocked against Adrian’s, one leg bending up in an awkward attempt to wrap around Adrian’s waist. Adrian moved his hand from Greg’s butt to his thigh, holding it against his hip. Tightening the hand in Greg’s hair, Adrian tore his mouth from Greg’s and yanked his head back. Greg sucked in a hissing breath when Adrian’s teeth dug into his neck. “God. Adrian. Fuck me.” Oh, my God. Even though they’d talked about it, even though they’d planned it, something about standing face-to-face with the raw reality of finally being inside Greg made Adrian’s legs shake and his chest hurt. He shut his eyes. Greg’s pulse fluttered like a captive moth against his lips. Fine tremors shook Greg’s body. Dropping Greg’s thigh, Adrian slid his hand beneath Greg’s shirt to trace the delicate ridges of his vertebrae. “What about tomorrow?” “What about it? Those plans don’t have to change.” Greg loosened half his death grip on Adrian’s hair and shoved his free hand down the back of Adrian’s jeans. His fingers were cold and shaking against the bare skin of Adrian’s ass. “I can’t wait ’til then, Adrian. Please don’t say no this time. Please don’t.” Adrian’s heart gave an odd little thump. Eyes still shut, he bit the spot on Greg’s neck that always turned him pliant and quivering. Greg moaned and arched in his arms. Opening his eyes, Adrian pushed back until he could see Greg’s face. Greg’s eyes glittered from beneath half-closed lids. His cheeks glowed pink in the dim light, his hair stuck up at odd angles, and his shirt was rucked up nearly to his armpits. Adrian thought he’d never seen anything more enticing in his life. Unable to help himself, Adrian leaned in and brushed his lips against Greg’s. “We don’t have any supplies.” “I do.” Greg’s tongue darted out to tease the corner of Adrian’s mouth. “In my pocket.” The mental picture of Greg walking around during the party with a condom and packet of lube in his pocket struck Adrian funny, but the laughter dissolved into a moan when Greg latched his mouth onto Adrian’s neck and sucked. You and Greg can finally have sex. Right here, right now. There’s nothing to stop you anymore.
The realization hit Adrian like a brick to the skull. He planted a palm on the wall behind Greg’s shoulder to steady himself against a sudden rush of dizziness. Greg unwound his other hand from Adrian’s hair and clutched at his shirt instead. “Let’s go lie down now, okay?” Lie down? For a moment, Adrian couldn’t think what Greg meant. Then he remembered the futon. “Oh. Yeah.” Greg snickered. Adrian shut him up with a kiss and hauled him across the floor toward their temporary bed. A quick thought cleared their path of any potential obstacles. Adrian had already tumbled to the thin navy blue pad with Greg on top of him before he realized, with a thrill of fear, that Greg could’ve easily seen the old papers, plastic cups and Adrian’s sneakers skittering aside all by themselves. That would’ve killed the mood pretty fast. But he didn’t see. Just this once, focus on what’s right in front of you instead of worrying about what might have happened or what might still happen in the future. He tugged on the hem of Greg’s long-sleeved UNC T-shirt. “Off.” Greg sat up, pulled the T-shirt off and tossed it aside. Adrian allowed him to take the condom and lube from his pocket before pulling him to the futon again and rolling on top of him, insinuating himself between Greg’s spread thighs. Greg yanked Adrian’s sweater up to his shoulders just as Adrian started to fumble one-handed with the button and zipper of Greg’s jeans. The sweater caught Adrian’s arm and knocked it violently sideways. Adrian tore the sweater off, bent and dug his teeth into Greg’s right nipple. Greg gasped, his back arching. “Oh, fuck. Yeah.” Encouraged, Adrian licked the flesh he’d just bitten, then moved to give the other nipple the same treatment. Greg moaned and squirmed beneath him. The movement slid their bare torsos together enough to send tiny shockwaves spilling down Adrian’s spine. He used the resulting flare of psychokinetic energy to smooth an invisible palm over Greg’s chest alongside his own hand. “Oooh, my God,” Greg moaned, grasping at Adrian’s hair. “Adrian. Please.” Planting both hands on the floor at Greg’s sides, Adrian wriggled further down his body. “Please what?” He bent and kissed the soft skin just above Greg’s navel, then swirled the sparse blond hairs with his tongue. He’d never felt so powerful—or so confident—during sex before. It felt wonderful, and he wanted to draw it out as long as he could. Considering the insistent throb in his jeans, he’d be lucky to hold out ten minutes, but he was going to damn well do his best to make it last. “Please fuck me already.” Adrian glanced up. The desperation in Greg’s eyes matched the growl in his voice. Adrian’s power responded with a pulse so strong it left him struggling to breathe. By the time his conscious brain realized there was no reason not to do what Greg wanted because they could go as slow as they pleased tomorrow, his baser instincts had already taken over his motor function enough to get Greg’s snug jeans unzipped.
Greg bent his right leg up, almost knocking Adrian in the head with his knee. He pulled off his shoe and let it fall to the floor, then hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans and wormed them over his hips. As soon as Adrian figured out what Greg was doing, he grasped the right leg of Greg’s jeans and managed to wrench that side free. With Greg finally naked—except for the jeans crumpled around his left calf—Adrian planted both hands on Greg’s splayed legs and held him still so he could get a good look. God, the sight of all that smooth, pale skin exposed just for him made him want to lick, to bite, to taste. Especially Greg’s cock, lying flushed and rock hard against his belly. Fine golden hairs downed the balls drawn up tight against Greg’s body. Adrian dipped his head, nuzzled between Greg’s thighs and breathed deep. The sharp musk of sexual arousal shot straight to his groin. Pushing Greg’s legs farther apart, Adrian sucked one testicle into his mouth, rolling it with his tongue to savor the taste of warm skin and dried sweat. The wail he got as a result had him fighting to keep from coming, and he knew he’d better hurry if he wanted to actually get inside Greg before he lost it. With a quick swipe of his tongue up the length of Greg’s cock—because how could he resist?—he sat up on his knees, undid his jeans and shoved pants and underwear down over his hips. His prick sprang free to sway in front of him. His damp skin was so sensitive even the brush of the air nearly undid him. He bit his lip and hung on with every ounce of his hard-won control.
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