Adverse Effects

by Alicia Nordwell

  Ever since they’d met, things had been going from bad to worse for them. They’d joined while on the run in the jungle, they’d been kidnapped and faced death crash-landing on a hostile desert planet. Even here at home, the uncertainty of Buphet’s plans, why he’d been killing off his own family, cast a pall over their time together. Yaseke wanted to share the joy in life with his isit.

  Revenge was something Dade would be looking for, though, and he knew it. It scared Yaseke to hear him talk with the Toleral; there was such rage in Dade. It wasn’t healthy. No one could endure all his isit had, and continued to face, and not have it scar them.

  If Yaseke had his way, Buphet wouldn’t get near either of them and they could start the business of healing. Let the guards find the sadistic bastard—the last thing Dade needed was to have to kill again.

  “Hey.”

  Yaseke blinked.

  “Where’d you go?” Dade was staring at him intently, rubbing Yaseke’s cheekbones with his thumbs idly. “You were here, but you were far away.”

  Telling Dade what he’d been thinking would kill the mood. That was the last thing he wanted. “Just thinking about everything I want to do to you,” Yaseke said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m going to eat you up.” Yaseke felt his hunger to touch Dade return stronger than ever. It had been too long. Way too long.

  Dade slid his hands down Yaseke’s waist to his wrap. The hot trail of his fingers sent a shiver down Yaseke’s spine.

  “In.” Yaseke pushed Dade backward into the shower as the silky fabric of his wrap fell into a puddle around his feet. He stepped out of it and followed Dade, closing the door behind him. “First I plan to touch every inch of your body.”

  The water was warm as it flowed down on top of them. Too eager to wait, Yaseke ran his hands over Dade’s shoulders. He explored the firm muscles and hard planes of Dade’s hard-hewn body as the soapy water foamed over them.

  “Gods, that feels good.” Dade groaned. His eyes were closed. When Yaseke slid his hands around Dade’s hips to his ass, cupping the flexing rounds and then squeezing them hard, Dade hissed and spread his legs wider.

  It was an invitation Yaseke couldn’t pass up. He stroked his fingers down the slick crevice splitting Dade’s taut ass, teasing lightly until the smooth skin puckered. A few gliding circles around his isit’s sensitive hole had Dade squirming in his arms.

  A press of a button and the water changed, turning pure to wash away the chemical cleansing fluid. Yaseke slipped to his knees in front of Dade, the male’s rampant cock bobbing before him. He didn’t enter Dade’s body, but he began to press harder with his fingers while softly tonguing the slick head in front of him.

  Water mixed with his male’s precome filled his mouth as Yaseke nibbled and licked Dade’s cock. He teased and tasted, one hand wrapped around one of his isit’s meaty thighs, just barely entering him with the tip of one finger. “Fuck!” Dade jolted forward and drove forward to the back of his throat. A faint metallic tang filled Yaseke’s mouth. One of his fangs must have grazed Dade’s cock. He looked up, ready to apologize, but before he could, Dade brought his hands down from the wall where he’d been vainly trying to hold on.

  Dade wrapped those strong fingers into his hair, not pulling but holding his head firmly in place. He began to thrust, first driving his ass back on Yaseke’s finger and then pushing his cock into the warm suction of Yaseke’s mouth. The look on his face was pure bliss.

  If Yaseke didn’t have to hold on to Dade’s thigh to keep his balance, he might have been tempted to stroke his own neglected length. His cock pulsed with his heartbeat, hard enough to ache, as Yaseke let his isit fuck his face. He hummed and thrust his finger deeper, enjoying every second.

  “Oh yeah!” Dade shouted. He shuddered, and the muscles of his ass clenched hard around Yaseke’s finger. He’d brushed a hard bump in Dade’s ass and the results almost made Dade come.

  Dade yanked back until his cock fell out of Yaseke’s mouth with a pop. “Not yet. I want inside you,” he said hoarsely.

  Yaseke pulled his finger free. Dade grimaced, but his expression turned hungry when Yaseke leaned forward and grabbed a small tube out of the compartment on the inner edge of the shower.

  “Lube? You are well prepared.” Dade gave him a heated look.

  He wasn’t going to pretend. “Why deny myself pleasure? Lube makes stroking my cock feel better. It’s going to make your cock sliding into me feel amazing.”

  Dade hauled him up by the shoulders and had him outside the stream of warm water against the cool tiles almost before Yaseke could blink. Dade was all over him, nipping and biting at his shoulders as he wormed one hand between Yaseke’s cheeks and around his hole.

  “I can’t go easy,” Dade said as he steadily penetrated Yaseke’s ass with one finger, then pulled back and added a second.

  The abrupt stretch burned, but Yaseke enjoyed every second, pushing his ass back. “I want to feel you,” he groaned. “Make me feel you.”

  The lube hit the floor, and Dade covered his body, pressing his chest against Yaseke’s back. The heat contrasted with the cold tiles in the best way as Dade slipped one of his legs between Yaseke’s, forcing his legs apart. Then Yaseke felt the blunt head of Dade’s cock against him, pressing in, pushing forward inexorably, taking him.

  He wanted to move, to press back and force Dade inside faster, but he couldn’t. Dade was digging his hands into his hips, holding him still with a bruising grip. It blended with the burning stretch of his ass as Yaseke struggled to accommodate and relax around the invading cock.

  “More,” he said when Dade hesitated. “In me, now!”

  That reassurance was all Dade must have needed. He smoothly buried his cock to the root, his balls slapping against Yaseke’s. After that, instinct took over as they rutted together. Yaseke gloried in the feelings of pleasure that overtook the initial pain. He backed into each thrust, eager for more, needing it harder.

  He was so close. Yaseke let his head fall to the side. Dade slid one hand around in front and grabbed his cock, his grip firm. He squeezed, not sliding his hand up and down, just creating a rhythmic pleasure.

  “Bite me,” Yaseke gasped, needing to come. The pleasure built to the knife-edge, pain and ecstasy on either side. “Please!”

  Dade’s hum was a wicked snarl. He slammed inside Yaseke just as his fangs entered his throat. Come spurted from Yaseke’s cock to paint the wall and Dade’s hand. Dade sucked hard, drawing in Yaseke’s essence as his hips rocked, their bodies joined tight.

  Dade pulled his fangs free and shouted, his body stiffening. It felt as though steel bands wrapped around Yaseke’s chest as Dade held him still and slammed his hips against Yaseke’s ass. All he could do was hold on. His knees were weak as their climaxes sent them both to the floor of the shower, still locked together.

  Yaseke was braced against the wall, Dade plastered to the back of his body. Small aftershocks made his balls tingle as Dade licked his throat. Dade’s grip slowly eased.

  “You’re amazing, tziu. I will never know what I did to deserve someone like you in my life, but I am so thankful I have you,” Dade whispered in his ear.

  “Always. You’ll have me always.” They’d just found each other. Surely they deserved more time together.

  I pulled Yaseke away from the wall and out of the shower. Exhaustion made us clumsy, and we stumbled into the counter.

  “Ow.” Yaseke rubbed his hip.

  “Sorry.”

  He stretched up and kissed me briefly on the lips. “Not your fault,” he said as he snagged towels.

  It was so late. I yawned, exhaustion dragging at my body. It was hard to move my arms to towel off my hair. “I’m so tired.” I grinned down at Yaseke. “You wore me out.”

  “I wore you out?” He snorted. “I am definitely going to be feeling you for days.” Yaseke dried his hair, the towel flopping over his face.

  Reaching around him, I gripped his ass, making Yasek
e squeak. “Yeah, but you liked it. Admit it.”

  Yaseke pushed his ass back into my hand. “If I didn’t know you were about to crash, and we didn’t have two young in our bed, I’d make you do it again.” His amber eyes burned as he stared up at me. “I never want to have a moment when I can’t feel you on my body.”

  I brushed wet strands of hair out of Yaseke’s face. “You’ll never have to.” My tziu nuzzled into my hand, then yawned.

  “I’m tired too.”

  “Let’s go to bed.”

  The room was warm, so the children were only covered with a sheet. I strode from window to window, checking that each one was shut firmly and locked. I stared into the dark night, my eyes narrowing when I caught sight of two men. They each held a light. It took a minute, but I recognized one of the guards; I’d seen him in the corridors earlier when we left Modoalm’s suite.

  “Come to bed.”

  I slipped into the bed carefully so I wouldn’t jostle anyone, keeping my body between the door and Yaseke and the children. The soft, silky sheets were cool against my skin. I snuggled close to my tziu, stretching my arm out, and touched the two small bodies twined together on the other side of Yaseke’s slim body.

  “I don’t know how they can sleep like that.”

  “I do.” Yaseke sighed and slid one of his hands back, pulling one of my legs over his and then holding it there. “I think being all wrapped up in you is comforting.”

  I didn’t say it out loud, but I was finding more and more that I enjoyed the feeling of Yaseke’s smooth body curled against mine. It had been so long since I could touch anyone—it was like I was starved for it. I tried to hide my growing need for touch, but I had a feeling Yaseke knew anyway.

  “Sleep.”

  It took me longer to drop off than him. I was running several contingency plans through my head. I wouldn’t rest easy until Buphet was found. There were so many questions left unanswered. Why was he targeting their whole family? Where was he hiding?

  What was he planning?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  My skin crawled. It’d been days since we’d arrived back at Caeorleia. Yaseke had taken the children to see one of his colleagues to make sure they had someone to talk to about what had happened to them. Unwilling to let them out of my sight for long, I’d waited with Yaseke outside the private room that had no windows and only one door—a dark wood door that, by rights, should have had a hole bored into it from my gaze because I’d stared at it so hard.

  Buphet was completely in the wind. There’d been no sightings, and the asheksi had no idea where the man went.

  Nor any idea what in the hell he was up to.

  Tension had my emotions snarled in knots. The few brushes I’d felt from people touching me had almost been a relief from the strain of my feelings. Almost.

  Yaseke rubbed a hand over my neck, and I looked up at him, blinking. “The kids asleep?” I asked.

  “Yeah. The younglings are sleeping in their room. Pira managed to break my heart, again.” I reached up and slid my arm around Yaseke’s waist, tugging him down into my lap. My tziu snuggled into me, his arms going around my waist as he rested his head against my shoulder. I stroked Yaseke’s back, enjoying his cool skin against mine.

  “She cry again?”

  Yaseke closed his eyes and sighed. “Yeah.” He tucked his head under my chin. “The why of the situation is impossible to understand for me, much less those two younglings. Our family has been wiped out, and no one has any idea what reason Buphet could possibly have for eliminating everyone.”

  “I know, I know.” I held Yaseke closer, and rubbed my cheek across the top of his hair, enjoying the spicy scent. “We’ll figure it out. I believe if anyone can, we will. Then, when we find the bastard, I’ll make sure he can’t hurt you guys ever again. I promise.”

  The soft kiss on my neck made me shiver. “Let’s go to bed,” Yaseke said softly. “I’m aching, and I need you.”

  I sat up, my heart pounding. Cold sweat trickled down my spine. Yaseke was beside me, still sleeping, a faint light from the wall highlighting the pale skin between the dark, swirling marks on his face. My hands trembled as I pushed the silky sheet back and stumbled out of bed.

  The door opened soundlessly, and I prowled through the suite and to the children’s room. Pira’s bed was empty, and my heart began to pound harder, thundering in my chest, until I saw her snuggled up next to Maerit in the small bed we’d put in the room for him. I sighed in relief.

  Tension from my nightmares had created knots in my shoulders, and my head was throbbing. I couldn’t go back to bed. Knowing we were safe, but needing the reassurance to calm down, I walked the perimeter of the suite, checking the doors and windows again. I ended up in the food preparation area where I dialed up a juice.

  The cold, tart fluid burst across my tongue. I gulped it down, suddenly thirsty. Gasping in a sharp breath when I’d drained it all, I lowered my glass to the table, setting it down gently.

  Why had I woken up? My nightmare was slightly hazy, but it had been about the first time Yaseke and I had been attacked, before we joined. Why had the guards been after us in the first place? How had they known we’d be there? We’d assumed Yaseke had been left alive while his family went missing or were killed because he was too close to the Toleral’s family to eliminate, but what if it wasn’t that at all?

  What if it was something else? What if it hadn’t been an attack on Yaseke because of who his family was, but because he’d gotten too close to something he shouldn’t have? That wouldn’t explain why the others had been killed, or sold, though. Had he let Vlrsessiums through the bio net before? Was there any chance of finding out what happened to the others?

  I ran my hands over my face and through my hair. All we had were questions and no answers. Where was the fucker hiding, and what was he planning?

  “Dade?”

  Yaseke stood in the doorway to our room. “What’s wrong?” He came over to me, putting a hand on my back. “You’re cold! Come back to bed.” He tugged on my arm and pulled me to my feet. “What were you doing up?”

  “I had a dream about the day we took that walk and you were stunned. This time, though, I didn’t get to the river in time.”

  Yaseke pushed me onto the bed and then crawled up beside me. He leaned against my chest, his hands on my face. “But you did.”

  I nuzzled his hand. “I know.” He was only inches from me, and I couldn’t resist those soft lips. I stretched up and kissed him, licking at them gently until they parted. Our tongues tangled, and his body went limp against mine.

  Sex with Yaseke blew my mind, but we’d had few moments where we could just love on each other since we got back. It was exactly what I needed to calm and clear my mind. We were panting when the kisses ended. Yaseke leaned against me, curled on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close.

  “I want to go back to that spot, where we were getting the medicines.” I was staring up at the ceiling, running just the tips of my fingers up and down his back to make him shiver. “I can’t help but wonder if there’s something we’re missing. We have to be, because nothing we’ve tried to find Buphet or figure out his plan has worked. I want to go back to the place where the first attack happened.”

  “Okay, but stop that!” Yaseke squirmed and pulled the sheet up over us, covering his back. “We can talk to Seral in the morning if you think it’s important.” He yawned. “Sleep first, though.”

  I knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep, but Yaseke was out in minutes, snoring gently against my chest, vibrating with a soft humming sound. Instead, I enjoyed the quiet and the feel of my tziu in my arms.

  Seral leaned forward. “You think there might be something in that clearing? That the Vlrsessiums were guards, not hunters?”

  “Maybe.” It sort of made sense.

  “What could you have possibly seen?” Seral looked at Yaseke, then at me. “Did anything stick out as unusual when you approached the clearin
g?”

  Yaseke shook his head. “Not that I can remember.”

  “The only thing I can think of is that we didn’t hear or see them coming. I was an advanced infantry soldier; I was trained specifically to recognize those sorts of attacks. Yet both times we were hunted, our attackers got the drop on us.” I scowled. I hated feeling like I’d lost my edge.

  “Let’s check it out!” Fieo shot to his feet. “I’ll call the guard. We’ll go in with a full squad.”

  “And me,” I said.

  Yaseke started to protest. “Dade, I don’t want—”

  “I have to.” I looked into his wide amber eyes and winced at the fear I saw in them. He was upset, but I wasn’t going to rest until I saw for myself whether or not my hunch panned out. “I’m sorry, I don’t like leaving you and the kids, but it has to be done. I need to be the one to do it.” Buphet knew the guards’ capabilities, but he didn’t know about my ability.

  I still hadn’t told anyone about the changes in my ability, either. I would use it, though. I’d use everything at my disposal to stop his atrocities.

  For the first time in a very long time, I found myself suited up, weapons at my sides. This time I was part of a squad looking to protect people instead of attacking them, though. It felt good. I fingered the suit Seral gave me. It was thin, shiny, black fabric and hugged my body. The best part? It blocked all skin contact.

  The small, quiet fleet of vehicles got us close to the clearing. After getting out, we tramped through the wet foliage, steam rising from the dark ground to swirl around our feet. The Caeorleians moved with an eerie silence, weapons drawn and ready, as we spread out and skirted the clearing. Other than the two on either side of me—Fieo and Miis—I couldn’t see or hear any of the others.

  I stumbled over an unseen twig and caught myself against a sampanga tree. Shit. Talk about shining a Look at me! beacon. Except… it didn’t glow. “Hsst.” I waved my hand, catching Fieo’s attention.