Requiem closed his eyes slightly at Damion’s touch, blinking blearily as he was suddenly standing in just his boxers. “I have to come up with a way to add another energy output on the Ares. There is not enough room to do so at this time where it would be sufficient.”
“It’s because you keep trying new shit.” Damion pulled him in for a kiss just because he wanted to feel his lover’s warmth against him and to make sure Requiem was truly all right.
Not completely balanced yet, Requiem stumbled into him, catching himself with his hands on Damion’s chest as their lips met. “I need to test my boundaries.”
“One day you’ll end up dead, then where will I be?” Damion let out a soft sigh, leaning his forehead against Requiem’s. “Then I probably will end up dead as well.”
“Not dead. You’ll be free,” Requiem replied quietly, stepping away from Damion and sitting down at the table, pulling his bowl toward him.
“I think you overestimate my intelligence.” Damion sat across from him and started on his food.
“I do not understand your statement,” Requiem replied, his spoon pausing in its scooping of food.
“If you died, I don’t think I’d be long for this world, so to speak.” Damion shrugged, tore off a piece of his protein bar, and held it out to Requiem.
Requiem’s icy blue gaze watched Damion as he slowly took the sticky piece from his fingers. “Please explain,” he requested, nibbling on the sweet food.
“If you died, I’d probably find the person who did it and kill them.” Damion wondered where his meaning was being lost.
“Why?” Requiem finished off the last of the bar, licking the stickiness off his fingers slowly. “Why would you not just leave? What if I were terminated through no fault of anyone but myself? There are too many variables for that answer to be acceptable.”
“That is the computer part of you talking,” Damion pointed out. “Not the human part.”
Taking a bite of his supplement, Requiem shook his head. “Describe my inquiries whichever way you wish. They are legitimate questions. Why would you go after whoever terminated me if that was the reason for my death? Why would you not leave and go where it is safe?”
“Because I’d be pissed.” Damion growled in frustration, trying to figure out how to make Requiem understand, but knowing it was unlikely that he would get the concept. “There isn’t any logic to it, just impulse.”
Requiem chewed for a few minutes, eating the rest of his meal and processing what Damion had said. “I do not understand, nor do I think I ever will. I apologize for that. I wish I could.” He finally stood and disposed of his dishes.
“It’s fine. It’s part of you being on the supplement.” Damion sighed again, running his fingers through his hair. “If I died, you’d just go to another Fighter.”
Pausing for a moment, Requiem walked over and sat on the bed. “I do not believe so. Not of my own volition. The logical conclusion is that they would wipe me, and then there would be no more me.”
“You’re extraordinary, and they’d keep you around long enough to figure out what makes you tick.” Damion got up and brought the water with him as he walked to the bed and sat down next to Requiem.
“That does not involve keeping me as me. What you call my personality would not be needed as far as they believe.” Requiem shifted farther back on the bed, leaning against the wall, horizontal across the mattress.
Damion took a sip of water and then offered it Requiem. “That scares you?”
Taking a sip, Requiem tilted his head as he thought about it. “I suppose that is what you might call it. I do not know. I am not… afraid of death, but I am wary of being trapped within my own mind.” A tremor ran through him almost imperceptibly. “I did not like it before, when they took away my ability to remember and feel, and it will be worse if they wipe me completely.”
“We’ll try our best to die in a blaze of glory, then, instead of letting them choose our fates.” Damion felt like he needed a drink of something stronger than water.
“I would prefer not to be terminated at all. I have too many experiments to run, and death would be an inconvenience.”
Requiem was completely serious as he leaned against Damion. Damion laughed, shaking his head at him. “What a goal to have in life!”
“What other goal is there? I have my duties to the Chrysalis Corporation, my experiments, and now you. My experiments I hold for myself, although my Creators require that I report to them any of my findings.”
“I just wanted to not die of a breathing disease from mining.” Damion grinned and pulled Requiem close against his side. “Now I’m thinking about dying trying to sneak you out.”
Requiem eased into Damion’s warmth, wrapping his arms awkwardly around his waist. “Sneak me out? No, do not tell me. They are going to try their best to extract as much information out of me in six days’ time.” He buried his face in Damion’s neck.
“I can’t think of anything else other than stealing the Ares and hoping they don’t shoot us down too quick.” Damion squeezed him tightly.
Getting his arms free, Requiem moved away a little, clapping his hands over his ears. “No more, Damion!” he insisted. For the first time his voice rose slightly above soft monotone. “Do not tell me. I have already explained their ways of getting information out of me, and I do not want to be the cause of your strife any more than I already am.”
“I don’t care!” Damion tugged him close again, looking him in the eyes. “You’re mine. I have to trust that you’ll fight them. If you don’t fight them, then it won’t matter. I’m dead either way.”
With his arms pinned away from his ears now, Requiem clenched his hands into fists. He flicked his gaze over Damion’s face, confusion rampant in his expression. “I do not know why you care so much. Why do you not just let me go? Let them have me and leave? If you do not go back to Mars, then go somewhere else.” He shifted and ended up in Damion’s lap.
“Because I can’t, I just can’t.” Damion gave him a rueful smile. “I’m stupid, I suppose, or crazy. All I know is that I can’t leave you. It makes no damn sense.”
“You are right. It is completely illogical.” Requiem blinked, and Damion felt the tension leaving him as Requiem eased against him. “Excuse me for this, but I am… glad. Relieved, I suppose you would call it. I… do not want to… I do not want to be separated from you.”
It was obvious that this confession confused Requiem as he directed his gaze away.
“Good.” Damion turned Requiem’s chin toward him and kissed him warmly once again.
He tightened his arms around Requiem, never wanting to let him go.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Requiem
REQUIEM DIDN’T know why, but every time Damion kissed him abruptly, it caught him off guard. It had happened so often now that he should’ve expected it at any point, but he hadn’t, and so he inhaled sharply through his nose before relaxing even more in Damion’s lap. He kissed his… lover back slowly, still getting used to the feeling of having someone this close to him, of having someone want him in a nonmalicious way. And he was also getting used to… caring about someone. He hypothesized it was caring. He didn’t have any other explanation for his thoughts or the warm feelings in his chest.
Damion pushed his fingers through Requiem’s hair again, pulling away to look at him. “I want you. Are you okay enough for this?’
“Want me?” Requiem blinked, his head tilting to the side. “In what capacity?” He still wasn’t used to Damion’s terminology or slang.
“To have sex, you innocent idiot.” Damion looked amused by Requiem’s confusion.
“I am not an idiot. It is not my fault when you use terminology that I am not familiar with,” Requiem countered. “And I am acceptable. I no longer feel as if I need to rest immediately.”
“What about your backside?” Damion ran a finger lightly over a bruise on Requiem’s neck.
There was slight pain from Damion’
s fingertips on his skin, but it only helped to remind Requiem how he received it and an involuntary shiver followed the movement. “It is also acceptable.”
“Then let me get the lube while you take off your shorts.” Damion smiled, pressing another quick kiss to his lips.
“As you wish.” Requiem slid off Damion’s lap and stood up. He removed his boxers, placing them on the chair, and then stood there, waiting.
“Why are you just standing there?” Damion removed his own clothing and grabbed the tube from the nightstand.
“I do not know where you would like me.”
“On the bed, of course.” Damion shook his head. “You are far too innocent.”
Requiem decided that Damion’s words didn’t need an answer and sat down on the bed, moving to the center of it.
“You like having sex with me, right?” Damion asked as he watched him move over the bed.
“Affirmative. I find it pleasurable and… warm.” Requiem looked up at Damion, approval in his eyes. “Why do you ask?”
Damion sighed, crawling toward him. “I just wanted to make sure you liked it because I have a feeling you would let me do it even if you didn’t.”
Thinking about it for a moment, Requiem reached out to run his chilled fingertips against Damion’s cheek. “Affirmative. I would if it would make you happy. But I would also be truthful about it since I cannot lie to you. I find the experiences involved in having intercourse with you most agreeable. I apologize if you did not get that impression.”
“I figured the way your eyes rolled back into your head might be a sign of pleasure.” Damion leaned down for a kiss, and his lips curled in a slight smile.
“Then why did you ask?” Requiem inquired in a mumble before being silenced by the welcome lips. He left his hand on Damion’s cheek, curling his scarred fingers against the warm skin as his eyes slid closed.
“I like to make sure.”
Damion went back to kissing Requiem breathless while stroking his naked body, his tongue exploring every crevice of Requiem’s mouth.
Requiem inhaled sharply through his nose, abandoning Damion’s skin to thread his hand through the black hair on the back of his neck. “I think you are merely reaffirming for your own satisfaction.”
Damion ignored Requiem’s answer and focused instead on a patch of his neck. “I want to cover every centimeter of your pale skin with love bites to show everyone that you’re mine.”
Gasping, Requiem tilted his head to the side to give Damion more room to work. His fingers tightened in the hair he was already gripping as a sharp pain beelined for his groin, causing him to squirm involuntarily under him.
Damion licked Requiem’s neck. “You get so hard from a little bit of pain.”
“I do not understand it. I generally do not appreciate pain, although I can push it aside. I have never received pleasure from it before.” Requiem focused on the ceiling as he concentrated on the hot, wet warmth of Damion’s tongue soothing the sting in his neck.
“Because this is me and this feels good to you.” Damion lightly bit Requiem’s clavicle while his hand moved between them to take hold of the half-hard member between Requiem’s legs. “See.”
Requiem jumped slightly at the bolt of pleasure that sparked through his system as Damion wrapped around him. “I see the results. I just do not understand how they come about,” he stated, a bit breathless. It was then that he noticed something. Thinking back to the times before when they had sex, there was an increase. “Each time we have sex it feels different. Stronger. More…. My body reacts more, feels more.” He sounded perplexed by this admission as he skimmed his hands down Damion’s neck and shoulders.
“I like that.” Damion grinned. “Now spread your legs apart so I can prepare you.”
“But I do not understand it,” Requiem said again as he did as Damion asked.
Damion spread the thick, slick substance over his fingers. “You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do. Everything needs an explanation.” Requiem watched Damion’s face as he gripped the man’s upper arms.
Damion chuckled. “Just live with the knowledge that sometimes there is not a damn good explanation.” He slipped one greased finger past Requiem’s tight entrance and into the heat of his channel.
“But that is not knowledge. That is the absence of—” Requiem gasped before he could finish the sentence. The slight burn of the finger entering him trailed up his spine.
“That is acceptance,” Damion whispered, kissing Requiem and quickly adding a second finger.
Requiem’s low, soft moan was muffled by Damion’s lips and tongue. Requiem’s blunt nails dug into Damion’s muscular arms as his legs twitched and he squirmed. In these moments, his body took control, knowing what it wanted even if his mind hadn’t completely caught up.
Damion worked on stretching Requiem’s muscles while they kissed slowly, his tongue simulating what his cock would soon be doing.
Requiem skimmed his fingers over Damion’s skin, along his shoulders, down his arms, and eventually running featherlight over his ribcage and sides. He continued to move his hips, pushing Damion’s fingers deeper into him even as his tongue ran along Damion’s and his teeth nibbled experimentally along Damion’s lower lip. He felt hot, his skin sensitive and needy.
Damion slipped in a third finger, this time pushing deeper and rubbing the inner walls of Requiem’s channel.
Letting out a small, surprised cry against Damion’s lips, Requiem shuddered underneath him. He had to pull away, suddenly unable to breathe. Requiem wasn’t one to beg—he never had, in fact, as a matter of personal pride. But that self-promise shattered as his need flared and he writhed wantonly. “Please,” he whimpered.
“Please take the fingers away or please do that again?”
Requiem managed to pry his eyes open to focus on Damion’s face. He shook his head, not understanding what he wanted, just knowing that he wanted, needed more. His lips felt raw and swollen, his skin hypersensitive, his body throbbing, and his cock almost painfully hard. All he knew was that he wanted Damion to make it better, to deal with the pulsing of his blood and the fire under his skin. And he didn’t know how to tell him that.
Damion pulled his fingers out of Requiem and spread the lube over his own throbbing shaft. “Raise your knees more,” he ordered, his voice deep as it often became during sex.
Requiem bent his knees with his feet flat on the bed. He watched Damion with hooded eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly with silent puffs of air. In that moment, seeing Damion’s tan skin flushed with heat, his dark eyes glittering, Requiem realized that he considered his Fighter to be what was commonly known as handsome. Visually appealing. He had noticed it before but never really acknowledged it. He always knew that Damion was attractive on the inside, his intellectual mind and fiery spirit, but never paid much attention to the wrappings. Now noticing, this pleased him.
“What’s that grin for?” Damion asked as he began to push his way inside Requiem.
“I did not know that I was, as you say, grinning—” The end of the sentence trailed off in a strangled cry. With the scrambling fingers of one hand, he clutched at Damion’s hip, while he covered his mouth with the other as his body bowed.
It hurt, despite being prepared. The pain of being stretched in such a way burned its way up his spine, but at the same time it was wonderful. Pleasant, because he knew it would get better. It would feel amazing soon.
Requiem moved his hand so that his lips could meet Damion’s. Damion braced himself on his forearms and leaned down to kiss Requiem again before he began moving slowly. Requiem moved to grip both sides of Damion’s hips, grasping tightly as their tongues slid along each other’s hungrily. It soon turned good, amazing even, but didn’t quite reach where Requiem needed it. Shifting, he moved his hands up to Damion’s waist and wrapped his legs around Damion’s hips. His heels dug into Damion’s ass, urging him on.
Their bodies were honest, remembering how they liked i
t and where. Damion’s left hand curled into Requiem’s hair while he pulled his hips back halfway and then surged forward with enough force to please both of them.
Requiem let out a soft cry, his head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut, panting mouth open. With each thrust, Damion managed to run the head of his cock over that sweet spot inside him that made him catch his breath in ecstasy. His body clenched around Damion as Requiem tensed from the sparks shooting through his veins.
Damion found another spot of skin to mark with his lips and teeth while his hips continued to thrust into Requiem’s willing body. Requiem’s muscles squeezed him tightly every time he pushed inside. There was no hesitation to Requiem’s movements or moans. Damion found the bruised, tender flesh behind Requiem’s ear, right next to a port, and worked it with his mouth and teeth.
Biting down on his bottom lip to stifle another cry, Requiem quivered at the feeling of Damion’s hot mouth and sharp teeth on his skin. He skimmed his hands over Damion’s back until they reached his shoulders, and then he hooked his fingers over them, gripping tightly. He buried his face in Damion’s neck while still giving him access to his flesh.
Damion focused completely on the act. The sound of flesh against flesh echoed throughout the room, and sweat mixed with the precome from Requiem’s cock trapped between them.
With Damion thrusting into him hard and fast, along with Damion’s muscled abdomen rubbing against his need, Requiem was quickly approaching completion. The pool of heat in his groin built to near volcanic levels and little cries were muffled by his teeth and Damion’s neck.
Damion let out a loud cry as his orgasm tore through him, his hips moving as he pushed his seed into Requiem’s open body. “Yes!”
Requiem followed him into oblivion, muffling his own low cry by biting Damion’s shoulder. He dug his fingers harshly into Damion’s shoulders as his mind exploded into whiteness. He trembled and twitched, his muscles tightening around Damion, milking him as he came violently all over their chests and stomachs.
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