by Dr. D
The bone craft got lower and lower to the ground and slid across the land, following the dragon.
The fire dragon left a long trail of fire on the farmland as it crashed down toward the earth. Dezi saw its massive wings twitch in the midst of dust and flames through the window, but it couldn’t get back up into the air.
“Acheron. Finish it.” Tatiana gave the prince a pointed look, but got no response.
Eventually, the flying bone craft that Lord Ronan was in changed direction and came near them to finish the dragon off.
The Lavabreaker hovered around the dragon and landed after the disturbance had settled down. Tatiana let out a sigh, got up and walked out without a word.
Dezi waffled for a second, and then slowly followed with Acheron behind him.
The smell of smoke hit him in the face as he stepped out. There were chaotic noises coming from the villagers in the distance, and a river of orange fire on the ground lead Dezi’s eyes to the red dragon lying not far from him.
Dezi looked up and saw the other dragon was still in the air and trying to escape the attacks from the three bone crafts that were following it.
The princess was talking to a few other noblemen on Ronan’s bone craft, and Dezi decided to stay behind.
Suddenly, dog barks stood out from the noise, and Dezi turned to find a retriever dog running toward them.
“Hey, hey … come here.” Dezi walked forward, extended his arm, and stopped the dog from running into the other nobles. The dog came to a halt in front of him and studied him with hesitation. Dezi kneed down and grabbed its collar. He could just imagine it getting killed easily if it went too close to the dragon or barked at any of the nobles.
A horse came up shortly after the dog, and a man jumped off with a child.
The young girl ran toward the dog, but stopped when she got close. She looked timidly at Acheron, who stood behind Dezi.
“My lord, please help us,” the girl said to Dezi in a light voice.
The father walked up and pulled the girl back. “Forgive us.”
Dezi saw how the man glanced at his neck and hair, then his expression writhed with disgust behind his eyes.
Tatiana turned around and noticed the farmer. “I am Princess Tatiana. Feel free to speak your mind.”
“Your highness!” The father kneeled down at the princess’s presence and explained their situation. The fire that was caused by the dragon had reached their farmland and was approaching the housing of the farmers.
“Will you help us, please?” The girl asked again.
“Of course.” The princess smiled sweetly and raised her hand. Rain started to fall from the sky at her command, cooling the smoky air and calming the burning soil.
Tatiana stood like an elegant goddess over the farmer’s gratitude.
Even Dezi had to admit that she would be a perfect queen.
He lowered his head and touched his collar. He suddenly realized why he was so concerned for the dog. It was because that he was the same position as that animal, whose right to survival was dependent on the mercy of others.
Dezi let go the dog’s collar and murmured, “How do you tolerate living like this?”
The dog sniffed him and stayed to let Dezi stroked its head.
“I see. You are quick to trust.” Dezi gave out a bitter smile and stood up. “You believe in the good of people … and you say you don’t have a choice.”
Dezi’s eyes went vacant and his expression was painful. Rain fell on his lashes, rolled down, and shattered on the ground. “But do you really?” Dezi clenched his fists. “Or do you just afraid to change?”
Acheron scanned Dezi’s profile and reached out to touch his hand.
“Your highness.” Ronan walked up to Acheron with a sword in his hand. He pointed at the dragon on the ground and presented the sword to Acheron with both of his hands.
Dezi looked at the dragon. Its head was bowed down to the ground, waiting for a sword to slice open its skull. But the heat from its red scales was still contorting the air above its body and burning the ground beneath it into black ashes.
Dezi wondered how much the heat from those scales would burn his flesh. It would sure to leave a hideous and permanent scar, right? That was a price that he could gladly pay to get him tossed out of this downward spiral.
“Your Highness? The fire dragon stone would be a symbol of your bravery.” Ronan acted surprised at Acheron’s silence and insisted on getting a response.
Dezi saw the prince was actually looking at Ronan. His heart started to beat faster and he walked toward the dragon.
“Actually, your highness could have killed the dragon with another strike earlier. I fail to understand your restraint.” Ronan’s voice traveled to Dezi’s ears, but it barely registered in his head.
The dragon and its wall of steel-like scales were right in front of his eyes.
Dezi clenched his fist and screwed shut his eyes. The strength in his limbs was evaporating quickly with his courage, but Dezi forced himself to take a big step forward.
He let go the control of his legs and fell toward the dragon with his face. As he could almost feel the pain that would come into contact with his skin, he was no longer afraid. Somehow, he knew the physical pain would overshadow the tension in his nerves and even bring a strange sense of relief.
“Dezi!”
He was yanked back hard and fell onto the ground with the prince beside him. Acheron grabbed his jaw and forced him to face him.
Dezi brows knitted up for a second, but it soon vanished without a trace. He said weakly with his gaze looking down, “My apologies. Your highness. I was dizzy.”
The prince opened his mouth but swallowed back his words. He backed away slightly and slowly retrieved his hands.
Chapter 37
It was a royal engagement party.
Tatiana was surrounding by guests that wanted to congratulate her. She smiled and spoke with ease, like a fox resting in a rabbit nest. But her mind was almost bored, and she listened in on the distant chatter in the room. Over the instrumental music, many pieces of conversations all mixed in together.
“Is that Prince Acheron, the one that can single-handedly defeat a dragon?” a young lady whispered in the crowd.
“Things have been improving significantly since prince Acheron is here,” an older gentleman’s voice commented from another direction.
“Maybe the prince will dance with you if you go ask him.”
“The numbers of attacks were truly unprecedented, and it had me concerned.”
“Silly, it doesn’t matter that he was engaged to the princess.”
“Indeed. The kingdom was fortunate to have a merciful queen and an extraordinarily talented prince.”
“It is not like it was about love, you know, marriage.”
“I wonder who that is? He seems to accompany the prince everywhere.”
“It is getting fashionable to have a male lover, but who would bring their toys to a party like this?”
“The princess is so generous to allow this.”
Tatiana glanced at the direction of two ladies who caught her attention.
“He isn’t even that handsome,” one of them continued to say.
“But I bet he is very good at something.” The other lady chuckled and whispered some hot piece of gossip about male prostitutes to her friend’s ears.
“Oh. Filthy.” Her friend raised her voice.
Tatiana took back her gaze and eyed Acheron. She had made great progress in building a reputation for this forgotten prince, and she was not surprised that Acheron would be the center of the attention for this engagement. But it was clear that the chatters in the background were mere noises to Acheron.
The prince was standing by the wall with his lean figure wrapped in a fine waistcoat and long black pants. There was a cold aura around him that separated him from the people dancing in the middle of the ballroom.
Tatiana then looked at Dezi. The young man stood by th
e window and had been staring at the birds outside for hours.
“You are excused, Dezi,” the princess said with a sigh. “Go back with Acheron.”
Dezi slowly turned his face away from the window and registered what the princess said. He bowed deeply with a slacked expression and headed to the exit. Acheron followed closely behind him.
They traveled together through the long hallway. Outside the window, the sun had set, turning everything into shadows under the darkened sky.
Acheron watched as the warm glow of Dezi’s blonde hair grew dimmer and dimmer with the light. Acheron felt his chest tighten. He reached out his hand, but then lowered it as if he was afraid that last bit of warmth would vanish with his touch.
It didn’t take long until they arrived at their bedroom, Dezi took off his coat, laid down and curved up in bed. The shirt clung to his skin and showed his slender waist. Dezi had been losing weight again, and he barely ate anything at all tonight.
Acheron bit his lips and stood at the bedside. Dezi really didn’t like him, Acheron told himself. He needed to let Dezi go.
His selfishness had brought Dezi pain, and he didn’t even realize it in the beginning.
Acheron shut his eyes and reached into his pocket. He held onto the earth stone that could unlock Dezi’s metal collar, but his hand trembled from just the idea of losing him.
He opened his eyes to gaze on Dezi and desperately breathe in more air, hoping to find the courage. But the air was filled with a sweet tingling magic with Dezi’s presence. It made his head dull and limbs weak. Every inch of his skin craved for more contact.
Hesitantly, Acheron let go of the stone and crawled onto the bed next to Dezi.
Dezi turned his head slightly away but didn’t move.
Part of Acheron loathed himself, but he still buried his face in the hollow of Dezi’s neck and inhaled his sweet poison.
“Dezi ...” Acheron called out his favorite name and brought Dezi closer to his chest. He rubbed his nose and cheek on Dezi’s neck until he touched the gold collar. The bandage on Dezi’s neck had been taken off, but there was still a circle of a light mark under the collar. It almost touched the curse of Noxis that was tracing down into the shirt.
Acheron stared at it and clenched his jaw into a tight line. His hand crept up from the wonderful warmth of Dezi’s body to the stiff metal collar. The clenching fingers spasmed until they were numb, he but couldn’t move onto the next step.
Dezi glanced at the prince and mistook his intentions. He slid his pants down from his hips and kicked them off his long legs. His hands then reached for the prince’s pants, but changed direction halfway to take off his coat first.
Dezi raised his eyes when he realized that Acheron didn’t move. “You don’t want to do it tonight?”
Acheron’s chest raised as he took in a shaking breath.
Dezi’s brows raised, then slowly furrowed as he didn’t get a response from Acheron.
“Fine!” Dezi cast his gaze down, bit his lips, and pushed the prince away. “Why are you here anyway? Go back to the princess.”
“No.” Acheron almost reflectively pulled Dezi back to his chest. Every time Dezi told him to go away, he felt like something had stabbed into his heart. He didn’t understand why Dezi wanted to send him to that woman.
Dezi felt into silent and suddenly pulled Acheron into a kiss. It turned the prince’s mind blank and rendered him defenseless in front of his desire.
Dezi unbuttoned the prince’s pants and reached to stroke Acheron’s hard-on.
Acheron hadn’t drunk a drop of alcohol tonight, but he felt as intoxicated as if all the blood in his veins turned into red wine. He let his coat dropped to the floor and ransacked Dezi’s mouth down to his throat.
The prince held Dezi tight and ran his hands over Dezi’s body until Dezi pushed him away for air.
Dezi breathed heavily and guided Acheron’s head off his mouth and down to his crotch.
Acheron took the half-erect shaft in his mouth and saw Dezi spread his legs.
The sphincter between Dezi’s butt cheeks shamelessly contracted under Acheron’s gaze.
Acheron swallowed and licked downward. He wetted the entrance with his tongue and squeezed in a finger. It was hot and moist inside, and Dezi’s dick throbbed as he tapped his prostate.
Acheron inserted another finger and separated and closed them like scissors with the sensitive bump in the middle.
Dezi arched his back and moaned. A drop of precum gathered at the tip of his penis. Acheron bent down to lick it and kept bullying the prostate with his hand.
“Um, not both at once …” Dezi said as he gasped for air, but he raised his hips toward Acheron's lips. The prince took the swollen tip into his mouth and flickered his tongue around it.
Dezi moaned in a slightly higher pitch, and Acheron could feel Dezi’s flesh got tighter and warmer around his fingers. Acheron slipped another finger into the slick passage and stroked Dezi’s shaft with his other hand.
“Ah … Ah …” Dezi threw his head back and shook his head with trembling lashes. “Stop, I am gonna cum …”
Acheron sucked on the tip until Dezi’s anal passage clenched up around his fingers, and semen ejaculated into his mouth.
Dezi melted down into the bed and panted with his eyes closed. Acheron licked his lips and reached forward to kiss his neck. Dezi tilted his head away and eyed Acheron’s swollen shaft that glistened with precum.
Dezi reached for the hot rod and squeezed it lightly in his hand. He lay his head back and raised his hips. “Why didn’t you put it in?”
Acheron glanced at Dezi’s blank expression and swallowed. He knew that he shouldn’t. Dezi changed like a switch had been flipped every time he was penetrated. Every ounce of his pleasure was laid out on his face until it became a mask that could hide his true feeling.
But Acheron also knew that he couldn’t resist the invitation.
“Dezi …” Acheron drew in a breath but Dezi licked his lips and kissed him. He stroked the back of Acheron’s head and his tongue sought after his.
Acheron shook. Dezi’s tongue tasted so sweet, it sent vibrations down to the marrow of his bones. The hypnotizing sweetness took over his mind, shut down his senses and turned all of his affection into ravenous hunger.
When Dezi finally pushed him away, Acheron felt numb from the core of his brain to the tip of his toes; the only vivid sensation was how his aching erection stretched his skin tight and scorched it with heat.
“Ah!” Dezi grimaced a bit when Acheron entered him. But he soon let out a satisfied sigh and raised one of his legs up to the prince’s shoulder. Acheron grabbed his butt, pulled it toward him, and plunged back into him.
“Um …” Dezi started to whimper as Acheron thrust deeper and faster into him. “Ah, yes.” Dezi cocked his head up and then fell back onto the sheets while murmuring and bucking his hips toward Acheron. “Feels so good ...”
Acheron could feel the already hot passage tightening around his shaft. Dezi’s brows were slightly knitted, redness came down from his neck to his chest, blooming the light scars on his body. His stomach was wettened with his own precum.
Acheron touched the slippery thing. The shaft twitched in response and soon started to swell again.
Dezi’s intense and erratic breathing soon turned into actual moans, and he thrust his butt upward, nonverbally begging Acheron to do him harder.
“Ah, don’t stop.” Dezi clenched his hands into fists and helplessly grabbed onto the sheets. His eyes were screwed shut, his muscles tensed up, and he sounded like he was about to cry. “Ahh … I want to cum.”
Acheron supported Dezi’s trembling legs and spread them wide open beneath him. He bored into him hard and bit onto his neck.
Dezi hunched over and let out long, trailing moans that couldn’t end before the next one started. Tears wetted his lashes and sweat covered his light skin.
Dezi whole body shuddered several times as the climax swept over
him.
Acheron felt the convulsions on his erection and buried himself deep inside Dezi as he ejaculated. For a second, his world was pure warmth and brightness. That bliss took his mind out of his body and drifted far and wide.
But when his senses returned, he saw Dezi’s vacant eyes staring up into nothing. The blush on his cheeks started to fade, but the redness around his eyes remained. Beneath the mask of lewdness that Dezi put on, it was still the sorrow of truth.
It was all his fault, Acheron thought to himself. He had caused Dezi this pain and misery, and still couldn’t bring himself to stop.
Dezi felt the stare and eyed Acheron. He forced out a smile and nudged the prince to get off him.
Acheron left the warmth of Dezi’s body and crumpled into the darkness of the night with shame.
Dezi pulled his legs close to his chest and placed a new towel under him. He inserted a finger into the soft entrance. Semen wetted his thighs and was wiped away by the towel.
Acheron stayed and watched until the itching and pricking pain returned to his chest, and he just wanted to touch Dezi again. Acheron glanced down and noticed that he had got another erection. He shifted uncomfortably to hide it and bit into the inside of his cheeks
He was a monster, just like they said.
A terrible, rapacious monster.
Chapter 38
“I hate you!” Young Dezi trembled on the floor and wiped his tears off his face. “I will never forgive you.”
On the bed lay his mother’s pale and stiff body, barely reaching her thirty. Her bare legs were parting far and wide like she had been torn in half. Blood was still oozing out the apex of her thighs, draining her face to be as white as the cracking wall of this small room. Her abnormally large abdomen held still and lifeless, like her eyes.
Dezi cried as his mother lay dead from childbirth, forever abandoning Dezi in this ugly word by himself.
Dezi was left alone in such overwhelming agony of loss, he had to resort to hatred to ease his pain. But the cause of a poor prostitute’s tragedy was brewing even before her birth, and at that moment, Dezi couldn’t find anything to blame other than his mother’s own decisions to stay in the whorehouse.