Dark Empress: The Onic Empire, Book 5

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “What’s to stop me?” Gabriyel continued to stroke. “I tried to engage you in conversation, but you refused, so…” Slipping his tongue to the edge of his upper lip in mock concentration, Gabriyel stroked and pointed his prick right at Lorren’s mouth.

  Lorren clenched his eyes tightly, and Gabriyel thought he was protecting himself from the forthcoming gushing tide, but instead, below his butt he felt Lorren’s chest heave. A single tear slid out the corner of one eye. Lorren turned his head away, trying to hide the fact that he was crying.

  A long time ago, when Gabriyel had been very young, a boy in his village held him down, tormenting him about his thin arms until he cried. After rubbing dirt in his face, the boy had let him up, but Gabriyel had never forgotten his humiliation at having to walk across the main part of the village to reach the stream. His tears had turned the dirt to mud and everyone he encountered could see his shame. While he washed the mess away, more tears had poured down his cheeks, and he vowed that someday, he would be bigger than Roland. When he was, he would rub his face in the dirt. Then he realized he’d be as bad as Roland was, so instead, he vowed to never, ever bully someone else, which was precisely what he was doing now.

  Earlier, he’d thought that Lorren’s handsome exterior was the perfect camouflage for the monster within, but now he realized what Errion said was true; within every man, there lurked a beast. Sometimes the beast hungered for the power of sex, but sometimes the beast hungered for the humiliation of another.

  Disappointed with himself, Gabriyel climbed off, ready for Lorren to swing, but he didn’t. Lorren rolled away, facing the wall, his body trembling slightly as he tried to hold back his tears.

  Gabriyel opened his mouth to apologize but didn’t. Lorren was probably mortified beyond belief. Anything Gabriyel said would only make the situation worse. Gabriyel felt like a complete failure. What kind of a man took advantage as he had? He knew Lorren didn’t have any fighting skills, and still he’d engaged him physically. Unable to say anything, Gabriyel settled on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on Lorren’s back.

  Lorren didn’t flinch away. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “My father used to denigrate me until I lashed out. Then he would put his massive hand on my head and hold me back with one strong arm.”

  Gabriyel had seen exactly what he described: a far bigger man picking on some boy half his size. What he’d just done to Lorren was similar, but a father tormenting his young son was worse. Not that any of that was an excuse for Gabriyel’s bad behavior.

  “I showed him though. I have more money than him, a bigger manor than him, and Farjika is far better than his wife.” Sucking in a huge gasp of air that lifted him from the bed, Lorren stopped on a cry of frustration. “How pathetic. All these turns and I’m still fighting my father.” He rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. “And before you even ask, I don’t want Farjika just to rub her in my father’s face.”

  Gabriyel shook his head as he moved his hand to his lap. “I didn’t think that. I know why you want her. You want her for the same reason I do.”

  Their eyes met. Lorren’s were red-rimmed and exhausted. He looked far older than he truly was. But they gave each other a measure of respect and reached a tentative understanding.

  “When I saw her enter that party, I couldn’t take my eyes from her.” Lorren held his gaze, determined to make him understand. “I’ve never seen a woman so proud and sure of herself. She was simply stunning.” He looked away, then back. “Imagine my delight when I discovered she was smart too.”

  They both chuckled. Beauty and brains were not always mutually exclusive states. Farjika was an intriguing combination of both.

  “I wanted her so much I think I would have given anything to spend even the briefest moment in her presence.” Lorren stopped speaking, clearly frustrated that he couldn’t put all his feelings into words.

  Understanding, Gabriyel offered up his own story. “In the palace, she was always there, but I did not see her fully, until after her Harvest.” Gabriyel looked to Lorren for confirmation that he understood what that was.

  “She offered up her virginity to the Harvester.” Lorren nodded as he sat up.

  Together they sat side by side on the edge of the bed. “Afterwards, the woman’s parents throw an elaborate party to celebrate. I was stationed at the archway of the great hall, and when Farjika walked in, I almost fell to my knees.”

  Lorren nodded, commiserating.

  “She just took all the air out of the room, and all the light seemed to fall on her. I literally could not see anyone else.” Gabriyel let the intense feelings of that moment wash over him. “She wasn’t gangly or awkward as so many young women are at that age. Farjika was smooth, sophisticated, regal…and there I stood, not fit to touch her shoe.”

  Clearly understanding, Lorren chuckled. “I thought the same thing when I saw her for the first time.”

  “But you’re not like I am.” Gabriyel considered Lorren for a moment. “On Diola, you’d be of her class and allowed to pursue her. I could not. Even though I am the captain of her guard, I am still a servant, and she will always be royalty.” His station to her was what complicated matters between them. Even now, he couldn’t really be with her until her father released him from his duties. Gabriyel sighed. “The day her father appointed me to watch over her was not a happy one for me. To always be so close to her, to have such intimacy with her, yet be beyond her was cruel torture.”

  “Intimacy?”

  Laughing harshly, Gabriyel met Lorren’s gaze. “Guards stay with her at all times unless we are dismissed. Farjika often forgot we stood guard in her rooms. There were times when she would change her dress repeatedly before a celebration. I had to stand there and watch without watching.”

  Lorren whistled. “She didn’t notice your…” His gaze drifted to Gabriyel’s still hard cock.

  “If she did, she gave no indication.” Several occasions flashed through his mind where his erection had lifted up the edge of his loincloth despite the metal marks of rank that should have held it down. Adjusting himself without attracting attention was difficult but not impossible. Usually he pretended to check his weapons as he eased the fabric down. “I do not say this to belittle her in anyway, but we are almost like furniture. You wouldn’t notice a chair unless you wished to sit.”

  Both their gazes drifted to the chair across the room.

  “Those we protect only see us when they need protection. Since Farjika felt entirely comfortable in her rooms, we blended into the surroundings.”

  “I’ll bet when you got back to your room you masturbated your dick off.”

  “I wanted to, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.” Tentatively, Gabriyel explained about tribute. “That is the only time we are allowed to find release by our own hand.”

  Lorren’s mouth dropped open. “Once a cycle?”

  Together they converted the time.

  “I can’t wrap my head around a release every tenth of a turn.” Lorren looked at him with something like awe. “And you’ve held to that?”

  “Mostly.” Gabriyel considered lying, but sharing secrets was a way to build friendship and trust. To keep their group together, he and Lorren had to find a way to make peace. “For the most part, yes, but there were other avenues available to me, eventually.” He explained that after advancing in rank he could afford yondies. “Paid women, but still, it wasn’t as if I could afford one every night.”

  “What about the other men? Didn’t any of your soldiers try to curry your favor?”

  Gabriyel winced. “I lied. I’ve never asked, none have offered, and I wouldn’t anyway. I’ve heard of it though, and said it only to goad you.”

  Lorren punched his arm playfully. “And here I was thinking you were getting satisfied left and right.”

  “More like being tempted constantly.” Gabriyel lowered his voice. “When Errion showed me what that maid could do, I though
t that when I rescued Farjika, I would take her with me.”

  “A pale substitute for Farjika.”

  “But she would be there every night. Gods, I probably would have destroyed the thing in a season.”

  “Wouldn’t that be considered ‘by your own hand’?”

  Gabriyel shrugged. “The magistrate would have to render a ruling on the subject, but it’s all a moot point now.”

  “Too bad we can’t get the maid in here.”

  Gabriyel glanced over and discovered Lorren was as hard as he was.

  “I have never felt like this in my life.” Elbows on his knees, Lorren peered between his legs at his prick. “Not even when Errion and I were younger and seemed to be constantly aroused by everything and everyone.”

  Agreeing, Gabriyel whispered, “There are ways to deal with our mutual dilemma.”

  Carefully considering, Lorren nodded. “I suppose there are. But unlike Errion, I don’t like to be the bottom.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Lorren met his gaze. “Then how do we—”

  Gabriyel kissed him hard, his hand wrapping around Lorren’s cock in a smooth, possessive motion. After a stunned breath, Lorren reacted. He kissed him back harder, his fist encompassing Gabriyel’s cock with a crushing grip. Moaning in mutual encouragement, they continued their aggressive encounter, each refusing to lie down for the other. Together they stood, which gave Gabriyel a slight advantage as he was taller, but mainly he wanted to stand so they would have better access. Domination mattered far less than mutual pleasure.

  Pressing their bodies tightly together, they were able to thrust against one another, their palms providing a smooth surface to skim their pricks against as precome lessened the friction.

  Breaking their intense kiss, Gabriyel lowered his head to Lorren’s shoulder, wrapping his arm around his back, placing his hand against his buttocks. Gripping his ass, Gabriyel forcefully rocked his hips, pressing him so firmly into him he was almost smashing his own hand in the process. Still, the aggression felt good, like a fighting fuck that only another strong man could give him. Hard muscle was unforgiving as their two powerful bodies clashed in a dance of violent passion.

  Lorren mimicked his pose. Together they worked their frantic forms against the other. They each tried to master one another, but in this, they were evenly matched. Through the haze of lust, Gabriyel was determined to hold on, to wait until Lorren couldn’t hold back anymore. Immediately, he recognized this as another form of competition, but still, delaying their release would increase the pleasure when it came.

  Grunts and growls echoed off the stone walls as they each neared release. Lorren’s sweaty body carried the faint scent of his cologne, but also Farjika’s essence, which was pleasing but also sparked a drive to replace her scent with his own. Gabriyel wanted to brand himself upon Lorren just as surely as Lorren wanted to do the same to him.

  “I loved watching you with her tonight,” Lorren said, his voice strained. “The way your butt clenched hard with each thrust into her snug cunny.” Lorren bit Gabriyel’s shoulder, causing him to roar back with a snarl. “I wanted to be behind her, my cock buried in her ass feeling your power rocking both of us off our feet.”

  Gabriyel thrust forward, tightening his buttocks below Lorren’s hand.

  “Imagine she’s here, between us, each of us filling her.” Lorren hissed the words through clenched teeth as he bit Gabriyel’s neck. “I can feel you through her, feel her satisfaction at possessing both of us, her cries growing as we fuck harder and harder.”

  Picturing what Lorren described increased the tension swirling inside. Body taut and straining, Gabriyel rubbed his chest against Lorren’s, their nipples dueling as they palmed each other’s pricks.

  “Feel her body sliding between us, slick with our sweat, and then her fragile little cunny convulses on your enormous cock, undulating along the shaft, compressing your prick so firmly you can’t thrust anymore.”

  Gabriyel could almost feel what Lorren described. All the energy that filled him from Farjika surged, seeking a union with the energy inside Lorren. Lowering his head, he kissed Lorren hard, his tongue plunging between his lips, and there the clouds of power collided.

  Time slowed as the energy flowed between them, mixing, then equalizing. Once their clashing energies reached a balance, time returned to a normal pace, but Gabriyel knew he was now as bonded to Lorren as he was to Farjika and Errion.

  Tearing his mouth away, Lorren peered into his eyes, his shock giving way to understanding. He lowered his head to Gabriyel’s shoulder and redoubled his efforts to give and find release. In their mutual bliss, they pushed each other higher, pressed harder and engaged in the most violent encounter either had ever experienced without penetration. From a distance, their writhing bodies would appear locked in mortal combat.

  “Someday I will have you on your back with your legs around my hips.” Gabriyel gripped Lorren’s butt and cock possessively.

  Nipping his lips, Lorren snarled, “I’ll have you on your knees, my cock so far up your ass you’ll be able to taste it at the back of your throat.”

  Flinging vulgar scenarios at each other built their lust to a pulse pounding edge of madness.

  When Gabriyel came, he crushed Lorren to him so tightly neither of them could breathe. Lorren gushed against his palm, their combined release hot and sticky between their heaving bodies. Clinging to one another, they struggled to stay standing as they caught their breaths.

  “I guess I was wrong.”

  A familiar voice broke the peaceful moment. Both Gabriyel and Lorren whipped their heads around to stare at Lorren’s father. Lorren stiffened in his arms, his shock visceral as his fingertips dug into Gabriyel’s back, seeking support.

  “I thought for certain it would be my son with the girl, but this isn’t much of a surprise either.”

  Behind Lorren’s rotund father, a row of palace guards stood, their emotionless eyes seeing without judgment. Their leader was doing plenty of that for them. As if yanked from his past to mock all that he’d tried so desperately to become, the bully who had tormented him about his skinny arms, shoved dirt in his face and berated him throughout his childhood now commanded a unit of men whose purpose here was clear: they had come to clean up the mess that Gabriyel had made.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Lorren wanted to sink into the stone like water, his form dissipating into nothingness. Anything, even death, would be better than the mocking assessment of his father. Despite the years, his growth and all his accomplishments, he still felt his father’s cold hand pressing against his forehead, his laughter ringing in his ears as tears streamed down his face.

  His mind took him back to that last day in his father’s house, when he’d caught him and Errion in the study. His moue of disgust then was the same as now. Rather than curling his lip as so many did, Lorren’s father smeared his lips sideways. To Lorren it appeared as if his mouth tried to run from his face. Errion, ever ready with a vicious quip, had declared that if he were attached to a face that ugly, he’d try to get away too. The memory made Lorren smile and helped him resist the urge to leap away from Gabriyel. It was his shock of being caught, not his shame at his behavior, that compelled the action, but Lorren deliberately stood his ground. Holding on to Gabriyel, feeling his incredible strength, gave Lorren the fortitude he needed to confront his father.

  “So desperate to see me you are willing to trespass in my home?” Lorren kissed Gabriyel firmly, which, to his surprise and delight, Gabriyel returned with equal passion. After their acknowledging kiss, Lorren sauntered over to the bars. “If you wanted something, you had but to contact me.”

  Confusion righted his mouth upon his face, but nothing would ever remove the utter loathing in his father’s eyes. “I wanted a normal son, and instead your mother dumped you on me.”

  The insult hit Lorren with all the power of a swift kick to the gut. If not for Gabriyel’s somewhat odd teaching methods, he might have
reacted, but schooled, he did the opposite of what he felt. Lorren laughed. “I’m sure with her fancy new vagina Shyla can drop some crotchfruit that will live up to your exacting standards.”

  Wincing at the vulgarity, his father stood there nonplused.

  As if he’d just now realized they were not alone, Lorren nodded to the guards behind him. “Who are your friends?” He recognized that their uniforms were similar to what Gabriyel had worn, but he didn’t think they were the same men Gabriyel had commanded.

  “They are here to escort you to Diola.”

  A strong feeling of dread skittered along Lorren’s spine. When his gaze spied Gabriyel, he realized it was Gabriyel’s feeling of impending doom that had sparked the reaction in his mind. When he opened up his awareness, he felt Farjika and Errion’s thoughts too. All of them were in various degrees of despair.

  “I just helped them find their missing lady. I had a feeling you and the pervert you’ve chosen to live with had abducted her.” Without even a last look, Lorren’s father waddled his way up the stairs and out of his life, hopefully forever.

  It didn’t surprise Lorren in the least that his father was responsible for calling the authorities on him. Repeatedly, he’d tried to get him arrested for various crimes, none of which stuck. However, this involved the laws of another planet. Lorren didn’t think his barrister could make this go away with a neat and tidy bundle of papers.

  The captain of the guard stepped forward. At least Lorren thought he was the captain. His uniform was exactly like Gabriyel’s right down to the row of metal plates sewn into the edge of his brown loincloth. Judging by the lack of them on the other guards, they must symbolize rank. He gave a short speech in Diolan, his gaze weighing equally on Lorren and Gabriyel. He left three of his men at the cell bars and took the rest up the stairs.