Captivated (The Verge Book 2)

by A. C. Thomas

  “I’d kind of like to be a rapscallion, actually.” The soft sound of Marco’s voice made Theo smile as he gestured to Theo with his contraption, which appeared to have nearly doubled in size with clear tubes now protruding in all directions.

  For once, Boom’s disgusted sigh was tinged with warmth as she slanted a glance at her brother. “You would. Probably because it sounds like some kind of food.”

  Theo swung his legs, drumming his heels against the metal panels of Jun’s console and beaming at the crew. “I’ve fallen in with a band of ne’er-do-wells. How utterly thrilling! I demand that you teach me your scofflaw ways.”

  The balled-up bit of candy wrapper that Axel threw at him got stuck in his hair, leaving Theo to tease it out. Axel laughed at that, while Jun’s jaw just continued to tighten. “Sure thing, Doc. First lesson—stop talking like you know someone who owns a rusted castle.”

  Theo winced guiltily.

  Axel’s eyes widened. “No shit? You really do know someone with a castle, don’t you?”

  Twisting the candy wrapper between his fingers, Theo gave a halfhearted shrug. “It’s more of a palace, actually. The battlements are hardly fortified, and I doubt the portcullis is even functional. My aunt married up, you could say. It’s not as though I’ve spent more than a few nights there; I haven’t even visited since I was fifteen. There may have been an incident involving an overpriced yet terrifically ugly vase and a third story window; although rumors of my involvement remain unsubstantiated.”

  The entire bridge crew grimaced at the volume of Axel’s appreciative whistle. Theo just relished the novelty of being the least irritating person in a room.

  “Damn,” Axel said. “A palace. Imagine that. Hey, they gotta have, like, loose valuables in a place like that, right? What was it you were saying about it wasn’t fortified?”

  “Shut up, Axel.”

  As Jun stared them both down, Axel leaned back in his chair, arms raised in surrender, and Theo sat up straight, hands folded on his lap, blinking back innocently.

  Jun rubbed his temples with a low sound that made Theo want to bat his hands away and offer to rub there himself. And maybe other places. Just as a bonus kindness. Theo was nothing if not giving of himself.

  “The drop. Axel. What’s our ETA?”

  The numbers paused on Axel’s screen for just a moment. He screwed up his face in concentration. “Looks like it’s gonna take another cycle and a half, give or take a few hours.”

  Chin dipping once, succinctly, Jun moved on. “Good. Boom?”

  Solid heels were already clunking away from the console and out into the corridor as Boom tossed her answer over her shoulder. “On it.”

  “I’m still only about three-quarters of the way through repairs to the combustion chamber,” Marco offered with an apologetic frown. “It doesn’t want to cooperate.” He held out his odd tube-riddled contraption as if it was proof of such.

  Jun sucked his teeth, habitual scowl sliding back into place. “Damn. Do what you can to optimize fuel consumption in the meantime.”

  Marco gathered his tools and left with a jaunty salute at Jun’s rigid back.

  “Well, isn’t this cozy?” Axel’s attention bounced back and forth between Theo and Jun as if watching a tennis match, his mouth still chewing something. “Tell me, Dr. Campbell, do you have to manually remove the stick from the captain’s ass or does he prefer to leave it in?”

  He flinched so hard that he fell out of his chair when Jun feinted toward him with a snarl. “Okay! Okay, I’ll leave you to it. It’s not like I work here or anything.”

  One of his brightly colored snack packages fell from the pile in his arms when he stomped away, muttering in Patch.

  Theo stooped to pick it up, puzzling over the sickly yellow font declaring them to be Power Blasted Fruit Nuggets.

  When he turned to Jun to ask about them, he caught Jun’s gaze jerking away from his posterior in a move Theo had gotten most adept at picking up from a certain type of gentleman.

  The type of gentleman who was interested in Theo.

  Snack forgotten, Theo stepped closer, grinning when Jun backed up a step and crashed into the console behind him with a metallic ringing sound. Theo pitched his voice into a soothing purr, offering a sympathetic pout. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to climb all over you, Captain.”

  Jun’s shoulders dropped incrementally, the harsh lines around his mouth softening a little. Theo leaned in closer to watch the lines deepen again, his own gaze falling to Jun’s supple lips. “Unless, of course, you asked me nicely.”

  Never in Theo’s life had he witnessed someone appear so furious over their own arousal. Jun’s face contorted into a sneer even as his pupils dilated, and his attention slid down to Theo’s mouth, watching him lick his lips with a low growl. Theo found the reaction rather…

  Motivating.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Unfortunately for Theo’s raging libido, Jun remained focused on his plans for the rest of the day. He barely gave Theo a second glance despite his near-constant chatter.

  Theo had resigned himself to resolving the issue through his own handiwork as he retired back to his bunk for the evening.

  A tiny gasp escaped him when the door slid open to reveal the strong back of his captain, standing perfectly still in the middle of the modest chamber with his hands clenched behind his back.

  He had stripped out of his long-sleeved knit shirt and stood now in just a fitted gray sleeveless undershirt, along with his tight black trousers and shoulder holster.

  There was nothing overtly reassuring about his appearance, but Theo found it oddly comforting to observe Jun so exposed.

  Even more ink climbed up his wrists all the way to his shoulders, disappearing beneath the edges of his top. Mostly black lines with tiny pops of color, Theo wanted to trace them with his tongue in a lazy, meandering path until Jun pulled him up by his hair and told him to stop.

  Well.

  There went any hope of concealing Theo’s desire. His fitted velvet trousers were not particularly suited for camouflaging his rising interest.

  Jun spun in place to face him, fists going down to his sides as he regarded Theo for a long, silent moment, waiting for the door to slide shut behind him.

  Theo opened his mouth to inquire about the nature of his visit when Jun rushed to speak first.

  “This is me. Asking nicely.”

  Asking?

  Oh.

  If Theo had possessed the power to dissolve his own clothing away with a single blink, this was the moment he would have done so.

  Instead, he crossed his arms over his narrow chest and leaned back against the wall, allowing his gaze to sweep slowly over Jun from head to toe.

  The fact that his feet were bare sent Theo’s heart into overdrive, for some odd reason. It was only the tiniest hint of vulnerability, but it was—

  Enough.

  “Asking for what, Captain? Something quick and casual? Impersonal? Am I allowed to call you by your name or am I to address you only by title? I wouldn’t want to act too familiar and cause offense.”

  The tiny thread of hurt that wove itself through Theo’s voice surely gave him away despite his caustic words. He was usually better at hiding his hurt feelings in his affairs. Everything was just different, with Jun.

  More.

  Jun didn’t answer as he stepped closer. Theo soon realized he had pinned himself to the wall through his own posturing. Jun didn’t touch Theo so much as displace the air around him, a phantom pressure against his skin.

  It made Theo tip his head back and drop his hands down to press against the wall behind him as Jun dipped to nuzzle into Theo’s throat with a harsh exhale.

  “Say my name.” Jun brushed his lips against his skin. “Say anything you want. Just let me.”

  He didn’t elaborate on exactly what Theo should let him do, but the particulars were immaterial anyway.

  Because Theo would let Jun do anything he wanted to him
. Including sweep him away across the galaxy after just a single glimpse of his heart-stopping face.

  Theo had always been more prone to leaping than looking. He couldn’t even find it within himself to regret it, not while he stood here in Jun’s embrace.

  Not while leather and ozone filled his lungs with each deep, greedy breath.

  The humid heat of Jun’s open mouth slid across his throat as he nudged his open shirt aside to get to his skin. He latched onto the crook of Theo’s shoulder with blunt teeth and a muffled growl.

  He pulled back when Theo made a soft, wounded sound. And Jun’s shining lips tugged down in a frown as he lifted one hand to trace over the mark. “I’m not—I don’t know how to be gentle. Not like you deserve.”

  Theo let his hands drift slowly up Jun’s chest to rest over the thumping beat of his heart. “Yes, you do.”

  Jun shook his head, scowl slipping into place like a well-worn blanket, familiar and comfortable and covering all of his softest parts. “No, I don’t. I never learned. I never had anything to be gentle for. Soft things don’t last very long, where I come from. They never held any appeal for me, before.”

  The last was said sotto voce, as if Jun was speaking to himself, gaze drifting dreamily across Theo’s face.

  Theo arranged it into a teasing smirk as he grabbed one of Jun’s wrists and led his hand down to Theo’s tented trouser front. “One could hardly say I’m soft, Captain.”

  Jun gave him an obliging squeeze, just the right side of too tight, scowl fading from his face as Theo pressed up into his grip with a whine. Then he released him and lifted his hands to Theo’s hair, tangling his fingers in the long silken strands. “Soft. Pretty.” He tightened his grip abruptly to tug Theo’s head back against the wall. “Sweet.”

  Theo shook his head, more to feel Jun tug harder against the motion than to express his opinion, the tiny pinpricks of pain shooting a thrill straight to his cock. “I’m really not. I’m a bit of a pill. Hard to swallow.”

  Jun’s hand returned to Theo’s trousers, yanked open the button placket with a flick of his wrist, then slid inside. His warm, rough palm was devastating against Theo’s skin just as his warm, rough voice was devastating against his ear. “I think I’m up to the challenge.”

  And then Theo nearly swallowed his own tongue because Jun just…dropped.

  To his knees.

  It was beyond unexpected.

  Theo could count on one hand the number of times a man had gone to his knees for him. That was usually Theo’s role. Reciprocation had always been more of a hope than an expectation in his affairs. He yelped with surprise when Jun bypassed his cock entirely and instead, shoved Theo’s shirt up and rubbed his face against the pale skin of his stomach. “Jun! What are you—?”

  Jun’s hands circled Theo’s ankles and yanked them apart until he had to grab onto the expanse of Jun’s shoulders for balance.

  A shiver ran through Theo as Jun dipped a long, wet tongue into his navel, his sparse stubble scraping Theo’s skin. He dug his fingers into Jun’s shoulders as his head made an embarrassing hollow thunk against the metal bulkhead.

  To his surprise and building distress, Jun stopped. He got to his feet and brought one hand around to rub at the back of Theo’s head, his eyes dark on his face. “No.”

  Panic bloomed in Theo’s chest like an insidious weed, shooting out in all directions as he sensed his time with Jun slipping from his grasp.

  That was what he got for acting selfishly, for letting a man like Jun lower himself to Theo’s level. “Oh, of course. Here, I’ll just—” But when he attempted to get to his knees, Jun caught him beneath the arms, burning gaze unwavering from his face.

  “No. Not like this. On the bed.”

  The “get” was implied, and Theo rushed to follow orders only to come up short, limbs flailing uselessly through the air and feet sliding across the floor when Jun didn’t release his grip.

  The noise Theo made when Jun lifted him from the ground should never have been granted a witness. Certainly not one who smirked at the sound, walking steadily across the room with his armful of blushing, rumpled disaster.

  To his delight, Theo discovered that his legs did indeed wrap quite nicely around Jun’s waist as he carried him to the bed.

  A proven hypothesis at last.

  Ari would have been so proud.

  On second thought, Ari would have wanted to know absolutely nothing about this situation and would stubbornly plug his ears were Theo to attempt to tell him about it.

  The thought made him giggle, giving Jun pause as he laid Theo flat on the narrow bed. A spear of anxiety shot through him at Jun’s puzzled expression. Theo had been punished all his life for laughing at inappropriate times, and he didn’t want to ruin this. “I was just—I didn’t mean—there is nothing amusing about this situation. I wasn’t laughing at you, and I beg your pardon.”

  If anything, Jun only appeared more puzzled. He tugged Theo’s shirt off over his head, gaze hungry on his slender torso. “You have a nice laugh. I like it. Laugh all you want.”

  Oh.

  Many words had been used to describe Theo’s laughter.

  Annoying. Incessant. Piercing.

  But never, not once, nice.

  The medical impossibility of Theo’s heart melting into his spine did not deter him from experiencing the sensation of it.

  Jun’s face rubbing up his stomach and over his chest didn’t exactly help either. Nor did the loose grasp of his hands around Theo’s wrists.

  Heart pounding against his ribs like it was demanding to be heard, Theo moved his arms slowly and deliberately up over his head, dragging Jun’s grip along. Theo crossed his wrists on his pillow, monitoring Jun for his reaction.

  Jun’s breath whooshed out of him as if he had been gut-punched, unable to decide between focusing on his hold around Theo’s wrists or into his anxious face.

  Theo’s confidence wavered as the silence stretched on, Jun frozen above him. He started to move his arms apart. “I suppose that isn’t what you wanted after all. I apologize if—”

  He squeaked as Jun’s hands squeezed firmly around his wrists, pressing them into the pillow. His hard stare was all pupil, desire, and command reflected within.

  And, something rather remarkable happened.

  Every second of every day, Theo’s mind was a hornet’s nest, buzzing and stinging and throbbing with frantic activity. His gift and his curse, never quiet and never still. Always going full tilt, careening into ideas and notions and out again just as quickly, without a moment’s rest.

  But, like this.

  Like this, pinned beneath the weight of Jun’s regard, held solid under the steady pressure of his hands, Theo’s mind went blessedly still.

  Quiet.

  It was transcendent.

  Jun finally opened his mouth to speak. “Good. That’s good.” His voice was low and crumbling around the edges. “You’re good, like this. Stay.”

  Theo shivered as Jun took his hands away, leaving it up to Theo to decide whether to comply. It was nice and quiet in his head, Jun encompassing every thought, looming so large that he pushed out all the buzzing nonsense until Theo couldn’t hear it anymore. Until there was only the solid warmth of Jun’s body, all slim curves and harsh angles pressed tightly to Theo. The deep, dark scent of him coating Theo’s tongue when he swiped a taste of Jun’s throat, finally chasing one of those dark lines of ink up to his jaw. The harsh exhale against Theo’s cheek as Theo went limp beneath him.

  The thrill of it sent bolts of lightning streaking through his body, cock aching in his trousers as he whispered up at Jun. “I’ll stay. As long as you want me to.”

  Something complicated flickered across Jun’s face. Then he ducked his head and caught Theo’s nipple in his teeth.

  Theo arched into the sensation, choking on a moan shaped like Jun’s name.

  Jun sucked hard, only pulling off once Theo’s nipple was red and sore, giving it a swift lick, then gra
nting the same treatment to the other side.

  Theo twisted and writhed beneath him, wrists anchored to the pillow as if by some invisible force, simply because Jun had asked it of him. There was nothing Theo had given more gladly in his life.

  He was a squirming, gasping mess as Jun trailed his plush lips down the thin skin over his ribs in long, openmouthed kisses. Jun took it slow, stretching out the moments until Theo felt as though he were floating, tethered to the bed only by Jun’s will for him to remain there.

  It was enough.

  Strong, ink-stained hands hooked into his waistband and tugged his trousers and small clothes off in one heavy yank that nearly dislodged Theo’s wrists, to his dismay.

  He checked that they remained in place, nearly missing the gobsmacked expression on Jun’s face when Theo’s stockings were revealed.

  His velvet trousers hit the metal floor with a heavy slap as Jun dropped them to focus on Theo’s garters. The fingers of his Valor hand traced over one of the red satin ribbons around his thighs. “Holy shit. What the fuck are these?”

  Theo curled up into himself a little, bringing his knees up to press his stockinged legs together just in front of where Jun kneeled on the mattress. His wrists remained on the pillow. “They’re nothing. Standard practice, back home. I’m beginning to realize that the Outlier mode of dress is quite different from my own. Disregard them, please.”

  Humiliation burned hot through him like a shot of liquor taken too quickly. Back on Britannia, everyone wore stockings as a matter of course. Some of Theo’s previous lovers had even taken an interest in gifting him with embroidered stockings or elaborate garters specifically designed for the boudoir. He wasn’t wearing any of those, of course. Just thin black cotton with his plain daily garters tied in a modest bow.

  It was immediately clear by Jun’s reaction that out here, beyond the Verge, even this much attention to undergarments was considered peculiar. He didn’t say anything else, his attention never straying from Theo’s legs.

  The silence jerked Theo into action, and he began to lift his wrists to take the garters off, himself. “I’ll just get rid of these, so we can—”