by A. C. Thomas
“No.” Jun was above him in a flash, both of Theo’s wrists in the grip of one hand, pressed back into place against the pillow. “Stay.”
Theo wasn’t sure he could have moved if he wanted to as Jun settled back on his knees.
And he really, really didn’t want to.
Jun’s hands slid up his legs from ankles to knees and further still, until he could hook his fingers behind both garters.
Theo gasped when Jun pulled his legs apart with a single, strong movement, the garters now digging into the soft flesh of his inner thighs. Jun released them only to untie each bow one at a time, slowly and carefully, until his palm was slashed in half by two red ribbons.
He turned his hand to consider them, the drape of red satin flowing seamlessly against the ink across his skin as if it were a part of it. Theo tried to stifle the fanciful notion of leaving his mark on Jun, of getting so far beneath his skin that Jun could never forget about him. Ridiculous, since Theo had once bumped into an ex-paramour whom he had entertained for some weeks, and the man had not so much as remembered Theo’s name. Theo was apparently not the kind of lover one didn’t forget.
A thick, dark fall of hair obscured Jun’s face as he dangled the ribbons until they skimmed over Theo’s spread thighs. He trailed them in a sweeping, curving line up Theo’s body. Theo cried out when Jun brushed them across his swollen nipples, and Jun made a harsh, satisfied sound in his throat, grip tightening around the ribbons.
Theo tipped his head back as Jun laid them across his throat; one firm thumb lifted Theo’s chin to get a better view.
“You’re unbelievable.” Jun’s lips barely moved around the words.
It was difficult to choke out a false laugh when Theo had sunk so deeply into this strange, beautiful place Jun was leading him through, but he managed. “Yes, so you’ve said. You can hardly believe a person such as I could exist, with all my irritating oddities.”
Jun traced the line of the ribbons as he shook his head, and he gathered them up in his fist once more to pull them away from Theo’s throat, following their path with his glittering gaze. “No, I can’t believe, just— The galaxy is so ugly, but here you are. So beautiful.”
His touch skated up the inner curve of Theo’s arm. “So soft.”
Red satin ribbons encircled Theo’s wrists. He focused on the bob of Jun’s ink-stained throat as he tied them loosely, and on the muscles rolling beneath his shirt.
Jun completed his work and sat back on his heels between Theo’s legs. His palm pressed flat and warm against Theo’s cheek. Theo’s breath hitched at the brush of Jun’s thumb over his parted lips, the deep rumble of his voice. “So sweet.”
Theo wanted to deny it, wanted to point out that he was anything but sweet, only—only it was so lovely to hear those words in Jun’s voice. Paired with the expression on his gorgeous face, it nearly made Theo believe him.
Jun tapped the ribbons lightly tied around Theo’s wrists, his face serious. “Do you want it like this? Tell me when I push too far.”
Not if. When. As though Jun was used to pushing until he ran up against a barrier, time and time again. Theo spoke over thirty languages, yet he didn’t have the words to tell Jun that he was liquid in his hands, that Jun could dive as deeply as he desired, and Theo would only flow around him, welcome him in.
So he used the words that melted off his tongue when he opened his mouth. “I want it like this. I want you like this, Jun. I’m under your command, Captain. Of my own free will.”
The first time Theo had left planetside and ventured into the stars, he had been transfixed by the view. The hypnotic swirl of sparkling light throughout the endless dark. There was something of that same view in Jun’s face just now.
The same beauty, only made sharper by the edge of danger within the depths. The same relentless, magnetic pull, like a hook behind Theo’s heart. The same sure knowledge that he would never be as he was before.
Jun spread Theo’s hair out over the pillow, then petted down to his throat and let his hand curl lightly around it. “Perfect.”
There had to be a limit to the amount of bliss that could flow through Theo’s veins at the sound of a single word. A body could only withstand so much.
Jun released Theo’s throat and rolled his sore nipples between relentless fingers, his attention never leaving Theo’s face as Theo whimpered and pushed into the too-sharp flare of pleasure. “Good.”
He swooped down to use his tongue, alternating between soft, soothing licks and quick, harsh flicks until Theo was leaking against his stomach, breathing out tiny little moans on every breath.
Jun discovered the small puddle as he braced against Theo’s heaving chest, holding him still beneath his attentions, and his wrist dipped into it. He lifted his shining wrist to his mouth, making sure Theo watched him as he licked it off with a satisfied hum. Then he swiped the rest up on his fingers and brought them up to trace Theo’s lips. He slid two inside until Honor was pressed up against Theo’s teeth.
Theo sucked them clean, trying not to think about how much he wished it was Jun’s tongue that filled his mouth, his lips on Theo’s lips. This would have to be enough. It was already so much.
Jun took his fingers away and shuffled back on the mattress. He began to remove Theo’s twisted, sagging stockings, unmoored without their garters to hold them in place. Theo kicked his leg to help, then cried out with shocked arousal when Jun admonished him with a light slap on his thigh. “No. Let me.”
Jun didn’t miss the way Theo’s cock jumped at the slap, and his teeth flashed in a rare, broad smile. He fell to his belly on the bed and threw Theo’s legs over his shoulders.
“Oh, gracious! Jun, you really don’t have to—”
Those flashing teeth sank into Theo’s leg in a gentle bite, and Theo was a live wire in Jun’s hands, twisting and moaning and begging for more. Jun soothed the bite with a broad swipe of his tongue, then turned his head to focus on Theo’s cock.
To his dismay, Jun skirted around it, laving at his belly, tongue slipping beneath Theo’s cock and barely skimming his shaft.
Theo tossed his head against the pillow, his wrists nearly slipping from their loose bindings. “Please, Jun! Don’t tease me.”
Jun gave a thoughtful hum as he sucked on Theo’s balls, rolling them on his tongue while his thumb pressed hard on the stretch of skin behind them. Theo was suddenly reminded of how achingly empty he was, how desperate to be filled. “Fuck me. Please, fuck me. I’ll be so good; I promise. I’ll even do my best to keep my mouth shut, to be quiet, please!”
A promise he was already showing evidence of being unable to uphold. It had been the primary complaint of his previous lovers, and Theo was determined to correct it if that was what he needed to do to have Jun.
Jun surged up with a fierce snarl, hooked the tips of his fingers behind Theo’s bottom teeth, and tugged his lower jaw down. “Keep your mouth open. I want to hear you.”
The tip of Theo’s tongue caught on those fingers as he answered quietly, muffled by Jun’s firm hand, “Yes, Captain.”
Chapter Eighteen
Theo had been expecting a small acknowledgement of his compliance. Perhaps a hint of a smile or a kind word.
He was not expecting Jun to immediately reward him by slipping his fingers free and sliding down to suck his cock.
Jun’s strong hands held him by the hips as he bobbed his head, sucking so hard Theo could feel the pull in his toes.
“Oh stars! Jun. Captain. You really, truly ought to stop that if you wish this to last more than a moment.”
Jun pulled off with a wet pop that made Theo’s balls draw up tight. His voice was even lower than usual, as dark as deepest space. “Getting close?”
Theo nodded somewhat desperately, chewing on his lower lip and shifting fitfully on the bed.
Jun clamped one hand tightly around the base of his cock, letting the head rest against his lips as he spoke. “Don’t come until I tell you.”
He sucked Theo ba
ck down as if the matter was settled, as if Theo could simply stave off his own orgasm through sheer force of will.
Theo arched with a cry as he hit the back of Jun’s throat, and Jun just swallowed around him. “I can’t—I’m going to—”
Jun’s head came up with a growl, bared teeth pressed against Theo’s thigh, his fingers an iron ring around Theo’s cock. “You can. Be good for me.”
Maintaining focus had always been a problem for Theo. Yet somehow, like this, he could think of nothing else but Jun. His strong body and rough hands, the silken touch of his tongue, his deep, harsh sounds as he let Theo inside.
Be good, he had said, and Theo wanted to be that for him above all else. Only for Jun.
“Alright. Yes, I will. I’ll do my best, but you feel so—ah!”
Jun swirled his tongue on that sensitive spot just below the flare of Theo’s cockhead, and it was nearly all over. In an effort to get away, Theo twisted his hips, desperate not to disobey command. Jun chased him, holding his cock steady while he changed course. He flicked tiny little licks up and down Theo’s shaft that hit him like a jolt of electricity. It made him shake and huff out sharp little sounds on every breath.
Dark eyes flashed up at him through thick black lashes, and Theo finally lost his very last shred of dignity. “Please. Please, Jun. Captain, please! I need you.”
No response came beyond a slow, leisurely suck at the very tip, Jun’s tongue working him like a kiss, dipping sweetly into the slit. Theo dug his heels into Jun’s shoulders, speaking through gritted teeth. “Jun, I swear by your giant, ugly, rusted ship. If you do not get up here and take your clothes off, I will shoot down your throat in the next three seconds.”
That got a reaction.
Possibly more of a reaction than Theo had bargained for.
His spit-slick cock slapped against his belly as Jun released him. Theo waited, legs tossed to either side while Jun prowled up his body on hands and knees, his clothes scraping against Theo’s skin. Jun leaned down to take Theo’s jaw in hand, eyes snapping. “I thought you said you were going to be good. What happened to that?”
Theo squirmed with a plaintive whine, grasping the ribbons tightly. “I’m sorry. You feel so incredible, and I’m not used to being on the receiving end of that particular act. I want to—I want to be good, but I’m not. I’m just not. No matter how I try. Please don’t stop.”
He shut his mouth against the building overflow of humiliating, pleading words that crowded his throat. Asking Jun to stay, to keep Theo close even though he wasn’t any good. Promising to try harder, to do anything, to let Jun do anything he fancied, anything at all.
Jun seemed to hear him anyway, brow furrowing as he softened his grip on Theo’s jaw. He stroked Theo’s face lightly, tenderly, and Theo had to blink against a sudden mortifying threat of tears. He let out a strained bit of laughter, instead.
“I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I can’t manage to control myself for more than a minute at a time. That I can’t even pretend to be good for you.”
Jun’s forehead pressed so hard against the side of Theo’s face that Theo could feel his lashes flutter, and then Jun was gone, moving away. Theo bit back a harsh cry of disappointment when Jun sat up and climbed off the bed entirely. He turned his face into his upper arm to hide as he began to work his hands free of their binds. It wouldn’t take more than a moment’s work to escape the loose ribbons.
“Stop.”
Every molecule in Theo’s body halted at the command, breath frozen in his lungs for half a second before he released it on a sigh and turned to face Jun.
Jun, who was—
Nude.
Entirely, gloriously nude.
The sound of air whistling back into Theo’s lungs was nearly as humiliating as the way his cock blurted a drop of excitement into his stomach at the mere sight of Jun.
There was a lot of him to see.
Not overly large in build, but every inch of him carved from warm stone and decorated with dark ink. Ink covered his arms in dozens of intertwined images Theo would like to dedicate some months to studying in detail.
Black lines traced the contours of his abdomen, pausing to form geometric shapes along his ribs and then thinning into bare lines again through the dip of his Adonis belt and down his thighs. Dark hair obscured some of the imagery on his calves, but it only made Theo burn to take a closer look.
Jun came back to the bed and dropped a bottle of lubricant by Theo’s hip. He made a space for himself between Theo’s thighs. His cock jutted up dark and hard and insistent as he took a moment to trail his fingers over Theo’s skin. At Theo’s shiver of response, his face brightened, his smile small but sharp. “Good. You’re doing so well, baby.”
Baby. It hit like a fist to the diaphragm, stealing Theo’s breath. He had been called all sorts of things in bed over the years. Darling, sweeting, tart. None of it had ever drilled straight through his sternum to lodge so firmly in his heart in quite this way. He feared now that if one were to examine that organ, one would find Jun’s name scrawled across it in indelible ink. Alongside the word “baby.”
Theo shook his head even as he lifted his hips in a nonverbal attempt to spur Jun forward with the proceedings. “What utter nonsense, Jun. I haven’t been good at all.”
Theo’s breath hitched when Jun picked up the bottle and lifted his leg.
“Yes, you have.” Jun’s voice was so hushed Theo could barely hear it over the sound of his own heavy breathing. “Better than I deserve.”
And then Jun’s fingers pressed wet and thick against Theo’s entrance, and Theo’s thoughts scattered like leaves to the wind. Nothing left behind but heat and pressure. He yielded, taking in two of Jun’s fingers to the hilt, gasping at the realization that those tattoos were now rubbing against his walls.
Jun came up and buried his face in Theo’s neck as he started to move his hand, opening Theo up and brushing against that small spot that made him see stars.
Theo let loose a sound he didn’t recognize, something new and raw and entirely too honest. Much to his dismay, his open throat could only speak the truth under Jun’s soothing tongue. He tried to gather his scattered wits about him to save face. “You don’t have to—you can just fuck me. I’ve never had so much attention paid to me in bed, and I’m afraid it will quite go to my head if you do not stop.”
Jun sucked a patch of Theo’s delicate skin between his teeth, letting his fingers curl just so inside him. Theo tensed and moaned and tried not to feel claimed by the possessive mark left behind even as Jun finally let go to mumble against his throat. “I’m not stopping until you beg me to.”
Theo didn’t say that he was afraid of becoming addicted to Jun’s intensity and attention only to have it taken away again. He didn’t say that he was afraid nothing could ever satisfy him again after this. He didn’t say that he wanted to wake up to Jun’s grumpy face and fall asleep curled in his capable arms.
Theo didn’t say any of that; he just let the sounds that climbed up his throat spill over his trembling lips until Jun began to grunt and rut against the bed with every thrust of his fingers, his own voice gravel-rough.
“Fuck, you sound so good. That’s it, make some noise for me.”
He added more slick and a third finger, and Theo started thrusting up against his hand, feet planted on the bed and thighs shaking. And when Jun pressed him firmly back down to the mattress with his free hand, he cried out so sharply it rang against the metal walls.
Jun was a strong, reassuring weight holding Theo to the bed, and it was as if something clicked into place inside him, something he had been searching for his entire life.
Theo melted back into the bed, legs falling open and arms going limp against the pillow as he slurred out his words, lids falling half-shut. “Please, Jun.”
The rising satisfaction on Jun’s face warmed Theo from the inside out. Jun carefully removed his fingers and braced himself on his elbows to either side of Theo’s h
ead. He nosed at Theo’s cheek, lips damp against his skin. “Ready for me, baby? Damn, you’re so pretty when you beg.”
Jun slowly let the warm, solid weight of his body press Theo into the mattress.
Theo had been writhing above the flames of his need for so long that Jun’s body fell on him like cool water, quenching the ache in a cloud of steam, fogging up his mind with desire. “Please. Please, Captain.”
When Jun sat back up, the longer strip of hair atop his head fell artfully across his face, sticking to the sheen of sweat and emphasizing the glint in his eyes and his swollen red lips. Theo had never seen a man more beautiful.
Jun picked up the bottle and hesitated, his serious gaze pinning Theo to the bed far more securely than the flimsy red ribbons. “I’ve had my jabs, but I could go get a—”
Theo wrapped his legs around Jun’s hips to pull him closer with a gentle shake of his head. “No, that’s alright. I’ve had mine too. I trust you, Jun.”
Jun’s eyes went a bit wide at that, and Theo giggled as he fumbled the bottle with a curse in Patch.
Theo repeated the curse, grinning roguishly when Jun gave him a sharp glance. “I’ve been paying attention. If you’d give me data access, I could learn Patch on my own time in a few days.”
Jun groaned good-naturedly, popping open the bottle with one hand as he gripped his hard length with the other. “That’s all I need, another language for you to talk my ears off with.”
Theo attempted a shrug in his bindings, accomplishing little more than scooting his shoulders up the pillow. “Well, if you don’t want me to talk, maybe you should give me something more interesting to do, Capt—ah!”
Jun nudged his slicked cock inside with one long, smooth, powerful thrust. Biting his lip, he dropped the bottle and hitched Theo’s legs higher on his hips. He bottomed out with a grunt, teeth bared like an animal.
Theo went a little wild beneath him, bucking and thrashing against his bindings. “Fuck! Untie me; I’ve got to touch you.”
Those bared teeth flashed white and sharp as Jun shook the hair out of his face and adjusted his knees on the bed for leverage. The muscles of his abdomen flexed, ink rolling over the skin in undulating waves. “Not yet. I want you to beg first.”