by T. J. Land
Zachery stopped. He was ready; he could feel it, right on the edge. Even without another thrust, he could have finished himself up with a thought. He didn’t. He hung there, frozen, wanting more than anything to pass the test and show Antoine that he was good enough, that he could control himself.
The seconds stretched. His body eased back down, his heart rate decelerating as the fire in his belly banked.
“Well done,” Antoine purred, his breath warm on his ear. “You can keep going now.”
Like flipping a switch, he was on again, plunging back into Khurshed as hard as he could. Then, thirty seconds later, right at the worst moment, Antoine said, “Stop.”
The sadistic bastard did it three more times. Zachery came to expect it. When at last he started to peak and Antoine didn’t interrupt him, it caught him completely off guard. The closest thing he could compare it to was his first wet dream, the shock of waking up to incredible pleasure without any idea of what was happening.
“Oh God,” he groaned, slumping against Khurshed’s back.
Antoine stroked the back of his neck. “Nicely done, Mister Halberstam.”
Zachery was relieved to find that Khurshed had gotten off too somewhere along the line and regretted that he hadn’t noticed it happening. Untying the ropes, he kept an arm around his waist to keep him from falling over, then picked him up, and took him over to the bed.
“How could you be so rude to our guest?” Khurshed scolded Antoine, after Zachery had taken out the ball-gag. “Throwing him into the deep end like that? I thought you were planning to leave the ropes for next time.”
Handing him a glass of water, Antoine replied, “Khurshed, you gave me two requests. ‘Make sure he enjoys himself’ and ‘Surprise me’. I think I achieved both goals quite successfully, non? Zachery, what do you think?”
“I think you’re both fucking crazy,” Zachery slurred, exhausted, before passing out.
When he woke up, the lavish hotel suite had vanished. He was lying on Antoine’s bed, with Khurshed and Antoine lying on either side of him, flirting in French.
“Don’t like that,” he said, stretching. “Feels like you’re plotting against me. One of you has to teach me your cheese-flavoured frog-talk if we’re going to do this again.”
“And you were worried I would offend him?” Antoine said to the captain in English.
Antoine was as pristine as ever, but Zachery and Khurshed both stank. Before they headed off to get cleaned up, Antoine looked Zachery in the eye and said to him, “Thank you for participating, Zachery. You were wonderful.”
Goddamnit, he saw your naked, hairy ass fucking Khurshed’s. Why the hell are you getting bashful now? “Um…thanks, Ant. That means a lot. Anytime you guys want me back, I’m up for it.”
Antoine’s hand came up, and for a second, Zachery thought he was going to get a slap. Instead, Antoine tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. “Might you at some point in the future be interested in experiencing the ropes for yourself? I have a feeling that you’d take to it like a duck to water. And I don’t think fucking is ‘all you’re good for’. I think you might have many hidden talents.”
Zachery swallowed, blushing furiously. “M…maybe. I’ll think about it.”
He watched as Khurshed gave Antoine a strangely grave kiss, before the two of them headed to the showers and Antoine went off in the direction of his office.
“What did you think?” Khurshed asked him as he scrubbed his back.
“Tell me the truth; do you pick favourites? Is he your favourite?” said Zachery. “It’s okay if he is. I won’t throw a tantrum. Just tell me the truth. I saw the way you were looking at him, and you don’t look at us like that.”
Zachery hated it when people sugar-coated hard truths, so he was grateful that Khurshed didn’t immediately dish out some sappy reassurance. Instead, he thought for a bit and then said, “You’re all my favourites. That said, you are right in that I don’t feel the same way towards Antoine as I do towards you. That doesn’t mean I love him any more or less than you. I…I know that he knows me. He knows things about me that I don’t know. Whereas you and I are still learning one another. It makes things different.”
Zachery rested his head on Khurshed’s shoulder. “You promise you’re not going to get bored of us and go back to him?”
Turning and drawing him close, Khurshed murmured, “You need to understand this; I’ve been in love with many, many people. Not one of those relationships ended because I wanted it to. I don’t fall out of love. I can’t. If you want me, I’m yours until you get bored of me.”
“I won’t. I want to marry you someday. And Rick, and Thomas. Would you be cool with that?”
“I believe that is an excellent idea,” said Rux.
He hung over the towel rack in his snake form and flicked his forked tongue in reaction to their frozen stares. “Did I misspeak? I apologise. I only wanted to offer my support for the engineer’s plan and to wish that your union be blessed with many fat children. To clarify, so that you do not think me ignorant: that is an expression, originating in the language of my creators, intended to convey optimistic congratulations. I am aware that the biological nature of your species would prevent your having children without…”
“Rux,” Khurshed interrupted, his tone silken, “don’t you think you should leave?”
The snake looked as disappointed as its reptilian features allowed. “Now? I was hoping to offer myself to Zachery. I have had good sport with your other two mates. They have permitted me to be their friend. Now I would like to be Zachery’s friend too.”
“Let’s put a pin in that for now,” muttered Zachery, reaching for a towel. “I need to go talk to Rick about making beer. Got a feeling I’m going to be needing some. Catch you later, Cap.”
“Come here, you,” Khurshed said to Rux, gathering up his coils and carrying him back into the shower.
✩✩✩
Ten hours later, the last votes were in. Zachery stood with one hand on Thomas’s shoulder and one hand on Rick’s as the captain counted them.
“I hope we don’t screw this up,” Thomas sighed. He’d been the last to make his decision, and he’d looked fretful ever since. Zachery rubbed the back of his neck.
Khurshed looked up from the ballots and opened his mouth to speak when Antoine said urgently, “Captain, we’re receiving a new message. It’s from them.”
After inspecting it, Rux said, “It is hard to convey its exact meaning in your primitive tongue. The general gist is ‘You are welcome’ and ‘Good luck’.”
“Smug assholes,” hissed Zachery.
They waited a day to see if any more messages came through. When none did, Khurshed told them that in light of this new indication of their enemy’s motives—inconclusive as it was—he was going to ask everyone to cast their votes again.
“Unanimous,” he said the following morning, setting down the ballots. “We’re staying.”
Chapter Six
Five days later, Rick stood back and surveyed his new greatest achievement—ten rows of newly sown barley.
“Bitchin’,” he said to himself and then tilted his face up to the sky. “If you’re spying on us, I’ve got a message for you. Thanks, and go fuck yourselves.”
“Well said,” said Khurshed, pulling off his gloves.
While Rick and the captain had spent the morning planting their grain, the rest of the crew had declared themselves on strike and had a picnic. Most of them were either lying on the grass soaking up the sun or playing poker with Antoine under a tree. Thomas was way off in the distance with Echo, giving him another shooting lesson. Zachery had shown Rux a picture of a horse and was now sitting atop his back as the alien galloped over the surrounding hills.
“You look bothered,” Khurshed noted.
Rick struggled to find the words. “Captain, you know that shitty feeling you get when someone does something really, really awful to you, but what they did changes stuff so that eventually you end
up happier than you were before they did the awful thing? I’ve got that feeling.”
Khurshed came to stand behind Rick and rested his chin on his bare scalp. Mmm, stubble, thought Rick, shivering happily.
“Did I ever tell you about my scars?” the captain asked him.
“The burns? Well, Thomas thinks you got them rescuing puppies from a burning house. Zach thinks you were in the army and someone dropped a bomb on you. I think Antoine tried to set you on fire after you broke up the first time.”
“Good guesses all. I’m afraid the truth is far more mundane. I was in a car accident when I was eighteen. Because I was driving my father’s car when it happened—his very expensive car—he took the opportunity to disown me. He’d been looking for an excuse ever since he found out about my first boyfriend. So while I was in the hospital, he informed me that as far as he was concerned I was no longer a member of the family. I couldn’t live under his roof, and I couldn’t attend family gatherings. To soften the blow, he gave me a considerable sum of money, enough to pay for my moving to Paris and studying at the Sorbonne. If he hadn’t set me adrift like that, I wouldn’t have met Antoine. If I hadn’t met Antoine, I wouldn’t have realized how unsuited I was to an academic life. If I hadn’t realized that, I wouldn’t have eventually purchased The Prayer or met any of you.”
“Okay, I see where you’re going with this. What they did to us was still evil even if we’re okay now.”
The captain nodded. “I used to be haunted by the feeling that I owed my father something whenever I was happy. Please don’t make the same mistake. If we’re happy, we’re not happy because of them. We’re happy despite them.”
Rick touched his lips and was going to kiss him when they were interrupted by the approaching sound of clopping hoofs.
“Tally-ho, my fine bitches,” said Zachery, grinning down at them from atop Rux’s back. “I was gonna offer you a ride, but if you’re busy…”
Rick’s eyes lit up. “Rux! Can you grow a horn?”
“Certainly, my small friend.”
When Rux obliged, Rick squealed like a six-year-old and clambered up to sit in front of Zachery. “I’m going to ride a fucking unicorn!”
“Have fun, you two,” said Khurshed, slapping Rux’s hindquarters. He reared up and set off at a gallop, while Rick clung to his mane and thought, Yes. This, I like.
✩✩✩
With his hands clasped behind his back, Khurshed gazed at the soil in which their grain was nestled. When he was sure no one remained in earshot, he looked up at the sky and said quietly, “On the off chance that you are watching us, I’ve got a message for you too. I don’t know anything about your species or your technology. What I do know is that this planet holds some value for you. It must do, otherwise you wouldn’t have brought us here. I also know that my ship has an antimatter generator, and it would not be all that difficult for me to convert her into a very, very large bomb. So bear this in mind; if you do anything to hurt my crew ever again, I will destroy this place.”
Behind him, someone clapped slowly. “Very impressive, mon capitaine. I’m sure our god-like overseers are intimidated by your threats.”
“It makes me feel better,” Khurshed replied tartly, folding his arms.
Antoine’s familiar body pressed against his back. “Out of interest, why is Rux a unicorn?”
“A very good question. Do you know, when I first hired this crew I honestly thought they were all quite sensible people. Well, except for you, obviously.”
Delicious pain spread over his scalp as Antoine tugged his hair. “You really are remarkably insolent. It’s a trait you share with Zachery. I suppose that explains why I’m so fond of you both.”
Wrapping Antoine in his arms, Khurshed rumbled, “Only ‘fond’?”
“No.” Antoine’s palms framed his face. “More than fond. Much more than fond.”
Trying to keep his tone free of all traces of hopefulness, Khurshed said, “The last time I proposed, you said that the reason we shouldn’t marry was because I’m not suited to monogamy, and you didn’t want to spend your life sharing me. Is there any chance your newfound attachment to Zachery has led you to reconsider that opinion?”
“Mmm…perhaps. I’ll think about it,” said Antoine with a smile that made him look all of twenty years old.
About the Author
T.J. Land is a South African writer of erotic romance and sometimes other things. She reads a lot of early modern plays and watches a lot of cartoons. She’s going to marry Mrs Lovett when she grows up, although she doesn’t expect that to happen for a while.
Other books by this author
Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by T.J. Land:
Bad Fairies: The Collection
Bad Fairies Series
Midsummer Nights
Midsummer Sky
Midsummer Court