Authors: Tracy St. John
The Imperial Clan would reimburse him
fully, he knew. Hell, Emperor Yuder had offered to back Egilka’s
research team for an entire year if the Imdiko brought Clajak home.
Out of his own pocket, no less. The Nobek monarch was irate over
his son’s absence and the wild speculation that surrounded it. Even
Emperor Tidro, as mild an Imdiko as could be imagined, was beside
himself with fury over Clajak’s humiliating treatment of
Egilka.
Ignoring the throb of hurt that he
didn’t want to feel, Egilka set to work. While the Isetacian sang,
he bound Clajak’s ankles and wrists to the sturdy pillars at each
corner of the billowy mat. He double-checked the soft ties to make
sure they were secure, but not in any danger of compromising
Clajak’s circulation. Clajak’s heavy-lidded eyes never blinked as
Egilka made him helpless.
With the Dramok secured, Egilka
interrupted the Isetacian’s song. “He’s incapacitated now. You may
go.”
She nodded and rose from her crouch. As
she exited the small, drapery-festooned room, Clajak’s eyes
fluttered. His blue-purple gaze sharpened and he stared up at
Egilka in surprise.
Egilka pulled out the ear plugs that
had protected him from the Isetacian’s song. The sounds of soft
music playing over the brothel’s system drifted lazily in the air.
Lovely music to listen to while exacting payment from a lovely but
selfish man. A man that was making Egilka feel more amorous than
angry. Damn him.
He couldn’t divert from his purpose, no
matter how good Clajak looked. Keeping his eyes squarely on the
younger man’s face, Egilka said, “Hello, my prince.”
* * * *
Clajak cursed in his head to see the
sharp-featured man standing over him. Where in the hell had his
intended Imdiko come from? Where was the Isetacian with the
wondrous voice? He jerked his arms and legs and discovered he had
been tied securely. Fuck and damnation.
Though his ever-present temper wanted
to take hold, Clajak’s better sense prevailed. He unleashed his
trademark smile on his captor. “Hello, Egilka.”
Egilka scowled and crossed his arms
over his chest. “Oh good. You do remember the man you were supposed
to clan a week ago.”
Clajak kept his charming smile in
place, though something inside his gut withered at the Imdiko’s
tone. Egilka sounded angry. Of course, he had every right to be
upset. Clajak thought he also detected a thread of hurt, but that
was probably wishful fancy. He was nothing but a child to his
promised clanmate. Just a child who Egilka would never take
seriously or waste a moment of desire on.
Putting up the devil-may-care front
he’d perfected, Clajak gave Egilka his most innocent expression.
“Was that last week? I am so sorry.”
“I’m sure you are.” The dry tone said
Egilka didn’t buy it. When had Clajak ever been able to fool the
man? For such an aloof person, the Imdiko missed
nothing.
Ah, you delicious,
duty-driven creature. Just once I’d like to see you look at me the
same way you do your chemistry set. Come down from your
intellectual cloud and play in the dirt with me.
Like most Kalquorians, Egilka was
muscled. His frame wasn’t heavy, however. He had a lithe, wiry
build that had put pleasurable thoughts in Clajak’s head since
puberty. His features tended to be a bit stark what with the sharp
planes, but their symmetry was perfect. When his attitude softened,
he was downright beautiful. When he smiled, which happened far too
seldom, Clajak’s heart never failed to quicken. The mustache Egilka
had grown a couple of years ago was bushy, taking the edge off
further still. Clajak had thought more than once about how soft
that mustache would feel as he kissed Egilka.
When Egilka glared, as he did now, he
had a wonderfully dangerous quality. His purple eyes snapped with
anger. The dark face, left bare by Egilka’s long black hair pulled
back in a tail, promised threat.
As a child, Clajak and his playmates
had pretended to be ocean pirates. When the prince grew into an
adolescent, his fantasies of freedom and pillage aboard a ship had
continued, but with a more mature edge. He envisioned standing on a
rocking deck with Egilka at his side, the Imdiko wearing that very
glare, though aimed at their trembling prey. Together Clajak and
Egilka would plunder pleasure cruisers foolish enough to chance
their territory and then celebrate their exploits with wild sex in
their shared cabin.
Stupid kid stuff. Childish fancies in
which Clajak had imagined Egilka saw him as a grown man. An equal.
A lover. Not a duty, which was the last thing Clajak wanted to be.
Unfortunately, duty was all the prince was to his
betrothed.
Being caught running away by his
intended had surely not elevated Clajak in Egilka’s eyes. Once
again he felt like a little boy around the Imdiko, fighting not to
squirm in humiliation. Yet there was something else that made
Clajak want to squirm for entirely different reasons.
Dreams of being a pirate were long
gone. However, being tied up and under Egilka’s stern gaze was
prime material for newer, more adult fantasies.
Perhaps that was why an invitation
burst out, one Clajak never intended to make. “I would love to make
up my oversight in the best way possible.” He glanced at his still
avid cocks to make sure Egilka got the message.
The Imdiko’s eyes widened. For an
instant he bit his lips together. Was that lust? Desire? Clajak
could hardly breathe for hoping.
Egilka’s typical composed and distant
expression masked his face once more. “Save it, Clajak. You can
play with all the young Nobeks you want once you get home and clan
me like you’re supposed to.”
Clanning with Egilka would take all
other Imdikos off the menu. Not that Clajak cared. He’d wanted his
intended for what felt like forever. The tiny tremor he’d caught
from his soon-to-be clanmate made him think he might get to realize
that wish.
Don’t fuck this opportunity
up. Maybe he wants me too, now that he’s had a peek. Come on,
Egilka. For once see me as I am, not the kid you agreed to
clan.
Clajak pretended his heart
wasn’t drumming fit to jump out of his chest. He gave the Imdiko a
self-assured, cocky smile. “Aw, Egilka. Look at me.
Look
. Do I look like I’m
pretending to want you?”
Egilka’s gaze shot to Clajak’s gleaming
wet cocks. He jerked his head away quickly, as if he’d looked
before he could stop himself. His scowl deepened.
Yet the spicy scent of
Kalquorian male arousal drifted from him, and the front of his gray
trousers bumped out. Clajak licked his lips. The Imdiko
did
want him, at least for
sex. That was a start. A chance to win Egilka was all the prince
had ever asked for.
In a husky voice Clajak invited, “Why
don’t you untie me, my Imdiko? I’m not going anywhere. It’s past
time we got acquainted better anyway, don’t you think?”
Egilka looked at him again, a long look
that took Clajak in from head to toe and back again. The aroma of
arousal grew heavier. A slow, calculating smile spread over
Egilka’s face.
Clajak’s breath caught. As always,
Egilka’s smile softened the stark cheekbones and chin, and his
white teeth gleamed behind the mustache. This was not the kind
smile the Dramok had seen before, however. This was a dangerous
smile, one that made Egilka sexy as hell. Pirate sexy. Sexy,
beautiful, and fucking scary.
A thrill of fear slammed Clajak’s gut,
and he yanked at his unrelenting bonds. He wanted Egilka, but he
wasn’t sure he wanted this version of Egilka. Especially not if he
was helpless.
The Imdiko looked amused at Clajak’s
efforts to pull free. “Getting better acquainted, as you put it,
might not be such a bad idea. However, I think I like the position
you’re in, my handsome prince.”
Oh no, this was definitely not one of
Clajak’s fantasies. Bottoming was for other men, not the Crown
Prince of Kalquor. His fangs unfolded from the roof of his mouth to
display behind his flat set of teeth.
He warned Egilka, “I’m a Dramok,
Imdiko. I do not submit.”
Egilka’s slit-pupiled eyes glimmered
with amusement. “You don’t have to. The ties will do all the
surrendering for you.” He turned from Clajak and contemplated the
fabric-draped walls. “Let’s see what kind of goodies are in this
room.”
Clajak knew the manner of toys and
tools available in the brothel’s playroom. The inventory hanging on
the walls behind the wine-colored fabrics was vast and varied. If
Egilka was pissed off at him for postponing their clanning, Clajak
didn’t want many of those items in the Imdiko’s hands. He jerked
hard at his bonds and cursed at flash of pain as they dug into his
flesh.
“Damn it, Egilka! Let me
go.”
Egilka tossed a glance over his
shoulder, smirking at his captive. “You owe me, my prince. You took
me away from my research at a most inopportune time.”
Egilka’s research. Of course he would
bring that up. In Clajak’s opinion, the man spent far too much of
his time buried in experiments and not enough having fun. Duty was
fine, but life demanded some pleasure too. It was Egilka’s one
downfall. He was probably more pissed off that he’d had to leave
his work than over the fact that Clajak had stood him
up.
Thinking such thoughts,
Clajak said, “You didn’t have to come after me. I would have gotten
home sooner or later. I have no problem clanning with you.”
My problem is that I’m not so sure you want to be
clanned to me.
He didn’t dare tell the Imdiko that for
fear of discovering it was the truth.
With his back to Clajak, Egilka shoved
at the draped walls, not finding what he wanted. “Your fathers and
mother are not as patient as I am. You’ve embarrassed them, you
know.”
Clajak stilled his efforts to escape.
He could handle his fathers and mother being angry with him. What
he couldn’t countenance was their disappointment or being the
source of their humiliation.
“Fuck. How bad is it?” he asked
Egilka’s back.
“Even Tidro and Irdis are inclined to
have you restricted to your apartments for a year. They talked
about handing you over to your aide’s Nobek for
discipline.”
Clajak’s hair stood up at that idea.
Nobek Raxstad was a behemoth. His muscles had muscles. Dramok
Korkla’s clanmate was easygoing for his breed, but still a brute
when the situation called for it. Clajak did not want to be under
that man’s hand when it came to punishment.
Still, Raxstad would be better than his
father Yuder. No doubt the Nobek emperor was ready to flay Clajak
alive.
Somehow managing to keep his tone
light, Clajak said, “If Mother and my Imdiko father are that upset,
I can only imagine how Zarl and Yuder feel.”
“They were thinking of lining up
several disciplinarians for the honor of beating your hide off. I
was assured I would be the first in the queue. Yuder offered me
lessons on how to use a whip for the occasion.”
Clajak winced. Of all his parents,
Nobek Yuder was not one to suffer his son’s lapses, of which Clajak
had experienced many since puberty. “Shit,” he swore. Whether
Egilka punished him or not and even if he was handed over to
Raxstad, Yuder would likely get his licks in too.
“Mmm-hmm,” the Imdiko agreed. “We never
did get to that instruction. However, I have had some experience
with one of these.”
He turned from the wall to show Clajak
the thin flex-reed switch he’d found. Though it was called a reed,
it was man-made. Used improperly, it could slice flesh to
ribbons.
Clajak didn’t know the extent of
Egilka’s experience with such a tool. He swallowed hard as Egilka
approached. “You don’t really want to discipline me with that, do
you?”
Egilka smiled. The happy expression
would have made Clajak’s heart turn over if not for the reason he
wore it. “It will make me feel so much better. You have no idea how
pissed off I am right now.”
Among other
things
, Clajak thought as he glanced at the
Imdiko’s still swollen crotch. “It will hurt like hell.”
“Exactly.” Egilka looked him over with
an air of ownership.
The expression made the Dramok bristle.
He liked Egilka looking at him. He liked how aroused the Imdiko
seemed to be with his cocks swelling his trousers and lips wetly
parted. However Clajak did not care for being looked at like
property.
His tone forbidding, Clajak said, “You
should remember who the leader of the clan is, Imdiko.”
Egilka raised an eyebrow. Despite his
obvious erections, he played the big brother role once more. “We’re
not clanned yet, youngling. Zarl and Yuder gave their full
permission for me to exact payment for what you put us all
through.”
Hating that superior tone, Clajak
snarled, “Fine. Beat me if it makes you happy. I never would have
picked you for a sadist though.”
Egilka grinned. Clajak’s body thrilled
to see the dangerous look return. Heat sang in his cocks to be
looked at like that. He still didn’t want to be on the bottom if
Egilka decided to explore their sexual compatibility.