Several more Ebrellions had joined the one that shot Drekk. Yet shots firing around him showed the Ebrellions weren’t alone. Either the Mardu gangs had found them already or...
shit
. The men streaming through the new hole in the ceiling didn’t speak Mardu. They sounded Ebrellion. When they began shifting, Drekk saw more than he wanted.
Giant six-legged
thrells—
wild, vicious canine variants found in the Anate Jungle—now stood in place of the bastards
shooting at their own kind.
A monstrous brawl erupted around him and Olla. Drekk crawled to her, sucking up the pain. Before he could reach her, claws raked his back, shredding his armour.
More a hindrance than a help, the armour gave him a fit before he twisted loose of it.
Drekk barely managed to get to his sword and lop off a few
threll
limbs before their hideous shrieks summoned more of the bastards to him.
Damn it to hell.
Drekk hurried to heal his wounds as he fought but it was slow going.
Teleporting so often and in such distances had weakened him. He did manage to stop the bleeding on his back, though the wounds remained raw, his ribs still cracked.
An Ebrellion lifted him off his feet and slammed him into another container, undoing the work he’d just done on his back.
Annoyance grew into that familiar fury that scared the shit out of him. Unable to stop himself, Drekk released a large amount of pheromone into the air and relieved the itch in his arms. Several of those nearest him faltered. He made quick work of them with the
claws in
place of his hands
, but not before two more opponents landed a few punches.
Knocked to his knees with an uppercut to the face, Drekk shook his head, dazed out of his rage as his hands returned to normal. Before another of the Ebrellions could attack, one of his own kind pulled him away. A battle cry turned the fighting downright savage as more aliens entered the place until the warehouse was crawling with them. They fought each other and soon what Drekk recognised as Mardu gang members.
Not a war he needed to be in the middle of. On his hands and knees, Drekk crawled to Olla. Not sure if she suffered from any internal injuries, he forced some of his blood into her mouth and made her swallow it.
Fatigued, he fought to hold onto his awareness. Drekk felt the energy of the battle around him. Blinking through the blood dripping down his face, he noted one set of eyes focused on him and knew he needed to leave before he was no longer able.
Everything around him grew hazy.
Shit, have to go...now.
Drekk closed his arms around Olla and reached deep within himself. Fuzzy, he pictured the one thing he couldn’t stop thinking about, even this far gone. He’d almost made it into the temporal stream when a hand grabbed his leg.
Ryen cursed again and resumed pacing. That fucking
drun
. Leaving Ryen here to ‘pleasure himself’ while Drekk battled it out with Stars-knew who. Did Drekk know how damned condescending he’d sounded?
A liability,
he’d called Ryen.
I know I have control issues, but I can handle myself in a battle. To lock me inside like an animal
at the observatory? I am going to seriously kick his ass when he gets back.
If
he gets back,
his conscience added, which pissed him off even more. The thought of not being able to tell Drekk off annoyed him. That the male might be broken and bleeding somewhere while Ryen paced safely in Drekk’s house angered him. Not seeing Drekk alive again, ever, panicked him to no end.
Swearing, Ryen punched a whole in Drekk’s wall.
Dammit. He’s going to see that and use
it as proof I’m not stable
. Ryen relished the confrontation before a disturbance in the air caught his attention.
A bruised woman, bloodied Drekk, and a huge, dark-haired male entered the space.
Drekk and the woman lay unmoving on the ground covered in bloody bruises while the male crouched over them. Ryen immediately went into battle mode.
“Help him,” the male said in a heavily accented voice. His eyes glittered and in the light looked almost reptilian. He vanished before Ryen could attack.
Ryen wasted no time. He scrambled to Drekk and found a pulse, weak but there. The woman seemed unharmed except for a few scratches which even now were healing. Seeing a spot of blood on her lips but nowhere else on her face, he suspected Drekk responsible for healing her.
A communicator buzzed,
finally
. He’d been searching for a hint of a communicator for hours. Ryen found it and hit ‘receive’.
“Drekk?”a low voice asked.
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Cheltam. Ryen, have you seen—”
“Drekk’s right here. He’s not moving but the woman he brought with him seems to be waking. We need help right away.”
In an instant, Rafe and two others appeared. Rafe rushed to Drekk’s side, and Ryen had to resist the urge to break Rafe’s fingers where he touched Drekk.
See, Sir? I’m controlling
myself. Wake the hell up so I can show you... Fuck, I just called you ‘Sir’.
“Fellin?” Rafe called. “Bring your kit. Drekk needs help.” The medic attended to Drekk while another medic saw to the female.
“What happened?” Rafe asked in a hard voice.
“He just showed up, right before you called.”
“He’ll live,” Fellin said, relieving everyone of the immediate threat.
Ryen allowed himself to take his eyes from Drekk, satisfied his ‘friend’ would make it.
Conscious of Rafe’s scrutiny, he snapped, “What?”
“Those bands. The thing around your neck. Everything okay?” Rafe asked gruffly. “Erin’s concerned.”
The magnecuffs wouldn’t come off until Drekk commanded them to. But only a thin clasp of metroleum held the collar together, easy enough to undo. Ryen fingered the synthetic band at his throat, unable to remove it in spite of what it meant. Or maybe because of it.
“I’m fine.” Ryen fought a telling flush. “Fine as can be considering this asshole’s out killing himself while I’m stuck here under orders.”
“If Drekk thought you needed to stay—”
“Fuck Drekk. Soon as the idiot wakes up his ass is mine.” Rafe raised a brow and Ryen turned three shades of red. “Fuck you, too. You know what I mean.”
Drekk groaned and Ryen wanted to sag with relief. Instead, he pushed the medic and Rafe out of the way and knelt beside Drekk.
“Ryen?” Drekk rasped.
“You try leaving me here again and I’ll kick your ass all the way to Mornio.” Ryen carefully lifted him in his arms and took him into the bedroom. “Yo, medic, in here,” he yelled. Fellin hurried in. “So what’s the deal?” he asked the medic. “You going to tend to his wounds or not?”
“I, ah,” Fellin stuttered as he stared up at Ryen in awe or fright, Ryen couldn’t tell.
“Well?” he asked in a low voice, impatience gnawing at his temper.
“I’d like to, but he’s doing it all by himself. He must have injected a thraxian supplement before he arrived.”
Thank fate, Drekk’s natural healing abilities continued to work. “Yeah, right. Thraxian supplements.” Ryen cleared his throat, relief making him dizzy. Drekk really would be alright. “I think Cheltam wants a word.”
“Cheltam? I don’t hear...” At Ryen’s glare, Fellin raced from the room.
Drekk coughed. “You going to threaten everyone in my dwelling?”
“Hell, yes.” Ryen sank to the bed next to him. “How bad do you feel?”
“A few busted ribs, a concussion, some lacerations on my arms and chest. Nothing a few night’s rest won’t cure.” Drekk blearily opened his eyes. “Nice collar you got there.” His shit-eating grin should have irritated Ryen, and it normally would have.
Ryen grinned back.
“Maybe next time I’ll bring you with me,” Drekk joked. “You could have kicked some serious Ebrellion ass.”
Ebrellions?
Even on Eyra in the labs Ryen had heard about the Ebrellions. Aliens from another star system who could supposedly do all manner of things. Deadly warriors who could shapeshift and communicate telepathically. And teleport, he thought with suspicion, recalling the male who’d appeared with Drekk and the female.
Ryen fumed. No one fucked with what he considered his. As if he’d allow anyone but himself to screw with his...lover.
Drekk closed his eyes with a goofy grin on his face. “Just gonna sleep this off,” he slurred. “Tell Cheltam—” He didn’t make it past the name.
Ryen didn’t look up when Rafe entered minutes later.
“The others took Olla back to her family. She woke enough to tell me what she remembers of the situation. Apparently, Drekk put down a shit load of Ebrellions. Olla was in and out of consciousness in that warehouse, but she thought the damned things shifted into
thrells
.”
Rafe handed him a communicator and nodded at Drekk. “I don’t trust the sorry bastard to tell me if he’s hurt. You call me if Drekk doesn’t heal properly, if anything at all looks off.” Rafe walked to the door and paused. “You know, he was pretty out of it. He brought the rest of the females to my place. Yet he brought this last one back home, to you.” Rafe gave him a look he couldn’t decipher and left.
Ryen settled in for the night next to Drekk. He lay on his side, his head propped on one hand as he studied the confusing male next to him.
‘Back home, to you’
played like a broken audio clip in his head.
Two days later, Drekk glared at the door and reconsidered his decision not to pound Ryen into
glar
-meat. For all that Ryen wore magnecuffs and a collar, he acted decidedly in charge, which negated all the progress Drekk had made with the stubborn male. Though Ryen catered to Drekk’s every unspoken whim, the humorous gleam in his eyes pissed Drekk the hell off. It was as if Ryen knew something he didn’t—like the location of the magnecuffs controller. Or that Ryen considered himself somehow superior since he waited on an injured, inferior Drekk hand and foot.
Having never challenged Ebrellions before, Drekk hadn’t been prepared for such a long recovery time. The other Creations he’d encountered during the years had been relatively easy to defeat considering his abilities. A whole two days in bed and Drekk was just beginning to waken from his body’s sluggish insistence that he rest while he healed. He remained conscious, though languorous through the process.
Damn it all, he
hated
immobility—a weakness he associated with his time spent in the labs. Even after a thousand years, he could still smell the
ong
disinfectant, could feel the metallic coolness of the table under him, the table upon which he’d bled to death countless times while sharp scalpels dug through his flesh, poking and prodding for answers...
“Time for a change.” Ryen entered unannounced, wearing nothing more than the damned collar and his bands. So much glorious flesh... The real crux of annoyance Drekk didn’t want to deal with.
This lust for Ryen was growing out of control. Due to his construct, Drekk fought against constant desire, his physical state notwithstanding. Normally he willed the feeling away, satisfied it with a skilled pleasurer, or buried it deep in the violence of his missions for Rafe. But with Ryen around, his libido wouldn’t quit.
Drekk shifted against the discomfort of his aching balls and sat up. Some ‘master’ he turned out to be, ruled by his cock.
Swearing as he helplessly stared over Ryen’s conditioned frame, he settled on the pert nipples begging for clamps. On the ridged abdomen his fingers itched to touch. And lower, on that large, growing shaft he could still feel spurting in his mouth...
“Problem?” Ryen asked. He crossed his arms, the sight of the magnecuffs an obvious reminder of what Drekk had done to secure Ryen’s presence.
A welling of rage took Drekk by surprise, because he knew his anger stemmed not from this situation, but from the fact that he still needed to force Ryen’s compliance. Without those cuffs, Ryen would leave without a backwards glance.
Drekk faced a hard truth he’d wanted to ignore. He needed Ryen’s full acceptance.
Not for Ryen’s sake, but for his own. The more time he spent around the maddening Creation, the longer he not only lusted after him, but cared for him.
Ryen’s gentleness the past few days added another facet to his intriguing personality.
When Ryen acted so tender, Drekk wondered if he was truly as damaged as he at first had appeared. And if he wasn’t, then Drekk had no real reason to keep him here.
“Roll over,” Ryen said to break the silence.
Drekk frowned. “On my belly? Why?”
“So I can see the last bandage on your back. You might not believe it, but the
threll
toxin that hit you really affected your wound. It healed and reopened several times over the past few days. Nasty stuff.” Ryen waited with a patience not in keeping with his character, alerting Drekk to be wary.
“I can take care of it myself.” Drekk felt much better, though his back still twinged.
His front
twinged
as well, especially when he caught Ryen’s pheromones floating around the room. “Cut it out.”
“What?” Ryen frowned. “You hurting?” he asked gruffly.
Yeah, I’m hard as hell.
“I think you’ve forgotten who’s in charge. I
said
I can handle it. Now go get me something to eat. And none of that grainy shit. I want some meat.”
The bastard had the audacity to smile when three days ago he’d been scowling at anything with a pulse. “Yes, Sir. I’m here to serve.”
Why the hell does he keep calling me ‘Sir’? He’s acting anything but submissive. That blow job
before I left must have really done the trick. So why do I feel like I’m missing something here?
Drekk studied Ryen, wishing he could read minds. Ryen’s actions didn’t fit with the hard, unstable warrior he’d left behind.
Ryen turned, and as he walked out, Drekk swore he saw something between Ryen’s ass cheeks.
The blood still in his head rushed straight to his groin. Drekk suddenly had to see his toy collection hidden in the armoire. Ryen made sounds in the dining area outside. No time like the present. Just as he’d reached his feet and the dizziness had run its course, Ryen returned.