Drew moaned softly as Trace withdrew his finger. He jumped off the bed, searched his pants for the keys to the restraints and undid Drew’s ankles. Drew watched him, an eyebrow raised. “You must really want a fuck.”
Trace glanced up at him, crawling on the bed again and lifting Drew’s legs over his shoulders. “Why’d you say that?”
Suddenly, Drew’s legs twisted around Trace’s neck, tight.
“You’ve forgotten your training sweetie, you don’t remember? I can break your neck like this.”
Trace felt his air being closed off. He struggled, clutching at Drew’s legs, but he couldn’t move them.
“That’s what happens when you think with your cock,” Drew laughed. That was the last thing Trace heard before the darkness.
It wasn’t long before Tor burst into the room. He froze for a moment surveying the scene of Trace lying with this head on Drew’s upper thigh. Drew had to say that he thoroughly enjoyed the expression on that bastard’s face, a mix of rage and extreme jealousy. “What the hell?”
Drew cocked his head. “I suggest you undo my wrists and put your little plan into motion.”
“What did you do to him?” He demanded, rushing over and taking Trace’s pulse.
“It’s what he did to me, and I’m sure you’re not interested in the details. He’s fine. He’s just out for a while. Okay, I’m ready, get me out of here.”
Tor stood back, took a breath. “It will take at least an hour. I need to enact the shield so no one sees the ship leave. Can you handle a 23A1delta6?”
“I can drive anything. Get my crew.”
“I’ll just take Trace back to…”
“You won’t be taking Trace anywhere. He’s coming with me.”
Tor folded his arms across his chest and laughed. “No way.”
“Ever heard the expression, if you love something, set it free?”
“Ever heard the word, no?”
Drew laughed. “Not too often.”
“Um, I can imagine, but you’re hearing it now. It defeats my purpose, doesn’t it? I’m letting you leave so that…”
“Yes, I know, so that you can lick Trace’s wounds, heal his broken heart, drive home to him what a rogue bastard I am…but there’s one flaw in your plan, after I’m gone, who do you think they’ll blame for my escape? Who’ll they punish?”
“If he goes with you, I’ll…”
Drew put up his hand. “I’ll honour our agreement. You have my word.”
“You’ll make him believe you don’t care for him?”
“If I have to beat the crap out of him, but if you want him to stay alive, he has to go with us. I’ll take him home. You can find him there.” Drew looked away. It was the only way. He might be a rogue. He might have stretched a few rules, and had a memory lapse or two when it came to integrity, but he was a man of his word. If he had to break Trace’s heart, send him back to this prick to keep him alive, he’d do it. He couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to Trace. Even if they weren’t together, there was peace in knowing he was living and breathing somewhere. It didn’t matter anyway, there’d never be anyone else for him but Trace, his drink of water, his life.
“You got quiet there, Captain, second thoughts?”
“Trust me or not, but make your damn choice.”
“I could just leave you here, report what you’ve done. You’d be killed immediately.”
“And Trace would hate you.”
Tor swore under his breath.
“You want to own, possess him, fuck that sweet ass of his every night, then let me take him out of here, protect him. He’ll lose his job but he’ll find something else. Or he can just come back and say I kidnapped him, took him hostage.”
“Um, that might work. Okay, I’ll prepare.”
“Hey, ah…the hands? I need clothes too.”
“Right, okay.” Tore came over and undid his wrists.
It took everything he had not to put his fist through Tor’s face, but he couldn’t, not if he wanted to get everyone out of here. Instead, he gave him a forced grin. “Get the clothes. Get my crew.”
Chapter Four
It was the motion which roused him, a high hurling sound, and then the sensation of movement, fast, reckless. His teeth rattled in his head for a moment. He went to reach out but found he couldn’t. His hands were tied behind his back. He swore, struggled with the ropes. He was sitting on the floor in a dark compartment. There was something in his mouth. He tried to call for help but he was only able to utter a muffled sound. His throat hurt. Then he remembered. Drew.
A light flicked on overhead. He blinked. Drew stood there, dressed in some blue pants which looked a little too big on him, and a white shirt which wasn’t his style at all. “Hello Trace, comfy?”
Trace glared at him.
Drew laughed. He walked over and leant down, removing the gag from his mouth.
“What in the…?”
“You’re my hostage,” he shrugged.
“Where are we?”
“On a ship, courtesy of your employers.”
“You commandeered a ship?”
“Well, I wasn’t just going to lay there and die, or let you fuck me to death, whichever came first. And I really had to take a wicked piss.”
“How? How did you…?”
“You look furious.”
“Drew. You almost killed me. You…”
Drew grinned. “No honey. If I’d have wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”
“Who undid your cuffs?”
“You’re just full of questions, now aren’t you?” He folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head.
“Drew!”
“Um?”
“How did you…”
“Captain,” a male voice called out suddenly, “we’re running into a lot of turbulence.”
“I’m coming, Will,” he called back.
“Um, wonder how many times you said those words,” Trace grumbled.
“I’ll never tell,” he winked and disappeared from the cabin.
Trace made several attempts to struggle to his feet. With his hands still tied, he made it from the cabin to the control room. Pagnotella was at the controls, Will co-piloting. Drew was peering at the screen over the woman’s shoulders. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he muttered.
“Yes, and thick,” Pagnotella pointed out.
“Go slowly, but keep moving, put the craft into downshift eight. That should keep her steady and alert us to any new navigational problems.”
“Okay,” she said. “Sounds sane.”
“Why, thank you, woman,” he teased, looking up as he spotted Trace.
Pagnotella sniggered.
Will glanced at Drew. “Should the hostage be walking around?”
“It’s not like I can escape,” Trace sneered, coming closer to the screen. He too studied. “Unusual,” he said to Drew, “a little frightening.”
“Exciting,” Drew countered.
Trace hid a smile. That was Drew. Fear was foreign to him. Suddenly, Trace reached over and grabbed his arm. He pulled him forward. For a second, Trace’s pulse raced, he thought he was going to kiss him. Instead, he whirled him around and untied his hands.
“That’s not a good idea,” Will protested.
Drew ignored him.
Trace glanced at him, noticing how battered his face still looked. “I’m sorry about the beating. I would have never authorised that.”
Will just looked away.
Drew looked at him suddenly. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
“Yes, we damn well do. I want answers.”
“You’re not in control here,” Drew told him, eyeing him. “I give the orders.”
Trace groaned as he followed Drew down the corridor to the room at the end of the hall. He rubbed his neck. It was bruised, and beginning to hurt like hell.
Drew looked at him. “It will be all right in few days. Close the door.”
Trace sucked in some breath. Alone, with Drew. It was painful, especially since Drew told him he no longer felt anything for him. “So, what do you want to talk about? You want to tell me again how you don’t feel anything for me?”
Drew lowered his head, sighed. “No. I’ve already said what I needed to on that subject. I want to let you know that there’s no need for you to worry about your job. We took you hostage. You didn’t have a choice and…”
“Do you honestly think I care about my job, or that I could possibly go back there? It doesn’t matter how it happened. It showed incompetence on my part, and they were already questioning my judgement where you were concerned.”
“Did you tell them that we were lovers?”
“No. But they probably all ready know. So, how did you do it?”
“Tor.”
“Tor? Not exactly your greatest ally.”
“I threatened to kill you if he didn’t help us escape.” He paused. “He…ah…loves you.”
Trace narrowed his eyes, observing how Drew suddenly turned his back. “I don’t love him. And it’s not love really. It’s more about possession with him and…”
“I’ll take you home,” he said abruptly. “As soon as it’s safe then you can go back to Tor, or…”
“I don’t love Tor. I love you.” There was no point lying, in trying to deny it.
Silence.
Trace swallowed. “Well,” he managed, “I’ll try to stay out of your way until…” He stopped, the words stuck in his throat. “And Will?”
“Will is my friend.”
“He wants more, much more. He wants to touch you, to make love to you, to kiss that hot, sweet mouth of yours and…”
“Trace!” Drew snapped, turning around.
“I…I’m sorry,” he shook himself. It was as if he had no control. Did he want him to beg, fall to his knees and plead for his touch? He would have if he’d thought it would do any good. Drew looked miles away suddenly even though he was standing right in front of him.
“I have to get back to the controls. Feel free to make your way around the ship.”
“Where do I sleep?” He met his gaze. The question hung in the air between them.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Drew said, brushing by him.
It was Will who showed him a bunk in a dark corner of the ship. He threw a blanket and a pillow at him. “Don’t make trouble,” he barked.
Trace did his best to sleep but to no avail. Finally, he got up and wandered along the long corridor to the control room. It was empty, except for Drew, who sat there in front of the controls, with his face in his hands. He looked up when he heard the sound behind him.
“Can’t sleep?”
Trace shook his head. “Your watch?”
“Yep.”
“Can I sit with you?”
Drew looked at him for a second then shrugged.
After a few minutes, Trace said softly, “So, who was the gambler?”
“Huh?”
“The gambler who gave you the tip?”
“There wasn’t any.”
Trace leant back in the seat and laughed. “You made it up?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
He turned in his seat, arms akimbo and grinned. “My crew would have fought me on it if I’d told them the truth. I would have never gotten them to go there.”
“So, what was the truth?”
“I had a dream.”
“A dream?”
He leant forward. “I dreamt of a frozen lake. I dreamt of you.”
Trace met his gaze. His throat ached. “I see.”
He leant back again, all of a sudden far away again. There was silence. “Now what?”
“I don’t know. I have this ship but my equipment is gone. And this craft isn’t exactly equipped for water excavation.”
“Back to the military?”
Drew laughed. “No way.”
“You could always be a rent boy. You got the body for it.”
Drew grinned. “Too old.”
Trace reached across and touched his hands. He searched his face, his gaze falling on his mouth. “Oh no, not at all.” He grabbed his hair and pulled, surprised when Drew didn’t balk. Their lips met hungrily, Drew returning kiss after kiss.
Trace fumbled for the zipper on Drew’s pants, whipping it down and struggling to get his hand inside. He sighed into Drew’s mouth when his anxious fingers found his cock. His lips went to Drew’s throat, pulled his T-shirt up and over his neck, throwing it aside. He pressed his shoulders back to the chair, licked his nipples, his chest, his stomach, squeezing and massaging his cock until it sprang up and out, brushing Trace’s lips. “Tell me again how you don’t love me, Drew?” He wet his lips and sucked the length of Drew’s scrotum.
Drew reared back in the chair. “Lust is lust,” he grunted.
“God damn right,” Trace growled, taking Drew’s cock into his mouth and swallowing it half way.
Drew’s hand landed in his hair. “It doesn’t mean…” he moaned.
Trace took him deeper into his throat, his hands tightening on Drew’s calves. Drew’s cum filled his mouth. Drew shouted. Trace released his cock from his mouth and held it for a second, pressing his lips to it just before Drew shrunk away from him, wheeling back in his chair.
Trace sat back watching him silently, waiting while Drew’s chest heaved then finally quieted. “Does Will do that to you?”
“Trace, look,” Drew threatened, “I don’t want to…” He paused. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” Trace blinked.
“That. Listen.” Drew turned to the control panel, hastily doing up his pants.
Trace sat up, took notice.
“Hear it?”
“Yeah. It’s like a tock, tock, tock.”
“It’s like,” he looked at Trace, his mouth open, “Trace, it’s rain.”
Trace’s mouth opened now too, his gaze riveted to Drew. “Rain?” He could scarcely breathe.
“That’s what that was on the radar. It was a storm.” He fiddled with a few dials, brought up a mapping device.
Trace came closer to him, leaning over his shoulder. “Where are we?”
Suddenly, the rain was pounding the craft sliding down the window in front of their eyes.
“We’re approaching earth,” Drew said. “Trace,” he turned to him, “do you know what this means? Baby? Do you know what…?”
“Yes. It means the climate changes are altering, normalising again and…”
Drew stood up. He grabbed Trace and squeezed him tight. He laughed like a banshee, twirling him around. “We found the rain, Trace. We found the rain!”
They were kissing wildly when Will and Pagnotella came out. Drew hastily released him and put some distance between them. “Will, Tella,” Drew gushed, “it’s raining. Can you believe it?”
Everyone celebrated for a few seconds then Will demanded to know when they were planning to ’dump the hostage’.
“Soon,” Drew said, and left the room.
Trace followed.
“Not now, Trace,” Drew muttered, pretending to be busy looking at something on a computer screen.
“We found rain? Are you still going to pretend we…?”
“I’ll take you home. I guess I’ll have to find a new job.”
“Drew?”
“Don’t, Trace,” he groaned. Damn, he’d given his word. Even if it was to that scumbag, Tor. “Look, I’ll take you home and then in a while, maybe if I come back and you’re still around, I’ll…”
“You’re blubbering.” Trace was grinning at him which meant he wasn’t buying it. “Why?”
“I told Tor I’d…”
“Aha. An honour thing. But you can lie to your crew about a gambler.”
“Never mind that. That was money, plus…” He paused. “Damn, I’m in a lot of shit in many places. I haven’t delivered on my…there might be a price on my head, not to mention my ass.”
&n
bsp; “Your ass is mine,” Trace said meaningfully. He raked his eyes over him. “Speaking of which, get them off.”
“What?”
“Your clothes, buck ass naked, now. We’re landing this thing.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Yep. Crazy in love with you, Captain. Now, tell that navigator of yours, and while you’re at it, tell that little cabin boy you will be no longer in need of his services.” Trace pressed the speaker on the wall. “Talk.” He began to undo his pants again.
Drew had never seen him like this. He liked it. He liked it a lot. “Ah,” he grinned at Trace as Trace took his cock out of his pants and began stroking it, “Tella, please find a place to land.”
“Why?” came the reply.
“Because ah…yeah…well…” He licked his lips, trying to keep it out of his voice, the pleasure that was building. “Don’t ask, just do it.”
“And Will,” Trace insisted, nibbling his ear as he continued to make love to his cock.
“Will, I’m ah…oh…ah…Will…you ah…need to find a m…m…an.”
Trace pulled his hand away and pushed him against the wall. “I think he got that.” He kissed his chest, teased his nipples, tormented his cock just enough to keep it hard and ready.
“Oh, you’re going to get it,” Drew laughed, a glint in his dark eyes.
“I’m counting on it.”
The craft landed with a thud. They both laughed. “Disgruntled crew?” Trace teased, pulling Drew to the exit by his erection.
“Ah…oh yeah…” he managed.
When the door opened, they stepped out, both of them suddenly saturated with the warm rain. Trace tore off his clothes and danced around in it until Drew grabbed him from behind and put him down to the soft ground. Drew bit Trace’s shoulder then drove into him.
Stealing Rain Page 5
