A King's Ransom

by Lia Black

  "I'm...forgive me." Guis touched his arm. "Can we talk for a few minutes?"

  Kaidos shrugged and followed Guis to a dark alley created between two rows of wagons. They startled a couple of teenagers out of a kiss and the boy and girl ran like rabbits.

  "I don't have long." Kaidos folded his arms, if for no other reason than just to keep them still. Half of him wanted to hug Guis and the other wanted to throttle him.

  "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. The reason that I said those things back then...it was because I was jealous."

  "Jealous?" Kaidos had tried hard but he would never forget the look in Guis' eyes when Guis had told him that he was disgusting and amoral, then stalked--for what he'd been convinced would be forever--out of his life.

  "I...never told you. I was…in love with you." Guis sighed, bowing his head.

  Kaidos felt his mouth go dry and his throat tightened around his initial response. He and Guis had been friends since they were both eleven, and their friendship had lasted for only seven years. At one time Kaidos had believed they'd be friends forever. But after Guis' betrayal, Kaidos had left the clan. He'd only come back about eight months ago--after he'd been imprisoned and had escaped with the help of his brothers. Since then he hadn't returned until tonight. He finally managed to get a few words past his lips.

  "Why are you telling me this now?"

  Guis worried his lower lip with his teeth. His dark eyes were filled with sincerity. "Because I needed to tell you the truth. I am leaving the clan. I have met someone, and through the wisdom of my years, and meeting him, I realized what a horrible thing I had done to you--to your trust and our friendship. I would have told you sooner..."

  "But you didn't." Kaidos swallowed back the burning lump in his throat.

  "I saw you when they brought you back from DeMarkay Keep. I thought you might die, and I tried to come then, but you were never alone…Lirin was…" Guis trailed off as tension burned through Kaidos' muscles at the sound of his brother's name. He sighed, and abandoned the previous explanation. "When I finally got the opportunity, you were suddenly gone again."

  Kaidos leaned against the side of the wagon with a heavy sigh. His brain tripped over a statement Guis had made earlier. "Wait; you said 'meeting him'. Who is he?"

  Guis closed his eyes, his jaw tensing. "He is my lover."

  "You are a twinheart?" He was not entirely surprised, now that he understood the reason Guis had pushed him away.

  Guis mirrored Kaidos' posture, but his gaze remained downcast. "No. I am of one heart, and that heart belongs to Xan."

  Kaidos looked down at his dust-covered boots. "I see." It appeared that the world had gone slightly mad around him. He'd never knowingly met a man who would choose to be with another of his same sex out of real love, and had come to believe it was an act brought on by something vile. After Guis' rejection, Kaidos had done all that he could to force these beliefs into his heart. Men did not love men in that way—it was impossible. No one would willingly submit to the role of a woman within their culture…

  Kaidos suddenly understood now why Guis was leaving. There was no place in their culture for a man such as him. Guis had always been very attractive, so much so that the girls who might have been considered marriage partners resented him. He was a strong and quick hunter, but slim and fine-boned, and he had always been far more interested in spending time with Kaidos than finding a potential wife.

  "I met Xan a few years ago, when my father was trying to push a marriage onto me. He was a nomad even among the Wanderer tribes. A Shaman. My father believed I was…" Guis took a deep breath, and continued. "…he thought that there was a curable reason for my lack of interest in women. Getting to know Xan...he made me understand a few things I was afraid to admit to myself…or to you." Guis raised his head and Kaidos was surprised to see his dark eyes shining with tears. Without waiting for an invitation, Guis hugged him. "I'm so sorry. I was too selfish to see how badly you were hurting."

  Hesitantly, Kaidos placed his hands on Guis' back, trying not to let himself succumb to emotion. "It's not your fault," he said, his voice husky. "I would have done the same." He felt Guis nodding his head against his shoulder, and the man let out a small sob before loosening his hold. Apparently Guis had suffered his own torments over the years as well. Coming to apologize and admit the things he was admitting now to Kaidos were things that Kaidos knew he would not be brave enough to do himself.

  "Thank you Kai." Guis' voice held a soft tremor as he stepped back from the embrace. He dabbed at one shining eye with the back of his hand. "That man you are with. He is someone special to you."

  It wasn't a question, yet Kaidos didn't deny it--even though Veyl's current level of special was tied up with the price on his head, and not tangled by the romantic attachments Guis assumed.

  "I need to get back." Kaidos mumbled, jerking his head in the general direction of his borrowed wagon.

  Guis smiled softly, though still it was imbued with apology. "I understand. Take care of yourself, Kai. I hope that we can meet again, and I hope that you will meet Xan."

  "Mm." Kaidos nodded, still shaken by the confession as Guis stepped back and quietly slipped away.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Marriage Bed

  It had taken Kaidos a while to return to the wagon where he'd stashed Veyl for the night. After Guis had left him, he'd tried unsuccessfully to cloud his mind with drink.

  "It's me." Kaidos knocked on the door to the wagon, pressing his ear against the wood to listen for movement inside.

  Veyl's voice answered him, surprisingly close to the door.

  "Me who?'"

  Kaidos gritted his teeth. He could hear the note of mockery in Veyl's reply.

  "Open the damn door."

  The door pulled inward and Kaidos stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was the bed. Dlava had claimed that there was some floor space, but even combining each separate piece of cleared flooring would barely be enough room for a child to lie down, let alone a man of Kaidos' size. The bed dominated the center of the room. It was a very nice piece of furniture; hand carved oak inlaid with lighter tiles of birch that were shaped like hearts and birds, topped by a lovingly stitched blue and gold quilt. This had likely been the marriage bed of the chieftain's daughter and her new husband. It was common in the clans for a female child to stay close to her parent's wagon on her wedding night when the boy was not from the same tribe.

  Recognizing it for what it was, Kaidos considered that maybe he could sleep on the steps outside, but there would be time to think about that later. Currently he was starving and wanted nothing more than a decent meal and a mind soaked with mead.

  Veyl closed the door and then stood off to one side of the bed. There was a small lantern burning near the ceiling, bathing the room in honey-colored light. The room was very warm, having only some vents under the eaves instead of proper windows, and Veyl had stripped down to the dusty breeches Kaidos had offered him earlier. His hair was braided, but a few loose strands had escaped and curled around his face. A light sheen of sweat gilded his skin and Kaidos looked away. His face felt warm as he busied himself by laying out upon the bed the items he'd brought.

  "There's some bread, a bit of venison, mead..."

  "I can see that, thank you." Veyl chuckled as his gaze fell upon the two bottles lying on the bed.

  Kaidos felt irritated by his inability to look at this man without feeling a twinge of arousal. In the past, he'd had no trouble looking at another man and admiring the cut of his muscles, or the way he moved in battle or in dance. But that was different--he'd never felt any stirring of desire to run his hands over their flesh, or bury his face against it and just breathe. He blamed Guis and their conversation for putting these thoughts into his head.

  Veyl said, "You should take off some of that clothing--it's an oven in here."

  Kaidos knew Veyl was right, and the temperature was to blame for his sweating, just as his hunger was the reason his hands
shook, and thirst was why his throat was so dry. Although Veyl was a whore who preferred the company of men, even if Veyl had been a woman, Kaidos believed he had enough common sense and discipline to keep his hands and his desires to himself. If he was unable to relax and quell the thoughts that Guis had stirred, he could take himself quietly in hand after Veyl went to sleep. Although, the thought did not appeal to him the way it normally might.

  "Is one of those bottles for me, or are you planning on having both for yourself?" Veyl raised an eyebrow as he inclined his head. His hands were on his hips.

  Kaidos jerked his head towards a bottle with a small grunt and began to take off his shirt as Veyl sat down on the bed and reached for the mead.

  *~*~*

  Veyl uncorked the bottle of honeyed mead and took a long drink. He'd half-considered running before Kaidos had come back, but his hunger and the presence of Wanderers close outside the caravan had squashed his determination. Perhaps he might wait until Kaidos was asleep, but only if he didn't manage to become drunk himself on the spirits. Veyl was not accustomed to drinking anything so strong, and with the heat inside the wagon and so little food in his belly, he could already feel himself becoming light-headed. He reached out and took a piece of bread, nibbling it slowly. "We'll likely have crumbs on the bed but it's worth it for a mattress and a good meal." Veyl mumbled, hoping he wasn't beginning to slur his words already.

  Kaidos stripped down to his breeches as well and joined Veyl to sit on the big bed to eat. It was obvious to Veyl that there were things on Kaidos' mind, and that he'd been drinking before he'd turned up with their dinner. He seemed unwilling to meet Veyl's eyes, and he sat at the absolute edge of the overstuffed mattress, picking at a bruise in an apple he was eating. Kaidos took a long swallow from his bottle. A bead of sweat ran down with the movement of his throat and Veyl followed it's glistening trail through the dark hair covering Kaidos' chest; all the way down over the bunched muscles of his abdomen until it met the fabric of his breeches and disappeared.

  "So why would anyone want to pay to have a whore brought overseas?" Kaidos mused aloud after a long period of silence, startling Veyl from his slightly inebriated stupor.

  Veyl blew out a slow breath, smoothing on the façade he reserved for his customers. "You don't think word of my talent travels so far?" He tried to laugh, but the alcohol made his tone sound bitter. Drink wasn't necessarily the thing he needed now, but he wanted it. His life--such as it was--had been taken from him by this man to become the property of a man he'd never met. Why indeed would someone be so interested in him?

  "I thought it was to punish Engel...but you say the man won't come after you, and obviously killing you would have been less trouble, if punishment was the desired outcome." Kaidos' voice was a mumble as he continued to drink more than eat and stared into space. He'd lost interest in the apple all together now, and his brow knit with some internal deliberation.

  Veyl grimaced.

  "I just don't understand..." Kaidos suddenly leaned in close, examining Veyl's face earnestly through his intoxication, "what's so special about you?"

  Veyl could smell the scent of Kaidos' heat blended with the sweet tang of the honeyed mead. At his current level of inebriation, Kaidos was a lot closer than he would normally be--just like at the campsite, and the mead and temperature had bestowed a comfortable languor on Veyl as well. This time there was no place to run to--no option to push Kaidos far away--so he let himself revert to the one thing he knew. The only power he had.

  "What's so special about me? Want to find out for yourself?" Veyl licked the sweat off of his upper lip, gliding his pink tongue slowly over the taste of honey and salt.

  Kaidos watched the movement with the intensity of a man committing something to memory. Already Veyl could see his chest rising and falling as his breathing became more rapid. Veyl dared to reach out and press his hand against the crotch of Kaidos' breeches. He expected Kaidos to smack him away--he didn't expect him to be hard.

  Veyl looked down in surprise but Kaidos caught his wrist in a tight and painful grip, not letting him take his hand away. When Veyl raised his head to protest, the grip slackened and Kaidos leaned in, capturing Veyl's mouth in a kiss. It was fumbling, wet, and rough--like a little boy trying it out for the first time. In it, Veyl tasted Kaidos' need lingering just below the surface of his inebriation.

  Veyl eased out of the kiss and began rubbing Kaidos through the coarse fabric of his breeches. Kaidos let out a sound, nearly a whimper, and Veyl guided him to rest back into the pillows. His captor was vulnerable, submissive, as most men were when under his influence. It proved to Veyl that Kaidos Vailinn was not immune to that influence.

  "Shhhh..." He soothed Kaidos, one hand unfastening the lacing on his breeches while he caressed his cheek and kissed him softly about the face and neck. Kaidos' pulse beat against his throat, the thick vein running just under the surface of his sweat-slicked skin as Veyl pressed his lips to it. He sucked just a little, bringing a small amount of blood towards the surface to leave a bruise.

  There was torment in Kaidos' lust. Veyl guessed it was the part of Kaidos that didn't want to be attracted to someone of his own sex, yet when Veyl gave any indication of pulling away, Kaidos clung to him and drew him back.

  Veyl eased Kaidos out of his breeches, careful to move slowly in case the man might change his mind. Despite the power he wielded with sex, Veyl was aware that his hold over someone like Kaidos was precarious at best. The rogue was a wolf that could easily turn and attack.

  Kaidos wore no undergarments, and the scent of fresh sweat and arousal filled the room with a heady, intoxicating musk. Veyl had to pause a moment to appreciate that Kaidos had a beautiful body. His thighs were lightly furred and thick with muscle, his legs and torso were long and sculpted, and his cock was substantial when Veyl took it in hand. Its length beat along his belly, the foreskin pulled back from the swollen purple head. A thread of precome stretched glistening from the tip to where it pooled near his navel. Veyl sucked another small kiss against the stubble of Kaidos' chin, then began moving down his body. His hand cupped the velvety skin of Kaidos balls, hanging low and heavy between his open thighs.

  Kaidos groaned; his voice so soft and deep it was only a rumble through his chest. Veyl felt it vibrate against his lips as he drew a hot trail of kisses down the center of Kaidos' body. He stopped to flick one nipple with his tongue, tasting the salty tang of the sensitive nub. Kaidos shivered and his nipple hardened; so too did the already rigid flesh in Veyl's hand.

  He moved lower, dipping very briefly into the recess of Kaidos' navel, then turned his face to lap up the growing clear pool of precome forming on his belly. It must have been some time since he'd relieved himself. His erection was so hard it looked painful, and the iron rod moved beneath its silken sheath as if it had a life of its own.

  Veyl slid down the rest of the way, settling his body on the bed between Kaidos' open thighs. He nibbled lightly along the rise of one hipbone as his hand continued very gently to work along the shaft of Kaidos' cock. Despite his light intoxication, Veyl felt himself becoming very aroused. With his other hand, he released his own erection through the fly of his breeches, and began to stroke himself as he took Kaidos between his lips.

  It was fortunate that Kaidos was also exhausted and drunk, or he would have drilled a hole through Veyl's skull as he tried to thrust into his mouth. But Veyl maintained an expert control over the depth and power of Kaidos' thrusts. He moved his arm to rest against Kaidos' inner thigh, so if he thrust too hard the sharp bone of his elbow would press against a bundle of nerves there and threaten an uncomfortable spasm. He doubted the need to employ this measure, because Kaidos wasn't going to last very long. Veyl ran his tongue beneath the ridge, flicking at the thin fiber beneath the notched head. Then he pressed his tongue into the leaking slit before sucking Kaidos down his throat and swallowing his release.

  "Ah! Gods!" Kaidos growled through gritted teeth. Every muscle became like fo
rged steel as he sent several explosive spurts down Veyl's throat. When Kaidos finished spending, his bones turned to water and he dropped immediately into a dead sleep.

  Veyl hissed as he let Kaidos' softening cock slip from between his lips. He hadn't thought he would become so aroused. A couple of evenings ago, he was certain Kaidos had been considering murder once he'd found out that Veyl too was a man; not to mention the fact that he'd abducted him. But despite his criminal status—or maybe because of it, Veyl found his rough edge incredibly sexy. Kaidos was a man whose body--though scarred--could rival that of a god's. Everything about him screamed of his sex and virility, though he seemed ignorant of his effect.

  Veyl whimpered softly as his own climax coated his hands. How pathetic. For the first time he could remember, he had taken himself in hand without so much as an appreciative audience. The heat and cloying aroma of sweat and sex made Veyl's body feel like lead. He wobbled as he sat up and wiped himself clean using the edge of the sheet.

  Kaidos was snoring softly, sprawled across the big bed as though he'd been poured onto it.

  Although it was an ill-advised long shot, Veyl rose unsteadily from the bed and moved to the door, trying the handle.

  Locked. And outside the voices of the tribesmen carried on.

  "Damn it." Veyl sighed, sitting down heavily on the end of the soft mattress. Even if he had managed to get out, he was aware of the futility of doing so. He had no idea where he was, and it was uncertain which would prove more hostile to him—the terrain or the Wanderers once they realized he was part elf. On top of that, he was too inebriated to get very far, should someone deign to point him in the right direction.

  Then of course, there was Lirin. Veyl could never remember being frightened of a man as much as he was frightened of Lirin. With a defeated sigh, Veyl finally lay back on the bed and closed his eyes.