Allie's War Early Years

by JC Andrijeski

  Revik watched his form recede, at least until the darkness of the night and overhanging trees swallowed him. He felt nothing off the other male’s light... not even a ripple of reaction, much less a thought aimed in Revik’s direction.

  From his light, he might not have noticed Revik’s offer at all.

  Ontari glanced over his shoulder in the same pause, following Dalejem’s retreat with his eyes before he looked back at Revik, quirking an eyebrow.

  Revik felt the pain in his chest worsen, had to fight to keep it off his face.

  Eventually he could only stare at the fire again, not seeing it.

  The pain pooled somewhere in his chest as the silence stretched. It sharpened the longer he sat there, starting to slide back into the forward areas of his light, to tug at different segments of his aleimi, to cloud his mind. He remembered what Terian had said, about Council-approved whores and his pain worsened, even as he considered leaving again... just walking the fuck out. Maybe a human would be better. Anything would be better than this.

  He was contemplating getting up...

  When someone stood in front of him, blocking the firelight from his view.

  Revik looked up at the shadowy outline, and saw Dalai standing there, with her boyfriend, the muscular seer named Nurek. They were holding hands.

  When Revik glanced up, she smiled at him, holding out a hand to him, too.

  “I think we got here first, brother,” she said, soft. “Is that all right?”

  He stared at her hand.

  Briefly, that heavier feeling of defeat swam over him, something like surrender mixed with the knowledge that, even if this was pure charity, he wasn’t in a position to refuse.

  He barely hesitated before he nodded.

  He slid his fingers into hers when she offered them again.

  He was standing an instant later, letting her lead him towards the row of tents on the other side of the fire... the opposite side into which Dalejem had disappeared, only seconds before.

  But Revik couldn’t think about that right now, either.

  11

  OPENED AND HALF-WILLING

  REVIK BARELY ENTERED the tent with them before they started undressing him.

  He just stood there as they did it, unsure if he should try to help. They seemed to know what they were doing, what they wanted. Dalai stood in front of him, unhooking the vest he wore, only to have Nurek pull it off his shoulders from behind. Dalai grinned at him then, sliding her fingers into his hair and tugging his mouth gently down to hers.

  They kissed. The kiss lasted for what felt like a long time, but through most of it, Revik found himself struggling, unable to relax. He felt himself holding back, too, trying to even get his bearings in this.

  He supposed it was stupid, really, to try and think about it at all.

  His mind told him that, but knowing that didn’t really help. It didn’t really allow him to relax, either, not enough to know what to do.

  Dalai was unfastening the front of his shirt then, and the male seer tugged that off his back as well, yanking it and the armored shirt under it out from his belt as he removed it. Not waiting, Nulek yanked up the armored shirt, too, pulling it up over Revik’s head and off his arms, forcing Dalai to break off their kiss long enough for her boyfriend to get the stretchy material off him.

  Then Nulek sucked in a breath.

  “Gaos...” he murmured. He spoke louder then, directing his words and light to his girlfriend, Dalai. “Holy di’lanlente a guete... Dalai! Come here! Look at this poor brother’s back...”

  He traced scars with his fingertips, cursing again under his breath, in a different language that time, what sounded like a dialect of Mandarin.

  “Gaos,” he murmured, softer. “Did you know about this, baby?”

  Revik tensed, feeling the male’s fingers running along more of the marks on his back, as if making sense of them by touch. When Dalai slid around behind him, too, her arm still coiled around his bare waist, she let out an even more shocked gasp than Nulek had.

  “Holy fuck!” she said then. “What the hell happened to you, brother?”

  Revik gritted his teeth, not answering.

  He just stood there while the two of them looked at him, not turning his head.

  Both of them caressed the scars, touching him from his shoulders to his belt, and Revik just stood there, enduring it. He didn’t mind them touching him there. It was the staring he couldn’t figure out how to manage, or how to stop.

  When the other male slid an arm around him, clasping his chest, Revik tensed again, closing his eyes as he tried to force himself to relax, to not care about this. It was normal for seers to react to this. It was normal; he didn’t need to make a big deal about it.

  He fought with what to say, but nothing came.

  There was nothing he could say, really. He didn’t remember. He didn’t remember how he got them, or what they meant. He didn’t want to remember. He didn’t even want to tell them he didn’t remember, because he knew how that sounded, too. He also knew that confessing that would likely only generate even more questions.

  Seers had photographic memories. To say he “didn’t remember” was as strange as having the scars in the first place.

  “It’s all right brother,” Nulek said from behind him. He massaged Revik’s chest, kissing his back. When Revik let out a low gasp, the male held him tighter. “It’s all right, brother,” he said again. “We won’t ask.”

  Revik nodded, grateful. He fought to relax, to lean into the other male, then he felt hands on his belt and opened his eyes.

  Dalai smiled at him from where she unhooked the clasp.

  “We need to get him down,” Nulek said to her. His voice still held that denser sympathy as he rubbed Revik’s shoulder, pressing against his back. “Get him naked and then get him to lie down, ilya... he needs fucking so badly I’m having trouble controlling my light.”

  Revik felt his tongue thicken, but didn’t speak.

  Dalai smiled up at him, then at the other man, nodding.

  “I know,” she said. “He’s like a walking advertisement for sex right now, aren’t you brother?” she teased softly, deliberately caressing the front of his pants. “Even with the scars, he’s young, though. How old are you, brother Dehgoies? Will you tell us?”

  Revik fought to think, feeling his face warm.

  “Seventy-nine,” he said, after a pause.

  Dalai flinched, looking up at him.

  Her hand remained on his crotch, but Revik felt shock emanate from her light. That same surprise opened her purple and blue eyes wider, even as she glanced at Nulek, who laughed.

  “Gods,” he said, kissing the back of Revik’s neck. “We’re fucking child molesters, ilya. Did you have any idea he was so young?”

  Dalai shook her head, that surprise still flickering through her light.

  “Gaos, no,” she said, the surprise audible in her voice, too. “I thought he had to be a century, at least, given his time with the Rooks and his placement there.” She looked up at Revik, studying his face openly. “So he’s not even at his full weight, yet. How is that possible?”

  Revik started to tense.

  He considered making a crack about them talking about him as if he wasn’t there... but they were both caressing him with their hands and light, so he found it difficult to hold on to his own resistance, much less the thread of his thoughts. His pain worsened the longer they touched him, but he found his desire to fight them melting, too, especially when they continued to warm him with their light, exploring him carefully with their hands. Dalai caressed him for a little longer, then returned her hands to his belt and finished unhooking the clasp.

  Revik’s body relaxed even more as she undressed him.

  He leaned more of his weight against the larger male, still fighting half-heartedly with his light, knowing he was losing that battle, too. Nulek was stroking him from behind and Revik let out another low groan...

  When movement at
the tent door jerked his eyes to the left.

  By then, Dalai already had his clothes more or less off, and was pulling the last pant leg off his ankle. Half-struggling against the arm that now held him tighter, exuding reassurance, Revik found himself cringing, feeling overly exposed.

  He didn’t feel better when he saw who stood there.

  Mara smiled at him, those almond-shaped and brilliant-colored hazel eyes sliding down the length of him to linger on his now-uncovered erection. Revik felt another conflicted stab of pain and unease at the intensity of her stare, even as Ontari smiled at him, from where he stood just behind her.

  “Mind company?” Ontari asked Nulek politely, glancing also at Dalai.

  Dalai laughed, but slid her body protectively in front of Revik’s.

  Nulek held him tighter, too, still exuding reassurance through his skin, and now protectiveness, too.

  Revik felt a gratitude so intense it nearly brought tears to his eyes.

  Dalai kept her voice light, but Revik heard the protectiveness in her voice, too.

  “Just how many are waiting out there to molest our poor brother?” Dalai said, quirking an eyebrow at Ontari. “Do you have any idea how young he is? He’s just told us, and now that I know, I think we’d better take it a little easier on him... at least until he’s well enough to be more discriminating in his affections.”

  Ontari waved her concerns away with a smile.

  “Oh, there were more,” the other seer said cheerfully. “...Believe me, there were more. Balidor capped it at the two of us, with admonitions that we play nice with his newest recruit. Besides, I think he’d prefer it if brother Revik could actually walk tomorrow...”

  Dalai laughed again but didn’t move from her protective position in front of Revik. He felt the wariness of her light, and breathed another pulse of gratitude at her and Nulek.

  Mara hadn’t taken her eyes off him.

  Raising her gaze from his lower body, she quirked an eyebrow at his face directly then, a smile touching the edge of her lips.

  “You don’t mind if we stay, do you brother Dehgoies?” she said. “You did make an open offer. Were Ontari and I somehow not meant to be included?”

  Revik fought with emotions conflicting around his light, distrust.

  He didn’t plan to speak, but did, his voice coming out harsher than he intended.

  “You don’t want me,” he said to her. “You made that clear. Why are you here?”

  She smiled openly at that, tilting her head at him, even as she made a dismissive gesture with her fingers. “We are a long way away from our introduction in those caves, brother. I had my role to play there, anyway... I thought brother Balidor told you that?”

  Revik shook his head, feeling that panic settle deeper in his chest.

  “You don’t like me,” he said.

  She smiled again, her eyes holding a more predatory glint.

  “Do I need to like you?” she asked sweetly.

  “If it means you’re going to hurt me if you don’t... yes,” he said, his voice short.

  Revik’s face flushed hotter after he said it, but he didn’t lower his gaze.

  He could feel Dalai hovering over him protectively again, even as she made a negative gesture to Mara.

  “Maybe you should go, sister,” she said, her voice worried.

  Mara looked only at Revik, though.

  “Brother,” she sighed, clicking softly. The coyness dropped from her voice, even as she rested her hands on her hips, frowning. “You are paranoid, indeed. Did you somehow miss that I’ve been flirting with you for days out here? That I offered to go along with Balidor and the others to protect you against that Rook? That your friend, Jem, has warned me away from trying to seduce you... repeatedly, I might add?”

  At Revik’s silence, she walked closer to him.

  She glanced at Dalai as if for permission, then walked closer still.

  After another few steps, she inserted herself between Dalai and him altogether.

  Pressing her fully-clothed body up against his, she wrapped her fingers around his cock and he let out a low groan, unable to pull it back.

  “I want you, brother,” she said, and he fell silent. She looked up at his face from where she leaned against his chest, watching him fight to control his breathing. “Believe me in this... I want you, especially after your little display out there. You gave every male seer in this camp a hard-on, brother... and made every female wet, imaging you inside them.” When he closed his eyes, she smiled again, pressing against him with more of her body. “...The fact that you think none of us like you, or want you, or are affected by the insane amounts of pain you’ve been inflicting on us for the past week or so, only makes us want you more...”

  Revik looked away again, unable to hold her gaze.

  He heard her smile, even as she started to massage him.

  “Open your light, brother,” she urged, her voice a purr. “Why won’t you open your light to us? Isn’t that the point of this little exercise?”

  He groaned again, feeling his pain worsen when he realized she was using her light to try and open his. He felt her there, briefly, toying with him, and nearly lost it then and there.

  “I won’t let you come. Not that fast. Don’t worry, brother...”

  “Fuck...”

  “We will. Open your light. Please, brother...”

  He fought her, mindlessly that time. Then he fought to do what she asked. He couldn’t do either, but trying worsened the panic in his throat and chest.

  He heard her smile when he closed his eyes again, then she spoke softer once more, her voice a murmur. “Gods, you are beautiful, brother... even more beautiful than I imagined. How did someone as beautiful as you end up a Rook? We are all wondering this... not only me.”

  He fought to hold onto his light, to keep her out, but only groaned.

  When he let out another, heavier groan, she pressed into him harder, slowing the movement of her hand even as her fingers tightened, her light growing more demanding.

  “You like compliments,” she said shrewdly, watching his face. “You like them a lot... don’t you, brother? Something tells me you also don’t hear nearly enough of them.”

  Revik felt her sliding deeper into his light and let out another thick gasp. As he did, the male behind him tightened his hold on him, pressing his erection against Revik’s other side.

  Revik let out another sound and Nulek’s pain worsened.

  “Gods,” Nulek said. He kissed Revik’s neck, using hot, liquid light in his tongue.

  He bit him then, hard enough to make Revik gasp.

  Fear hit him again, maybe even fear for his neck, some residual leftover after what happened in that clearing, but the muscular seer exuded reassurance, affection, warmth. He lightly stroked the bandage from where Terian cut his neck, sending Revik another ripple of reassuring light, weaving it in with feelings of safety, of protectiveness, along with a wanting that made Revik groan again.

  He found himself relaxing, opening his light more, almost without him willing it that time.

  He felt helpless. He tried to just relax into that, too.

  “Gods,” Nulek groaned then, holding Revik tighter. “You aren’t kidding about him, sister. Youngster or not..he’s lucky we didn’t all rape him out there.”

  “Is it rape when he asks us to do it?” Ontari mused from by the tent’s opening.

  Revik glanced at him, and Ontari smiled.

  “I don’t think he has any idea what he gave us permission to do,” Mara said wryly, glancing at Ontari, too, before looking back up at Revik’s face, her eyes holding that same scrutiny as before. “He did not even seem to notice when every seer in that group started imagining taking him right there, by that fire. Nor did he notice that the only reason we hesitated was because we couldn’t believe he was serious. Dalai and Nulek just have better reflexes than the rest of us... and more power to them.”

  Mara smiled up at Revik when Nulek laughed.
Then Mara’s fingers tightened on him, right before she started massaging his cock harder.

  “He’s lucky Balidor intervened,” she added, still watching Revik’s face. “I think brother Balidor was in as much shock as the rest of us, or he likely would have stopped things sooner. I can only guess that he thought for sure he was pushing brother Revik towards brother Jem with his ultimatum earlier... not into group sex with the rest of us.”

  Revik tensed at her words, but Mara only wrapped her light deeper into his.

  “Trust me, brother,” she murmured, pressing her body against his chest. “I am not making fun of you... not in the slightest. We are all four grateful that was not the case... and for the generosity of your offer out there. I would not be surprised if you find yourself the object of a lot of attempted seductions this week, however...”

  Nulek laughed again, wrapping his arm around him tighter.

  Revik felt his pain worsen, even as Dalai’s hands slid over him, too.

  “Can you feel his light?” the smaller seer murmured, caressing his side, and his ribs up to his chest. “Gods. You are right, Mara... how did someone with light like this end up a Rook?”

  Revik turned his head.

  He saw Dalai smile up at him, felt her pain wind deeper into Nulek’s.

  Revik’s gaze slid higher then, looking over Dalai’s head, and he saw Ontari watching him, too, from a few feet away, his eyes faintly glazed. He was hard, Revik realized suddenly, feeling it before his eyes had shifted down far enough to confirm it. It hit him again that they were getting into his light. They were opening him up, more than he’d intended... more than he probably should be letting them.