Grim tried to crawl away before Duncan could pin him down, and Duncan grabbed him by the hips and pulled him close. He spread Grim’s cheeks and began to rim him, shocking Grim to his core. He’d done lots of things in bed over the years—evening been with multiple partners at once—but no one had ever just grabbed him and gone right for his ass. Duncan spread his hole with his thumbs and delved deep with his tongue.
“Fuck, what are you doing?” Grim asked. Stupid question, of course, but his brain wasn’t working right anymore.
“Making you hard. Getting you ready for me,” Duncan said before slapping Grim’s right cheek.
Grim moaned. He loved to be spanked, and if Duncan had ever watched him with a man, he would know this. He felt Duncan laving his hole good, and then he got up and rushed over to a bag. Grim watched him, relaxing his stance a bit. He could get away now, but what could he actually do? Run out into the hall naked? Call for help? Duncan would only have to show proof that he was Grim’s keeper, and then no one would help him.
Their eyes met as Duncan turned back to him. Do I even want anyone to help me? Duncan had always been a big guy, but as he ripped his clothes off, Grim really got to see how hard and muscular the man was. He was twice Grim’s size, and his cock was long and thick. Duncan reached back into the bag and pulled out some lube. He stroked his cock and climbed onto the bed.
“Suck me a little. I’ve always wanted to see my cock in your mouth,” Duncan said.
Grim looked at the dripping tip and then leaned in to lick it. As he began to suck, Duncan started preparing his hole. He paused in his ministrations every now and then to give Grim’s ass a few smacks. Grim had been fucked enough that it didn’t take long for him to be ready. Duncan’s skilled fingers had him open and loosened up in no time. When Duncan drew back and stroked his huge cock just inches from Grim’s face, Grim looked at the bed instead of looking at Duncan. The other man caressed him, over his ass and up his back and then to the nape of his neck. He took Grim by the hair and tilted his head back.
“Say you want me inside you.”
“You said … you wouldn’t force me.” Grim looked up into his eyes, waiting for him to act, secretly wanting to be forced. He wanted another one of those possessive, feral kisses. Longed to feel the pleasure of another shattering orgasm.
Duncan let go of his hair and reached down to stroke Grim’s cock. “I also said you’d be begging for it when I slide into you.”
Grim let out a long moan and lifted his ass. “I won’t beg. Not anyone.” He moved his hips to fuck Duncan’s hand a bit. “But you’re a monster if you leave me like this.”
“So now I’m a monster if I don’t fuck you. I see.” He moved behind Grim and toyed with his hole, teasing him with two fingers. “Then I better get on with it.”
Grim tried to relax, knowing Duncan’s wide cock would be a lot to take. But the man had lubed him well, and he slid in with more ease than Grim had expected.
And it felt like heaven. Grim arched as Duncan slowly took him. He’d expected a brutal claiming, some kind of deep, rough fucking, but instead, Duncan went slowly, sighing and caressing Grim.
Grim squeezed his eyes closed, struggling with this. He hadn’t wanted tenderness and caresses—he wanted to be used roughly, to have Duncan take him fiercely. But he couldn’t ask for that now. Saying anything would prove he wanted this. Duncan massaged his back and shoulders.
“You’re perfect, Grim. Worth the wait,” Duncan said. He went deep and leaned over. “I love you, little one. You’re mine, forever.”
“Stop it,” Grim said, trying to jerk away.
But Duncan held him firmly and continued his deep strokes. Grim held out as long as he could, but he was close to tears when Duncan coerced another orgasm from him. He buried his face in one of the pillows as he cried out and sighed while Duncan reached around and pumped his seed onto the bed. Grim’s channel flexed around that hard cock, making his orgasm even better. And then Duncan continued to take him. Duncan covered Grim’s body with his and kissed his neck as he trembled and came. He gave Grim a big, hot load, so much that Grim felt it dripping out of him.
Duncan sighed as he finished, and then he rolled them to their sides and spooned Grim, only pulling out of him after they were settled away from Grim’s cum spot.
“You weren’t afraid of being fucked,” Duncan whispered. “You were afraid of being loved.”
Grim tried to get away again, but he hardly had any strength left.
Duncan held firm. “No. You won’t reject me or turn from me this time. You’ll stay here in my arms, where you belong.”
Grim sighed and stopped struggling. “I didn’t reject you. I never rejected you.” He turned his head slightly. “You pulled away. I never even had the chance to want you. To see how you really felt.”
“You changing your mind about me, little one?”
Realizing what he’d just said, Grim looked away and settled into the embrace. “I’m tired.”
Duncan kissed his shoulder and left him alone. Grim heard the man’s soft snoring soon, and he squeezed his eyes shut, wishing sleep would take him as easily. No one had ever taken him quite like that before, and the simplicity of the union made the way he was feeling now all the more startling. Duncan tightened his grip, and Grim let himself be held. His mind calmed soon enough, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Three
Grim woke up alone, the covers tucked up around him. Looking out the window to the right of the large bed, he saw the sun low in the sky. Was it sunset, or had he somehow slept through the rest of the day and then through the night as well? He got up and found his discarded robe draped over the end of the bed. He tied the robe around him again and walked out of the bedroom. Duncan sat in the large main room working at the com station. He spoke quietly to someone through a headset, and Grim could see someone on a smaller screen on the right side. Vague memories of Duncan making calls while they were on the ship drifted back to him, but he realized he still had no idea what Duncan did for a living.
He must do well if he could afford to free me. That thought made Grim wonder. How much had Duncan paid? How much had he been willing to pay? Though he didn’t know where Duncan lived now, it was obvious the man wasn’t lying about having rushed to Grim’s aid. There had to be a kind of love in that, right?
Grim moved away and went into the kitchenette and got a glass of water. He stood at the sink drinking it, and before long Duncan finished his call and came into the room.
“There’s food in the refrigerator. You were sleeping so soundly I couldn’t make myself wake you,” Duncan said. “I ordered lots of different things, counting on you still having the same taste in food.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly, rubbing his left eye. “What time is it?”
“About seven in the morning here. I figured you probably had trouble sleeping at the prison.”
“Yeah, hard to relax.” Grim sighed and put his glass down. “Guess we need to talk.”
“About what?”
Grim couldn’t help gaping at the other man. “Everything. The past. What’s happening right now. What happened yesterday.”
“We can talk about whatever you like, but I think we’ve settled one thing.” He came closer and drew Grim to him. “You’re mine. We belong together.” His breath was warm on Grim’s ear as he added, “Being with you was perfect.”
Grim ignored that part. “But I’m not a possession. My sentence was six months. You can’t threaten me any longer than that because your contract with the prison will be up then.”
“Six months is more than enough time to make you see sense.”
Grim pulled away. “See sense? There you go again.”
“So you didn’t enjoy being with me yesterday?”
Grim thought about lying, but what would be the point? “It was amazing, but I’ve had great sex before. I’m sure you have, too.”
“Yes, but nothing like what we shared. I’ve never felt su
ch an urge to claim someone, to fill them with my cum.”
Grim knew this conversation would lead them straight back to the bedroom, a place where Duncan was the one who held all the power. “But you’re referring to me giving in to you as seeing sense, as if I’m stupid or something if I reject you.” He blew his breath out in a loud huff and shook his head. “Can we just eat and do something normal? I know I’m being tracked, so I won’t run away. Let’s just, you know, do something else besides talk about the past and fucking.”
“Fine with me. You were the one who wanted to talk,” Duncan said with a grin.
Grim scowled at him. “Then I take it back. I’m not ready for that yet.”
“If you say so,” Duncan said softly before walking across the room. After a moment, he said, “You never answered my question yesterday.”
“Which one?” Grim asked as he looked in the refrigerator and pulled a few containers out.
“How you felt that night. You kind of told me, but do you feel I took advantage? Were you angry?”
Grim looked at the food containers and stacked them all together as he closed the refrigerator door. He nodded to the table and walked over there, spreading the food out and then going back for forks. He took a seat and began to eat, but Duncan only sat and took up his fork, playing with it. Waiting.
“I guess … I was confused. I wasn’t scared or any of that shit. I didn’t think you’d molested me.” He met Duncan’s gaze. “I know that’s what you mean.”
“Yeah. That’s what I mean.”
Grim refocused on his food. “No one’s first sexual experience is ever anything but awkward and embarrassing. It’s fine. I wasn’t scared of you and didn’t see it as you hurting me or whatever it is you’re thinking. It was confusing, but it was a push I needed. I was, I don’t know, stilted? Repressed? You know what a nightmare my parents were.”
“All right. We’re good on that then.” Duncan grabbed a container and took the lid off, stirring the contents. “And yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes. Are you angry I forced you?”
Grim squirmed in his seat, stuffing his face with the meat and veggie mix before him to buy himself some time. “Forced? You didn’t have to use that much force. How can I be angry? I seem recall saying you’d be a monster not to fuck me and make me come.” His body responded to the memory, and he cursed silently. He sighed at the way he’d just let himself be drawn back in. “Look, later, all right? I’m not angry. Subject over, for now.”
“But later, we will talk?”
“Yes, but later. Fuck, I’m barely awake and haven’t eaten for more than half a day and you’re frying my brain here.”
A chuckle fell from his lips. “Sorry. But I think your emotions are the problem.” He sighed as well. “Fine. Let’s just eat. There’s tons to do here. We’ll do whatever you want to do, and I’ll be more patient.”
Grim thought as he continued to eat. “Just not the casinos. Gambling is what landed me in prison on Vaharis 6.”
“Fair enough.” After a while, Duncan asked, “How did you end up there? On that planet, I mean. There’s nothing there but the mines and the prison really.”
“Got dropped there. I was traveling with some friends, and they’d lied to me. Said they could pay our passage, but they couldn’t. We got dumped off. And the pilot reported us as debtors. The local collection agencies checked into us. We tried to hide, but then I got caught stealing. And broke some ugly vase that everyone kept screaming about. The prison paid my debt in exchange for the right to retain me and contract me to a keeper. It was only three hundred credits.”
Duncan raised one eyebrow. “Really? Then they more than made their money back.”
Grim frowned. “I’ll pay you back. Somehow.”
“I’ve already been repaid. You’re safe, and you’re here with me.” He rose and took his container back to the kitchenette. “I’ll go get ready, then you can have the bathroom. Think about what you want to do.”
Once Duncan had left the room, Grim said softly, “What I want to do?” He looked to the empty doorway. “Fuck if I know.”
****
Duncan drifted away from Grim in the museum so he could check his messages. Both of his eyebrows shot up when he saw a message from Grim’s mother. Apparently she’d overheard Loloth telling someone else that Grim was safe with Duncan, and she wanted to “talk” about Grim. The old bitch knew exactly what Duncan did for a living, so she obviously thought money would get her whatever she wanted. But what could she want, given how she’d abandoned him? Did she know why Duncan had freed Grim, or was she just assuming it had been done out of friendship? Did she want Duncan to get him a new identity, or did she actually think Duncan would dispose of him for the right price? There were multiple possibilities. His assistant Oron hadn’t given any further details.
Needing time to think, Duncan crossed the room to rejoin Grim. “Enjoying yourself?”
Grim gave him a quick glance before turning back to the sculpture before him. “I actually am. I’ve never been to a museum before since I had private tutors. No field trips for me.” He leaned down to read the plague on the pedestal. “It’s interesting.” He looked back over at Duncan as he straightened. “Am I keeping you from work? You looked sort of worried as you were reading your messages.”
“I’m the boss. I can work from anywhere unless there’s something important.” He tucked his communicator away. “I’m a Finder and have my own company.”
Grim eyed him for a moment. “You mean a bounty hunter who pretends he isn’t a bounty hunter?”
“Lots of people say that, but we do more than that. We provide bodyguards. Security for large events. Look for missing persons and runaways. And yes, we connect people with assassins discreetly, for a fee. I’m sorry if that bothers you.”
Grim shrugged. “It’s the person who pays the assassin who’s the real criminal, wouldn’t you say? I don’t care. At least it’s an honest living.” He moved over to a large abstract painting. “What kind of person would I be if I criticized the business that enabled you to free me?”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Really? I’ve never worked a day in my life.” He paused and walked to the next painting. “Doesn’t that bother you?”
“It’s not a matter of it bothering me. You were raised rich. Hardly allowed to do anything normal. No field trips, as you just said. No being normal and having friends. Your parents are the ones I would criticize.” Duncan inched a bit closer. “I guess I’ve thought of you as a brat at times, but you’re not a bad person because of your birth. Or because you were lucky enough to live a life of privilege.”
Grim walked around another sculpture. “How did you know you wanted to go into that line of work?”
Duncan laughed. “Because I’d always been told I was good at reading people. Good at working things out. But we’ve established you and I completely misread each other.”
Grim met his gaze but didn’t return his smile. “Bound to happen. Life’s full of misunderstandings. Most of them slip by because we never get the chance to see them differently. Never care to try.”
“I guess.” Duncan watched the others around them. “I think I really went into my line of work because I’m adaptable. I can blend in easily.”
“You’re kind of big to really blend in. In some places anyway.”
“But my size is intimidating. Actually works to keep others from studying me too closely.” His communicator vibrated, and he looked at the message. Grim’s mother was upset she’d not received a personal call yet. Duncan scowled at the device and sent Oron a reply. Tell her I have no wish to speak to her. Grim is with me and under my protection. For good. He put the communicator away. He’d been a fool to think that she might want anything that would be good for Grim. Her impatience showed that she saw her son’s freedom as a problem. It made him so angry knowing she’d likely assumed Grim would die in that prison, never to “trouble” them again.
Grim came closer, grabbing his attention. The other man watched him for a moment. “Something’s bothering you.”
“Just an annoying potential client.” He didn’t want Grim to be upset or worried. And he didn’t want negative thoughts ruining their time together. “Someone I don’t wish to work for. There are some things I won’t do for any amount of money.”
Grim glanced to the side entrance they’d come up to. “Do you want to go through the gardens? We can do something else if you’re bored.”
“No, we can go through them. I’m not going to be bored by anything we do together.”
“Why?” Grim asked as he exited and held the door for Duncan.
That stunned him a bit. Grim had never held a door for anyone in his life. When they’d first met, Duncan had barely stopped several swinging doors in the family mansion from swinging right into his face. “Why?” Duncan repeated. He shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked down the stone steps. “I brought you here to spend time with you. Get to know you again. We haven’t really talked in years. Nothing we do will be boring.”
Grim gave him a sly smile. “So if I want to stay for that two-hour lecture on Arellian pottery we saw advertised back there, that’s fine? As long as you’re sitting beside me, you’ll be perfectly content.”
“Yep.”
Grim laughed. “Shit, this is still weird.”
“What?”
“Us, you know, hanging out. When you came to live with us, I was scared of everything. But I was so excited to get out of the house and do stuff without an adult that I followed your lead.”
“Can’t we be friends like that again? Like in the early days before puberty did its thing?”
“Did its thing, huh?” Grim met his gaze a moment before reaching out to cradle the large petals of an enormous lily-like plant. “I don’t know. We’re working on something here.”
“I’m hoping for more than friendship, of course. And I think we’re working on that, too.”
Claimed (Imprisoned Book 3) Page 4
