Mercury's Orbit

by Lia Black

  “You left some things out,” Mercury said.

  “What?” Seriously?

  “What happened between the time you were ten and sixteen? Why did your father despise you so much that he killed himself?”

  Despite the fact that Sean had worked through all of this in counseling, Mercury’s cruelly direct and naive question hit him like a slap in the face. He swallowed cotton down a throat lined with sandpaper. “I told him I was homosexual.”

  It had come out a few weeks before Sean’s sixteenth birthday, when one of his dad’s friends on the force caught Sean and another guy making out. Sean wasn’t a bad kid, but he wasn’t a good one either. He’d been at an underage drinking party in some abandoned warehouse when the cops came to break it up. The officer drove Sean home, though it probably would have been more merciful to take him to jail. Sean remembered sitting in the front seat of the police cruiser, the cop talking to his father, who said nothing but stared at him from under the too-bright glow of the front porch light. It had the effect of drawing out all of his color, making his face resemble an egg that somebody had added some crude human features to. When he finally got inside, they didn’t talk for a few hours. When they did, his dad tried to give him an out—blaming alcohol, manipulation, anything that would make Sean into a victim. But Sean told him the truth, that he was gay. He understood, intellectually, that this was not the reason his father had committed suicide; it wasn’t even a catalyst, but it did allow his father the opportunity to stop caring enough about him to keep himself alive.

  Mercury seemed to be mulling this over and Sean rolled his eyes. That’s just what he needed: a crazy man to be analyzing him.

  “Did you ever see your mother again?” Mercury asked.

  This was a place he absolutely wouldn’t go with Mercury. His father was dead—Mercury couldn’t touch him, but even if the sociopath never saw the light of day again, there would always be the risk that he might take an interest in finding out about the people Sean cared about.

  “I’m done talking.” He folded his arms underneath the blanket. It wasn’t very warm and he hoped that might help him stay awake. Unfortunately, with the steady, rhythmic thrumming of rain on the hull and the dimness of the interior and the events of the last several days, Sean felt his eyelids becoming heavy.

  16

  Sean fell asleep sitting up, his back resting against the inner wall of the hull. He did not dream, yet once again woke up to something like a nightmare.

  “Oh shit.” With no artificial light, the interior was inky black, but he didn’t need to see to realize that Mercury was sitting on his lap.

  “Good. You’re awake. Now we can fuck,” Mercury said.

  He was actually surprised that Mercury had let Sean’s sleeping stop him. “No. No we can’t.” Sean tried to shove him off but Mercury wrapped his long legs around his waist, squeezing him tightly enough to make it hard to breathe.

  “Get off!” Sean gasped, feeling his organs shift uncomfortably in the vice-like grip of Mercury’s lean, powerful thighs. He grabbed Mercury’s legs, trying to keep him from clamping on any tighter. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He grunted, and his muscles burned with the effort of trying to dislodge him. He could feel Mercury’s cock pressing hard against his own, which was, thankfully, not responding due to the discomfort of his blood-flow being cut off at the waist.

  Mercury finally released his grip, but he leaned forward—Sean’s only indication being the heat of his breath—and kissed him.

  “Ow! Fuck!” Sean made the mistake of jerking his head back and Mercury bit his bottom lip, tearing it with his sharp teeth as he did. He felt the blood dribble hot down his chin, followed by an even hotter tongue, licking it up.

  “Sorry, Pretty...” Mercury muttered and sucked on Sean’s chin, his split tongue rasping against the stubble.

  This was no good— in fact it was horribly wrong, but despite the throbbing pain of his lip, the way Mercury’s mouth was working on his skin reminded Sean of when he was sucking him off. As much as he didn’t want to be turned on, he felt himself hardening up. If Mercury noticed, which he undoubtedly would, Sean would be, quite literally, screwed.

  Mercury’s grip had loosened enough to allow Sean to breathe normally, and now Mercury began to rock his hips and utter little sounds in his throat that were making it even more difficult for Sean to control his body’s reactions. But logic pushed through instinct. He struggled to reach the light stick he’d brought with him, cracking it to clear the disorientation caused by the complete darkness. Once he could see his route, Sean lunged forward, using his body to shove Mercury onto his back. He landed on top of him, pining his bound arms above his head, their faces close enough to kiss. In the dim glow, Mercury’s pupils exploded like fireworks in his eyes and he began to breathe heavily.

  “Yes...hurt me...” Mercury licked his lips.

  For the briefest of heartbeats Sean imagined himself doing just that—rolling him up onto his shoulders, ass in the air; going in dry and fucking him hard. Dominating him, taking away all of his power and leaving him a sobbing, fucked-out mess. The cruel fantasy brought a bitter taste to his mouth and set something dark and oily slithering through him. He hated that his mind could go to such a place. He wasn’t a rapist, and he wasn’t going to let Mercury make him into one by usurping his self-control.

  “No.” Sean heaved himself up before Mercury could get his legs wrapped around him again. He moved away, pulling the blanket around his shoulders as he grabbed the light stick and carried it to the crate where he’d set their supplies. Only five sticks left.

  Outside, it was still raining and the occasional rumble of thunder assured him that stepping out to cool off wasn’t an option. They were stuck in this small space together until the storms ended, they killed each other, or they starved to death. He needed a distraction, something a cigarette would accomplish if only he had one...or ten. He found a strip of plastic inside the little box of MREs and started chewing on it. That seemed to relax him a little bit, enough to focus, at least.

  Forging ahead, he had to get through this day; one minute at a time. He could worry about the next day, and the one after that, later. He sighed, raising his face to the ceiling. “What do you want for breakfast this morning?”

  Mercury had always been in control. His lovers underestimated him the same as his enemies. He told them to fuck him hard and so they did. He told them to tell him they loved him and they did that too. He silently begged for a safe haven in their arms, and they disappeared. They feared him, and so he took that fear and put it to good use. Those who were unwise and did not fear him believed they had control. But they were slaves to sensation, betrayed by their own bodies. Sean was proving to be different. He had fear, yet it made him smart. Although Mercury could tell that Sean was not immune to desire, he did not let it infect him. He had control.

  All Mercury wanted was honesty. Not false love, or fear disguised as lust. No, more than just that...what he wanted...what he wanted was...

  “Strawberry. I want something that tastes like strawberry.”

  Sean turned his head, offering him his usual scowl. Those glaring green eyes, the dark red-blond brows slashed across, creating a vee above the bridge of his nose. His face was the imperfect balance of human features sculpted by nature...Pretty was more than pretty. He was beautiful.

  Sean turned back and rummaged through the pack, then pulled out a silver pouch, squinting at it in the pale blue glow from the light stick. “Oatmeal with berries,” he announced.

  “No pudding?”

  Sean walked over to where he was sitting. “You can’t just eat crap all the time. This has strawberries in it.”

  Mercury’s body threatened to sag so he forced his spine rigid. He was still not quite right since his head had started hurting in the forest. Every time he suffered an episode like that, things became off for a little while. But lately, some things were staying off. Back at Sol Labs, they used to give him shots to ma
ke it better. Before he’d been captured, Mercury had found some pills and custom-blended street drugs made everything feel okay. He hadn’t had any of that since the afternoon of his ruined party.

  “What? No argument?” Sean frowned as he pulled the plastic strip out of his mouth and used his teeth to open the silver foil of the oatmeal. He went down on one knee before him as he offered him the packet.

  Mercury suddenly wasn’t hungry.

  “Why won’t you fuck me?” He couldn’t say exactly why he’d asked the question, other than it had been nagging at him and they had finally reached a point where they could speak. Everybody wanted to fuck him, and Sean had all ready admitted he was homosexual. If the photograph of Sean’s last lover was anything to go by, it seemed that Sean had a preference for pretty men with smooth skin, large eyes and full lips. Mercury had all of that and more.

  A dark cast came over Sean’s face. “Because I’m not like that. It’s unethical to have sex with a prisoner.”

  “I had sex with you when you were my prisoner, Pretty,” Mercury pointed out.

  “I rest my case.” Sean offered the oatmeal to him again and this time Mercury reluctantly took it into his hands. He noticed that some of the fingers on his right hand didn’t curl around as well as they should have, but he was surprised that Sean noticed too.

  “Did I make them too tight?” Sean asked, tipping his head to indicate the wire bindings.

  “I think you should take them off,” Mercury said.

  Sean put the plastic strip back into his mouth, one end all ready dimpled with teeth-marks. “Sure, why don’t I just do that so you can kill me in my sleep?”

  “Why would I wait until you’re asleep if I were going to kill you, Pretty?” Mercury sucked down a glob of oatmeal. Little sweet-tart bits were mixed with the pasty lumps. It wasn’t nearly sugary enough.

  Sean clicked his tongue and shook his head. He began feeling around the wire wrapped around Mercury’s wrists, wiggling a finger to get it in-between. He frowned. “Doesn’t seem too tight.”

  Mercury passed the package of oatmeal back to him. “Here, have the rest.” He wasn’t feeling good. He blinked to clear the halo that had formed around the light stick. “Do you think there are any drugs nearby?”

  “What?”

  “Opiates. Shimmer, tetrahaze...fucking baby aspirin!” Oops, Mercury had said that last bit too loud. That crawling, burning sensation was starting to travel up through his occipital bone, making his brain sweat. He hated it when his brain sweat...he hated...

  Mercury blinked, trying to clear his vision, but everything began to blur behind a haze of red. Through the fog he could see the cutting tools, the machines with their blinking lights, syringes, those pure, unblemished walls…

  And there was his father...standing right fucking there and watching him react as he pulled the entrails out of his teddy bear.

  Mercury launched himself forward, and bright red exploded in his skull.

  17

  Everything seemed fine—well, as fine as Mercury ever was—but just after Mercury’s strange demand for drugs, his face became slack and then morphed into something that looked like rage.

  The only warning Sean had that Mercury was going to move was a small twitch of his muscles before he shot forward. Sean did a hasty backwards somersault, narrowly avoiding the sudden, explosive lunge. Instead of stopping, Mercury barreled right past him, smacking his skull against the side of the ship. It made a sharp sound, like meat being slapped against marble, and echoed with a low, jarring clang. He stumbled back a few feet, leaving behind a deep purple smear of blood and a dent in the metal hull. By all accounts, Mercury should be out cold right now, but he turned on Sean, his eyes violet flames, and charged forward once more.

  “Fuck! Merc—!” Sean rolled again, and Mercury bounced off the other side of the ship, taking two staggering steps backwards. Something was very wrong. Sean had seen indications of his out of control temper before. He’d seen the aftermath left behind when Mercury’s men disappointed him; when he had a weapon or two, what was left looked like a bomb had gone off. But he’d never seen it happening in real time. This—this was like he was possessed.

  As he avoided Mercury a third time, he dropped and grabbed Mercury’s ankle, yanking his foot out from underneath him. Mercury fell down on the dirt floor, landing hard on his chest with a grunt and raising a cloud of dust. Sean got on top of him, pinning him down. When Mercury tried to push up, Sean grabbed his head and shoulders, forcing his body in to an arch as he put Mercury into a full-nelson hold. He rolled back, taking Mercury with him and curling his legs around to lock Mercury’s thighs open so he couldn’t get his footing. He knew very well that Mercury was strong enough and limber enough to get out of it—but this wasn’t normal, even for someone as normally out of control as him.

  Sean could feel Mercury’s pulse through his neck fluttering like a caged raptor. There was blood running down his face, and his muscles were feverish, twitching bands of steel, tense under the stress of overload. He had to calm him down. For all he knew, Mercury might actually have the capacity to explode.

  “Shhh, it’s okay...nobody wants to hurt you here,” Sean murmured softly against his ear, his voice trembling with the effort of keeping him still. His mind cycled through what could have triggered this sudden violence. It had to be related to the episode yesterday that had Mercury on the ground screaming and holding his head.

  He thought back thorough the conversations this morning. Mercury had asked for sex, he’d asked for sweets, and he’d asked for drugs. Sugar...every meal he’d seen Mercury ingest was loaded with sugar, and he wanted sex—a lot. Today had been the first time he’d asked for drugs, but Sean was all ready seeing a pattern: His father was an addict, Sean had worked the drug detail and could typically spot one a mile away…hell, he was addicted to cigarettes—or had been until his forced cold-turkey. All of these things: sugar, drugs, and sex, triggered similar chemicals in the brain. All of these things could comprise an addiction, but Mercury was not the typical addict, and this was not like any kind of withdrawal Sean had ever seen.

  Drugs. Where would he get drugs? Were there some back on the crashed shuttle? He doubted it; Mercury would have grabbed them and besides, he’d been in a stasis pod, unconscious. They wouldn’t have needed anything on-board to keep him that way. He remembered how Mercury had looked when he’d first seen him in Luna Max. Eyes glazed over and veiled, body loose like a rag doll dropped into a corner. They had definitely given him something to keep him calm.

  He had to fight to keep Mercury from rocking backwards. Despite practically bashing out his brains against the hull of the ship, he didn’t seem to be simmering down a whole lot, and Sean wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold him. Restraining a suspect while another officer cuffed him was one thing. Having no backup and fighting with someone like Mercury, who was all ready cuffed, was something else. Okay—new plan.

  Sean wasn’t sure how to feel about it when he moved one hand down and cupped Mercury’s cock through the boxer shorts. A tremor went through Mercury’s body as Sean curled his fingers around his flaccid shaft and started to stroke him to hardness.

  “This doesn’t mean anything, you hear me?” Sean whispered against his ear in the same soothing tone but wondered who he was trying to convince. If this worked, hopefully it would be enough to calm Mercury down for a while until he could come up with a plan. If it didn’t...

  Mercury was still struggling, but it was lessened by most of the energy being expended as he tried to thrust his hips into Sean’s hand.

  “That’s right...let’s make this good.” This was the first time that he had touched Mercury’s cock, and it was a thing of beauty, as perfectly engineered as the rest of him. It was satin wrapped around steel. Warm, thin, and heating under the friction of Sean jerking him off. Sean was trying to keep this clinical, but being pressed up against him and trying to make him come was starting to have an effect on him. No; he could fin
d a nice dark corner to relieve himself later. He wasn’t going to go there with Mercury—he wasn’t going to lose his control and compromise his integrity for the sake of sex.