Julian gasped. He had known from the beginning that Ellis was incredibly skilled with that mouth. Ellis was practically purring around his dick and all the blood in his body was pooling in that one point of contact between the crown and Ellis’s tongue. Ellis swallowed around him and Julian cursed under his breath.
“Fuck, Ellis…”
Ellis pulled away, leaving him almost whimpering for more. “Yes, please.”
Julian almost came. Ellis wrapped his fingers around the base of his shaft, preventing him from spilling right there. Ellis lifted himself up from the ground, his fingers skimming the bared skin between Julian’s lowered pants and his shirt.
“I like that idea.”
Julian grabbed Ellis’s shirt and pulled him up to his chest. They kissed roughly, grinding against each other’s bodies. A gasp formed in the back of Ellis’s throat and Julian swallowed it greedily. With a few skillful moves, he lowered him to the floor. Julian lifted his shirt over his head to toss it aside. His pants followed soon thereafter.
Ellis’s gaze trailed across his bared body with obvious appreciation. He soaked in the sight of his flat chest and the detailed muscles around his abdomen. His tongue darted out, licking the corner of his lips, his hunger growing in intensity.
Julian lowered himself to the ground between Ellis’s legs and ran his hands down the other man’s thighs. Ellis whimpered. Julian grabbed the waist of his loose slacks, pulling them down and baring his lover’s lower body. His cock was flushed an angry purple and practically begged for Julian’s touch. He smirked. He’d get there in a minute.
Ellis reached up to undo the buttons of his vest. The younger man’s hands were shaking, and Julian found himself perversely happy that he wasn’t the only one as affected by their proximity. He leaned in and gently pushed Ellis’s hands away.
“Let me.” He finished with the buttons and slid the light fabric off Ellis’s shoulders. There was nothing on beneath. The cool air raised Ellis’s nipples. The hard rings of copper called to Julian’s mouth. He obliged. He ran his tongue over the pebbly surface, biting down just hard enough to draw a murmur before soothing the skin with his lips.
Ellis began squirming beneath him. “Please…fuck me.”
Julian was tempted to ignore him and continue to tease the sensitive buds, but decided to take mercy. He reached out and ran his fingers along the soft curve of the younger man’s lips. Immediately, Ellis opened his mouth and closed it again around Julian’s fingers. He lathed the digits with his tongue as thoroughly as when he’d paid the same attention to Julian’s cock. Blood pounded in Julian’s ears, and his arousal roared through his body, demanding more.
He pulled his hand away. Settling himself over Ellis, he captured the man’s mouth in a deep kiss. He reached a hand down between them and began to circle Ellis’s tight hole with his fingers. Ellis arched up against him and Julian finally slipped a finger past the tight ring of muscle.
Ellis hissed into Julian’s mouth, but kept grinding his hips against Julian’s thigh. “I want you. Hurry.”
“It would be easier if you came first.” Julian angled his arm, seeking the small bundle of muscles within his lover’s body. He crooked his finger and Ellis’s entire body stiffened.
“No… I… With you…”
Julian worked another finger in. Moaning and gasping, his partner lost any semblance of coherent speech. Julian continued to tease in and out of his body.
It seemed like an hour before Ellis forced his eyes open. “Now. Please.”
“Yes.” Julian hooked his arms behind Ellis’s knees and pulled the man close to him. Grabbing the smaller man’s hips, he rubbed his cock against Ellis’s hole, waiting for Ellis to relax. A sigh escaped his lover and he pushed in.
Ellis’s entire body arched and a low groan was torn from him lips. Julian froze, unsure if the sound was made in pleasure or pain. There wasn’t much in terms of lubrication; he didn’t want to hurt the smaller man. He waited for Ellis to say something. Anything. His lover’s lips moved in a near-silent string of words. Julian strained to listen, grinning when he picked up on the bits and pieces of sound. They were nonsense, only occasionally interrupted by the word “please”. Steadying himself, he stroked his thumbs against the skin of Ellis’s hips and gently thrust.
He kept his eyes trained on the play of sensation across Ellis’s face as long as he could. The tight heat around his dick filtering all reason and thoughts out of his mind, he started to move quicker. His hips jerked as he almost pulled out of Ellis’s body and pushed back in. Ellis’s erection rested against his stomach. Julian angled his hips at the last moment, grabbing Ellis’s cock at the same time he found his prostate.
When the two touches hit Ellis simultaneously, he groaned and came. Threads of white erupted against Julian’s hand and his entire body shuddered. As he tensed, the heat around Julian tightened as well. His thrusts became faster and more erratic and he emptied into Ellis’s willing body. Julian loosed a hoarse cry, heat and pleasure ripping through him and ridding him of coherent thought.
He toppled forward, just managing to catch himself before he crushed Ellis with his weight. Ellis’s lust-soaked eyes opened. Reaching up, he stroked Julian’s cheek. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Finding himself returning the smile, Julian carefully pulled out of Ellis’s body. Ellis grabbed Julian’s hand. It was still covered with come, and his clever tongue went to work once again, licking and sucking on every inch of skin until it was clean.
Julian dropped to the ground beside him, his entire body tingling with spent desire. Ellis released a contented sigh and rested his head against Julian’s chest. It felt strangely right. The heat of Ellis’s cheek against his skin calmed him, and their breathing eased into sync. He raised a hand and brushed his fingers through Ellis’s thick black hair.
The touch solicited a purr and Julian smiled. “You’re like a cat, aren’t you?”
The darkness around them swallowed the words. Ellis murmured an insensible reply, his entire body relaxing atop him.
The annoying buzz of his communicator reached his ears seconds later. Julian sighed and shifted under Ellis, eliciting a quiet protest.
“I have to.”
“Do you?”
“I’m captain, remember?”
Ellis wiggled against him and Julian swatted his ass. Reaching for the pile of discarded clothing, he pulled his communicator out of a pocket. “Gaspar here.”
“I’m sorry, Captain. Did I wake you, sir?” Orifian’s voice filtered out.
Julian doubted it was the communicator that made him sound deeply unapologetic. Ellis raised an eyebrow and scooted to the clothes, drawing his vest from the pile and pulling it on. Julian was hard-pressed to remember his chief mate was on the communicator and withheld a wistful sigh.
“Not quite. What do you need?”
“Your ‘friend’ is missing from his quarters. I’m afraid he may be a plant, sir, and is looking to ferret out our information for the Frenze.”
“I somehow doubt that’s an issue,” Julian said.
Ellis rolled his eyes in irritation. “Ask him what he was doing in my quarters.”
There was a lengthy pause from Orifian’s end. “My Eight Gods, Captain, is he there with you?”
Julian ran a hand over his face and tried to decide how he was going to run damage control. Until now, he and Ellis had played it relatively safe where his chief mate was concerned.
“Well, you can tell him it’s part of our routine procedure for all passengers.”
“How often is that ‘routine procedure’ enforced?”
Julian muted the communicator, pinning Ellis with an annoyed glare. “Perhaps you should quiet down while I try to unruffle his feathers.”
Ellis scowled. “It should be my feathers you unruffle, Captain Gaspar! He was going through my things.”
“You don’t know that.” Ellis loosed a sound that was suspiciously close to a growl and retrieved his discarded pants.
“Ellis…”
“He’s been determined not to like me since I came aboard. Now either you start defending me, or…” Ellis trailed off, suddenly appearing disturbingly young and unsure of himself.
“Or what?” Julian had been privileged enough to hear some truly inventive threats follow in the wake of a well-placed “or”.
“Or you’ll have to go elsewhere for ‘favors’.” Ellis looked apologetic as soon as the words left his mouth, but that didn’t stop Julian’s gut from clenching in anger.
He snarled through it. “I’d hardly have to look far to find someone willing to share my bed.”
Ellis opened his mouth to speak, thought better of whatever he intended to say, and pursed his lips angrily. “Then start looking.” He quickly donned his pants, avoiding Julian’s eyes. Without a backward glance, he marched towards the other end of the room.
Julian practically felt him hit the button to exit the room and glared at the doors as they opened and closed behind his lover. His communicator was still blinking insistently in his hand, Orifian still trying get through to him. Julian didn’t bother to withhold an irritated sneer. Tossing it across the bridge and out of reach, he grabbed his clothes and dressed quickly, abandoning his work for a lonely walk back to his quarters.
Chapter Six
Deep Space Shipping Route “Endoria”
Coalition Standard Date 108-264.95
Julian woke relaxed despite the regretful ending to his evening. It was strange after the frantic pace of the previous years. The war with the Frenze had caught him off guard and kept him shaky and uncomfortable, caught on an edge of his own devices; torn between his love for freedom and his father’s expectations. His…“relationship” with Ellis was the same sort of indulgence he had enjoyed during his younger years but had lacked the opportunity to pursue since the beginning of the war.
He wasn’t quite allowing himself to hum when he joined Orifian in his ready room, but only because he wasn’t prepared to alienate the other man further. He had gone to bed without answering any more of Orifian’s hails and the other man had taken it upon himself to barge into Julian’s cabin to ensure that no harm had come to his commanding officer.
Julian wasn’t fond of his chief mate but made the best of the circumstances. Conrad Orifian had been forced aboard by the Coalition when Julian had been hired on and he had little chance of ridding himself of the man until the war was over and he was able to break his ties with the Coalition without fear of repercussions. Julian was resigned to that and tried not to let the man’s glare bother him while he pulled up the star map to plot out their course along the Frenze trading lines. Thankfully, they made it through the first hour without incident or comment; he couldn’t imagine himself dealing with Orifian’s contempt with particularly good grace.
A chime at the door interrupted their debate over the value of intercepting cargo vessels over passenger crafts. Julian didn’t have the chance to call out permission to enter before the doors slid open and Barth strode inside.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, either oblivious to or uninterested in the nasty stare Orifian fixed on him.
Julian eyed the Cembrian. Sometimes it was easy to read whatever was on the alien’s mind. The current set of his jaw and twitching of the cartilage ridging his nose and cheeks indicated severe irritation, though at what was anyone’s guess. Barth’s irritation tended to run between relatively innocuous to horrifying on a galactic scale.
“I’m a bit busy,” Julian said.
“I can wait.” He stood against the smooth gray wall and allowed Julian to turn back to the table to collect his thoughts. Despite his attempts to focus on the star map, the alien’s unwavering attention dug holes into his back. After a few abortive attempts to resume the conversation, he sighed. “Mr. Orifian…”
The chief mate’s mouth dropped with indignant shock. As if staring at the previously clear routes in useless silence was an effective use of their time.
“Return to the bridge. We’ll continue this conversation later.”
“Captain, with all due respect—”
“Now.”
Orifian made his way to the doors, huffy, and pinned Barth with a nasty scowl. The Cembrian ignored him, his silence more chastising that any well-placed words might have been.
They waited quietly until the door had closed. Julian finally allowed an irritated scowl. “I don’t appreciate—”
“You know what I hate?”
Julian settled his hip against the table. “What?”
“I hate people who ruin a good thing for stupid reasons.”
Julian felt a stab of annoyance at Ellis for involving his crew. It was poor form. “I am not discussing this with you.”
He started towards the door, but Barth’s hand shot out and pushed him back. His middle talon pricked Julian’s shirt, not quite hard enough to break through the fabric. “Fine.”
Julian had a short moment of satisfaction before Barth continued.
“Don’t talk about it. Keep messing things up. If you won’t have him, I will.”
Julian sputtered. “What?” He cursed at himself a second later. Barth was after the shock value of his words and Julian had played right into it.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? Are you insinuating something?”
“You are not—”
Barth’s nose ridge twitched. “Why shouldn’t I be able to fuck one of your cast-offs?”
“He’s not a cast-off!” Julian missed the smug twitch at the corner of Barth’s mouth. Did Ellis consider himself that way? With how their evening had ended, he wouldn’t be surprised. Despite the heat between them, their last words to each other had been vile. “Stay away from him.”
“Why? You don’t want him!”
“Of course I want him! I’d have to be dead not to want him.” Julian realized the trap a second later. “But you knew that, didn’t you?” Barth nodded, suspiciously not smug, despite his triumph. “Is he listening?”
“No. I don’t do underhanded bullshit like that.” Barth straightened as the star map flickered out from a long period of disuse. “But just imagine my shock when I ran into Ellis last night and found out you had practically chased him off, even though he’s so obviously your type and, you know, practically died for you a little over a week ago.”
On a ship the size of the Kestrel, Julian found it inconceivable that Barth had just happened to “run into” Ellis anywhere, but particularly good timing had always been one of the Cembrian’s fortes. Good timing for him, at least. It tended more towards catastrophic for everyone else.
“What do you know about my type?” Julian asked. There was no point denying the unspoken question. Just the thought of the other man’s carefree smile was enough to send ribbons of heat running through him.
“I know you,” Barth said. “You have two days to fix things and get him back into bed.”
“Or?” Unlike the curiosity sparked the night before, he was afraid of Barth’s answer.
“I don’t give ultimatums, Julian. It’s less fun when you’re expecting the consequences.”
“I’ll do what I can.” His voice didn’t shake. He could be proud of that.
“Do one better. He’s currently moping in his quarters. An apology would go a long way.”
“I have to finish my duties before I tend to my personal life, Barth.”
Barth nodded. He knew the roles and responsibilities on the ship.
“But I will go to him. After.”
“No more than twenty minutes after you leave the bridge, barring alien attack or death.” Barth scowled. “I’m not afraid to make your life difficult.”
“I think I’ve had about all I can stand of your meddling.”
“It’s a burden you’ll just have to bear.” Barth sniffed, but something resembling a real smile crawled across his face. “Don’t fuck this up. I like him.”
With that, Barth showed himself out of the room. Julian waited until the doors had closed be
hind the alien before sighing.
“So do I.”
Nineteen minutes past the end of his shift, Julian found himself standing outside Ellis’s assigned quarters. The corridor was deserted; the Kestrel rarely had passengers so few people stayed on the deck allotted for non-crew use. The sound of the ship humming around him was comforting in the stark emptiness of the hallway. He had taken the time to confirm that Ellis was not among the rest of the crew at the evening meal. A petty voice in his head whispered that the younger man was sulking. Julian ignored it and raised his fingers to hit the door chime.
The doors slid open and Julian found himself facing the younger man.
“Captain Gaspar. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
The memory of his voice, which had been teasing his senses the entire day, was banished by the stiff and noncommittal tone. Julian took a steadying breath. “I’ve come to apologize for my harsh words yesterday.” Ellis peered at him through thick eyelashes. “It was uncalled for. And I have spoken to Orifian about respecting your privacy.”
“You certainly know the way to sweet-talk a man,” Ellis said, the barest trace of sarcasm in his words. “Won’t you come in?”
He stepped backwards into the little cabin to allow Julian entrance. The quarters were more like a closet. A single bunk took up most of the space, and there was barely enough room for Ellis to store his meager possessions. Ellis backed away from Julian and took a seat on the bed, crossing his arms.
“I suppose I accept your apology,” he said. “Was that everything?”
Julian smiled. “If you thought that was everything, why did you ask me to come in?”
“You are so arrogant.” He started to stand but Julian placed a hand on his shoulder. The muscles were tensed under his shirt and Ellis stilled at his touch. “I’m not sure why I even opened the door.”
“Yes, you are.” He leaned over and pressed his mouth against Ellis’s.
The tension in the younger man’s shoulders flowed away, leaving him supple and relaxed under his hand. Pulling away, he pressed his face against Ellis’s neck, smelling his skin before biting down on the sensitive skin beneath his ear. Ellis gasped. Julian began to nip and suck on the place where shoulder and neck joined, and a needy moan escaped his lover’s lips. Julian pressed him down against the soft covers of the bed, bringing a knee up to rest between Ellis’s legs, which spread in response.
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