Dark Empress: The Onic Empire, Book 5

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

  Lorren turned to find Gabriyel, head down, shoulders slumped and his jaw gritted. “What did he say?”

  Sky-blue eyes met his. “We are to be tried for treason.”

  “Treason?”

  “Abducting the daughter of the empress is treason against the crown.”

  Incredulous, Lorren blurted, “But we didn’t abduct her. She came of her own free will!”

  “Try telling that to her new captain.” Gabriyel sat heavily on the bed. “Eventually, you and Errion will probably be returned to Avalith.”

  “And you?” Just a quarter spin ago, Lorren couldn’t have cared less what happened to Gabriyel, but their newly forged connection compelled a deep fear—he didn’t think any of them could live without the others. Oh, they could exist—they could draw air, eat, all of the necessities of life—but there would be no joy in that for them. The bond they forged was mystical, but not frivolous. There was a reason their souls had combined. They needed each other. Of that, Lorren had no doubt.

  When Gabriyel didn’t answer, Lorren asked again, “What will happen to you?” After a very long while, where Lorren could see Gabriyel debate telling the truth or not, he finally spoke.

  “I will be put to the stone.”

  Lorren had no idea what that was. When Gabriyel explained, he shook his head. “Stop! I don’t want to hear any more.” Appalled, Lorren paced the length of the cell. “What kind of civilized people crush their criminals under a pile of rocks?”

  “Well, if I’m lucky, they’ll just use one big stone, crushing me instantly.” Gabriyel clapped one hand over the other as a visual aid that roiled Lorren’s empty belly. “The other way is very slow, giving the condemned plenty of time to consider the egregious nature of their trespass.” A deep breath expanded Gabriyel’s already massive chest. “I think a slave violating the daughter of the empress is probably going to result in the slower version.”

  “And I’m the one who made you do it.” Lorren joined him on the bed. Their combined weight caused the mattress to sag, pressing their shoulders together.

  “Don’t.” Gabriyel spit the one word out.

  “What?” Lorren countered. “Don’t feel badly about the massive mess I’ve made? All of this is my fault.”

  “You made me do something I’ve always wanted to do.” Gabriyel’s voice was so soft it was barely a whisper. “And I don’t regret what I’ve done.” Casting him a grim smile, he said, “If I have to die for my actions, I can honestly say that she was worth it.”

  Lorren rolled his eyes. “You really are in love.”

  Gabriyel’s burst of laughter caused all three guards to glance over their shoulders and into the cell. Once they assessed the situation, they turned away.

  “Why aren’t they watching everything we do?” Lorren puzzled over the way they stood facing away from them. It wouldn’t be that difficult to sneak up and grab a neck or a weapon as they were within arm reach of the bars.

  “Dismissal.” Gabriyel grimaced. “I’m sure Roland told them to stand that way. It’s show of disrespect to turn your back on a fellow soldier.”

  “Because only a coward would attack a man when his back was turned.”

  “You’re a fast learner.” Gabriyel slipped his arm around him and clapped his hand to his shoulder. “I am honestly disappointed that we will not have more time together.”

  “As am I.” Lorren meant every word. He realized he hadn’t disliked Gabriyel, he’d been intimidated by him. “You know, for hating your guts not too long ago, this turnabout is nothing short of amazing.”

  Gabriyel nodded. “I guess we will never find out who will kneel or lie back for the other first.”

  Lorren laughed. “I lied. I’ve been the bottom for Errion plenty of times and loved it.”

  Gabriyel’s chuckle vibrated the bed. “I lied as well.” His smile transformed the harsh lines of his face, softening his gruff exterior as it wiped away his worry, if only for a moment. “When I was a recruit, it was not expressly forbidden to find peace with my fellow soldiers, but it was frowned upon. So, as long as we did not get caught and none complained, they left us to our own devices.” Leaning conspiratorially close, he added, “Can you imagine what took place in a dark room filled with over a hundred hot and sweaty men desperate for release?”

  Lorren’s dick stood at attention. He glanced down and wryly offered, “Obviously I can.”

  Together they laughed. Despite everything going on around them, this time of sharing was valuable to Lorren. He had no idea what would happen, but he didn’t want to regret a moment. He’d lived his life on the edge of propriety, always pushing, always willing to put himself out there as he sought his true needs and desires. He didn’t want this to be any different.

  “How long will they keep us here?”

  Shrugging, Gabriyel leaned over, and slipped his lips around Lorren’s cock. Shock waves rolled up his body. Moaning, he cupped his head. His short hair was silky below his fingertips, the muscles at the back of his neck as solid as the rest of him. He swore the man worked out the muscles in his lips and tongue, they were so firm as he swirled his tongue expertly around the sensitive tip. Gabriyel maneuvered himself to the floor, between his knees, and took the entire length of his cock into his mouth.

  A cry of pleasure escaped him. He saw the guards turn, then turn away, one of them flushing bright red. Lorren would have said something to him, but he wouldn’t have understood him, so there was no point. Besides, he didn’t want anything to interrupt Gabriyel.

  Leisurely, Gabriyel slid up and down along his cock as if they had all the time in the world. He used every body part he could to heighten Lorren’s pleasure: he pressed the palm of his hand below his balls; he used his long fingers to fondle his sac; his lips caressed along with his tongue; even his teeth raked lightly along his shaft. Lost in a daze of passion, Lorren hardly noticed when Gabriyel’s amazingly slick fingers pressed against his ass. Swirling them carefully, he relaxed him before he plunged one finger within. Like the expert he was, he knew right where to press. Lorren’s entire body curled upward, his thighs tightening to stop himself from bucking. The last thing he wanted to do was dislodge Gabriyel’s mouth.

  As if to punish him for his greedy thoughts, Gabriyel pulled away. By the time Lorren blinked up and focused his gaze, Gabriyel had planted his prick right against Lorren’s bottom.

  “I guess I win.”

  Lifting Lorren’s legs and pushing them back, Gabriyel slid up slowly. He felt so good that Lorren couldn’t even be angry that he’d taken advantage. What did it matter who did who first? In the midst of the danger facing them, letting Gabriyel penetrate his ass first was hardly that big of a deal. Except it was a big deal. As he’d noted before, the man was simply huge.

  When Lorren grimaced, Gabriyel halted his forward slide. Breathing slow and even, he waited for Lorren to nod slightly before he continued. Stopping, starting, ever so slowly and gently, Gabriyel eased the full length of his prick into Lorren. Once there, they both released a held breath.

  They didn’t need words as their connection allowed an exchange of images, clips of phrases. Lorren knew how tight and hot he felt along Gabriyel’s glorious cock, and Gabriyel knew how big and pulsing he felt buried in Lorren’s bottom. He even understood how he’d slicked up his dick—Errion and his ever-present tube of lube. He’d left it in the cell when he’d come to play with Gabriyel.

  “You can yell at me in Diolan if you think it will help,” Lorren offered.

  “Help what?” Gabriyel rocked his hips as he smoothed his hand up Lorren’s belly, his fingers skimming over the delineated muscles of his abs.

  “Your image before your people. Perhaps they will think you subdued me.” Lorren lifted his hands above his head in surrender.

  “So I beat you into submission and managed to get myself locked in here without my clothes?” Gabriyel’s lifted brows conveyed his incredulity. “And that kiss you laid on me ruined any image that either you or I forced
the other to do anything.”

  Together they chuckled.

  “All right, it was a stupid idea.” Lorren sat up, causing Gabriyel to pant and wince. “Too tight?”

  “Way too tight. Lie back before you crush my cock.”

  His laughter flexed him around Gabriyel and caught the attention of the guards. After examining them, they turned away, but one of them kept his head turned just enough so he could watch them out of the corner of his eye.

  “If you’re looking to improve my image, laughing while I’ve got my cock up your ass certainly isn’t going to help.”

  “I’m not laughing at you but at a memory of when I’d inadvertently glued my dick up Errion’s ass.” Lorren waved off the impending question. “Don’t ask. We’ll just start laughing again.” Pulling his legs back and parting his thighs, he added, “And right now I certainly don’t feel like laughing.”

  “Nor do I.”

  Unlike his usual fast and furious romps, this was languid and leisurely. Gabriyel commanded his attention as he worked his prick in and out with no effort to reach climax. The intensity of his look was almost too much. This wasn’t a frantic coupling to reach orgasm. This was as close to lovemaking as he’d ever been with a man. Uncomfortable with the intimacy, Lorren clenched his cheeks tightly together, hoping to speed Gabriyel up, but he just kept to his steady, plodding pace.

  “They could wrench us apart at any moment.” Lorren didn’t want either of them left in torment, because he knew the first thing those guards would do was separate them.

  Gabriyel shook his head. “Errion won’t tell them where the keys are, so they will have to cut the lock.” Smiling, Gabriyel slipped his hands below Lorren’s buttocks and pulled him closer to the edge of the bed. “We have plenty of time, and I don’t wish to rush.”

  Understanding hit Lorren then, and he stopped pushing him to climax. This might be Gabriyel’s last time, not just for a long time but forever.

  “I don’t mind if you want to close your eyes and think of her.” Lorren wouldn’t be insulted. It was the least he could do considering this entire mess was his and Errion’s fault. Technically, they hadn’t abducted Farjika, but Errion holding the images over her head was certainly coercion. Willingly, she allowed Errion to tie her up, but what came after certainly wasn’t done of her own free will.

  Leaning forward as he pushed his legs back, Gabriyel covered Lorren with his body, lowering his face until he kissed him. Strong and firm, he kissed him as if to tell him without words exactly how he felt about him. Gabriyel did it all without closing his eyes for longer than a blink. Moving back a bit, he said, “I am with you.”

  Never in a million turns would he ever figure this man out. “But until a short while ago, you didn’t even like me.” Lorren was at once afraid of and hungry for the intimacy Gabriyel offered. There had been slow times with Errion but not quite like this. When Errion expressed his love, he did it violently, hungrily, like he had in the carriage. Lorren did the same. What he’d done to Errion tonight was a perfect example. Rough and wild had always been their way. This, this tenderness, was unfamiliar territory.

  “I like you now.” Gabriyel smirked as he leaned back, slipping his hands down to twist Lorren’s nipples, flinging electricity straight down to his prick. “I like you on your back with your legs spread.” He lunged forward, ramming his cock balls-deep, jostling Lorren against the bed. Bracing himself, Lorren put his hands above his head, pressing his palms into the rough stones of the wall. “I like the rough of your body hair against my waist and hips.” Gabriyel pulled all the way out, then thrust so hard Lorren’s eyes rolled back in his head. “I like the feel of your muscles against mine.”

  Gabriyel set a pattern of drawing back, complimenting him, thrusting forward, complimenting him again. Repeatedly he plunged into his body, his strokes as steady as his gaze. In his eyes, Lorren saw himself anew. Gabriyel praised his physical form from the tiny cleft of his chin to the girth of his cock, but then he admired his home, his robots and his passionate relationship with Errion. Everything his father disdained, Gabriyel commended. “You are more daring, more self-realized, than any man I have ever known, especially myself.”

  A part of Lorren wanted to dismiss all he’d said with some flippant reply, but he didn’t, because Gabriyel was telling him a truth that he needed to hear. Never had his father ever said one kind thing about him. Gabriyel somehow managed to make up for that lifetime of verbal abuse with his clear, concise and utter conviction that in total Lorren was a good man.

  “I hated you because I thought your handsome exterior hid a monster, but that isn’t so. You lust like any man does, but you express yours with a physicality that I have never dared to indulge. Not until you forced me to acknowledge the truth.” Gabriyel continued his rhythmic pounding as he spoke. “Tonight with Farjika went beyond my wildest dreams. I thought if I ever had her, I would seduce her with wine, and—”

  “Soft lights, silky bedding.” Lorren almost laughed as he picked up the thread of Gabriyel’s thought. “I too had that same notion.” His plans had fallen apart once she was in his arms and his beast picked up her scent.

  “But it’s a woman’s idea of seduction, not a man’s.” Gabriyel intensified his beat. “I told myself that fantasy when the reality was I wanted her panting and wild with need, begging for my cock, just as she was.” Crushing fully against him, Gabriyel closed his eyes. He calmed his breath for a moment, then returned to his leisurely strokes. “Even thinking of her breathless pleas pushes my body so close to climax I can hardly stand it.”

  Lorren nodded, remembering the plaintive sound of her voice, the desperation in her eyes, the sweet slickness of her sex.

  As if sensing his need, Gabriyel lowered his hands to Lorren’s cock, mimicking with his hands the pace he set with his hips. His hands were massive and hot, slick with their combined sweat. He relented for a moment, and Lorren almost screamed in frustration, but he was only fumbling to find the lube that had rolled under the bed. Holding the tube up and waggling his brows, Gabriyel poured a generous dollop into his hands, rubbed them together, then gripped Lorren’s aching prick.

  Frictionless, his hands encompassed his length, each stroke riding him toward that blissful moment where everything in the world disappeared.

  “Look at me.”

  Blinking slowly, Lorren met his intense gaze. Sky-blue darkened under lowered brows, his focus unrelenting, his passion unrestricted.

  “I want to watch you.” He thrust so hard Lorren had to struggle to keep himself from hitting the wall. “I want to watch you take everything I have to give.”

  In the back of Lorren’s mind, Errion called with a singsong voice be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Earlier he’d wanted Gabriyel aggressive and violent, and he’d built him up to that snarling beast he wanted to see rutting between his legs.

  Holding himself firmly against the wall, Lorren tightened his buttocks and lifted his legs up until he rested his feet against Gabriyel’s powerful shoulders. Completely at his mercy, all Lorren could do was hang on as Gabriyel thrust his prick deep and stroked his cock with his skilled hands. Looking up the length of his sweaty body, Lorren watched Gabriyel’s calm exterior crumble beneath the needs he’d tried so hard to keep at bay—the urge to control, to dominate, to expend everything in seeking release. And when that release came, Gabriyel lowered his head, growling through his gritted teeth as he forced Lorren to climax with him.

  Every muscle in both their bodies tightened. When they erupted, the tension released, causing Gabriyel to slump forward. Breathlessly, he lay atop Lorren, his gasps matching his. Lowering his legs as Gabriyel removed his hands allowed them to press fully together. Satisfied and replete, Gabriyel balanced his weight on his elbows, allowing them to kiss as they clung together.

  For a long time they lay entwined, neither one of them moving, even when they heard the men working at the lock. They didn’t let go of each other until the guards
forcefully separated them.

  The haunted look in Gabriyel’s eyes as they dragged him away would be with Lorren for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Errion was escorting Farjika across the parlor when something slammed into his side, knocked him off his feet and smashed his head against the floor. If not for the thick carpet, he would have been out cold, perhaps even seriously brain damaged. As it was, he was just as dizzy as a top and baffled by his sudden down-facing position.

  Without any idea of what was going on, Errion felt someone truss him up, then yank him to his feet. A dozen men, whom he recognized as Farjika’s guards, surrounded him. Errion had fantasies where hulking men encircled him with lust in their eyes, but this wasn’t quite what he’d envisioned. They were looking at him as if tearing him limb from limb would be a great way to spend what remained of the evening.

  Whipping his head this way and that, Errion didn’t see Farjika. He honestly didn’t think she’d called them for help. A chilling fear iced all the glowy warmth he’d been feeling since he’d bonded to her and Gabriyel.

  Against a softly sighed expletive, Errion closed his eyes, picturing what he and Farjika would have looked like to her guards. When they’d entered the parlor, he’d been taking a naked Farjika to the bathroom to clean up her bloody nose. He was dressed, but only in pants, and passion marks covered both of them from all the evening’s encounters. To an outsider, it would look like Errion had hurt Farjika and forced her to do all manner of unsavory acts.

  He opened his mouth to defend himself, but they hadn’t accused him of anything. Yet. Remembering what his barrister always cautioned—“Speak not without my permission”—Errion closed his mouth. He considered calling for his robots, but he realized they would have been decommissioned prior to the raid. Every robot they made had to have such a device implanted, or criminals could simply surround themselves with inhumanly strong and fairly indestructible metal bodyguards. Even though all the men around him were from Farjika’s planet, there had to be a liaison from Avalith.