by Megan Derr
Elton said nothing, only sipped at his wine.
Baxter and Lucid laughed. "So what else do you like, pretty?" Baxter asked. "You must like more than gems."
"Um. Gemstones are all I really know."
Lucid made a soft, disbelieving noise. "What do you like to drink? Wine? Champagne? Spirits?"
Elton turned scarlet, unable to think of anything except Bangkok rum and Vrill wine. "Umm—I don't really drink much. The most I ever really indulge in is a bit of wine at the end of term and the occasional bottle of Bangkok rum."
Baxter smiled, slow and hot. "My personal favorite. Lucid prefers wine."
"Vrill?" Elton asked before he could catch himself.
"Yes, actually," Lucid replied, looking surprised. "How did you know?"
"Um—" Elton shook his head, feeling hot from embarrassment and wine. He took another sip of the wine, not certain what else to do, hoping they would change the subject, but they only continued to look at him and wait patiently, until he finally mumbled, "I could taste it."
Lucid's smile then matched Baxter's, and Elton suddenly found himself once more the focus of dizzying kisses, one after another, combined with bold hands touching him in ways no one ever had until it was hard to keep up with who was doing what, and there was no possible way this was actually happening to him.
"I do think you are quite the treasure, pretty," Lucid said, licking his lips in a way that made Elton shudder hard and his breath lodge in his chest.
But the words jarred him, and he again spoke without thinking. "Because I can tell you apart?" He snapped his mouth shut and decided it was long past time he stopped drinking the wine. But when he went to set the glass down, he instead only wound up taking another sip.
Baxter took the glass away then took his hand, kissing the back of it, nibbling on his fingers. "Pretty, make no mistake. Once we knew you weren't tied to the thefts, we started making plans to have you. Whatever you might think, you're beautiful and more than a little desirable. We didn't expect you to know the difference between us. That was simply…"
"More than we could have hoped for," Lucid finished. "I don't know that we can express what it's like to see recognition in someone's face, to know that someone sees me, sees Baxter, sees we are two separate people."
"Instead of interchangeable persons with two names. Did you know someone once suggested we just pick one name?"
"Someone else said we should quit whining and accept there is no difference between us."
"But—but—" Elton started at them in horror. "Why would they such things? That's the stupidest, cruelest thing I've ever heard. You're different. It cannot be that hard for people to tell you apart."
And suddenly he could see why they would be so happy to discover he could tell them apart. It still made him sad that was the only reason they wanted him, but he could understand it better. "You're not that alike," He said. "I don't understand why people can't tell you apart. You walk differently. Your smiles tilt differently. You don't hold your heads the same way. You tas—" He flushed hot. "Umm. You're different. You… sparkle differently," he finished, feeling silly and stupid for phrasing it that way, but it was the best way he could think to describe it.
"Oh, pretty,” Lucid breathed against his ear. "You really are more precious than any of the diamonds you adore."
Elton shook his head. "Hardly."
Baxter nibbled at his neck. "So genuinely modest—I daresay oblivious. Nothing as fine as you ever comes to Bangkok. If we'd known being robbed was all it took to get you, we would have hired the thieves ourselves a long time ago."
At that, Elton managed a shaky laugh. "You're both idiots, you know. Being able to tell you apart doesn't mean anything. I could be a terrible person, or, um, annoying. Something."
"Details, pretty," Lucid said, licking his lips again, and Elton really hoped that whimpering sound had been in his head and he had not let it out. The way Lucid smiled, though, he probably had whimpered. "Just details. If I can stand my idiot brother, you are certainly no chore."
Baxter laughed then reached over and pinched Lucid hard.
"Ow!" Lucid said, jerking and knocking over his wine, spilling it everywhere across the table, his own lap, and part of Elton's pants.
Lucid leaned over Elton and jabbed Baxter hard in the chest. "Troublemaker."
"You started it," Baxter retorted, rubbing at the spot Lucid had poked, snickering.
"That is a lie," Lucid said in mock-haughty tones. "Come and clean me up."
Baxter rolled his eyes, but finished his own wine and then obediently stood up. Moving behind Elton, he leaned over Lucid, hands braced on the arms of Lucid's chair, and bent to kiss him. Elton watched them with wide-eyes, unable to tear away from the sight, wondering how in the stars it was possible he got to see such a thing at all.
Incest was a tricky issue in the IG—some cultures practiced it, like the Parthons. Some forbade it, like Mars. Others, like the Fornarians, had no concept or comprehension of it. On those grounds, the IG could not forbid it, but the arguments ever waged.
Elton had never realized just how capable he was of supporting the practice.
When the twins finally drew apart, Lucid said, "That is not where you spilled the wine."
"Getting there, brat," Baxter murmured. "But I think the rule is guests first."
Lucid smile, and slid his gaze toward Elton, aquamarine eyes bright and hot. "True. Very well. Tend our guests."
"What—" Elton immediately forgot what he'd been about to say as Baxter kissed him, pulling him out of his seat and taking firm hold of his ass. Elton moaned and held fast, fingers tight in the silk of Baxter's jacket, and he really wished he had the temerity to do some touching of his own.
He cried out in surprise as he was abruptly shifted, then dragged across the room to the white sofa with rainbow hints in the fabric. Baxter pushed him down into the deep, soft cushions, following him down, then kissed him long and deep, making Elton moan and whimper.
Then Baxter drew back and smiled, slow and hot, making Elton shiver. "Nothing in Bangkok compares to you, pretty," he murmured, fingers moving to the buttons of Elton's shirt, pushing up beneath his undershirt, extracting more shivers and shudders from Elton.
Elton tried to say something, anything, completely confounded as to how he was here with them—
Baxter chuckled softly, though what amused him Elton did not know, and then there was a brief confusion as Elton's shirts were removed completely and carelessly tossed aside. When the word righted itself again, Baxter was kneeling before him, and Elton jerked hard as Baxter cupped him through his pants, smile hotter than ever, a little smug and a lot provocative as he then went to work on Elton's belt and buttons, pushing everything out of the way as he finally took Elton's cock in hand.
He almost came then and there, only barely managing not to, biting his lip against a hoarse cry—
That slipped out anyway, so loud he clapped a hand over his mouth as Baxter's hands were replaced by his mouth.
Elton whimpered and scrabbled for purchase on the smooth fabric of the couch, hips jerking without permission, body eager for more of the wet, warm heat of Baxter's mouth.
"Grab his hair," Lucid said suddenly, and Elton burned redder than ever as he was suddenly reminded that there were two of them. He jerked his head up from the sight of Baxter's mouth around his cock to see Lucid watching them from the chair opposite the couch, legs spread as he lazily stroked himself while watching them.
Elton came then, hard and fast, so suddenly he could not breathe for a moment.
Baxter slowly released him, then abruptly surged up to kiss him, rough and thorough, and Elton had no words for the way he could taste himself in Baxter's warm, spicy mouth.
Then Baxter tore away, murmuring something about pretty and sweet, and crawled over to immediately subject Lucid to the same exquisite torture.
Elton groaned loudly, hands balling into fists, and his just-spent cock jerked at the sight of on
e twin sucking off the other, Lucid's hands fisted in Baxter's hair, words spilling out, filthy and fond all at once, until Lucid finally came with a shudder, crying Baxter's name.
"Mm, you are as beautiful as ever, brother," Lucid said softly, carding his fingers through the hair he had just been gripping. "I think our pretty agrees." They both shifted their attention to look at Elton.
He swallowed and managed to say, "Uh. You're both beautiful. Stunning. Far too much for me."
The twins made soft, amused, protesting noises and stood up, moving back to the couch and he whimpered at how decadent they looked, still mostly dressed, cocks hanging out of the fancy, costly clothes, Baxter still hard and leaking.
He went easily as he was dragged close to kiss Lucid, moaning loud and long as Baxter crowded in behind him, practically on top of him, trapping Elton between them and it should not make him so hard, but stars, did it.
"I—" But he couldn't form words. How, he wondered dizzily as Baxter took his mouth again, how had he gone from hiding in his room, too anxious to even try a bit of flirting, to being pinned between the two most beautiful, perfectly matched jewels to ever exist?
He shuddered as his pants were pulled away entirely, and he was left naked between the still fully dressed twins. He gasped as Baxter ground against him, fingers digging into Lucid's shoulders for purchase as they all three rubbed and thrust and pressed.
Hot, he was so very hot, and it was hard to breathe, harder to think, and nothing else in the rest of his life would ever compare to this strange night—
Baxter came with a cry behind him, pushing him harder into Lucid, sending all three of them over the edge, until they finally collapsed in a sweaty, stick mess.
"Shall we go to our room?" Lucid asked eventually, laughter in his voice. He was even more beautiful tousled and sated than he had been the first time Elton saw him. They both were.
"Mmm," Baxter agreed. "It will be much easier to continue there, and I have every intention of fucking our pretty until he is incapable of leaving.
Elton swallowed, not quite able to look at either of them, but he did not shy or turn away when they kissed him either.
Oh, he really was a fool.
"Coming, pretty?" Lucid asked, "or have you have had enough?"
Elton laughed, the question too absurd. "How could anyone have enough?" he asked, without thinking, then flushed at his own words and tried to hide his head.
But Baxter and Lucid only smiled and kissed him again, then each other, before moving to sort things out to retire to their room for the night.
*~*~*
After three days he should have sort of been used to it, but he still felt disconcerted and out of place every time he woke in Baxter and Lucid's bed. Such finery, such luxury, were well beyond even the means to which his family had once laid claim. He did not think the Chancellors lived half as well as the Lords of Bangkok.
He rolled onto his back and winced at the various aches that presented themselves. His face flushed hot as he thought he should also be used to waking up sore in interesting places.
Climbing out of the massive bed, he made his way slowly to the washroom and cleaned himself up for the day. Like the past two mornings, there were clothes waiting for him; he had not seen his own clothes since Baxter and Lucid had removed them that first night.
There was also a note waiting for him, and he smiled at the way the twins had laid out their schedules, jotting in where they hoped to see him and what they would do. It warmed him all the way through, far more than he should permit.
So far, it had simply carried on like a dream vacation. He could not believe they had kept him around for three nights now. Elton flushed and tried to ignore the way his body reacted as he thought about how he spent those three nights. He really needed to stop thinking about it, lingering over it. In two days his vacation ended, and he would have to face reality and leave this impossible dream world behind.
Tucking the note containing the schedules away, he finished dressing in the beautiful clothes he should not be wearing and left the washroom. Back in the bedroom, he tried to gather his equilibrium. More and more people were noticing him, pestering him, some more subtle than others. Though he tried to avoid it, really it was impossible—whether he liked it or not, people noticed when the Jewels of Bangkok took a lover, even a brief one.
Morbid curiosity was better than the hateful abuse of all the people his father had wronged, those who had blamed Elton after word got out he had been the one helping the police. That he had not known had never seemed to matter.
Shaking the memories off, he finally made himself leave the bedroom, leave the apartment altogether, and venture down to the public floors of Black Dragon Tower.
The smaller of the three main dining rooms had rapidly become his favorite, though like everything else, it remained unnerving that he was immediately escorted to a separate, private table on a raised dais, reserved for the Daie family and a short list of approved guests.
Lana was already there when he arrived and giggled at him. "Have I mentioned how different you look, little brother, when you're getting laid every night? By twins!"
"Lana!" Elton hissed, glaring at her, and really, he wished his face would stop turning red. All he had done the past three nights, he rather thought he would be past the blushing thing finally. "Shut up," he continued, then smirked. "Princesses should not say such crude things."
"You shut up," Lana retorted, scowling at him and stabbing at a piece of fruit.
"Where is your Warden, by the way?" Elton asked.
"With your twins," Lana replied. "Bax was here briefly, but then he was summoned away." Her face softened then, suddenly, and she smiled at him. "They really do adore you, Ellie."
"I—" Elton frowned at his tea, which was his favorite blend, a Saturn black rose tea. "It can't last."
Lana was silent for a long moment before saying with quiet hesitation. "All we wanted was a new life, Ellie. This life seems a good one, don't you think? I'm telling you, they adore you. We could try to start over here, couldn't we?"
"And accept money and clothes and everything else we haven't earned? Live a lifestyle we don't fit? No, that's not fair—you live it beautifully." He sighed, knowing he was being stupid, but…
"They offered me a job," Lana said, voice still low and quiet. "Head of their in-house fashion firm."
That was Lana's dream job on a platter, far above and beyond simply owning her own little boutique. "I'm glad," Elton said, feeling wretched for more reasons than he could sort out. "It's a good thing you didn't sign papers saying you'd never again touch or deal in what you love."
Lana's cautious, hopeful expression collapsed. "Ellie—I'm sorry. It wasn't fair of them to do all of that to you, first tricking you and then taking it all away because you're even better than dad ever was. I wish you'd gotten a lawyer, or told the Lower Chancellor—"
"And turn five years of hell into ten? Into twenty? While our reputations suffered still more and we endured more and more harassment? Forget it. I'm done in the jewelry world; no one will ever trust me, not after what father did, not after the way I helped get him arrested."
"We could still stay here," Lana said, but weakly.
Elton shook his head. How? He could not work with jewelry anymore, and he was useless for everything else. Jewelry had been his whole life; he did not know how to do anything else.
Besides, they would grow tired of him. Baxter and Lucid were too much of everything to keep him forever. The novelty would wear off eventually, and then where would he be? Even worse off than he was now.
"Ellie…"
"We're only here at this table, in these clothes, eating this food, because of my stupid little talent," Elton said. "If I hadn't noticed the necklaces had been switched, no one here would care about us. If not for me, father—"
He could not say it, could not think about, could not handle any of it. Standing up, he fled the table, ignoring Lana's calling after him, ignori
ng everything and everyone.
Outside, it was easy to lose himself in the throngs of people—young, old, rich, poor, watchers, fighters, visitors, workers, quiet, flashy. Every star flocked to Bangkok; even Zero, home of the IG, could not compete with Bangkok.
Elton shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants, lowered his head, and just walked.
Though he tried to turn his thoughts off, they rattled around in his head, loud and painful.
His father.
His poor mother.
His own unwitting betrayal.
His stupid fucking talent.
Lana, who had only been looking for happiness, and she was right—they were being handed this chance, and Lana deserved the opportunity being offered her, and he should stop fretting and whining and accept the good fortune while it lasted.
Except he did not really believe in good fortune, and this entire situation did not make sense, and he did not want to be the well-kept novelty pet of the Lords of Bangkok—even if the benefits of that position blew his mind.
All he had wanted was a quiet little fresh start on Kreska, but after three days with the Jewels, that little life only seemed dreary, dull, and maybe that was what bothered him the most. He had gone his entire life too shy and awkward to try for anything, for anyone. Then he had identified of a pair of gems like nothing he would ever find again. Nothing else would ever compare to the past three days. No one else would ever match Baxter and Lucid for shine, for sparkle—for life.
His heart could not take any more breaking, but that was precisely what he was setting it up for, and he really had no one to blame but himself. Was it not bad enough, he thought miserably, that he had lost everything else? Did he really have to lose what little he had left?
Shaking his head, impatient and angry and afraid and confused, he just kept walking.
And walking.
When he finally stopped, it was only because he was too exhausted to keep going. He sat on a bench in the star-gazing park, leaning back to enjoy the breathtaking view—the glittering stars, the odd flashes and burst of light that were ships arriving and departing.
