Captive Fire (2 page)

“Glad you could join me,” Ryuu said sardonically.

Drakon pressed his lips together as the canopy slid
closed above his head. Now was not the time to lose his temper. The leather
seats and fresh air that immediately filtered into the small compartment was
more luxury than he’d experienced in years. He tried not to feel bitter about
what Prince Ryuu’s father had done to his people, the Soutx, but it was
difficult.

“Do you have a name?”

Drakon looked at his captor, still silent.

Ryuu frowned. “I can simply call you, ‘Slave,’ if you
wish.” His silver eyes appeared darker within the filtered light of the
flitter.

“Drakon,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
His face burned and he once again fought down anger. The Soutx, the People of
the Dragon, weren’t slaves. Drakon would never truly be any man’s property, regardless
of the chains and whippings he might endure.

“Ah,” Ryuu said mildly, just when Drakon thought the
prince would rebuke him for his tone.

The flitter lifted from the sand and sped to the west,
toward the crystal fields. Drakon stared through the glass, wondering what
torment he’d brought upon himself.

Chapter Two

“You have no servants?” the slave asked as he settled
into the copilot’s seat. “No guards?”

Ryuu’s lips twisted. “I prefer to go about in the
world without anyone to hinder my way.” He lifted the flitter into the air,
then deftly steered it over the peak of a dune. He hovered for a moment,
glancing one last time at the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains before swerving to the
south, angling the nose of the flitter toward the crystal fields. The citadel
lay within the center of the largest field, right in the middle of the
Whispering Desert.

It’s more like a bunker than a fortress,
he thought bitterly, thinking of the dim, twisting
corridors. He’d grown up within the granite walls of the citadel, deep
underground. The political maneuvers of the people who lived there were more
dangerous than the deadliest sand snakes.

“Yet you purchased me,” Drakon replied. “One could say
that a slave is the ultimate hindrance.”

Ryuu glanced at him, too surprised by Drakon’s
insightful statement to reply. The slave had pulled his long hair over his
right shoulder and braided it into a thick rope while Ryuu had piloted them
away from the auction. The ends of the braid were long enough to brush against
the man’s hipbones. Ryuu frowned, looking at the dirt that seemed ground into
his new servant’s skin. “When was the last time you bathed?” He was surprised
that the man didn’t smell, but then, the desert was so dry he likely didn’t
have enough moisture left in his body to sweat.

Drakon snorted. “Slaves do not bathe.” He turned away
and stared out at the undulating waves of sand.

Ryuu’s shoulders tightened. He hated this,
this…purchasing of another human being. The depths of his father’s depravity
would never cease to disturb him. He hated even more that he’d been forced into
ownership of this clearly proud man. “You will bathe when we reach my
chambers,” he declared.

Drakon laughed softly. “I would prefer food, if I am
to have a choice regarding my survival.”

Ryuu stared at Drakon,
then
wrenched his gaze back to the land in front of the flitter. “When was the last
time you ate?”

“Four days ago.”

Anger burned through the unease in Ryuu’s stomach.
“That’s barbaric!”

Drakon laughed again, more softly this time, but
didn’t say anything more.

Ryuu didn’t need an explanation. He knew what the
slave thought of him.
And I know what he thinks of the Arethuza.
My poor, deluded people.
Instead of speaking again, he
concentrated on getting the flitter to the underground hangar bay as quickly as
possible.

****

Of course,
nothing about the citadel is simple
,
Ryuu thought angrily as he strode along the hall that led to his chambers. He’d
had to take up Drakon’s chains and lead him about, like an animal on a leash,
much to his disgust. He had no key for the bonds, and would have to burn them
off when he reached his rooms.
Once a slave, always a
slave
.
The shackles were meant to be permanent.

“It’s not much further,” he murmured as Drakon
stumbled, clearly reaching the end of his strength. His slave grunted, gaze on
the ground. Ryuu sighed and steered the man into a less well-used corridor. Too
many warriors and administrators had already stopped them to inquire about his
new purchase, and far too many sneered at him when they realized he’d been forced
to buy Drakon against his will. His father’s soldiers were particularly
unpleasant, making insinuations about his masculinity.
Bastards, all of them.

Eventually, he’d given up and resorted to growling at
anyone he passed. He’d sensed Drakon’s growing tension and he could ill afford
to have the man lose his temper in the halls. The slave might be starving and
filthy, but he was as tall and muscular as Ryuu himself.
If
he went berserk…

Ah, that
would be a disaster.
Ryuu refused to
contemplate the rest of that thought. They emerged from the dim hall and Ryuu
breathed easier. They’d reached the black-metal clad doors of his chambers.
Happily, his personal guards, Zinan and Svana, had done as he’d asked and taken
the day off. He pressed his hand to the center pad and sighed when the lock
snicked open.

“You lock your doors in your own citadel?” Drakon
asked curiously, standing tall despite his obvious discomfort.

“
Especially
in the citadel,” Ryuu replied. “I
usually have guards, as well, but I convinced them to leave me be today.” He
supposed he should be angry with the man for speaking out of turn. No true
slave would behave so independently, but then, he’d known all along the man was
no such thing.

“Ah,” Drakon said, eyes going dark.

Ryuu smiled grimly and pushed open the heavy door. The
artificial lights in the chamber were dimmed, but it didn’t matter. As heir to
the land of Arethuza, the ceiling of his chambers contained the crystal tubes
that permitted his people to prosper in the midst of the most unforgiving
desert on the planet. Light from the setting sun gleamed through the reflective
and translucent rock, magnified threefold, enough to illuminate every last
corner of his chambers with golden-tinged light. He motioned Drakon inside,
then closed and locked the doors behind them.

Drakon stopped just inside the doors and stared.

Ryuu’s lips twisted. “Like what you see?”

“It is beautiful,” Drakon admitted gruffly.

Ryuu shrugged. “I had no choice regarding my chambers.
These are the heir’s rooms.” He unbuckled his weapons harness and draped his
knives over the rack near the door. “Come. The bathing room is beyond the
sleeping platform.” Beckoning to Drakon, he led the way around the curve of the
natural stone walls and into the room with his private pools. “There is hot
water in that pool.” He pointed to the smallest of the three pools. “It is
automatically refreshed and recycled. There
are
soap
and lotions near the lip.”

Drakon hovered near the doorway, staring fixedly at
the pools. “Water like this in the midst of the Whispering Desert…” He trailed
off and lifted his hands. “I had no idea.” His chains rattled.

Ryuu stared at the man’s bloody wrists,
then
shook his head. “You cannot go into the water with
those things on your body. Wait here.” He pivoted and strode back out to his
weapons rack. He’d need the Pax 11, his personal sidearm. The plasma beam would
cut through the chains. He paused by the communication console to order food.
When he returned to the bathing chamber, Drakon stood in the same place, still
looking at the water as if mesmerized.

“Give me your hands,” Ryuu said.

Drakon turned to him and blanched, stumbling back. His
gaze flicked to the weapon, to the floor, and finally settled on the blazing
crystal ceiling.

Ryuu huffed impatiently. “I have no intention of
harming you.” He gestured with his sidearm. “This is merely to cut off your
bonds.”

The slave licked his lips before he slowly brought his
arms up, wrists together. His green eyes glimmered like cold fire. “You could
cut off all my limbs and I could do nothing.” He tossed his head. The braid
he’d plaited in the flitter began to unravel.

Anger rose in Ryuu. “I would never do that. I only
kill in battle,” he replied, edgy and frustrated.
I can’t keep pretending I
mean him harm, but do I dare let him know my true feelings about slavery?
About my father?
How can I trust anyone?

Drakon didn’t reply. He just stood there, arms out as
if in supplication.

Ryuu sighed and came
closer,
carefully dialing the setting he wanted on his Pax 11. “Hold still.”

Drakon stared right at him, silent.

“I promise I won’t harm you,” Ryuu said. He thumbed
the safety from the sidearm and aimed. It took four short bursts of the plasma
beam to get the filthy metal off Drakon’s wrists. The smell of burned hair
clogged Ryuu’s throat and he coughed as he set aside the weapon.

“Thank you,” Drakon said huskily.

Ryuu looked down at the man’s arms. The metal had
rubbed the skin away, leaving blood and scars behind. “You can’t go into the
water with those wounds.”

Drakon shook his head. “It is nothing. I heal
quickly.” With a single movement, he snapped the frayed string holding his
loincloth to his hips and waded into the hot pool.

Ryuu stared, not expecting the man to simply strip
like that. He shrugged. If he’d been denied food and bathing facilities, he’d
want to get clean as fast as possible, too. He took off his boots and armor,
grateful to be out of the hot dust. By the time he’d stripped down, Drakon was
washing himself with one of the cloths left near the pool for just that
purpose. Pink and brown lather slicked down his muscular arms. When he twisted,
trying to reach his back, Ryuu strode forward. “Let me,” he said, taking the
soapy cloth from Drakon’s fingers.

“Thank you,” Drakon replied, not turning.

Gently, Ryuu began to rub away months of accumulated
grime.

“You don’t have to be so gentle,” Drakon said.

Ryuu grimaced. “You have wounds all over you.”

“I want to be clean,” Drakon murmured, almost too
quietly for Ryuu to hear him. “That is more important than a little pain.”

Yes, I’d definitely want to be cleansed, too,
he thought, shuddering at the thought of being
whipped against his will. Then he smiled grimly to himself.
Am I not held
against my will here in the citadel? Trapped by my father’s insanity? I am no
more free
of torture than this man in front of me.
He
cleared his throat. “You will be clean soon,” he said, dipping the cloth into
the water again. “Duck down. Your hair needs to be washed as well.”

Drakon nodded and submerged himself. When he came back
up out of the water, he’d turned to face his captor. Ryuu nearly dropped the
soap he held as he stared. Drakon’s skin glowed in the reflected sunlight.
Water and blood sluiced down over his chest, highlighting his thick muscles and
the dark hair leading to his groin. With his hair wet and pulled back from his
face, his green eyes gleamed against his dusky complexion like fire gems. He
was the most beautiful thing Ryuu had ever seen.

“Is that the soap for my hair?” Drakon asked.

Gods, give me strength.
Ryuu swallowed past the lump of desire in his throat.
Get control of yourself!
He held out the bottle and nodded. “It is.”

“Thank you.” Drakon took it and poured some into his
palm. He set the bottle down on the side of the pool and methodically began to
work lather into his hair and scalp.

To distract himself, Ryuu washed briskly, then headed
to the second pool to rinse. When he’d finished, he glanced at Drakon. The
slave had finished with his hair and was heading his way. Ryuu stared at him as
he climbed out of the water. Drakon’s cock lay thick and pink against his
thigh. Ryuu sank further into the pool to disguise his interest. Most of the
people on their planet, including the Arethuza in the citadel and the Soutx
from the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains, disapproved of same-sex pairings, though
they were not forbidden, just frowned upon. He’d been dealing with the
repercussions of his natural inclination toward men for as long as he could
remember. His father knew of his proclivities and hated him because of it.
Which is why you finally decided to take a male slave.
Now Father has no more illusions about my desires or my ability to provide him
with his precious heirs.

“Thank you for allowing me to wash,” Drakon said as he
settled down into the warm pool.

Drakon’s knee bumped Ryuu’s thigh and he fought to
keep his expression neutral. “The last and largest pool is cool water. It’s
pleasant for swimming.” He stared at the water rippling in the sunlight. “We’ve
had the technology to harness the water from the underground caverns for many
centuries.”

“The Soutx have no idea,” Drakon murmured. “My people
believe that the Arethuza wage war because there is not enough water to support
your nation.”

Ryuu closed his eyes, pained. “No. The Arethuza war
because my father enjoys spilling blood.” He opened his eyes and gazed at
Drakon.
His personal slave.
“Red is his favorite
color.” He smiled grimly. “I can say this to you only because you are my
captive and nothing you say in the future will matter, to my people or to
yours, even were you one of the dragons of legend.” He curled his fingers into
fists. “Your future and mine are entwined, and our cultures are not
so
unalike as your people believe. We will be judged forever
because I bought you for my personal use.”

Drakon’s face went blank. “What makes you think
dragons are a legend?”

I tell him he
was bought for sex and he fixates on that?
Surprised, Ryuu laughed, glad Drakon had lightened his train of
thought.
“Perhaps because no one has seen one in centuries?
And most of our recorded history is unreliable? Dragons are nothing more than
stories we tell our children to make them behave.” He sighed, sliding down
further into the water. “Since humans came to this planet, our fair Aiyana, we
have been losing our knowledge of the past and creating myths to fill in the
blanks.”