Captive Fire (4 page)

Ryuu laughed harshly. “You think I should just go?
Abandon my people? It’s not their fault my father is a madman. Do you have no
concept of duty?”

Drakon’s shoulders went tight. The prince thought of
duty?
He is right. You and he have more in common than you thought.

“Enough,” Ryuu said. “I am tired. And we will have to
prove our physical relationship to my father sooner rather than later. I have
told you the truth, so that you might prepare yourself.”

Prepare? He doesn’t mean…
Drakon’s thoughts trailed off. No, Ryuu simply meant
he must resign himself to his captivity. He watched Ryuu turn down the silken
covers on the sleeping platform. He did not move like a man interested in sex.
He
did not order me to strip or do anything other than bathe and eat.

“Let’s sleep and see what can be done to convince my
father of my loyalty in the morning,” Ryuu said, gesturing to Drakon.

Drakon stood up, careful to keep the robe around his
still half-hard prick. “I don’t know why you would trust me to know your true
feelings about your father and your people,” he murmured, walking to the bed.

Ryuu lay back on the padded platform. “Simple. You
have nothing to lose here except your life. If you betray me, I will kill you.
And no one will believe you if you run off tattling secrets.” His silver eyes
glinted as he dimmed the lights, pressing a stud near the bed. “You are a
slave. I am the heir to the Arethuza nation, despite my unsavory sexual
preferences.” He bared his teeth. “Remember, you are going to bed with the
Bearer of the Blades.”

Chapter Three

Drakon
lay in bed, listening to Ryuu breathing as he slept. He’d tried to relax, but
after the prince threatened to kill him, he’d found sleep impossible.
He is
right. He could kill you whenever he wants,
he thought, depressed. Even
shifting to dragon form wouldn’t immediately help. He was trapped beneath the
surface of a desert, in a citadel made of granite, among corridors filled with
Arethuza warriors. He might be able to kill Ryuu, but he would not be able to
escape. As a dragon, he was too large to fit in the underground passages. As a
man, he was outnumbered hundreds to one. So he lay in bed, wondering how he
could possibly still be aroused, in this situation, and right after Ryuu had
threatened to end his life.

“I can hear you thinking,” Ryuu said, rolling over.

Drakon sighed.

“I didn’t say I would kill you tonight.” Ryuu poked
him in the arm. “Go to sleep. You’re keeping me awake.”

“You may be my master, but even you cannot conquer
insomnia,” Drakon said dryly.

Ryuu leaned over and switched on a low light. Drakon
glanced at him. His hair was mussed, making him look more human and less
princely. Drakon bit back a groan as he felt his cock swell even more.
Stop
this. You are lucky he didn’t chain you to the floor.

“This is not just insomnia,” Ryuu said, lying back
down.

Drakon pressed his lips together. He was not about to
confess his need for release to the man who
owned
him.

“Tell me about your family,” Ryuu said.

My family?
Drakon thought, disturbed.
“You want me to tell you about the people I will likely never see again in my
lifetime?” He paused, thinking about his father, General Ozuru. His father’s
last words to him before he’d left had not been kind. He wondered what Ryuu
would think if he knew that Drakon was the heritor to the Soutx nation. He
sighed softly to himself. What he once was didn’t matter now. He’d vowed to
stop the Arethuza’s blood war, and he would do so, even if it meant
surrendering his honor to save his people. “Is that a command?”

Ryuu sighed. “Perhaps I spoke hastily.”

Drakon snorted quietly.

“Tell me about your first lover, then. What was she
like?” Ryuu asked.

Drakon’s face burned.
Of all the
things for the prince to hit upon.
Should I confess? Put us out of
our misery?
He considered it, shifting slightly as his cock throbbed even
more.
What do I have to lose?
He swallowed,
then
licked his lips. “His name was Ikale.”

****

Ryuu went perfectly still as the meaning of Drakon’s
words sank into his mind.
“He?”

Drakon stirred. “Yes.”

Ryuu’s hands fisted beneath the silk blanket as the
arousal he’d fought so hard to keep from Drakon flared back to life. He thought
Drakon would talk about some pretty girl, or some silly fumblings as a young
teen, but instead he’d admitted to Ryuu the one thing he desired more than
anything else.
Well, almost anything. I still wish to be free of my father’s
bloodthirsty fascination with war. I still wish to set my people free of him.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he asked Drakon.

“What good would it have done to admit my orientation?
What good does it do now?” Drakon sounded frustrated. “My people aren’t any
more accepting of same-sex unions than yours.”

“We could both get some pleasure out of this
necessity,” Ryuu said, trying to mask the desperation he felt.

Drakon shifted again. “You are my owner.” He spat the
words as if they were bugs in his mouth. “You can just take what you want from
me, any time you please.”

Ryuu closed his eyes, regretting the threats he’d
given Drakon earlier. “I am not any
more free
of you
than you are of me. I explained that to you.”

“I should kill you, right now,” Drakon murmured
sulkily.

Ryuu laughed.
“Even if you could,
why would you?
Killing me would only hasten your own death. You are
surrounded by the enemy.” He smoothed the blankets over his thighs. “No. You
have your own reasons for submitting to slavery. Don’t think I am unaware of
that.”

Drakon sighed. “Perhaps I’d rather be dead than
subject to this.”

Ryuu bit his lip. He would
not
be the one to
initiate this. He would likely have to do far too many distasteful things to
Drakon in the days ahead as it was. The least he could do was let his slave
make this one choice. “I will not force you, not in the night, when it is just
the two of us,” he said quietly.

“You would force me in public?”

Ryuu rubbed his face, exasperated. “I may need to make
a show of it, though I will do everything I can to keep that from happening.”

Drakon rolled over. Ryuu jerked when he felt a hand on
his arm. He opened his eyes. Drakon loomed over him, dark hair sliding down
over his shoulders. “Ikale was a handsome boy, dark of hair and with flashing
eyes. I first noticed him when I was thirteen. He’d come with his father to
visit. We were thrown together often, during lessons and while practicing our
combat skills.”

“How did you become intimate?” Ryuu asked, almost
afraid that Drakon would refuse to tell him.

Instead, Drakon smiled. “We went camping in the
wilderness together. The first night, we couldn’t get a fire started. We
huddled together when the temperature dropped.”

“I’ve heard that the mountains can be very cold,” Ryuu
offered.

“As cold as the desert,” Drakon said quietly. He
rearranged himself on the bed so that he leaned closer to Ryuu. “When I woke in
the middle of the night, I realized that Ikale and I were so entwined, I could
not extricate myself without giving away my feelings. So I held perfectly
still.” He sighed, his warm breath a puff against Ryuu’s skin. “He woke up. He
felt my erection.”

Ryuu’s cock hardened even more as Drakon described his
arousal with the other boy. “What happened?”

Drakon leaned closer, going down onto his side. “He
touched me. We used our hands on each other.” He looked away. “A week later, he
and his father left. Many years later, I heard he’d died fighting in a battle
with the Arethuza.”

Ryuu flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“It happened a long time ago.” Drakon reached out and
slid his hand down Ryuu’s arm. “Touch me, Ryuu.” He sounded almost frightened,
which surprised Ryuu. Thus far, the slave had been by turns defiant and
resigned. Why would this unsettle him so?

Ryuu’s breathing quickened. “Are you certain?”

Drakon lifted Ryuu’s hand and dragged it down his
chest.

Ryuu savored the feel of Drakon’s hair and soft skin.
When Drakon used Ryuu’s fingers to stroke his cock, Ryuu shuddered. The heat of
Drakon’s erection seemed to sear his palm.

“What we do tonight means nothing,” Drakon whispered
roughly, letting go and sliding his hand between the plackets of Ryuu’s robe.
“This is release. Not love. Those are my terms.”

“You would dictate to me?” Ryuu asked, disappointed.

Drakon laughed quietly. “I am tired. Clearly I have
forgotten my place.”

“Insomnia does that to a man,” Ryuu murmured, stroking
Drakon’s shaft lightly.

Drakon arched his back, gasping. “Yes.”

“This is so you can sleep,” Ryuu said, voice hitching
when Drakon’s writhing knocked his arm against his aching shaft. He leaned into
his slave and wrapped his fingers around his prick more firmly, gently thumbing
the tip. The fabric of the robe hampered his movements, and he impatiently
shoved it open. Drakon rolled onto his back, opening his legs. In the dim
light, the play of his muscles drew Ryuu’s attention like a flitter to the
flame. He licked his lips and looked his fill. The dim, quiet
room made him feel
as though he were still asleep and
dreaming. The sound of Drakon’s breathing told him he was very much awake. He
would never dream about another man’s breath pushing into the silence like
that.
So fast.
So real.
His
dreams were more direct.

“So I can sleep,” Drakon agreed. He reached for Ryuu,
pulling him down on top of his body. When their bare skin touched, both men
groaned.

“Take us in your hands,” Ryuu told Drakon.

His slave smiled, then did as commanded. “I thought
you weren’t going to give me orders in bed, at night.” He paused. “When we’re
alone,” he whispered. “We are alone, right?”

Ryuu hmm’d,
then
licked his
palm. When he touched it to their cockheads, Drakon arched his back, crying
out. “Yes, we’re alone. I don’t allow recording devices in my chambers.”

“How would you know they are here?” Drakon asked.

“I sweep every day,” Ryuu told him, angling his hips
higher on the bed so he could get a better angle. “And it wasn’t a command,” he
said, twisting his wrist. Pleasure shot through him. Drakon tightened the hold
he had around their erections, making it difficult to move. “Loosen up,” he
said.

Drakon shook his head as he wrapped his ankles around
Ryuu’s calves, trapping him further. “No. Like this.”

Ryuu opened his mouth and bit Drakon’s shoulder. He tried
to move his hips, but Drakon held him still. The only thing he could control
was his palm against their pricks. He felt strangely turned on by his
powerlessness. He’d known Drakon was his match physically, but to experience it
like this aroused him to the point of pain. He blew out a shaky breath. “This
is what you want?”

Drakon nodded. “Yes.” His voice had gone so low Ryuu
sensed his need through his lips against the slave’s throat.

“As you wish,” he said, licking the spot he’d bitten.
Drakon trembled. Ryuu smiled as wet seeped from the tip of Drakon’s cock, and
he realized that he was leaking, too. His prick was so hot he couldn’t think
properly. Drakon was so much stronger than he’d suspected—it enthralled him. He
wanted more. Ryuu opened his mouth and bit down again, almost out of control,
and Drakon shuddered, clearly liking it.

“Harder,” Drakon said.

Ryuu obeyed, nearly breaking the skin.

Drakon growled and twisted his hand. Suddenly, Ryuu’s
orgasm ripped through him. Mindless with the pleasure, he bit down and drew
blood and Drakon shook so hard he almost bucked Ryuu off. When Drakon’s cock
swelled, Ryuu knew he was going to climax too. He licked the spot he’d wounded
and Drakon shivered, then groaned as he jetted his pleasure into the mess Ryuu
had already made. Ryuu didn’t care. He hadn’t climaxed in the presence of
another person in years and he wasn’t about to protest anything right now. He
let out a long sigh and slumped down. Drakon let his legs fall open as he
loosened his hand carefully and slid it out from between them. Ryuu couldn’t
move.
Didn’t want to.
He licked Drakon’s shoulder
absently, tasting something new.
Something sweet and electric
at the same time.
He frowned, but he was too sated to chase the mystery
of Drakon’s skin. “Can you sleep now?” he murmured instead.